Every year in April I look forward to attending the PMEA State conference. This is my 5th year attending the conference either as a performer or future educator, and as always it did not disappoint. As usual the PMEA State conference which was held in Hersey PA from April 13th-16th was a success and provided attendees with countless amounts of invaluable information. I had an amazing time, learned a lot of information, and made a few connections with other music educators. Below is a review of some of the highlights from the event. Sorry that this review is coming so late, but with the end of student teaching everything got very hectic.
PMEA Live Blogs-
I was very honored to be a part of a five member team made up of Grove City College junior and senior education majors who live-blogged the conference. We live blogged a majority of the sessions that were offered at the conference and shared our experiences on Twitter. The live-blogs are currently in replay mode, so you can go back and read through our session notes for the sessions that interest you. You can find the live blogs on FutureMusicEucator.net. Overall, we felt the live-blogging was a great success and was a good way to help make the conference more web 2.0. It was a successful way to show how web 2.0 can be integrated into professional development. Again I want to thank Dr. Joseph Pisano and Grove City College for making this event possible!!
Informative Sessions-
As always there was a range of sessions offered at the conference. Everything from jazz, special education, band, orchestra, choir, general music, conducting, etc. was represented. As a future music teacher each year I try to attend as many sessions as possible that cover a lot of areas so that I so that I receive a wealth of knowledge. My goal for PMEA every year is to be a sponge and soak up as much information as possible. Below are the sessions that I attend this year. Check out my live blog here to read about the sessions.
- Selecting A Music Theory Textbook: A Guide for High School Teachers
- Performance Practice in the Music Classroom
- Beyond the Book: Making Music Visible
- Jazz Workshop for Music Educators
- Listening Journals in Middle School General Music
- Orff Schulwerk: A Winning Way
- Transfer of Learning: Students Can Perform the Sforzando Every Time
- Quality Tried and Trued: Choral Repertoire for Singers of All Ages
- Inclusion! Rethinking Success in the Music Classroom
- Going Global: Google Earth as a Tool for Teaching World Music