MAC Corner

MAC Corner – Make this School Year Your Best Ever

By Dr. Charles T. Menghini
 
This summer while teaching a graduate class in the summer master’s degree program at VanderCook College of Music, I was once again reminded of how much we as teachers really do know. The problem, for me at least, is that if I don’t stop to reflect on those things that are really important I end up occupying my time in areas that may not always do me the most good.  For me, it’s not a matter of not wanting to do something; it is a matter of not remembering to do something.

Communicating with Your Community

To better inform the community about the purpose, structure, and achievements of the school’s music program, provide an annual written report to the appropriate supervisor and, with permission, to parents and the community.

MAC Corner: Parents’ Roles

Paradigm Shifts and Parents’ Roles

Every once in a while we need a good dose of mother nature to wake us up and make us realize what is truly important. I have had many such moments throughout my life. Each time I experience one, it forces me to get out of the rut of my daily existence. It drives me to take a good hard look at the things that matter – and I mean really matter.

It is so easy to get caught up in our work and our lives. Too often we end up obsessing over little things, things that we believe are important for us to do our jobs well, things that allow us to get through the day and to (supposedly) live our lives. But too often these things don’t really matter.

MAC Corner: Goal Setting

"This is the year that I’m going to…”

How many times have we said this to ourselves? At the beginning of each school year? At the beginning of each new year? Making these kinds of resolutions is part of what we do so that we can continue to grow as music educators, as well as to help our students grow not only as music-makers, but also as leaders. What is on deck for this new year? Here are a few items that you might consider for the 2014-15 school year.

MAC Corner: April, 2014

It’s Time to Play Ball

With spring right around the corner, boys and girls from all across the country will soon be signing up for summer fun, like baseball and Little League. Were you also thinking about Little League? Wait a minute – this magazine and its articles are supposed to be about school band and orchestra programs! Well, read on.

We would all be well advised to borrow a page from our sporting friends when it comes to our beginning band and orchestra programs.

MAC Corner: Festival

Teaching to the Test: Preparing school bands and orchestras for Festival

From time to time, I read articles or hear news stories that focus on teacher evaluation and how “unfair” it really is to judge a teacher by the assessment of his or her students’ work. Each time, I am reminded how much we music educators have been doing just that all along! Hello, “Performance” Assessment – even that term is borrowed from our vernacular.

Being more about assessment than many of our fellow educators from the other academic areas, our students learn by “performing”; not necessarily in the concert sense of the word, but more generally in the “learning by doing” concept that is implicit in our instrumental music courses.