Hamilton
Hamilton is a story about hope, revolution, and love. The original cast of Hamilton singing “Helpless” will have you moving and smiling. How might you incorporate this into your curriculum this year? Let me count the ways!
Archive for the ‘Music’ Category
Grammy Music Educator Award
October 20, 202025 Semifinalists announced – Maine proud!
In the beginning of June 2020 the Music Educator Award presented by Recording Academy and Grammy Museum announced their quarterfinalists for 2021. I was proud to announce on the blog that three Maine music educators were named to the list of nearly 2,000 nominees!
- CAROL CLARK – Gray-New Gloucester High School
- PATRICK VOLKER – Scarborough High School
- TRACY WILLIAMSON – Gorham Middle School
As a follow up Tracy shared her Covid story posted on this blog that provided details on her teaching journey through the school year.
Recently Tracy learned that she is one of 25 music teachers from 24 cities across 16 states to be named a semifinalist for the award given by the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum.
CONGRATULATIONS TRACY!
The finalists will be announced in December and Maine Arts Educators will be waiting to hear the outcome!
The Music Educator Award recognizes current educators who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools. The recipient will be recognized during GRAMMY Week 2021.
The award is open to current U.S. music teachers, and anyone can nominate a teacher — students, parents, friends, colleagues, community members, school deans, and administrators. Teachers are also able to nominate themselves, and nominated teachers are notified and invited to fill out an application.
Each year, one recipient is selected from 10 finalists and recognized for their remarkable impact on students’ lives. They will receive a $10,000 honorarium and matching grant for their school’s music program. The nine additional finalists will receive a $1,000 honorarium and matching grants. The remaining fifteen semifinalists will receive a $500 honorarium with matching school grants.
The matching grants provided to the schools are made possible by the generosity and support of the GRAMMY Museum’s Education Champion Ford Motor Company Fund. In addition, the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, NAMM Foundation, and National Education Association support this program through outreach to their constituencies.
The finalists will be announced in December, and nominations for the 2022 Music Educator Award are now open. To nominate a music educator, or to find more information, please visit www.grammymusicteacher.com.
We Shall Overcome
October 8, 2020The USM Chamber Singers, USM School of Music beautiful performance of We Shall Overcome. Pretty amazing with masks, distanced, and inside.
Professional Development Opportunities
October 6, 2020DOE offerings
Visual Arts Education in an Online Setting – Thursday, October 15, 4p-5p
How do you create meaningful art experiences for students while allowing them to explore and create artwork? During this session, participants will learn how to prepare for asynchronous and synchronous instruction, class critiques, and interactive review. Participants will also learn how to cultivate a community in an online environment. This session is intended for middle and high school visual art teachers.
Assessing Art Students Using Technology – Thursday, October 22, 4p-5p
What are the best strategies to keep students engaged during synchronous classes? How can you assess mastery in a virtual setting? During this session, participants will learn multiple techniques for engaging students during synchronous sessions. Participants will also discuss grading rubrics, peer and teacher feedback, as well as additional resources that can be used for formative and summative assessments. This session is intended for middle and high school visual art teachers.
Virtual Art and Talent Show – Thursday, October 29, 4p-5p
How do you showcase student work and talents virtually? During this session, participants will learn how to set up a virtual art and talent show that offers multiple opportunities for students to showcase artwork and musical or performance-based talents during a live session. Participants will also learn about collecting authentic data to provide to administration as well as student participants based on student peer feedback. This session is intended for any Arts Education teacher teaching any content area in grades K-12.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR VISUAL ART OPPORTUNITIES
Presenter Information – Katie Royal
Katherine “Katie” Royal is an online visual arts teacher who teaches high school Art 1, Digital Photography and Digital Imaging and Design. Katie is in her ninth year of teaching and fourth year teaching virtually. She strongly advocates that all students should receive a high-quality arts education and while teaching online has developed various methods to provide authentic virtual experiences.
Katie holds a B.A. in Art Education with a K-12 Licensure from Meredith College and is currently pursuing a M.Ed. in Online Instruction from Southern New Hampshire University. Aside from teaching Katie lives in North Carolina with her husband and three children who she is currently home schooling.
Performance Ensembles in a Virtual World – Tuesday, October 13, 5p-6p
How do you have a live rehearsal without being the same space? How do you create meaningful musical experiences for students? During this session, participants will learn how to prepare for rehearsals, run productive rehearsals and sectionals, and assess students using technology. Participants will also learn how to cultivate a community in an online environment. This session is intended for middle and high school band, orchestra, or choir directors.
Synchronous Singing Games in Elementary Music – Tuesday, October 20, 5p-6p
How can you play your favorite singing games with elementary students over Zoom? How can you extend beyond listening and responding to music? During this session, participants will learn how to play singing games in synchronous instruction. They will also learn how to include extension activities students can complete synchronously or asynchronously. This session is intended for elementary general music teachers.
Engagement Tips and Tricks for Synchronous Music Classes – Tuesday, October 27, 5p-6p
What are the best strategies to keep students engaged during synchronous classes? How can you engage students, even when their cameras are off? During this session, participants will learn tried and true techniques for engaging students during synchronous sessions. Participants will learn how to leverage features built into the virtual classroom platforms and how to effectively use technology resources outside of the platform without overwhelming students. This session is intended for any music teacher teaching any content area in grades K-12.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR MUSIC OPPORTUNITIES
Presenter Information – Michelle Rose
Michelle Rose is an online music teacher who teaches middle school general music and high school music appreciation. She also directs the extracurricular virtual instrumental and vocal ensembles at her school. Michelle is an active teacher-author who creates resources for music teachers and writes for her blog, The Musical Rose.
In addition to teaching and writing, Michelle is a sought after clinician, presenter, and panelist frequently presenting for numerous conferences and districts. Her most recent book, Teaching Music Online: A Comprehensive Guide for K-12 Music Educators, is a balance of practical advice, innovative teaching strategies, and educational philosophy designed to help teachers transition into online music education.
Sweeeeeeet!
October 5, 2020One Voice Children’s Choir
The Maroon 5 song, Memories is sung by the One Voice Children’s Choir on youtube. Taking a few minutes to watch and listen to these precious voices on the fist day of a month – Happy October!
I LOVE The Muppets!
October 2, 2020With a Little Help from My Friends
I’ve always loved The Muppets and for many years I’ve been inspired by Jim Henson. Hard to believe that he’s been gone for 30 years. I am so happy that the Muppets have continued in different ways for so long. And, here they are on the Late Show with James Corden.
Although James Corden, Reggie Watts and The Late Show Band The Muppets couldn’t be together in a studio, the group came together on video chat to sing The Beatles classic “With a Little Help from My Friends.” Sing along with Kermit, Fozzie, Miss Piggy, Swedish Chef, Animal, Gonzo and so many more.
Looking for silver linings? I suggest that you watch this (and sing at the top of your voice) today or tomorrow – at the end of another week during a pandemic. I promise you’ll be moving by the end of it! Afterwards call a friend.
Kate’s Picks
September 29, 2020Teaching in a Pandemic
Below is a blog post contributed by Kate Smith, Central School, South Berwick Music Teacher. Kate is the 2014 York County Teacher of the Year and is a leader in the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative. Kate has made an amazing list of some of her favorite children’s books with information and suggestions on how to use them in your classroom. THANK YOU Kate for providing not only books but your passion for teaching! The post starts out with this message from Kate…
Kate Smith with What If…
Hello colleagues! If I have learned anything these past six months, it is this: keep your friends close and your ARTS colleagues closer! I have learned so much from interacting with all of you through MALI events, Tuneful Talk webinars, DOE-hosted events, virtual book clubs, Facebook groups and, on the rare occasion, socially distanced gatherings. You inspire me, encourage me, support me, make me laugh, understand the frustration, and your authenticity and vulnerability in these unsettling times remind me I am not alone. THANK YOU. To attempt to pay it forward, I have offered to write a blog post for Argy (I owe her big time), and hopefully there will be something here that will benefit you in some way. Better, I hope you will comment with your own resources and we can make this an even more valuable blog post.
Favorite books Kate is using in her teaching…
WHAT IF by Samantha Berger and Illustrated by Mike Curato. This book came recommended to me by Kaitlin Young, a music teacher at SeDoMoCha and the 2018 Maine Teacher of the Year. It’s called “What If” and it is written by Samantha Berger and illustrated by Mike Curato. This would be a great book for art, music, dance or theater teachers and their students. I used this book to explain what we can and can’t do in the music room this year. Little, Brown and Company do allow us to videotape ourselves reading the book but with restrictions which you can find on their website.
I’m Going on A Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury. This is an oldie (1997) but goodie. It works just fine as a chant. Adding hand motions and body percussion can make this a crowd pleaser, add instruments and they’ll be begging for more. First we acted out the book as a chant and added motions for each obstacle. Then we talked about how to make appropriate sound for each challenge using a drum. Each child had their own drum. We rubbed, scraped, tapped and banged our way to the bear cave and back!
Ada’s Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay by Susan Hood and Sally Wern Comport. Are you having your students make their own instruments? This book can be inspiring and eye opening. A true story, a quick google search and you’ll find some videos of the actual orchestra to share as well.
Mole Music by David McPhail. Another oldie but goodie. This one is great for discussing hopes and dreams with your students, music’s impact on our feelings and emotions (sometimes when we don’t even know it!), and that learning a new instrument takes time and a lot of practice. I once invited a violin player to play while I read. It was awesome. Especially the screechy part at the beginning. 😉
We Will Rock Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins, a Maine author with a fantastic sense of humor (if you haven’t read Mother Bruce, you must drive to the nearest bookstore right now.) This book addresses nerves when it comes to performing, in this case, the school talent show.
Because by Mo Willems and Amber Ren, published in 2019. This beautiful book speaks of persistence, hard work, inspiration, legacy, community and discovery. How did this book come to be? I will let Mo and Amber tell you at THIS LINK. And here is THE LINK to Hilary Purrington’s symphony, The Cold, featured in this book!
Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow is a wonderful book that celebrates the beauty, history and magic of names. Saying them correctly is important and it matters. CLICK HERE for a video of a read aloud and THIS LINK will help to pronounce the names in the book from the author!
I will be reading this book to the students soon, have you used it in your classroom? Some teachers have their students draw their name in an artistic way to show what their name means to them. How powerful!
Please consider sharing one of your ideas or work that you have underway with the Maine Arts Education Blog readers! Email me your ideas at meartsed@gmail.com.
Role of Joyful Music
September 18, 2020Report from Wolf Brown
Dennie Palmer Wolf is a friend of Maine Arts Education having been the consultant in our first state wide census that was a project of the Maine Alliance for Arts Education. The Maine Department of Education and the Maine Arts Commission collaborated on the project in 2007.
In July 2020 Wolf Brown released a report for the Bernard van leer Foundation called Making a Joyful Noise: The Potential Role of Music Making in the Well-Being of Young Families. I encourage you to download the report (no matter what grade level you teach) and use segments of it to support your music programs. It is timely with the pandemic dictating parents to take a more active role in their child’s education. We know it is critical that the school and home teaching and learning be filled with balance. Not to mention the enormous benefits to the development of young children and how to support learners on the ‘human’ side through all of this.
The report highlights several areas and provides a substantial overview of why music is important to our youngest learners. It is broken down by periods of development; Pre and Perinatal Period, Early Infancy: 
2-5 Months, Later Infancy: 6-12 Months, Interdependence and Autonomy: 1-3 Years, and Expanded Learning: 4-5 Years. Researchers looked closely at programs across the country and around the world. Schools with pre-school programs would find this report useful. Many of our students have younger brothers and sisters so sharing the report through school and district newsletters would help build future elementary programs.
Wolf Brown include techniques and activities for adults to guide young children in their development and joy of making music, what an emphasis on music provides young children and families, and how music impacts their well being and social emotional learning.
Interestingly enough the opening report statement on “why music matters” is comprehensive and supports why music matters for every individual and family in the world.
Find the report at THIS LINK
New Blog
September 8, 2020Bill Buzza
Bill at the Richard Rodgers Theater, NYC, set of Hamilton
Many of you know veteran music educator (27 years) Bill Buzza. He’s one of those people who has a warm smile and a soft voice. And, he’s such a thoughtful person that when he enters a conversation you know he’s listening carefully to what you’re saying (and not focusing on how he’ll respond). Bill is the music teacher/band director at Edward Little High School in Auburn.
Just like the rest of us he’s been dealing with the pandemic since March 13. Always one for thinking deeply Bill decided to start a blog that will document his learning and begin a dialogue. Bill’s calling it Teaching Instrumental Music During COVID-19.
Bill says: As I think about the coming year, I anticipate many new experiences and a journey that will redefine my career of instrumental music education.
This is a great opportunity for you to read about Bill’s experiences and know that you’re not alone. While thinking about returning to school and all the details of it Bill’s been doing research on how to play an instrument with a face mask on. Yes, of course you can read all about it on Bill’s blog. Subscribe in the sidebar of the front page of the blog.
Bill earned his M.S. Ed in Educational Leadership from the University of New England and B.M. in Music Education from the University of Southern Maine. At Edward Little High School, he conducts the concert, marching, pep and jazz bands. He also teaches three levels of guitar, and a beginning band class. Bill was a Finalist for the 2011 Maine Teacher of the Year and was chosen as a Teacher Leader, phase 1, of the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI). He also served on the MALI Leadership Team.
Phase 2, MAAI/MALI, Bill front row, 1st on left
me arts ed 