Music Teachers Professional Development series
Collaborative Inquiry for Effective Music Teaching: Asking Questions and Finding Answers to Improve Student Achievement in Music
The 2009-10 school year once again offers a series of three professional development events for music teachers in New York City public schools. As with last year’s series, this must be paid for by the school at the pleasure of the principal, and participants must register on-line using the Pro-Traxx website, for which you’ll need to register, and then log in.
The cost of the series is $300 per participant for the full workshop series (3 days) to be paid by the school.
The workshops will take place at Long Island City High School in Queens on November 3, 2009, and Monday, February 1 and Thursday, June 10, 2010, from 8:30 AM — 3:00 PM.
This series of workshops proposes to “examine our strategies for teaching music and the results we subsequently get. Working in small collaborative groups based on level, specialty area, and experience, we will draw upon our own experiences and talents to determine lines of inquiry for teaching music and improving student mastery. Building on the assessment work we did last year, small cohorts will establish areas of inquiry or need, share what works, provide evidence of how they know it works, exchange strategies, and support each other to improve outcomes for all our students.”
P-Credit course on Effective Teaching Strategies for New Teachers
Music teachers with less than three years of experience can register now for the P-Credit course Effective Teaching Strategies for the Beginning Core/Instrumental Music Specialist. This course will focus upon effective methods for maximizing teacher-student communication, classroom management, unit/lesson planning, selecting appropriate repertoire, creating adaptive musical arrangements, acquiring instructional resources, and developing supports for one’s program.
Course Name: Effective Teaching Strategies for the Beginning Core/Instrumental Music Specialist
Instructor: Barry Stern
Eligibility: This course is open to assigned teachers of core and/or instrumental music for grades 3 through 12 with less than three years of experience teaching music in the DOE.
Dates:
Week I: Monday, Tuesday & Thursday, October 5, 6, & 8,
Week II: Tuesday & Thursday, October 13 & 15,
Week III: Monday, Tuesday & Thursday, October 19, 20, & 22,
Week IV: Monday & Tuesday, October 26-27,
Time: All sessions will meet from 4:00-7:00 pm
Location: All sessions will take place at Louis D. Brandeis High School (145 West 84th Street, Manhattan)
Course Fee: $100 due at time of enrollment (This is a reduced fee due to a generous grant from the Shubert Foundation.)
To Register: Participants must register online at http://schools.nyc.gov/teachers/aspdp/ by Tuesday, September 29. The ASPDP course code is P1-261F09.
“P” In-Service courses for Music Teachers
The New York City After School Professional Development Program offers a selection of “P” In-Service courses that are designed to equip educators (teachers, secretaries, and other school-based personnel) with the skills and abilities to increase student achievement. Course offerings are high quality, low-cost alternatives to traditionally offered college courses. Available across all content areas, courses may be applied toward salary differential requirements and meet the New York State 175-hour Professional Development requirement. (ASPDP classes do not offer academic credits toward fulfillment of licensing requirements.)
Summer “P” course registration will begin on June 2nd after 4 PM. Mark your calendar for the Fall 2009 registration which begins on August 4th after 4 PM. Fall courses begin meeting on Sept 21st. Visit the ASPDP website to view the catalog of courses. For additional information contact Helaine Schwartz, Director at 718-935-5753 or via e-mail at aspdp@schools.nyc.gov
Past offerings that may be of interest to music teachers included Using the Recorder in the Classroom, Composing with Garage Band, Technology Through Music and Other Arts, and The American Musicals Project – History, & Literature through the Arts.
(Click on the last title to see a description of the course.)
A John Feierabend workshop in September 2009.
John Feierabend will be presenting his workshop on “First Steps in Music: Developing Tuneful, Beatful, and Artful Children” hosted by the Long Island American Orff Schulwerk Association, on September 12, 2009.
LIAOSA workshops are presented at Hofstra University’s Hempstead campus accessible via LIRR from Penn Station. Directions can be found here.
Professional Development
Organizations or schools in the NYC area which offer professional development: clinics, workshops, or certification training of relevance to elementary-level music teachers.
Office of Arts and Special Projects (NYC-DOE) sometimes plans day-long clinics during the school year, focusing on the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts.
Music Educators Association of New York City (MEANYC) has short (2-hour) clinics on Saturdays at locations all over NYC.
UFT Music Teachers Committee was dormant for several years, but recently resumed offering a program of full-day Saturday clinics for music teachers, during the year.
Orff and Kodály chapters in NYC sponsor day-long Saturday events in Manhattan, with L.I. Orff workshops at Hofstra University.
Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, has a full program of music education courses on Saturdays.
New Jersey City University has Orff certification classes in July.
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has a certification for early and middle childhood music teachers. NBPTS certification is a rigorous process through which accomplished teachers earn a distinction after completing a course of assessments and portfolio submission. Information about the Music Educators certification and the NBPTS standards for early and middle childhood music can be downloaded as a PDF file.
Assessment of Music Learning
In 2008-09 the NYCDOE Office of the Arts & Special Projects chose assessment as the focus for its year-long series of professional development events for music teachers. Following the most recent meeting in the series, participants received copies of a 42-page booklet published by Hal Leonard, The Ultimate Music Assessment and Evaluation Kit. The book isn’t an academic discussion of issues in assessing music learning, but provides a lot of examples for teachers who want to explore formal tools for assessing and evaluating their students’ work. There are a lot of examples of rubrics and grade cards, and there’s a fairly up-to-date bibliography of articles from MENC publications, and some things by Howard Gardner.
Licensing of Music Teachers
Every music teacher in a New York City public school should be certified to teach music grades PreK through 12. The NYC Department of Education seeks to have all arts teaching done by licensed arts educators, and requires the New York State Professional Certificate in Music as its license for music teachers.
Requirements for a NYS K-12 Permanent Certification in Music (information from the New York State Department of Education site)
1) Completion of a NYS-registered Program in Music
Requirement Description: “Registered program” means an education program that has been approved in advance by the New York State Education Department as containing the studies required for certification as a New York State educator.
3) Content Specialty Test in Music (see links below)
Requirement Description: The Content Specialty Test is administered by the New York State Teacher Certification Examinations (NYSTCE). Offered in specific subjects, the CST typically consists of multiple-choice questions and a written assignment. The CST in Music also includes taped listening components and a written assignment. The purpose of the test is to assess knowledge and skills in the subject of the certificate sought. (A description of the Content Specialty Test in Music can be downloaded. To register for the CST in Music go to the NYSTCE site.)
4) Institutional Recommendation:
Requirement Description: This refers to an online statement from a New York State institution of higher education that has an approved preparation program. Through the statement, the institution recommends a candidate for certification. Contact the certification officer at your institution to ensure the recommendation has been entered. The certification officer should also supply you with a Student Application Information Sheet with information required to complete the online application. (This requirement would not apply to a candidate who has simply accrued the 30 required credits without c0mpleting a degree program in Music.)
5) Content Core – Music – 30 credits.
Requirement Description: “Content core” refers to coursework that instructs candidates in the specific subject matter of the certificate title sought (e.g., Music). It is the equivalent of a major in that subject area. Course content, rather than the name of the department through which a course is offered, determines the acceptability of a course to fulfill these requirements. Courses in the methods of teaching a subject are not acceptable as study in the content area.
Note: content core courses must be passed with a “C” or above at the undergraduate level or “B-” or above at the graduate level.
United Federation of Teachers certification specialists recommend that several of the required credits should be at the graduate level, although this is not explicitly required by the NY State or NY City Departments of Education.
The music certificate is valid for vocal and instrumental music. Acceptable studies include courses in music theory, performance, music history, instrument repair, and performance of instruments (whether or not one’s major instrument). Courses in methods of teaching children how to sing or how to play an instrument are not accepted toward the content area requirement. Instead, those courses may be applied to the professional education requirement.
In addition to the above requirements, candidates should have completed:
6) ATS-W
7) LAST
8) 2 years of paid, full-time classroom teaching experience
9) U.S. Citizenship or INS Permanent Residence
10) Fingerprint Clearance
New York City Music Teachers’ Percussion Workshop on May 8
The DOE and New York Pops will offer a one-day workshop on percussion for music teachers from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, May 8 in Manhattan at a location to be determined. Participants will be offered sessions on basic battery, mallet, tympani, world percussion, classical percussion, toy/hand percussion and drum set. Attendees will receive class percussion supplies, resources, handouts, concert tickets and door prizes. The cost for this full-day workshop is $150 per participant to be paid by his or her school. Teachers should register via ProTraxx by using activity code 051-09-022-008 no later than Wednesday, March 18. Space is limited. School payment is due by Friday, March 20. For further information on this workshop, click HERE
Registration for this workshop is now closed.
Workshop on Classroom Music and the Special Learner
There’s still time to register for a free evening workshop on Classroom Music and the Special Learner scheduled for Wednesday, April 9, 2008 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. at UFT Headquarters – 52 Broadway in Manhattan.
This workshop is presented jointly by the UFT Music Teachers Comittee and MEANYC. Although there is no charge, participants are encouraged to pre-register by Friday, April 4. The presenter is Elise Sobol, NYSSMA Chairperson for Music for Special Learners, and author of An Attitude and Approach for Teaching Music to Special Learners (2001). Click here to download a flyer and registration form.
Citywide Music Teachers Professional Development
The first city-wide music professional development workshop for 2007-2008 was Election Day, November 6. A follow-up event is set for Tuesday, January 29, 2008.
The Election Day event day began with a performance of Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” by the Orchestra of St. Luke in its entirety. This piece provided “working repertoire” for the day’s activities: used as a point of entry to the work begun in last year in Blueprint workshops. The Vivaldi piece was the focus for participants in clarifying and deepening their understanding of how repertoire, regardless of its source, can be used to achieve Blueprint-based instructional goals for students at all levels.
Following the performance, teachers and a designated DOE facilitator met with members of the OSL in smaller “break-out” sessions. Each group discussed and identified the salient musical, interpretive, and historical aspects of the Vivaldi piece. Each participant receive a complimentary Dover Press score of the complete work. Finally, paired colleagues and small groups worked to create a written “Wraparound” (curriculum guide) with embedded assessments, based upon “Le Quattro Stagione.”
Principals will need to purchase the workshop on your behalf as a FAMIS item, so it’s important to discuss the date and your plans, in advance of the registration deadline. For the Election Day event, principals had to make their FAMIS purchase no later than Friday October 26.
Registration is completed by going on-line to http://www.zoomerang.com/recipient/survey-intro.zgi?p=WEB226U744UTCW
Contact the Office of Arts and Special Education for more information about the January 29, 2008 date.
E-Mail: artsandspecialprojects@schools.nyc.gov
Website: http://schools.nyc.gov/offices/teachlearn/arts/index2.html
Phone: 212-374-0300
