The Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) is a wonderful opportunity for music educators from around the state to come together, share ideas, hear top-level performances, and grow as musicians and educators. I have been the past four years and every year I have the opportunity to learn something new that allows me to become a better teacher. This year, I went to a couple of sessions about vocal pedagogy and how to incorporate that both in the setting of a full choir as well as in individual voice lessons. The best takeaways were putting technique into understandable and attianable phrases or actions like "back space matters, not front space," or "stretch your arms above your head, drop your arms without collapsing your sternum" for proper posture.
I was also able to attend a session on student leadership in the classroom and heard some great ideas that I hope to implement in the near future. One of the things was a section leader checklist. I have section leaders for each of my sections in Concert Choir and during the session, the presenters talked about the importance of clear and concise expectations. Creating a section leader checklist would help the section leaders to know exactly what to work on, listen for, etc. as well as hold me accounatable in regard to expectations. I would also love for my students to be more involved in the classroom by leading warm ups, stepping out and listening to the rest of the choir and giving feedback on what they hear, trying to conduct a little, etc. This session gave me some great ideas about how to accomplish these things in the classroom.
While my focus was on the choral/vocal aspect of the conference, there are also band, orchestra, technology, and elementary tracks that other educators participated in. Pre-K to 8 Music teacher Spenser Dunn attended the conference with me and she focused more on the elementary side of things. She said, "It’s amazing when you see a common interest bring people together, and even more so when the interest is about bettering our students lives through music. One theme that kept appearing through the multiple sessions was the common goal that we have as educators to offer a safe space where students can feel accomplished and valued. Sessions focused on student leadership, lesson plans that speak to the different strengths and learning styles, and how music has the ability to cater to most if not all of them. Music has the ability to speak to us all and bring us together and I am thankful to be a part of a group of educators who value it. GMEA was a weekend filled with invaluable lessons and outstanding performances that gave me a refreshed insight into what music education can provide for our students. A place to feel at home."
Professional growth and development are high priorities for Darlington. Each year, faculty and staff members participate in a professional growth cycle that includes professional learning communities, professional development days, and the ability to apply for professional development grants which fund conferences, travel, workshops, instructional supplies, outside speakers, and more. For the next few weeks, our blog series will highlight some of the opportunities that faculty and staff have participated in since they were awarded 2024-2025 Thatcher Grants last spring.
