I need funds to cover registration fees and travel expenses to go to the National Orff-Schulwerk Conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This is a four day professional development elementary music conference.
Our general music program prides itself in being diversified to meet the needs of our student population. The students and I always strive for making each lesson a truly tuneful, artful, beatful, and joyful experience.
Every day we make learning target goals and aim to achieve excellence in our behavior and academics.
With a community that heavily supports music in a physical presence but is low socioeconomically, the ability to purchase music classroom materials can sometimes be a challenge. Every child deserves to have a quality music education, and in this instance this project will help us achieve that for the general music program for years to come.
Currently we are in the process of updating our classroom materials and curriculum to align with our Washington State Music Standards for grades K-6. Students in grades K-3 study music within the context of the First Steps in Music series by John Feierabend. In grades 4-5 we study from a Spokane Symphony curriculum that uses percussion, singing, and recorder to learn music literacy. In 6th grade we study from various world music publications that expose students to a variety of cultural music vocally and instrumentally.
My Project
As I grow in my understanding of teaching students music in elementary school, I want to expand my knowledge and skills of what I can bring to the community that I teach in. The American Orff-Schulwerk National Conference in 2016 is in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The conference provides an array of over 150 music educator professional development sessions to choose from in a span of four days (November 2nd - 5th). This upcoming school year, I want to get as much professional development as I can with teaching movement and singing. I see these areas as components of my teaching that I could strengthen with some further insight. This conference would provide those opportunities for me, as well as networking with individuals and seeing the latest research based teaching strategies and methods in music.
Every time I have attended an Orff-Schulwerk workshop or conference, whether it being local or out of town, I always come away with a plethora of information and resources that energizes my students, and gets them pointed in the right direction to achieve their state grade level expectations in music.
I’m asking for assistance for conference registration, approximately half of my rental car expense, food, and lodging while I’m attending the National American Orff-Schulwerk Conference. Your assistance makes it a reality to help expand my continuing education of elementary music, and to help our general music program from the experiences and information gathered from this opportunity. My school district and parent teacher organization are willing to cover the half the costs of my rental car, my entire round trip airfare, and funds for a substitute teacher for three days. Investments to this professional development opportunity will aid in cultivating our school’s kids to be tuneful, artful, and beatful musicians.
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