In an effort to share best practices navigating the times, PMEA D1 will be hosting a series of roundtables this summer via Zoom.  The aim is to keep a professional dialogue and interact with your colleagues facing the same challenges you are moving into the next school year.  Discussions will be guided and help initiate discussion relative to trends in our region.  

Tuesday, May 26 at 7:00 pm

To kick this effort off, Aaron Booz and Ben Cook will be hosting a roundtable discussion concerning all things Beginning Band.  Discussion topics will include tryouts, instruments distribution, recruitment and retention moving into the next year. Anyone interested can sign-up via the link below.  An invitation to the call will be sent the day before with the zoom meeting information.

Again, this is the first of several discussion we plan to coordinate through the summer months to help everyone in our district share ideas.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf0Zm6SavqH1gM_UQW3rA09sADzaoNaTKW4E3_HfSkpaG9oQQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Respectfully,

Robert Traugh
President, PMEA District 1
D1 website: https://district1.pmea.net
State website: https://www.pmea.net

On behalf of the band faculty at Mt. Lebanon School District, I'd like to invite you to invite ALL of your band students to celebrate Moms, on Thursday evening, May 7th from 7:00-7:15 PM on your student's front porch. . . playing anything they want to play. We're putting this under the category "make a joyful noise."  

We'd like musicians from all over our region to take part in this event. Please video and post---we're all looking to show appreciation to all of our mothers, all the while promoting band students everywhere. A poster, below, is attached.  

Thanks for all that you do. Let's BAND together to raise some music for all our mothers!!!  

Sincerely,
Roger Tabler

Hi PD Reps. PMEA is responding to the urgent professional development needs of our teachers. We are launching a webinar series, PMEA Cares: Together We Teach. The series will include a variety of topics, specialties, and grade levels. Many of the presenters were to present these same sessions at the Spring Conference. 

Please do all that you can to promote these webinars to your districts. We want to set these webinars apart from the rest and label this as a special event. This is how we're going to best serve everyone in the current environment. The information for the first three are provided here.

New Webinar Series: PMEA Cares: Together We TeachPMEA is here to help all of us navigate the current landscape of music education.  To address the current changes in the teaching culture and increase our member’s capacity to meet our students’ needs, we have developed a webinar series that will motivate all of us to continue to provide effective and relevant instruction and to connect to our students. A variety of instructional topics will be covered twice each week by a variety of knowledgeable professionals.
PMEA Cares. Let’s come together to support one another, learn from one another, and find the best ways for each of us to reach our students. Together We Teach.
Act 48 hours will be available upon completion of two forms following the webinars. Please note you must log-in to the PMEA Member Portal to register.

• March 31, 7:00 PM, Day 1: Where Do I Start?                

Presented by Tina Bennett, PMEA President, Teri Myers, Mentor Program Chair, Stacy Paparone, PMEA District 5 President, & Scott Sheehan, PMEA Model Curriculum Committee Co-Chair
PMEA Cares: To begin the webinar series, we will learn together how to prepare for this new teaching environment by identifying resources for self-care, basic DO’s and DON’T’s of online instruction, and hear some strategies that have been working. Together We Teach: This webinar will also provide a forum for you to share your successes and to travel together through this new terrain. 
Register Here

Once Registered – please complete this Brief Survey, prior to the start of the webinar.

• April 2, 2020, 7:00 PM, The Google Infused Bandroom: Practical and Relevant Ways to Implement Technology in Performance Based Classrooms                                

Presented by Stephen Keys, Band Director at Bondurant Middle School, Kentucky, Google Certified Educator Levels 1 and 2, Google Certified Trainer, and an Apple Teacher
Implementing educational technology in a performance-based classroom (band, orchestra, and choir) can be a challenge. This webinar will show directors useful, practical, and easy ways to infuse technology into their rehearsals. An emphasis will be on using technology for student assessments, to increase student engagement, and to make life easier for the director. A focus will also be placed on using technology in a time of Remote Learning. 
Register Here
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• April 6, 2020, 7:00 PM, Going Beyond the Music: Project Based Learning in the Middle School Choral Classroom 

Presented by Danielle Larrick, Director of Choirs, Gerald G. Huesken Middle School, Conestoga Valley School District, PA
Looking for fresh and innovative ideas to integrate into your choral rehearsal to help your students go beyond the music? If so, join us for a webinar on project-based learning in the middle school choral ensemble. Project-based learning (PBL) has been shown to have positive effects on student engagement and understanding of content. However, in terms of the choral classroom, little has been examined regarding PBL activities. While teaching the repertoire certainly can fall within the characteristics of PBL, further PBL activities allow our students to form deeper connections with the music they perform and more meaningful relationships with their peers. This webinar will explore types of PBL activities used in a choral setting, and share the potential benefit of other PBL activities with attendees.

Register Here

*Please note you must log-in to the PMEA Member Portal to register. There is no cost to PMEA/NAfME members; Registration cost for non-members is $15. One hour of Act 48 credit is available upon completion of two forms following the webinar.

Teri Myers
Altoona Area School District Elementary Music Teacher
PMEA Mentor Program Chair
PMEA District 6 Professional Development Chair