Welcome to our new MMEA website! As you can see, the site has a totally new look, and should prove to be much more user friendly.
Planning for this transition began over a year ago. After much discussion, we decided to seek a company to administer our website that could offer more timely information to our members, support online registrations, easily accept changes and updated information, and, above all, be user friendly. That company proved to be Caledon Virtual in Columbia.
Foremost among the desired improvements was the ability to disseminate information to MMEA members quickly. That need was especially evident when questions arose regarding the weather and last year’s conference. This new site will allow us to quickly post information about weather, meetings, issues in state government, DESE updates, and many other important and timely issues.
This new website supports conference pre-registration for our members! Detailed instructions about completing this process may be found elsewhere on this website.
While paper registration forms will still be printed in the Missouri School Music magazine, we certainly hope the majority of our members will take advantage of the online pre-registration option. I’d encourage you to take advantage of the online option, and avoid the long onsite registration lines to which we’ve become accustomed.
Speaking of our conference, planning for our MMEA 72nd Annual In-Service Workshop/Conference is well underway. A challenge for those of us scheduling the conference is to present workshops and clinic sessions that are of value and interest to our members. As you know, our members cover the gamut from early childhood to college/university teaching levels, as well as community groups. Included in our membership are teachers in vocal, instrumental, general music, theory, music education, and many specialty areas. [Recent surveys show that many of our members teach in more than one specific area.] Time and space dictate what can be offered during the conference. So, here are some things to look for this year.
On Wednesday we will present some very interesting pre-conference sessions. One is a two-part session that should have broad appeal to our members. Denise Gagne will present “Music-Literacy-Learning” which will show how creativity is fostered through the connection of music and literature. Dr. Carla Maltas and Steve Williams will present “Meaningful Assessment in the Music Classroom,” a presentation that will focus on assessment of large groups, performance ensembles, assessing skills, and creativity. “First Aid for First-Year Teachers” will be presented by MMEA Mentoring Chair Steve Litwiller and a panel of experienced music educators. This session will include information about classroom management, inclusion, and specific help in specific areas. Registration forms for these pre-conference sessions may be found in MSM, on this website, or may be included as part of the conference pre-registration.
For the first time, a conference session will be presented on Wednesday night. Leigh Kallestad, MakeMusic, will present “SmartMusic2010: The Top 10 Things You Want To Know.” The clinic will begin at 7:00 p.m. in Tan-Tar-A’s Parasol II, and will focus on SmartMusic topics for music educators, working with solos and exercises, using band and string method books, SmartMusic Gradebook, and other related topics.
Traditionally, Saturday has been a day of district meetings, and not too much else. That, too, is changing! Besides those district meetings, there will be two band clinic sessions, a concert by the Truman State University Brass Choir, a choir session, and a couple of other clinic sessions.
Again, time and space have dictated these slight modifications in scheduling. And, they do allow us to present even more information to our members.
Finally, a conference schedule will soon be posted on this website. It should help you make decisions about what to look for during the conference, and should be useful when applying for funding from your local district!
