AOSA National Conference

This past week I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the American Orff Schulwerk Association National Conference in Atlantic City, NJ.  Read more about the Orff Schulwerk aproach here.  With over 800 people in attendance, I had the opportunity to visit with old friends, meet other like-minded educators from across the country and sit among some of the nation's most well respected clinicians and music educators.

The theme of the conference was "Sailing the Seven C's", a play on words that referenced the ocean locale and 21st Century Skill's 4 C's (read about it here).  In addition to the 4 C's of 21st Century skills (Communication, Creativity, Collaboration and Critical Thinking), the conference added Community, Culture and Connections to round out the seven.

Over the next several posts I will be sharing some highlights from my trip.  In a nut shell, here is how my trip was impacted by the "Seven C's":

Communication:

 One of my favorite sessions was on a topic called "Responsive Classroom," a classroom management technique that has been around for several decades, but is starting to build steam in the educational world.  Matthew Stensrud, presenter and book collaborator, demonstrated the power of non-verbal communication in a responsive classroom setting through interactive modeling.

Creativity:

Another favorite session of mine was on the topic of Dalcroze-Eurythmics.  In this session we split into groups and used creative movement to tell a story.  It was neat to see the similarities and differences in how each group told the same story through movement.

Collaboration:

In a session on musical modes, we split into groups to create a musical arrangement and movement for different songs.  The songs were then performed during different parts of a story.  Our group had to work together by first deciding who would be singers, xylophone and recorder players and dancers and then creating our arrangement and movement piece.  

Critical Thinking:

 One key aspect of teaching from the Orff Schulwerk approach is something we often call "processing."  In other words, scaffolding a lesson to make it more meaningful and easier to achieve high levels of musicality in a short amount of time.  Many sessions demonstrated techniques and ways of thinking through the process to make our music more accessible to the students.  When music is accessible, students are more likely to make their own connections and start thinking more critically about how to make their performance of a higher quality.

Culture:

 Music is a wonderful way to make cultural connections.  Sessions from Scandinavian Dances to African drumming were offered throughout the week.  In particular, World Drumming sessions highlighted how cultural music can begin to change the "culture" of a school or classroom by teaching respect and team building.

Connections:

The connections I made during this conference were invaluable!  Not only did I get to renew some connections from my Orff levels courses, I was able to sit among music educators that influence my teaching on a daily basis.  

I danced with Peter and Mary Alice Amidon, whose folk dancing and singing game books are used across our district. I'm Growing Up is a new favorite of mine and budget item from this past year.

I interacted with Dr. Wendy Valerio and Dr. Butch Marshal, both former students of Edwin Gordon (read about him here), who shared more ideas from the book Music Play, which I use in many of my preschool and kindergarten lessons.

Roger Sams and Beth Ann Hepburn, authors of the Purposeful Pathways series, presented several sessions demonstrating expert processing and differentiation techniques.  (I won this book and several percussion instruments in a silent auction and can't wait to start using it!)

Community:

 One of my favorite moments of the conference was on our final day when the Vienna Jammers, a percussion ensemble from Vienna, VA comprised of students ages 8-15 years old, performed in the lobby area of the conference center.  People lined the four floors of the conference center balcony areas to watch this awesome group as their music echoed through the building.  It was touching to see some of our nation's greatest educators standing in awe and being inspired by these young children.

Thank you to PMEA and the Margaret S. Bauer Grant for providing funding for me to attend, learn and grow!