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Music

Transform Your Music Teaching This Summer

The Orff Schulwerk Teacher Education summer courses provide K-8 music teachers with classroom-building tools and career-enhancing credentials. Mason Orff director Donna Fleetwood shares some special insights into what the program has to offer.

 

Donna Fleetwood Music LessonsFROM ORFF AT MASON DIRECTOR DONNA FLEETWOOD:

 

 

 

Are you at that crucial mid-point of the school year where energy and ideas are running short and a myriad of new questions may be coming up each day? Do you have burning questions around curriculum, process, performance, addressing student needs – both creative and constructive?

Mason is ready to help you with the Who, What, Where, When and How questions you may have by providing some answers that will help guide your decisions in making summer plans to take the next professional step!

WHO?
No matter where you are in the teaching journey, there is a place for you at Mason. Our program is perfect for you if:

  • You are a new teacher searching for solutions and solid answers to help you build a strong and effective classroom approach.
  • You are an experienced teacher who is yearning to be re-energized and inspired by other professionals and peers.
  • You are re-entering the teaching field and would like support and guidance in refreshing your skills and learning about current trends in music education.
  • You are on the path to Certification in Orff Schulwerk (by successfully completing Levels I, II and III over a period of 3 summers). This summer is the time to take the next important step while skills and concepts are fresh. Moving forward with supportive colleagues can be a very positive experience.

 

 

WHAT?
Are you searching for opportunities to strengthen and broaden your teaching experience and music ed curriculum wheelhouse? Our summer workshop provides several pathways to success, including official Certification, teacher recertification points, and Graduate credit options:

  • Orff Schulwerk Certification Levels Courses (I-III) comprise one of the leading philosophies of active music education including musical and movement skills, theory and pedagogy for grades K-8, and can provide the in-depth training that you need. Each Level is taken in successive summers and official Orff Schulwerk Certification (granted through the American Orff Schulwerk Association) is awarded upon successful completion of Level III. Certification in Orff Schulwerk is widely recognized as a significant professional step in both the public and private school sector. Learning to create original teaching materials that have meaning for your students and developing supportive connections with colleagues and instructors are only two of the important benefits of participation in the program. The courses also help prepare teachers and therapists for the challenge of developing music programs adapted to the needs of their students. Whether you register as a For-(College)-Credit or Non-Credit participant, both options lead to certification!
  • Specialized Supplemental Courses (offered the week prior to the Levels courses) can provide augmented and/or new experiences. These classes are designed to strengthen and extend professional skills covered in the Levels courses or to introduce the participant to new approaches to music education. A new line-up of courses is offered each summer, including Orff, Kodály and Feierabend related programs, and provide the perfect training ground to discuss and test your ideas for lessons and activities in a supportive environment. Some courses even collaborate with music-related youth camps to provide hands-on applications in real time!

 

WHERE?
Find what you need at Mason’s Potomac Arts Academy, the community arts organization within the University which administers the Teacher Training programs alongside the many arts-based summer programs, camps and workshops for youth. For those For-Credit participants seeking graduate credit for their study, the Academy collaborates with Mason’s School of Music and Learning Solutions offices to manage all of the necessary paperwork and so forth. The fact that we are located in Fairfax, VA just west of Washington DC provides an added “touristy” benefit for those traveling from outside the region.

 

WHEN?
These programs are offered every summer in July. For Summer 2017, the dates for the two-week Levels courses are July 17-28 (8:30 am- 4:40 pm, Monday-Friday). The dates for the one-week Supplemental courses are July 10-14 (times vary).

 

 

HOW?
The 2017 Supplemental courses offer several solutions to the unique needs of a K-8 music educator. Here’s how:

  • “Get it all in” in one week, include a choral experience, and foster creativity while meeting curriculum goals and preparing for performances. The Orff Schulwerk Experience Series* courses are perfectly designed to do just this. In addition, daily interaction with children brings the learning and discussion into sharp focus.
    *From the Classroom to Performance: Strategies and Transitions with Donna Fleetwood and Betsy Kipperman
    *Process>Pedagogy>Performance: Nurturing Healthy Voices for Successful Singing with Keith Hudspeth
  • Strengthen and enrich the musical experience by making connections with other learning areas. Orff specialist Elaine Larson* has extensive experience in integrating music with other areas of learning across the curriculum to provide a depth of understanding using literature, music and movement.
    *Curriculum Connections: Integrating Music and Movement Across the Curriculum with Elaine Larson
  • Create a conducive environment for including more movement in a more meaningful way in your classroom and build personal confidence and skill as a mover. Movement specialist Kris Olson* guides growth in artistry and skill while exploring movement as a pedagogue.
    *Enriching the Movement Experience for Yourself and Those You Teach with Kris Olson
  • Engage with your youngest students, plan and structure early childhood movement and music activities to include creativity while building skills and concepts, and address their unique needs using appropriate media and activities. The Early Childhood Experience Series* courses work in a complimentary way to explore and achieve these goals. Kris Olson brings her extensive experience with movement, music and young learners to life with props, activities and materials, and Rachel Grimsby provides a look at research findings on the development of an early childhood music and movement curriculum (based on the Feierabend approach).
    *Movement and Music in Early Childhood with Kris Olson
    *First Steps in Music for Early Childhood with Rachel Grimsby
  • Take care of yourself – sustaining your energy for a better teaching and LIFE experience. Robbin Marcus* illustrates new ways to adjust to the daily physical (and mental!) demands of music teaching by reducing stress and pain.
    *Alexander Technique for Music Educators with Robbin Marcus
  • Address the beginning Kodály needs of upper elementary and middle school learners, and improve your solfege and sight-singing skills. Ivy Rawlins Ward* and her team invite you to explore methods and resources geared to this specific age group, which lay the foundations for a strong Kodály sequence of learning – plus, you can brush up your solfege skills!
    *Brush Up Your Kodaly with Beth Anne Young, Ginger Albertson and Ivy Rawlins Ward

 

Non-Credit participant registration is open now, and For-Credit participant registration will be open by March 1st. Convenient on-campus housing is also available. We hope you will take the leap and join us for another great summer of learning, sharing and growing!

LEARN MORE ABOUT ORFF AND REGISTER

 

The Academy will be closed for Spring Break beginning Monday, March 25 and will re-open on Monday, April 1. We will be operating with limited hours. For any urgent requests, please call 703-993-9889.

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