A few months ago, I mentioned this summer’s 2021 National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (NCKP) virtual conference. The pre-conference sessions officially began TODAY (yay!). I’ve been happily enjoying some wonderful virtual sessions already this afternoon, and am so excited about the programming over the next few weeks. The NCKP planners have chosen a wonderful app that allows for connecting with other attendees while enjoying the virtual presentations. It’s the next best thing besides being in-person with my teacher friends and colleagues.
In this year’s NCKP, I am involved with two different sessions. The first is a presentation about a personal project with my young daughter, Aria, and our first year of Early Childhood Music sessions at home together. (I’ve been putting my ECM certification through the Gordon Institute for Music Learning (see GIML.org) to good use recently!) This session will take place during the pre-conference this Friday the 16th from 1:05-2:00pm EDT. Here’s the full description:
Music is Child’s Play: Lessons Learned from My Youngest Student
This session has it all: storytelling, lessons learned, pedagogical insights, and baby videos! Piano teacher Joy Morin shares videos and research documenting her daughter’s first year of developing “preparatory audiation” according to the stages outlined in Edwin E. Gordon’s Music Learning Theory (MLT). Come hear the lessons babies can teach music teachers everywhere and gain insights that can transform our pedagogy of young learners.
The second session I am involved with is a panel discussion along with four wonderful colleagues: Lynnette Barney, Christopher Oill, Tony Parlapiano, and Clinton Pratt. This session will take place during the main conference on Saturday, July 31, 2021 from 4:00-4:50pm. Here is the full description:
Teaching Students to Fish: Developing Independent Learners From the First Lesson.
“Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Our long-term goal is to teach our way out of a job, right? We want our students to be independent learners from the start. This session features five experienced teachers who offer engaging, practical, and out-of-the-box teaching strategies so your students cast their own lines!
If you are attending NCKP this year, I hope you will look for these two sessions in the schedule! I would love to see you there virtually and connect with you via the NCKP app!
If you haven’t registered for NCKP but would like to, you’ll find info about it here.
PS: It’s that time of year! I’ve started receiving inquiries from a few piano teacher associations about speaking on their 2021-22 program. So far, I am booked to speak in Livonia, MI, Columbus, OH, and Holland, MI. If you’re in any of those areas and would like to attend, let me know and I can send you the details. If YOUR local association is working on programming, please feel free to pass my name along. I have a list of presentation topics available here and am available for in-person or Zoom presentations. I would love to speak for your piano teachers association this year! Thanks for considering me.
