band
Chasing Sunlight Carrie Backman, WMEA State Chair, Band
I am writing this as the sun brightly shines on my face during an unusual warm weather streak in November! As you read this you’ll remember this beau- tiful week looking back! The happi-
ness, warmth and feel of the sun bright- ening my day reminds me of how we are all truly chasing sunlight in every sense of the phrase. And yes I chose to title this article by the name of an amazing wind band composition by Cait Nishimura! Check it out if you don’t know it! While I am writing this, my students are having a “mandatory go outside and play” class day. They check in with selfies smiling on their porch, and recordings of their playing and composing!
Our teaching and learning experience since COVID-19 began has given us the opportunity to step back and learn or re- mind ourselves why we and our students do this thing we call music, or band, in the first place. I have found it is and isn’t what I thought it was about a year ago. We want to play, we want connection, we want fun and community, we want to learn and grow, we want choice and we want independence from assignments and grades, we want a safe place focused on social and emotional learning (even though our students don’t name it that). COVID-19 has also presented an oppor- tunity to commit to or be what we truly believe for ourselves and our students with the pressures and commitments we all usually have to navigate around our educational goals on hold for a while. I’ve had my own storms through this and each day feels like a rollercoaster of who am I, what am I supposed to be doing,
is anyone digging this, etc.? Amidst the storm we have found sunlight forcing its way through and without the storm we don’t recognize the sunlight.
What sunlight will we remember that we can carry with us post-COVID-19 that will make our daily band experiences richer, more inclusive and focused on what is important? Whether you are virtual, hybrid, in person, or any combination of our new ways of teaching and learning, this time continues to provide us ample opportunity to positively move music and music education forward. Just as genres of music that we all too often don’t connect to our “band world,” such as hip hop, jazz spoken word, etc., work to bring music and the world forward and together in all ways, so can we as music educators take this time as the sunlight to guide us to continued work in going forward.
CMP Summer Workshop
CMP Summer Workshop 2021 for K-12 Band, Choir, General Music, Orchestra and Private Studio Teachers
Monday, June 28 – Friday, July 2, 2021
• Earn graduate credit. • Bring intention to your planning and purpose to your teaching. • Spend the week alongside great colleagues & master teachers. • Help your students develop a deeper understanding of the music they are learning.
• For all levels of CMP interest and experience in band, choir, orchestra, studio and general music.
Watch for more details to come at
wmeamusic.org/CMP 22 January 2021
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