NC Music Educator Conference Edition 2022

Don’t Throw Away Your Shot! Establishing a
Culture that Produces Results!
This session is geared for beginning teachers and
undergraduate students. A concern for new teachers is how to
hold high expectations while still keeping students excited. This
session will explore ways on how music teachers can establish
a culture that promotes discipline and responsibility while still
being fun and productive for students. Ideas discussed in the
session are meant to serve as a guide for new and future teachers
to use once they return or enter the classroom.
Defying Gravity: Conquering Your FEAR of
Parents
Parents are a great resource for building a successful culture
in a music program, and provide valuable assistance throughout
the year. During this session, attendees will discuss strategies
for dealing with parents, including preventative measures and
situational circumstances. Participants will leave with real-world
approaches they can implement when they return to the classroom
or begin their careers. For undergraduates and first year teachers.
Dr. Brandon Meeks
Dr. Brandon Meeks is from Charlotte, and is currently
the director of athletic bands and assistant professor of music
education at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia.
He is a graduate of Florida State University where he received
his PhD and Masters in music education. He is also a 2009
graduate of Western Carolina University where he received a
Bachelor of Science in music education. While at WCU, he was
a recipient of the prestigious North Carolina Teaching Fellows
scholarship program. From 2009 – 2016 he served as the director
of bands at East Lincoln Middle School in Iron Station, N.C.
During his tenure at East Lincoln, the band program experienced
growth, consistently received superior and excellent ratings at
state festivals and maintained a culture of high expectations and
musical excellence.
An Introduction to Commonly Used Hand
Drums for Educators
This session is geared toward any band, choir, or general
music teacher who wants to improve their hand drum technique,
content knowledge, and pedagogy. It may be particularly helpful
for the non-percussionist teacher who wants to refine (or learn
for the first time) their technical approach to the most commonly
asked for hand drums in school ensembles: djembe, congas, and
bongo. It will cover topics on basic technique and set-up for
each drum, brief historical and cultural backgrounds on each
instrument, strategies for hand drum instruction, integration of
the instruments into the standard ensembles, and opportunities for
further hand drum study.
McKayla Phillips
McKayla Phillips is a percussionist and educator based out
of Raleigh. They are currently a visiting lecturer of percussion
at UNC Chapel Hill and an adjunct professor of percussion at
Shaw University. They are currently pursuing a Doctorate of
Musical Arts at UNC Greensboro, where they serve as a graduate
teaching assistant. They earned a Masters of Music from Indiana
University Jacobs School of Music and received Bachelors of
Music Education and Bachelors of Music Performance degrees
from UNC Greensboro. Phillips proudly endorses Black Swamp
Percussion and Innovative Percussion. For more information
about McKayla Phillips, visit their personal web site at
www.mckaylaphillips.com.
Acing edTPA: Lasting Effects of Contextual
Understanding and Artistic Expression
Dr. Alsop will focus on practical strategies for incorporating
contextual understandings and artistic expression in secondarylevel
instrumental ensembles. This session will benefit collegiate
students who have yet to complete The Educative Teacher
Performance Assessment (edTPA), as well as mentor teachers.
By examining links between contextual understandings, artistic
expression, and the national music standards, music teachers
of all experience levels will develop strategies for cultivating
lifelong music learners.
Dr. Michael Alsop
Dr. Michael Alsop is assistant professor of music education
at the University of Louisville, where he teaches undergraduate
and graduate courses in music education and supervises student
teachers. He was previously lecturer of music education and
athletic bands at UNC Pembroke. He completed his Ph.D. in
music education at the University of Georgia, where he received
the Director’s Excellence Award and the Outstanding Teaching
Assistant Award. He earned prior degrees in music education from
the University of Louisville (M.M.E.) and DePauw University
(B.M.E.). Alsop previously taught middle and high school
band and general music in Brazil, Ind. He has over a decade
of experience working in the marching arts, including time on
staff with three world class drum and bugle corps, Indiana state
finalist and champion bands, and a Bands of America 3A national
champion and grand national finalist band.
Building Student Ownership of the Choral
Program
This session will provide teachers with information on
establishing and building upon student ownership and leadership
in the choral/general music classroom, focusing on opportunities
created around peer-teaching and evaluation, section leader/
choir committee responsibilities, recruitment, and student-led
performance groups. Other opportunities such as providing
student choice and decision-making within the ensemble,
designing t-shirts and concert program covers, creating quizzes
and other assessments, will also be covered. “As we come
out of the pandemic and start to rebuild expectations and
standards for our programs, working in these opportunities for
student ownership and leadership in our ensembles will help to
reestablish engagement, success, and community.”
Emily AsKew
Emily AsKew is the chorus director at Ledford Middle School,
where she has taught for the past five years. She received her
Bachelor of Music from UNC Greensboro with a focus in vocal/
general music education, and is currently pursuing a master’s in
music education from UNCG. She is the DCS Middle School
All-County Chorus coordinator, and NC ACDA MiddleFest
co-coordinator. She serves on the NCMEA Middle School
Choral Board, and is the artistic director and conductor for the
Lexington Youth Chorus. She taught chorus and general music in
Union County 2017 – 2018, and student taught chorus at South
Asheboro Middle School in 2016. She also has several years of
experience teaching private voice and piano lessons, as well as
musical theater.
Strategies for Passing the Praxis
Dr. Ran Whitley’s Strategies for Passing the Praxis, will
provide insight into strategies for preparing to take the Music
Praxis II, including how the test is constructed, how the test is
scored and particular content areas most essential for review as
the collegiate student approaches taking Music Praxis II. The
session will review historical test statistics, sample multiple
choice questions and sample constructed response questions, as
well as resources to facilitate subsequent review. The ultimate
goal of this session is to help alleviate apprehension and anxiety
among collegiate students as they develop a practical personal
strategy for taking and passing Music Praxis II.
Dr. Ran Whitley
Dr. Ran Whitley is a professor of music education at Campbell
University, Buies Creek, where he holds the Alma Dark Howard
Endowed chair of music. His course offerings include music
theory, elementary music methods and children’s music ministry.
He earned the DM in music ministry from Southeastern Baptist
FOLLOW YOUR
PASSION
The Guilford College
Music Department offers
degrees in voice, piano,
guitar, strings, woodwinds,
brass, and percussion, plus
degree tracks in classical,
jazz, and recording/
production.
For more information, contact
Department Chair Drew Hays
at haysa@guilford.edu.
DEPARTMENT of MUSIC
Theological Seminary, as well as a Ph.D. in music education from
UNC Greensboro. He holds current teacher licensure in North
Carolina in both Music Education (K – 12) and ESL (K – 12).
His Orff training includes Orff Levels I – III and the Orff Master
Class from the University of Memphis. He has over 45 years of
experience in elementary music including public school teaching,
children’s music ministry, theory/counterpoint instruction and
teacher education.
Trauma Informed Pedagogy for Music Teachers
This session will focus on practices that can help a student
re-engage with musical learning and experiences. What does it
mean when a student in your classroom acts out in class? Are
they misbehaving, challenging us, or are they telling us about
something they need? The answers to these questions are often
quite surprising. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), more than two thirds
of children report having at least one traumatic experience by
the time they reach the age of 16. At least one in seven children
have experienced child abuse and/or neglect in a given year, and
about one in five report being bullied on school property. These
statistics tell us educators must learn about trauma, its impact on
students’ lives and learning, and how to respond to trauma when
we recognize it in our classrooms.
Dr. Katy Strand
Dr. Katy Strand is the Dottie Sink Sykes Distinguished
Endowed Professor of Music Education. She taught K – 12
WWW.GUILFORD.EDU
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