NC Music Educator Conference Edition 2022

Technology
Howie Ledford, Chair
Greetings friends! I hope this letter finds you well, and
having a great start to your school year. When you read
this, it will be conference time. The Music Technology
Committee has a great line up for you this year. It is as wide and as
varied as normal.
Music First will be coming back again. Dr. Jim Frankel
is the head of digital education for Wise Music and director
of MusicFirst. Previously, he was the managing director of
SoundTree, and before that he was the instrumental and general
music teacher for 15 years in New Jersey Public Schools. Frankel
is a widely published author in various state, national and
international journals of music education. He is the author of The
Teachers Guide to Music, and Media & Copyright Law, co-author
of YouTube in Music Education, contributing author for Critical
Issues in Music Education and co-author of Making Music with
GarageBand & Mixcraft. In addition to his writing, he is a highly
sought-after clinician and keynote speaker in the local, national
and international music education community. He is on the board
of directors for TI:ME and is the past president of ATMI.
Another interesting topic of conversation this conference will
be the discussion about Starting a Modern Band Program at
your school. Dr. Rachyl Smith from ECU will be discussing her
experiences with Aycock Middle School in Greenville. Modern
Band is rock band with teeth. This means students make music
using the non-traditional band, choir, orchestra, and general
music model. This is becoming a standard.
Along those same lines, Dr. Mark Dillon and Liz May-
Campbell from GTCC are going to be doing a workshop entitled
So Your Principal Asked You to Turn on the Microphone. This
clinic takes anyone through the basics of live sound. This is super
useful for the beginning teacher and veteran alike.
Also on the docket, we will have clinics that will enhance
your basic knowledge of Learning Management Systems (LMS)
such as Canvas and Google. Amber Mattatall from Burke County
always has new and fresh ideas that work. Her colleagues in
her district think she is a model teacher. Her clinic on Google
Forms should prove to freshen up an old topic. Amber Houk
from McDowell County will be giving a clinic on Google Slides
and how to do more with them. She is going to give you some
innovative tips that level up your Google Slide game.
Julian Wilson is going to take the power of Canvas up a level.
Wilson is from York Chester Middle School in Gaston County.
As well as being the band director, he is working on a Master’s in
instructional technology. He is brining practical knowledge on
how to make Canvas work harder for you.
Justin Dickson is a conference favorite. His clinics are always
well attended. Dickson is the band director at Carroll Middle
School for Leadership in Technology Magnet in Raleigh. His clinic
on GarageBand seems like it will be amazing. His philosophy is
students should have fun playing music. He is going to teach you
how to make super fun tracks for your kids that will help them
learn.
Mindy Cook is going to take a look at MIDI keyboards in
your classroom. She is the chorus and general music teacher
at Heritage Middle School in Burke County. She is presently
working on a Master’s in music education with a concentration
in Peacebuilding and Social-Emotional Learning. This piece of
equipment is often overlooked in our classroom, but it can make a
huge difference in a learning environment. She will also be using
the power of Garage Band to help you understand what they can
do for us.
Chad Cygan will also be looking at the synthesizer from a
completely different perspective. He is the director of choral
activities at the North Carolina School of Science and Math and
will be talking about synthesizers, Garage Band, and making
vocal tracks for your chorus classroom. He has served as faculty
at the Juilliard School, City College (N.Y.), Maine South High
School, Ohlone College, the Amherst Early Music Festival, and
many other organizations. Cygan completed his Bachelor’s of
Music Education (Illinois), and Master’s in Music (Juilliard), and
will complete his Doctor of Musical Arts at the Graduate Center
(CUNY). He is a certified K – 12 teacher.
Finally, if you have not checked out the NCMEA Podcast, you
really should. This podcast takes on a diverse number of topics the
organization is grappling with right now. You can find it on Apple,
Spotify, and Anchor. I, and the Music Technology Committee,
look forward to seeing you at conference this year.
MOUNTAINEER
Audition Required • Auditions in January and February 2023
Save the Date for the 55th Cannon Music Camp • June 24–July 15, 2023
PERSPECTIVE
music.appstate.edu
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