Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • WINTER 2016 • PAN PIPES 19 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z From the very first day you enter college as a brand new freshman, you consider the various professional organizations and wonder what each organization truly offers to you now and what it will offer in the future. What people can tell you time and time again, but you'll never truly appreciate until you experience it yourself, is the benefit of attending your professional organizations' conferences. Of course the ultimate conference to attend is that at the national level. If you're unsure that attending the conference is for you, or if you haven't gone to a professional conference in quite some time and are leery of taking time out of your schedule to do so, here are my top 10 reasons to attend a professional conference of any level (national, regional, state or even the local level). Please bear in mind that as a music educator, I'll reference music education conferences, particularly choral music education. My goal, however, is for all readers to find reasons to attend their profession's conferences. 10. Could be paid for by your administration. Many districts oen keep money aside for teachers and professionals to attend conferences. Administrators know that when they're able to do this for their employees, it's a win-win situation for both parties. Teachers (or other professionals) get a few days to renew their love for their profession, as well as finding new skills and inspiration. Administrators have educators and staff members returning to work feeling validated and eager to put into practice what they've acquired during their time away. It helps us to stay current and informed as educators and lets an administrator feel confident that their teachers are accessing current practices and ideas. 9. Mental break from the every day routine. At any place of employment, a person can easily get stuck in a "rut" or begin to feel as though they're just simply going through the motions in order to survive on a day to day basis. As music teachers (of any level), we find ourselves with the pressures of performances, grading and assessments, curriculum writing, needing to put that next assignment or practice track into a computer program for our students, re-writing parts for our students and ensembles- -see where I'm headed? As much as we love our jobs, students, and colleagues, burn out can be inevitable. If we step back even just for a day, our love and passion for our professions can be re- ignited. 8. Easy graduate credit. It's a common trend for conference organizers to partner with local universities to offer college credit to attendees. In my experience, usually 1-2 credits are available and are very reasonably priced. A paper or a project is oen expected with supporting materials to prove that you've been in attendance and allow for reflection of what you've experienced or learned. Depending on the sessions you attend, you can easily bring along your tablet or laptop and take notes electronically as you go along, easily transforming your document into the project or paper that is expected. 7. Sharpen existing skills. Every great professional knows that in order to continue being great, you need to take an inventory of current strengths and areas for growth. Each year brings a new set of students to the classroom with unique challenges and new opportunities. You'll need to access different skills that you may not have used before or needed to access within the last year or so. It is likely that a conference would offer the chance for you to learn more about a particular skill or teaching strategy without having to enroll in a full college course. 6. Learn new skills. As educators, we strive to be life long learners and know that if we come to the conclusion one day that we've "figured it all out," that might be a sign to retire. I personally feel that the moment I begin to lose my enthusiasm for teaching a particular course, then it is time to refresh my outlook and find new ways to bring the content to life for my students. Conferences are a great venue to survey a wide variety of current trends across our profession-which certainly helps to spice up our routines in class or rehearsal, aid us in our every day efficiency, and incorporate technology into our teaching practices. For example, learning how to use computer programs to help my choral students with practice, sight-reading, and assessment has been a huge gain for me thanks to attending various conferences. 5. Free stuff! I mean, really, who doesn't love free stuff? New swag? Goodies? I personally love the pens and pencils that I can take back for my students, because let's face it, when you ask your kids to take out their pencils to mark something in their score, you're given the blank stare and know full well that they don't have a pencil. While you will definitely be purchasing many items such as the latest method books, or trying to supplement your music library, many vendors will be happy to hand out free stuff if you chat them up about how much you appreciate their products. As musicians, we tend to carry around an abundance of "stuff " to begin with, so why not have a new canvas bag to use, or some interesting new teaching aids to try out with all of your new found knowledge? 4. Networking. We take staying in touch with our colleagues and college friends for granted with social media. However, nothing replaces genuine face-to-face time to reconnect with those we haven't seen in a long time, as well as make new connections and expand our professional network. A prime example of this for me was when I attended my first national music education conference and met the president for the Massachusetts MENC. We were sitting next to each other at a leadership seminar and somehow struck up a conversation about looking for a job in Massachusetts, particularly on Cape Cod (come to find out she lived and worked on Cape Cod!). e more we talked, the more I either impressed her or we just somehow clicked, and she told me with complete certainty and a business card to call her once I was ready for a job. MUSIC EDUCATION 10 Reasons to Attend a Professional Conference CONFERENCE continued on page 29

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