Introduction To Music Blueprint Professional development
The Office of the Arts and Special Projects provides citywide professional development in the implementation of the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts. Professional development sessions are led by master teachers—outstanding public school arts teachers identified by the DOE—and teaching artists—professional artists from local cultural organizations. During these sessions, teachers explore the five Blueprint strands of arts education, and learn strategies for lesson plan building and engaging children in the arts. Teachers participate in hands-on projects, allowing them to directly apply the lessons learned at training sessions to their classrooms. The Office of Arts and Special Projects also supplies teachers with toolkits containing materials to implement these projects in the classroom.

Upcoming PD in Music

Effective Teaching Strategies for the Beginning Instrumental and Core Music Specialist
Registration Deadline - February 23, 2010

Music teachers with less than three years of experience can register now for the P-Credit course Effective Teaching Strategies for the Beginning Core/Instrumental Music Specialist. This course will focus upon effective methods for maximizing teacher-student communication, classroom management, unit/lesson planning, selecting appropriate repertoire, creating adaptive musical arrangements, acquiring instructional resources, and developing supports for one's program.

Information about P-Credit:
P-Credit courses are offered through the Department of Education's After-School Professional Development Program. They are not graduate or undergraduate courses and they are not affiliated with any college/university.

P-credit courses may be applied to salary differential requirements and to the NYS 175 hour professional development requirement to maintain Professional Certification.

As a new teacher, you are encouraged to take a total of 30 credits to be eligible for a salary increase. You will receive three credits after successfully completing this course.

All participants are required to satisfactorily complete every assignment and activity in the course in order to receive a passing grade. In addition, all "P" In-Service courses require the completion of a mid-term, and a final (which can be in the form of an exam, project, journal, paper) and have satisfactory attendance.

The $100 registration fee is your responsibility, not the responsibility of your school or principal.

Please contact artsandspecialprojects@schools.nyc.gov with any questions.

These three, full-day, participatory sessions will familiarize teachers with accessible strategies to integrate appropriate music learning activities into their classroom practice, enabling them to create and deliver meaningful music experiences to their students. Participants will receive a variety of instructional materials for use in the classroom. This course will enable schools to provide additional meaningful music instruction that aligns with the arts Blueprints and counts towards fulfilling the NYSED arts instructional requirements.

Teams must consist of two to five teachers from grades Pre-K to 3. Teams may include elementary level arts specialists. Please select staff members who will actively share what they have learned with their colleagues. The entire team is required to participate in all three workshop dates. Schools can register more than one team but the online registration must be submitted separately for each team. Space is limited to 60 participants.

Registration/Payment:
To enroll a team in a workshop series please complete the following steps by February 12, 2010

Please contact artsandspecialprojects@schools.nyc.gov with questions.

Collaborative Inquiry for Effective Music Teaching: Asking Questions and Finding Answers to Improve Student Achievement in Music
Registration CLOSED.
Payment Due Immediately.

How reflective are you about your teaching practice? How often are you given the opportunity to brainstorm with peers and find solutions to shared, specific issues that arise in your daily practice?

This series of workshops will provide opportunities to call upon the collective expertise, resources, and experiences of our fellow music educators, enabling us to examine our strategies for teaching music and the results we subsequently get.

Working in small collaborative groups based on level, specialty area, and experience, we will draw upon our own experiences and talents to determine lines of inquiry for teaching music and improving student mastery.

Building on the assessment work we did last year, small cohorts will establish areas of inquiry or need, share what works, provide evidence of how they know it works, exchange strategies, and support each other to improve outcomes for all our students.

Some examples of types of questions that might arise:
- How can I better meet the needs of my students in a particular area of music study?
- Which students aren't I reaching and what might I be doing to reach them?
- Why isn't a teaching technique working?
- How can I improve my students' retention so they progress toward Music Blueprint benchmarks?
- What issues of classroom management do I want to address and improve upon?

Designed to include an immersion in music content, the day will include an open reflection on teaching and learning in music, enriching our small team discussions.