Improving the world with music...beginning with you
Birmingham Music Teachers Association
Last night while trying to find information on teacher workshops in Birmingham, I stumbled upon the Birmingham Music Teachers Association. I investigated their site and sent an email inquiring as to whether membership with the BMTA would be helpful in my quest to become a better teacher for the young ones I am dealing on a daily basis. I received the following reply:
"Hey Lauren:
There are three reasons that I can think membership in BMTA could benefit your teaching:
1. Our workshops are fabulous – we have 3 or 4 per year, and last year’s were excellent. One day we had a whole workshop on music games to do with groups of children of various ages. In another workshop, new sheet music was “premiered” for us.
2. Our BMTA library – there are many resources available for “loan” from the BMTA library. You can find a complete listing on our web site.
3. Networking – a lot of times, you just need to know someone with the right connections, or the right experience to help you reach your goals. BMTA gives you the opportunity to get to know others in your field. Also, it will help you get the word out about your organization, and possibly get you patrons and donors!
I’m also copying your inquiry to our president, Amy McClelland, who might be able to give you further information. We would love to have you join us, and on a personal level, I would be interested in helping you in your efforts.
Sandy"
According to Sandy's email, it sounds wonderful. Annual membership dues are modest ($16 for active membership, $10 for associate membership), but membership applications and dues for the 2008-2009 school year are due JUNE 1st! I wanted to give everyone a heads-up about this, as membership with the BMTA will probably be beneficial for those of us who are new to teaching in a group setting, and they seem very eager to help us. I'm sending in my membership application ASAP, and challenge those of you who seek to improve your teaching skills to do the same.
"Hey Lauren:
There are three reasons that I can think membership in BMTA could benefit your teaching:
1. Our workshops are fabulous – we have 3 or 4 per year, and last year’s were excellent. One day we had a whole workshop on music games to do with groups of children of various ages. In another workshop, new sheet music was “premiered” for us.
2. Our BMTA library – there are many resources available for “loan” from the BMTA library. You can find a complete listing on our web site.
3. Networking – a lot of times, you just need to know someone with the right connections, or the right experience to help you reach your goals. BMTA gives you the opportunity to get to know others in your field. Also, it will help you get the word out about your organization, and possibly get you patrons and donors!
I’m also copying your inquiry to our president, Amy McClelland, who might be able to give you further information. We would love to have you join us, and on a personal level, I would be interested in helping you in your efforts.
Sandy"
According to Sandy's email, it sounds wonderful. Annual membership dues are modest ($16 for active membership, $10 for associate membership), but membership applications and dues for the 2008-2009 school year are due JUNE 1st! I wanted to give everyone a heads-up about this, as membership with the BMTA will probably be beneficial for those of us who are new to teaching in a group setting, and they seem very eager to help us. I'm sending in my membership application ASAP, and challenge those of you who seek to improve your teaching skills to do the same.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lauren Krothe on -
I just received this email from the president of the BMTA:
Hello Lauren,
I just received your e-mail from Sandy Stephenson, our new BMTA membership chair. I visited your websites and was so impressed -- and especially impressed with scrollworks. This is a concept which I'm sure we've all dreamed about at one time or another, and I was so happy to see it finally 'actualized'!
To add to Sandy's wonderful list, I might mention that most BMTA members really benefit from the recitals and special events for our students. My students always love participating in the Christmas recitals at Brookwood mall. There are also the "Musical Miniature" recitals, scholarships, Sonata-Sonatina Competition, Keyboard Artist Competition, AFMC Jr. "Gold Cup" Festivals etc. etc. While many of these events predominantly focus on piano, there is a Voice Festival, and voice students are welcome to perform in the recitals. In fact, there are several voice teachers who are members in BMTA and their students often participate. Also, one of our BMTA members was the featured performer in a voice recital at our May luncheon at Birmingham Museum of Art.
When I can find some more free time I'd love to learn more about scrollworks and explore ways BMTA might be able to offer support for this wonderful program. For example, perhaps we could beef-up the BMTA reference library (housed at Ellis Piano) to include more music books which could be checked-out and used by students involved in scrollworks etc. I'm sure we could contact publishers to donate music. Do you already have a similar library for your participants?
At any rate, it was wonderful to hear from you and I hope to see you in the future!
Sincerely,
Amy McLelland, NCTM
President, Birmingham Music Teachers Association
Wow. These people are so eager to help us! It seems like establishing a relationship between Scrollworks and the BMTA could prove to be beneficial to all.
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Permalink Reply by Harry Miree on -
I concur.
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