In this Issue:

Summer Workshops
PDP, Meet CMP!
A CMP Tip: don't forget the fine print
CMP Committee Members are busy!
In-Service Opportunities
Shaping Sound Musicians
Summer Workshops
The 2011 CMP Workshop was held on the campus of UW-Eau Claire from June 20-24, 2011.  Thank you to Alan Rieck and the other faculty and staff at UWEC for being such wonderful hosts.  Ten CMP staff members taught during the workshop -  Miriam Altman, Carrie Gruselle, Laura Sindberg, Gary Wolfman, Chris Gleason, David Bowman, Randy Swiggum, Karen Bruno, Margaret Jenks, Dave Mueller and Kathy Bartling. This year’s participants came from a variety of locations in Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa.  Participant’s teaching experience ranged from two years to thirty-three years. It was a fantastic week of collaborating and learning together.
 
Here is a sampling of quotes from the 2011 Workshop Participants at UW-Eau Claire:
 
In what ways will this workshop impact your teaching?
  • Too numerous to mention.
  • Refocus, energize, it really impacts more than just teaching for me!
  • I will go back to my choirs with a renewed enthusiasm for my craft of teaching. I will be more intentional in my teaching.
  • Changed forever!!
  • I love that planning is very intentional and deliberate not hit or miss. I’m starting to view my teaching and song selection through the CMP lens.
 
What was the best thing about this week?
  • Being surrounded by so many creative and inspiring teachers.
  • Just one? The sharing of ideas, development of fellowship, the generation of connections…
  • Collaboration, conversation, spending a week with people who are passionate about teaching music.
  • The level of interaction with facilitators and students – it was great to share ideas and learn.
2012 Workshop Announced
Come celebrate CMP's 35th Anniversary this summer.  The 2012 CMP Workshop will be held June 25-29 at Lawrence University, Appleton, WI

 

PDP, Meet CMP!

 

Are you looking for help with your Professional Development Plan?  Music Education majors about to enter the field of teaching and initial music educators face many challenges not the least of which is completing a Professional Development Plan (PDP) required to renew the PI 34 professional educators’ license.  CMP can help with this process!  In fact, CMP can guide and support all parts of the PDP process.   How to find out more:
  1. Please visit the CMP web site and view the document CMP and the PDP
  2. Come to our next CMP Workshop at Lawrence University, Appleton, WI from June 25-29, 2012
A CMP Tip: don't forget the fine print

A CMP Tip: read the fine print

Alert readers may notice the departure from the routine “A Tip from the Model” title of this regular Insights segment. Instead of reflecting, commenting, or attempting to inspire by focusing on one of the five points of our model, I choose to walk the line between those points and to ruminate on the fine print.
 
Awash in a SEA of TLA’s (Three-Letter Acronyms), and surrounded on all sides by educational jargon alphabet soup, let’s not forget the  non-capitalized “through” part of Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance—the little “t” between the big C, M and P. Because I’m a pushover for a good argument, I checked with thefreedictionary.com to see what the experts say, and these were among their definitions (with examples).
 
6. In one side and out the opposite or another side of: went through the tunnel.
This one worries me. It suggests the performance aspect is on the periphery. (In one ear…?)
 
5. Past and without stopping for: drove through a red light.
            Woah! Barrel right through! Not worth taking time to let things settle?
 
4. Among or between; in the midst of: a walk through the flowers.
            Now we’re getting closer. Performance infused with the fragrance of comprehensiveness.
I like this one.
 
3. By way of: climbed in through the window.
            Aha! This one sounds sneaky. Unless the example were marched through the door…But it does suggests a definite process with an intentional destination. Yes. We can work with this.
 
2. Here and there in; around: a tour through France.
            OK—let’s struggle with this one! If there is no final destination indicated, when is a journey valid and justifiable as an end in and of itself?  Hmmm…. In a performance class?
 
2. Because of; on account of: a tour through France.
            Comprehensive Musicianship on account of Performance? Because of Performance? How about a new acronym: EPCM:  Excellent Performance because of Comprehensive Musicianship?
 
For all of you who love to grapple with ideas, to occasionally take a magnifying glass to your philosophy of music education and to examine the teacher wedge of your soul, these are ideas to chew on. The old-school “all about the contest score” is outdated, at least to those likely to be reading this column, but for many teachers, excellence and high expectations for your performers is never outdated. Arm wrestling anyone?
By planning carefully and preemptively, we can save ourselves time in the long run—as well as having a successful performance season. 
CMP Committee Members are busy!
CMP committee members are busy!
 
Our CMP Committee Members have been or will be spotted hither and yon in 2011. Here are some of the reported or anticipated sightings:
 
Miriam Altman:
October 2011: WMEA—Music from Ghana, West Africa
 
Rick Bjella 
January 19 – 20, 2011  WCDA Collegiate Honor Choir
January 21, 2011: “Conducting: A Process To Excellence” Green Bay, WI (WCDA Convention)
February 17 – 20, 2011  All Northwest HS mixed choir (6 state region) Seattle, WA
March 2 – 4, 2011:   Clinics and workshops with 5 area schools  Dallas, TX
March 27-28, 2011: clinics and workshops The Woodlands, TX
April 14 – 17, 2011: Arizona all State mixed chorus Tempe, AZ
 
Chris Gleason
July 25-29, 2011: “Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance” Graduate Course VanderCook School of Music, Chicago, IL.
 
Carrie Gruselle
March 2011: National ASTA Conference in Kansas City “Assessment: a natural part of the Learning/Teaching Cycle” (with Peggy Wheeler)
October 2011: WMEA—CNAfME: “Introduction to CMP”
November 2011: Arkansas Music Educators Association Conference “Teaching With Intention”
 
Mel Pontious & Mary Anne Zupan
Student Centered Learning in the Arts (SCLA), have been working to determine what teaching/assessment strategies enhance students' creative thinking.  Each summer they present a three-day inservice for teachers (2 days in August, the final one in October. The SCLA members have found surprising things about student achievement, critical thinking, higher order thinking, more productive habits of mind, self-directed learning, fewer discipline problems, and creativity.  The model fits neatly in the CMP points of Strategies and Assessment.  
 
Mel Pontious
October 2011: WMEA - Creativity in the Choral Rehearsal”, and “Developing Creativity in the General Music Classroom”
 
Randy Swiggum & Margaret Jenks (joint presentations)
January, 2011: "The Wonder Years: Celebrating the Boy's Changing Voice" WCDA Conference, January 2011 in Madison 90 in attendance
May 2011: Michigan State Vocal Music Association State Festival in Jackson, MI
August 2011: Pennsylvania ACDA Keynote Presenters & 3 interest sessions, keynote plenary, conducting Honors Choir, and additional 2 day CMP Workshop, Penn State University
 
Randy Swiggum
February 11-13, 2011 Comprehensive Musicianship in the Orchestra Graduate course at VanderCook College 15 music teachers took this course
January, March, April 2011 (3 sessions): CMP Workshop with Gr. 6-8 Bands Geneva Middle School, Geneva, IL
October 2011: WMEA—Treasure Hunting Outside the (Choral Octavo) box.
 
Laura Sindberg
July 21-22, 2011: CMP workshop at the Perpich Center for Arts Education in Golden Valley, MN [just outside Minneapolis]
October 2011: WMEA—“Student Centered Strategies” and “Subversion in the Band Room—A CMP Demo Rehearsal”
 
Rich Tengowski & Leyla Sanyer
June, 2011: President and President-Elect of WMEA, attended the MENC National Assembly in Washington D.C. plus visiting Capitol Hill representing WI music teachers. Rich will also be Guest Conductor at UW-Whitewater Middle School Music Camp in July.
In-Service Opportunities Available

Looking for a meaningful and practical experience at your next staff development in-service? The CMP Committee continues to provide clinics, workshops and in-services to current teachers and college music students throughout the year as part of its continued commitment to music education through outreach opportunities. You may schedule a CMP workshop in your school, your district or your area music conference by contacting Laura Sindberg at laurasindberg@gmail.com or any member of the CMP committee. An introductory session is ideally 3-5 hours, but shorter sessions are available as well.

Do you have colleagues looking for innovative new professional growth opportunities?  Forward this newsletter to them! Suggest attending the CMP summer workshop or arranging a workshop in their district!
Shaping Sound Musicians:
Teaching Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance

Looking for the definitive CMP resource? The book: Shaping Sound Musicians includes chapters that describe each point of the CMP model.  It is designed to serve as a workbook for teachers to construct teaching plans.  It will also contain some of the best examples of materials, innovative teaching ideas and resources developed and field tested by the CMP Project.  The CMP Project is excited about a text written by music teachers, for music teachers.

Copies of the book may be purchased from the WMEA/WSMA office.  GIA Publishing gives a discount on books ordered through the WMEA/WSMA office.  We are able to sell them for 25% off ($30 instead of $40).  Proceeds will go to support future CMP projects.

To obtain a copy of Shaping Sound Musicians, contact the WMEA/WSMA office (800-589-9762) or complete the order form (PDF) and send it to the WMEA/WSMA office.