On January 30, eighty teachers attended the Kodály Connections workshop, which was cohosted by the American Kodály Institute on the beautiful Loyola University Maryland campus. The workshop reflected the principles of the Kodály philosophy and encouraged creative musicianship and collaboration. In the morning, attendees were provided with lesson planning strategies and sample lessons by clinician Lauren McDougle. Plan Your Year Before It’s Here emphasized the importance of using pedocentric practices while maintaining clear pedagogical goals in your planning. Then, François Suhr encouraged teachers to practice Solfa on your Sofa to improve one’s personal musicianship, which in turn, will benefit young students. Francois shared a beautifully sequenced handout, outlining exercises and drills that could be done in a short amount time.
After returning from a complimentary lunch, three American Kodály Institute graduate students shared their knowledge and materials with us. Stephanie Crawford’s presentation, Singing Games: Playing to Learn, led participants through a dozen tried and true singing games that support teaching a variety of musical concepts. Korey Cunningham expanded upon the idea of creative play in Song to Performance: Multicultural Informance. Korey shared activities and multicultural songs that are accessible and inspire creativity and performance from our students. We ended the day with an invigorating and enlightening dance session led by Christopher Dean. Chris shared his extensive knowledge of old time West Virginia Square Dances and aural tradition in his presentation West Virginia Square Dance: Authentic Teaching and Performance. A special thank you goes to the many graduate student from AKI for assisting during large games and dances and sharing the importance of OAKE membership and continuous professional development. “Only the best is good enough for the child…” and on this Saturday, we absolutely worked towards being our best! Please join us for our final workshop, The Magic in Music on Saturday, April 23 and enjoy the rest of your academic year!