Happy new school year, my amazing colleagues!
Our State Vocal and Instrumental chair, Jane Melin, has been hard at work this summer with a group of awesome string teachers to add to our offerings for the MLP! See her article with more exciting information on that. I hope you are all excited for a new year of teaching. One of my favorite things is pulling out my brand new calendar and filling it with my new schedule, lesson plans, dates for recitals, etc.
One of the things I include in my lesson plans for the year is MLP prep! Once a month I have each student rotate through practicing for each of the MLP testing areas. They clap through a couple of exercises at their level for this year’s tests, practice sight reading, do some ear training exercises, theory practice, scale review, etc., so by the time we get to the date for my chapter’s MLP, they’re all prepared and feel ready! Honestly, though, even if the MLP did not exist, having a plan for continuous review in these areas can only be a good thing. That is part of what I love about the Music Literacy Program. It takes things I should be doing anyway and puts them in the forefront of my planning, gives me a scaffold for my curriculum for the year.
I had a wonderful time visiting three chapters last year, so if you’d like to have me out to share more about the MLP with your group, send me an email! I’m here to support you and your chapters in any way I can, as you venture forth into this new year of Music Literacy!
Happy Teaching, all!