mea reflection
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TMEA REFLECTION
I attended the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) yearly convention that was held in
San Antonio from February 1013th. This year the convention was even bigger due to the new addition
and renovation to the Henry B. Gonzales convention center. There were over 35,000 people that
attended. This number includes music educators across the state, students that qualified for Allstate in
band, choral, and orchestra, college students, and parents of performers.
Most of my time was spent either in classes or on the convention hall floor. My convention
started by catching some of the TI:ME, a technology music conference, classes. One of the most
interesting ones that I attended was the SmartMusic class that evening. I would consider myself fairly
well versed in SmartMusic, but they are always adding things. For instance they unveiled that they are in
the process of changing the homescreen and navigation. Also, because of the popularity, they will be
releasing a web based version for use on chromebooks, or any computer or tablet. This opens up the
possibilities for students to be able to access the program. The class also gave me some great ideas on
how to better integrate the program in my classroom, once I have my own.
That night, I attended a great concert. Allen Vizzutti and Bill Watrous were performing with the
Sam Houston State University Jazz band. It was a fantastic concert to start off the conference.
The first class I attended on Thursday was one entitled, “From the Top: What My Administrators
Expect from Me”. This was an interesting class for the most part, though some of the information was
applicable yet. I learned a lot of the thinking from the other side. The presenters/panel were very
informative as they all had been or are band directors. I attended a clinic by Allen Vizzutti about
musicality, it ended up being mainly a Q&A session, but was still very informative.
I attended very beneficial class on Friday morning, “Habits of a Successful Middle School Band
Director”. There were many topics that were covered, but the one that I walked away with the most
ideas was when the clinician, Jeff Scott, discussed recruiting and retainment. Retainment is huge in
Texas bands (he was from South Carolina), as middle school is when they have to chose, or so they
think, between band, choir, art, ag, athletics, etc. Immediately following that, I attended a lecture/recital
from world renown brass quintet, Canadian Brass. It was very informative and recorded it so that I can
send it to my students or have them watch it down the road. I was able to catch part of our
TAMUCommerce Trombone Choir performing in the music showcase. It was fantastic and there was a
large turnout. My next two classes that day were about student teaching, or my first year on the job.
They were titled, “Six Things to Know for Your First Six Months on the Job” and “Student Teaching:
The Final Frontier in Your Quest for Certification. They were both informative, but I feel like most of it
was repeated information that I have heard either in other clinics or in other classes at Commerce. This
made me realize just how prepared our program makes us for going out in the field.
I attended two classes Saturday morning, before attending some great concerts by the AllState
bands. One was at 9:30, “Back to Basics: Help your Band Sound Better”. This was a very informative
class and very pedagogical. I feel like it has helped me in the weeks after TMEA in diagnosing issues
and telling students what they need to hear in order to fix different issues. The other class was “Get
ORganized! TIme Management for Music Educators”. This was not exactly what I had expected as it
was more about personal time management that it was about classroom time management, but I
definitely picked up on a few things.
This year was a fantastic conference with great classes, great presenters, and a great new
venue. There were many classes that I wanted to attend, but they conflicted with other classes. I may end
up purchasing the audio recordings of all the classes to refer back to and so I can catch the classes I had
to miss. I am looking forward to next year’s conference, especially if they continue in this trend.