Some of your music educators in training probably have created brilliant lessons that bear wider dissemination. Here’s an idea for a hands-on class project for your advanced or more experienced future teachers:

• Using your member ID, log on to MENC to visit My Music Class, the collection of lesson plans and practical ideas for music teachers.
   
• Ask each future music teacher to create two lesson plans for consideration for the database. Have the creators indicate age or grade level of students to be taught.
   
• Choose the lessons that, in your estimation, are most likely to produce successful learning in a classroom.
   
• Submit each lesson plan that passes your scrutiny to My Music Class for consideration; your students’ work online could be part of their teaching portfolios.
   

For questions about My Music Class, contact Nicole Springer at MENC at nicoles@menc.org.

Too big a project for your students and your schedule this year? Bite off a smaller piece: Have you music ed students e-mail you their single useful tip for consideration for the Teaching Tips portion of the My Music Class site.  (Click on “Add a Teaching Tip” in the box on the upper right-hand side of page.) Your students’ ideas can help other teachers in classes worldwide.

--Ella Wilcox, September 2, 2009, © MENC: The National Association for Music Education (www.menc.org)