Music Mentorship Program Facilitator and Mentor Support Project

The NAfME Music Mentorship Program Facilitator and Mentor Support Project is the first-ever national endeavor to provide education, support, and networking of music teacher mentoring. Additionally, it represents the first major collaboration between NAfME and an SMTE ASPA. Special thanks to the NAfME National Executive Board and Immediate-Past President (and SBMT ASPA member) Denese Odegaard for their support. This project represents years of research put into practice to better serve our early-career colleagues.

[[2 PHOTOS GO HERE]]

Project Overview

The project includes 10 virtual sessions on various topics related to music teacher mentoring and mentor program development. Each session is led by an expert teacher, mentor, and/or researcher in the field. Virtual sessions are interactive, occur in real-time (i.e., not prerecorded webinars), and are designed to provide our participants with education, tools, and techniques for navigating various aspects of music mentoring and mentorship program development. Sessions dates (8:00–9:00PM Eastern Standard Time), leaders, and topics are as follows:

 January 7 (Tuesday): Current Music Mentor Programs: What’s Working, What’s Not? — Dr. Erin Zaffini (Keene State College)

January 16 (Thursday): Mentor Characteristics & Mentoring Styles — Dr. Tami Draves (University of North Carolina Greensboro)

January 21 (Tuesday): New is Different: Mentoring In-service vs. Pre-service Teachers — Dr. Jennifer Green (Fayetteville-Manlius High School, NY)

January 28 (Tuesday): Characteristics & Development of Beginning Teachers — Dr. Morgan Soja (Gardner-Webb University)

February 4 (Tuesday): Tips for Developing Your State Music Mentoring Program — Dr. Chris Baumgartner (Oklahoma) & Mr. Steve Litwiller (Missouri)

February 18 (Tuesday): Observation Practices & Techniques for Mentors — Dr. Colleen Conway (University of Michigan)

February 25 (Tuesday): Digital/Virtual Mentoring — Dr. Jessica Vaughan-Marra (Seton Hill University)

March 3 (Tuesday): Teaching Mentees to Analyze Student Work — Ms. Denese Odegaard (NAfME Immediate Past President)

March 10 (Tuesday): Guided Reflection and Meaningful Feedback — Dr. Cynthia Wagoner (East Carolina University)

March 17 (Tuesday): Role Play: Practice Your Mentoring Skills — Dr. Margaret Berg (University of Colorado Boulder)