Formal Meetings
- Guest Speakers: Invite faculty from your school to speak on topics such as:
- Your first year teaching
- How to teach band, strings, choir, and elementary/general music. This is great to bring diversity to your chapter members and enhance their knowledge of other areas.
- Making accommodations for students with disabilities in your programs.
- How to handle being confused as a student and how to present yourself as a professional.
- Interview strategies and techniques/resume tips.
- Parent and Booster organizations in your program.
- How to advertise your music performances in the community.
- You may also consider inviting professionals from outside your school's faculty, such as your district or county arts administrator, to host a session on their area of expertise.
Informal Meetings
- What is NAfME Collegiate?
- What opportunities are available to them through this organization? What resources do they have access to?
- It would also be a good idea to do an informational session for members who are planning on attending FMEA/Fall Conference/Advocacy Day as each event draws near, but that doesn’t have to be an entire GBM.
- Networking session: Using a meeting to get everyone talking with each other, exchanging contact information and establishing these professional connections.
- Stress management: a session about how to deal with stress as a student and eventually in the work field.
- Meet to honor graduating members. It's a great way to bring everyone together and create a family environment.
- What opportunities are available to them through this organization? What resources do they have access to?
- Discussions/activities
- Advocacy
- Have a phone call or letter writing party to your representatives/senators/local officials!
- Discuss ideas regarding what the chapter can do to advocate for music education - social media campaign, campus-wide partnerships, events, etc.
- This would also be a great topic for a guest speaker about who to advocate to. Who are the decision makers at the school/county/state and federal level and what type of advocacy gets directed to them.
- Why are we doing this?
- Music education is an extremely difficult degree path, and it can be very easy to become discouraged or burned out. Plan a positive activity to encourage your members to stick with it!
- Share experiences of great music teachers, new and experienced.
- Remember why you chose this major in the first place. Discuss the reasons you all got involved in music.
- Plan a session to demonstrate how to use Logic/Pro Tools/other music notation software
- Social Events to let your membership get to know one another and forge connections.
- Advocacy
