In last month’s issue, I stressed the importance of providing many performance opportunities to our students, because it gives them a real reason to practice throughout the week. However, there are many things we teach in our studios that students cannot demonstrate in a performance alone. That is why Achievement Day was created! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Achievement Day! It is an all-inclusive event that is appropriate for ALL of our students. Do you have students who have great difficulty memorizing or simply don’t have time to get multiple pieces memorized? Achievement Day provides two levels of participation so that even your busiest student or special needs student can successfully take part. Does a formal competition make any of your students break out in a cold sweat? The Achievement Day adjudication process is friendly, positive and provides awards for ALL students who have met the preparation requirements. Do your students resist cranking out miles and miles of theory pages to prepare for a lengthy test? The Achievement Day theory and ear-training tests provide simple snapshot evaluations of only 8 – 10 critical objectives which are educationally sound and at the lower levels, have been carefully aligned with popular method books.
The benefits of Achievement Day don’t stop there! For students unable to participate in Cavalcade, the duet option allows students to demonstrate ensemble playing. For students unable to participate in Original Composition, the composition option allows students to perform and receive feedback on their own musical creation – even one that is not yet transcribed! Students have the opportunity to demonstrate musical history knowledge through learning a few simple facts about composers or presenting a written report on a music history topic. Achievement Day truly is a simple, comprehensive, low-stress way to award students for their hard work this year!
If you are not already entering students in Achievement Day, what’s holding you back? If the scope of the event seems overwhelming or intimidating, I highly encourage you to enter just two or three of your lower level students this year so that you can experience how simple and worthwhile participating in this event can actually be! Achievement Day provides affirmation to both students and teachers that students are successfully mastering a well-rounded music curriculum. There is nothing else that you can do for your students that meets so many of your music objectives all at once! Plus, it is fun for the students to spend a couple of hours at the college where the “big kids” study music!!! Check out the article below from our Achievement Day Chairperson for more registration details!
Carolyn Rooder
DVMTA President 2018-2020
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