2026 MMEA Fall In-Service Conference

You've been hired - great! Now your district has asked you to run sound for other concerts. What do you do? Perhaps you've been tasked with figuring out why the sound in the auditorium is never what you want it to be. This session will cover the basics of running a mixer, hooking everything up properly, and getting your wireless system to function the way it should!

No matter where or what you teach, you teach disabled students. We will define disability, learn how and why to presume compitence, and learn how to make the environment, materials, instruction, and communication truly accessible and inclusive for all students. You will actively use communition tools during the instruction, experience the effect of instuctional modifications, and get to try out adaptive materials to play instruments and interact with other participants. You will also have the opportunity to apply these strategies and tools to prepare for your classroom and your students.

Standard and non-standard accessory percussion instruments will serve as the focus of this interactive session, featuring programming, instruction, and active student participation through a variety of solo, chamber, and concert works. Participants will explore rehearsal and practice strategies designed to engage student musicians of all skill levels, building confidence and performance proficiency on these often-overlooked instruments.

Rehearsals often struggle to balance depth of learning with realities of limited time. This session explores microlearning as a learning design strategy that targets retention, transfer, and ensemble growth. Explore the cognitive science behind attention, knowledge transfer, and context switching, while evaluating the definition of a complete learning experience. Participants apply concepts through a guided activity that will give them a practical framework for implementing microlearning in their own classes.