John Feierabend’s Conversational Program is a phenomenal way to help your already Tuneful, Beatful, Artful students become musically independent and notationally literate, but it can be challenging for teachers to master the process. In this series of episodes, gneral music teacher Taylor Kurilew asks Missy questions about CS after trying it in her classroom for the first time. In this final installment, Missy and Taylor wrap up the list of Taylor’s Conversational Solfege questions, talking about how a teacher new to CS should approach trying implementing the program once kids are truly ready. They also talk about the challenge of tonal units and discuss how to best prepare for Unit 4, the first Tonal Unit of CS.
Taylor Kurilew is a native of New Jersey, and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Montclair State University and a Masters of Music Degree in Voice Performance from Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts. Aside from being in the classroom, Ms. Kurilew has performed in operas and musical theatre shows and has attended operatic training programs from NY to Italy. Taylor is the K-5 general music teacher and choral director at Cedar Hill Elementary School in Basking Ridge, NJ and also teaches voice in the central NJ area. She continues to work on her craft and her teaching career and loves using these experiences and trainings to keep her inspired and share the love of music in every aspect she can, in and out of the classroom to her students.
* Here is the link to the podcast episode with Chris Powers where we discussed how she and her colleagues teach CS tonal and rhythm units simultaneously
* The Rhythm and Tonal Unit Plan Templates that have been modified by Missy
* The Conversational Solfege DVD series by Dr. Feierabend
