American Orff-Schulwerk Association

2008 National Conference

First Timer Tips pg. 3

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American Orff-Schulwerk Association
PO Box 391089
Cleveland, OH 44139-8089 USA
(440) 543-5366

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Children’s Performances:
• Take advantage of the opportunity to see children perform and get lots of ideas!
• All of the programs are listed in the conference book so bring it along to all performances.

Evening Sessions:
• Plan your dinner time so that you can take advantage of evening concerts and late night sessions.
• Late night sessions are scheduled after the dinner hour. There are no notes, but you can still learn a lot from these sessions. They are usually “hands on” sessions such as folk dancing and drumming.
• Evening sessions offer the opportunity to get a taste of a presenter that you do not have time to see during regular session times.
• The Midnight Historical Society is an Orff instrument/recorder session that’s also a lot of fun.

Network:
• Meet new people – make dinner plans – exchange cell phone numbers so you can meet up after sessions are done.
• Invite people to join you if you see someone sitting alone. Introduce yourself. Remember, we have more in common with other attendees than the classroom teachers in our building!

Don’t Miss
• First timer Orientation
• Opening Session
• Children’s Performances
• Exhibitor’s Reception
• Business Meeting
• Closing Session
• Banquet – costs extra but is great fun!
• Exhibits

Tips:
• Take advantage of conference specials offered by the exhibitors. Bring extra money, blank purchase orders or credit card.
• Bring an extra suitcase or back pack to bring home smaller items and samples.
• The AOSA Boutique is located in the back of the exhibit hall. Many homemade manipulatives and gift items can be purchased. Don’t forget to bring something for your principal – especially if you received some school funding! The net proceeds go to one of AOSA’s funds which help teachers purchase instruments or attend summer teacher training.
• If you want to switch a session, you can go to registration on that day and see if there are tickets available to make a trade.
• Your conference notebook can hold your schedule in the back sleeve. Be sure to write your name on your conference notebook – they all look alike!
• A bag or backpack is a great thing to have during the day.
• Bring sharpened pencils for taking notes – sometimes pencils are in your registration bag, but often, they are not sharpened.
• Your room key will fit nicely into your name tag holder. Don’t keep it near anything magnetic or it may not work!
• Participate whenever possible. The notes are usually inclusive, so drop that pencil and have a blast!
• The hospitality table quite often has emergency items - ie. chocolate, pencils, band aids, etc. Visit and say hi. There is also a message board by hospitality to contact someone else at the conference. Check there also if you have misplaced an item – they have a lost and found.
• There will be lines – especially at the breakfast and lunch kiosks. Take advantage of that by introducing yourself and networking with other teachers. There are blank pages in the notebook where you can write down names and cell phone numbers so you can make plans with your new friends to meet for dinner. Remember that you can get member e-mail addresses on line at www.aosa.org even if they joined too late to be in the AOSA Member Directory and Resource Guide.

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