Mark McCormack
PEAK Presenter
Based in:
Latrobe, TAS, AustraliaMark retired from the Department of Education (2020) after 41 years of teaching, the last 22 of these as a Music Specialist with primary and special needs students.
Mark’s music teaching still revolves around Orff principles, now with private guitar students and Mountain Echoes, a vocal ensemble of children of all ages (1 – approx 80 years old!).
Mark’s first Orff experience was at TOSA’s Summer School Level Courses in Jan 1999 and that formed the basis of his Music Teacher training. A handful of National Conferences led to finally sharing some of his Music at REMIX, Adelaide 2023.
Mark’s best student endorsement was from a prep student who pointed him out to his mother when being collected after school.
It was something like this:
“Mum, look! There’s Mr McC, the Music Teacher. We don’t do any work in his class. We just play!”
Mark feels that as teachers, we know of the benefits and educational outcomes from Music. More than ever, we need involvement in making Music for our mental health and for building community. Come and Sing!
PEAK Elective Session | Thursday, 9th January 2025 | 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Songs My Students Taught Me - The Nature Set
Songs to sing with students come from a variety of sources but it can be more powerful if the students themselves have had input into the creation of what they sing. The songs presented here are based on student ideas or have had significant input from them. The subject matter is predominantly from the natural environment. This session is song based with opportunity to; play Orff & other available musical instruments, have creative input into how each song is performed on the day, hear the stories of their origins and gain insight into the song writing process. My hope is to inspire you to be observant and open to your own opportunities to compose songs for yourself and your students.