I read an article by social psychologist Amy Cuddy and JillElyn Riley titled, "Why this stage of the pandemic makes us so anxious." I also heard Amy Cuddy talk about this article in an interview with Brene Brown and the term "pandemic flux syndrome." As an educator, everything [...]
The Gut Level Teacher Reflection At the end of the 2021 year, a social worker in my district passed along this article about the Gut Level Teacher Reflection. Reflection has always been a part of my life journey. It helps me pause and process my actions and [...]
Today’s Topic: Summertime Self-care Today’s Tip: Decolonize your self-care routine by taking a thoughtful and holistic approach to mental and physical wellbeing Background Information: Summer is the perfect time to take stock of how you’ve been feeling since the close of the school year. Maybe you are still experiencing [...]
Today’s Topic: Culturally responsive teaching with exit tickets (fostering joy) Today’s Tip: Utilize daily exit tickets for qualitative data that informs your practice. Exit tickets work! Since the pandemic started, I have been using exit tickets to gauge student engagement and understanding. It started as a [...]
As the 2020-2021 school year draws to a close, many of us feel burnout, exhausted, and suffering from a lack of inspiration when it comes to lesson planning. Coupled with the inability for many of us to have "normal" performances, it can feel daunting to find a [...]
I remember playing an original song at my first open mic night. I was 17 years old and a senior in high school. Until that point, I had written some original songs that I would play around with but never felt confident with my voice or playing to [...]
I am Donna Rhodenizer. I am a composer. It took me a long time to grow into the label and embrace it as part of my musical skills. When I was a young music student, I wrote little “ditties” that I would play on the piano. In high [...]
Welcome to The Asterisk*, a new regular column where we’ll chat about diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in music education. An asterisk's function is to quickly give readers a baseline of knowledge so the reader can dive into content. This column aims to introduce or refresh deia concepts [...]
I am passionate about music education, specifically Popular Music Education, Creativity, and Informal Learning. So passionate, in fact, that I have written two books under my own publishing company, Steve's Music Room Publishing, and have been commissioned for a third through the Oxford University Press--yes, that Oxford University [...]
Conducting research often can seem like falling down a rabbit hole. One study answers initial questions, the analysis and implications lead to more questions…lather, rinse, and repeat for forever. This research is the embodiment of using one research study as the basis for another. [...]