The Importance of Trying New Things as a Music Educator
It’s hard for me to believe this is my seventeenth year teaching instrumental music at my school. Seventeen is such a big number! In some ways, the rhythms of the school year are well established. For example, our high school ensemble will perform at a Gratitude Assembly the week of Thanksgiving. We will also give a short music assembly of secular winter favorites the week before Winter Break. Both of these small performances will prepare us for our big concert at the end of our semester in [...]
Confidence in Curriculum Creation
Re-Igniting the Spark Take a moment to think back to your undergraduate college experience. (Perhaps that was only a few months ago, or perhaps you have to reach back a bit more to access this season.) Either way, I would venture to assume that for many of us, our undergraduate experience included meticulously scripted lesson plans. Perfectly sequenced concepts. Full access to whatever materials you might need. And, it was amazing. Until it wasn’t. You no longer have access to all the resources you once did. That map [...]
The Power of Goal-Setting for Your Music Studio
Whether you're a brand new teacher with their first roster of students (congrats!) or you've been shaping minds, voices, and fingers for a while, those who teach private music lessons know every lesson is different. You will have students of different ages, abilities, learning styles, and, often instruments, and need to cater to each student's individual needs and interests. Plus, we're all human and, well, life happens. Some weeks students practice a ton, and some weeks, eh…not so much. Given all that, a complex classroom-style lesson planning [...]
2022 Summer PD Roundup
F-flat’s Guide to Summer Professional Development  Get ready, friends! In this post, we’ll share our recommendations for summer professional development that is relevant, meaningful, and fun! We are so lucky to have such a strong community of educators and authors, and many of them are busy sharing their work this summer. We’ve divided these experiences into the following categories: conferences, courses, workshops, and memberships. Let's get started! CONFERENCES FABSS: First up: FABSS 2022! We are thrilled to announce that our third annual Back-to-School Symposium is happening THIS August [...]
Four Ideas for End-Of-Year Activities with Ensemble Classes (2022 edition)
For many music teachers, this was the first school year since 2019 that ended with a "normal" concert season. And, it might be the first time in a while that you've scratched your head and thought, "What do we do now?" Concerts have ended. Competitions are over. And, you still have a few weeks left. How can you engage in meaningful experiences at the end of the school year? In this blog post, I share four ideas for engaging end-of-year activities in your ensemble classrooms. 1. Create [...]
Teaching Anxiety and the Power of the Present
The bell rings. I see a group of adolescents walking into my room. Under my mask, I’m smiling. But, inside, I’m anxious. I just received an email from a parent who’s upset about a situation that occurred in class the day before; I’m questioning the way I handled a student last period. I forgot to copy the music we are supposed to be reading today. Between war, the pandemic, and social unrest, I don’t know if my students are ok. I worry about my own kids at school [...]
How College Music Majors Can Effectively Practice Self-Care
As a college music major with a demanding schedule, how do we begin to take care of ourselves in ways that are meaningful? In this blog, we will be navigating through what self-care is and how we can embrace it in a way that nurtures us to be our best selves. Misconceptions There are many misconceptions revolving around self-care, especially in the college music environment. The first is that music majors do not have time for it. That is 100000% false. We are indeed swamped, but there [...]
A Music Teacher’s Guide to Soundtrap
A Music Teacher’s Guide to Soundtrap Like all good broke college students, I have a very old laptop - almost 7 years old in fact. It’s very possible that my MacBook Pro has been running on the same software update for as long as I’ve been able to drive. And so, as you can imagine, I have absolutely run my Garageband software into the ground. Even pressing play brings on the buffering and crashing, let alone daring to attempt projects with more than a couple of layers. [...]
