Why Self-Care and Rest Should be a Priority to College Music Majors
As a Music Education major, I am not a stranger to the extraneous workload, unbalanced and crazy class schedules, and a lack of clarity in when/how to take breaks. It can be argued that music degree programs are some of the most demanding in the University curriculum. In return, as "music people," we come out with a better understanding of life, music, and more life lessons than others. But at what cost if we don't prioritize our mental health? I strongly believe that if we do not [...]
Sigur Ros, Burnout, & the Joys of Making a Good Playlist
I have roughly 200 playlists in my Apple Music library. Not the algorithmic ones that our benevolent tech overlords provide for us - my very own creations. 200 of them. Perhaps that’s more than any sane human should have. Most of them are for me. Some are large, eclectic collections to put on shuffle. Others capture a specific mood or encapsulate a certain genre. Many are re-workings of existing albums, enhanced by what I thought was superior sequencing. A few are, in fact, gifts for friends and [...]
Research to Practice: Understanding and Moving Through Burnout
It seems like information about teacher burnout is everywhere right now. I’m not sure if it is because we’re still facing COVID-19-related difficulties in the classroom or if we’re just less afraid to talk about the less glorious side of teaching. [...]
My Instruction Philosophy
My focus is not to train students to just reproduce prepared material. I want students to understand what they play, not just play it. When instructing beginners or introducing a new subject — dumb it down, leave stuff out. Make it easy as possible. Once the student acquires some skill & confidence, they will be emotionally ready to progress to more challenging study. Making it difficult in the beginning can discourage and invite students to quit. If the student has a sincere desire to learn, but is [...]
Research to Practice: Embracing Differences
It is through treating our students as individuals that they can learn to meaningfully connect to music. That means that we, as teachers, should seek to make music classes not just about our own musical interests, but about the musical interests of our students too. [...]
“Pandemic Flux Syndrome” and Teaching: Why it feels so hard
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 they said resonated so deeply with me and pointed at the why of the struggle that many of us are facing as educators. Now that we're about a month (or more) into the school year (that was supposed to feel [...]
The Gut Level Music Teacher Reflection
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 find intentional ways of becoming a better educator, musician, and person. Gut Level Teacher Reflection centers on being in tune with our body and emotional responses. As a new school year is upon us, I invite you to take a [...]
❓TO COLLABORATE OR TO JOINT VENTURE❓
Many musicians love using the word “collaboration,” a scenario that so often results in one party becoming an unpaid subcontractor experiencing minuscule gains for their sole-proprietorship for the sake of another party’s scalability and benefit. Musicians: Be wary of the words, “Let’s collaborate!” Musicians-to-musician interactions: Take time to understand that while there is the POSSIBILITY and PROSPECTIVE of two entities teaming on a project, do not mistake it for a guaranteed PROMISE every time a POTENTIAL opportunity arises, especially if the PAY is inadequate or not respectable to [...]