I want this story to inspire you, so I want you to hear it from him. Jake Douglass, today’s guest, was raised by affluent parents, and was introduced to music at a very young age. Throughout childhood, he studied Suzuki flute, piano, saxophone, voice, and percussion. He still practices drums for hours each day despite a busy schedule founding and running a music education company.

Topics Covered

• How to get connected to the larger music industry

• How educators can take advantage of music industry resources

• What is the NAMM Show (and why you should go)”

• Careers in the music industry

Topics Covered

• Why don’t students practice at home over break?

• How you can keep them engaged

• The benefit of running “challenges”

• How to get technology working for you, not against you

Topics Covered

• What is “Comparanoia™”?

• How to avoid imposter syndrome

• Finding ways to celebrate yourself

• Simple, every day techniques for supporting yourself

Topics Covered

• Why are conferences worth it?

• What you can expect to learn or experience at the NAfME conference

• Finding social-emotional learning resources

• Your colleagues’ favorite part of professional development conferences

• How to make life-long connections at conferences

Topics Covered

• What is social-emotional learning?

• How you can incorporate SEL for any age

• Finding social-emotional learning resources

• Why is it important to include SEL in your classroom?

• How to start using social-emotional learning

Topics Covered

• Build Your Audience Locally

• How to Get Gigs

• Connecting with Your Audience

• Arranging for Your Group

• Travel Tips

Key Takeaways

1. Treat teaching lessons like a business rather than a hobby.

2. Lack of time and money are the biggest sources of educator stress and burnout. Educate yourself to run a teaching business not only to be a great teacher but also to make the most effective use of your time and money.

3. Wendy’s book Music Teaching Made Profitable is a great resource.

4. You can also book a free 30-minute strategy consultation with Wendy!

Key Takeaways

• Teaching is hard work. Being responsible for hundreds of children every day takes a lot of physical and mental stamina. If teachers are going to build successful music programs without burning out, they need to have resources and strategies to sustain themselves so they can thrive and help their students do the same in the classroom.

• What happens during the first four minutes of your class sets the tone for how productive the rest of the class will be. This episode includes a few key strategies for setting your rehearsals up for success before you even play a note.

Key Takeaways

Spoiler alert! At the risk of ruining the suspense, I think the real key is to stop taking care of yourself.

Here are some time-tested ways to do just that:

• Get less sleep and rest 

• Emphasize poor nutrition in your diet; especially avoiding whole foods

• Replace exercise and mediation with more social media ranting

• Do more! Be sure to say YES to everything anyone ever asks you to do

• Never take a break from music. Not in the car, while you sleep, or in the shower. Never.

• Be certain no one appreciates you, even when evidence suggests otherwise

And most importantly:

• Remember to take EVERYTHING, including yourself, VERY seriously

Key Takeaways

• The virtual nature of the Summit means it’s more accessible, both for world-class clinicians and busy attendees!

• While the Summit takes place June 13-15, 2019, registered attendees can watch archived sessions at any time.

Key Takeaways

• Having an over-arching philosophy for every level you teach is essential

• Realize that beginners can sound as good as advanced performers; if only on single notes

• The only discipline is self-discipline

Key Takeaways

• Celebrate small wins

• Choose your attitude

• Never be defensive or make excuses – just listen

• Temper your expectations

This Week We Answer Three Three Questions

• Why is utilizing popular music essential in expanding our music education paradigm?

• How do traditional, jazz, and popular music education pedagogies differ?

• How can we implement pop music into our rehearsals?

Key Takeaways

• When in doubt, wait it out!

• Sleep well. Eat healthy. Power walk. Practice empathy.

• When you have free time, take it for real. When it’s free, it’s free – rest when you can rest.

Key Takeaways

• The Orff approach is a great way to get students singing harmonies and independent parts more quickly.

• Singing with (and over) your students isn’t always the best way.

• Be open to Orff experiences and the ways it can enrich you as a teacher, and your students as learners

Key Takeaways

• Step one: clarify expectations with your principal

• Building relationships is key to classroom management

• Sticker charts can work!

• Repetition is a good thing

Key Takeaways

• You can skill give kids a festival-like experience without all the expense involved in travel.

• Bring in a clinician not only to work with your students, but also to work with you.

• Next level for your kids: give them a base of knowledge of the rubric language that will be used for festival evaluation.

Key Takeaways

• Unlike sticker charts, grades, and incentives, promoting intrinsic motivation provides students with the purpose, autonomy, and mastery required to excel on their own.

• Giving kids choice doesn’t mean a free-for-all, we can still guide their choices.

• Simply asking an otherwise difficult student to complete a task, like handing out music, can give them some vital ownership of what goes on in the classroom.

Key Takeaways

• “Without technology in any classroom you are fighting an uphill battle for relevance.”

• “When it comes to implementing technology, start out slowly, add a little at a time.”

• “Get training. There are many free resources (see below). If you don’t get trained, you won’t feel comfortable.”

My guest for this episode is music technology guru and master educator Katie Wardrobe. Her Midnight Music website offers amazing resources for music educators including help with all things tech – from lesson plans to general advice.

Stephen is a Google certified educator and trainer, an Apple teacher, a Flipgrid Ambassador, and a Soundtrap certified educator. Ryan is vice president of TI:ME (Technology Institute for Music Educators) the leading professional organization for the integration of technology in music education. He’s also the social media manager at MakeMusic. Both guests are also experienced music educators and presenters at this year’s International Music Education Summit.

Today’s episode is all about finishing strong at the end of school year. Whether you’re completing your first or your thirtieth year, I hope these insights and tips will help you be more efficient and relaxed. Most importantly, I hope you finish this year strong so that you can start next year even stronger. This episode isn’t so much about ending this year as it is about laying the groundwork to start next year.

Many music educators leave college planning to lead a secondary school music program, but find employment teaching elementary music. In our previous episode, master elementary music teacher David Row and I had a great discussion about how to get started with an elementary program. As it turned out, much of David’s advice applies to the secondary classroom as well! If you haven’t had a chance to listen to part 1, I highly recommend it.

In this episode, I talk with master elementary music teacher David Row about everything you need to know to teach elementary music. We go over how to get started, how to shape a curriculum for elementary kids, how to build lesson plans, and how to handle classroom management.

I’m a huge fan of parent booster groups. They can really help promote your program, make fundraising easier, and engage your community. Joining me to talk about booster groups this week is Ryan Crabtree, president-elect of the Colorado Bandmasters Association. More importantly, however, Ryan is my daughter’s band director.

In this very special episode of the Music Ed Mentor Podcast, we welcome our first GRAMMY-winning guest! I’m excited to share my conversation with Melissa Salguero, who was recently named the GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year. You may recognize Melissa’s voice from Episode 12, where she shared tips on how to get the most from music education conferences.

Melissa and I became Facebook friends after the NAfME conference, and when I realized she won a GRAMMY, I knew I wanted to share her story with all of you. In this episode, Melissa describes how she got involved with music, why she became a teacher, and how she stays motivated.

Conferences are one of the best ways for us to challenge ourselves as educators. They present a wealth of information and opportunity in a very small time frame, and taking advantage of everything can be a daunting task.

What do you wish you’d known before you became a music teacher?

You probably have more than one answer. You might think of those topics you still consider a challenge, obstacles you’ve worked hard to overcome, or issues that you know that other teachers are still struggling with. Whatever comes to mind is an important piece of knowledge, and one that would be great to share with other educators – and especially new ones.

I asked 100 music teachers this question. For the first episode of the Music Ed Mentor Podcast, I’m sharing the results. You may be surprised at how many responses came up time and time again.

Check out the episode below where I share what these fellow educators wished they had known before they started – as well as tips on how to leverage their responses to enhance your teaching experience today.