AMusEd: Recent Episodes
AMusEd
Four music teachers discuss current issues in music education; offer resources, tips, and tricks; and catalogue their growth and missteps made as young teachers. Originally started with all in their first five years of teaching, see how they have grown now in their eighth season.
We DeFinItElY kNoW wHaT wE'rE dOiNg.
Sorry for ghosting everyone for a year. We're back, but we're not. This is the last episode of the podcast. Series Finale. We decided that the podcast and our listeners meant enough to us that we needed to put out one final episode to actually wrap it up. This whole endeavor has been a wild ride and a labor of love. We felt we filled a role that was really necessary when we started but in the last 9 years there has been explosion of music ed podcasts. We're now almost 15 years into our careers and our focus is now more on our families instead of establishing ourselves as professionals. We'll still be meeting regularly to discuss our teaching and share some epic mistakes and wins but we won't be recording them. We wish you the best in your growth as a music educator and hope that you can find a community of peers like we did to help you on that journey.
If you want to see our journey from the beginning, go back and laugh at those kids who thought they might know what they're doing here's a link to our pilot in all it's glory and lack of production value: https://amusedcast.libsyn.com/amused-podcast-pilot
We navigate the last few weeks of school with an increasingly urgent need for the year to be over.
Recorded 5.22.2022
We chat about how things are actually returning to the way they were before, and reflect honestly on how we navigated the challenges of this past year now that we're not in the middle of it all.
S8E31 Recorded 5.5.2022
Veroinca asks the question: Can you still build a shiny, award winning program while still maintaining healthy boundaries in your life?
S8E30 Recorded 4.24.2022
We talk about the logistics of showcasing the entirety of the music program, collaborating with others in your department and how to get in and out in a reasonable amount of time. S8E29 Recorded 4/18/22
It's been a while since we were all together so our focus meanders a bit, but our original conversations focuses on rewarding students who are represntative of the values of your program beyond just outstanding musicianship.
S8E28 Recorded 4.10.2022
Olin is out this week so the secondary school teachers discuss how the tail is wagging the dog when it comes to how elective enrollment is driving curriculum.
How do you thread the needle celebrating your top students without leaving your other ensembles behind? We have our friend Jeff Kumagai on who is going through the last growing pains of taking over a program and dealing with the expectations of students who align with the values of the previous director. S8E26 Recorded 3.26.22
Sus is out this week due to tech week for the musical, Olin is still in the middle of the madness. Veronica has one very long week til spring break. We check in with our goals for the end of the semester, how (if?) we are on track with them.
S8E25 Recorded 3/13/2022
Welcome to the spring. Things are going fine. We're sure. 100% Everything is fine.
S8E24 Recorded 3/6/2022
We continue our conversation regarding what a professional trjectory looks like for us, our previous discussion focused on what it wasn't.
S8E23 Recorded 2.27.2022
What does a music educator's "professional trajectory" look like? This year we discuss a bit of difference in perspective on this topic between teachers in the classroom, administrators and what the difference is for us as music educators.
The gang discusses their strategies for setting one's self up for success so as not to dread Sunday evening or Monday morning. S8E20 Recorded 1/30/2022
As we are normalizing our expectations of ourselves and our students we're encountering a lot of frustration and need to stop and remind ourselves of a few key concepts.
S8E21 Recorded 2.3.2022
We talk programming and how we might feel guilty for imposing our own bucket lists on our students.
Recorded 1/20/22
This time we have the right file. Oops. We're back from break to a January that looks a little different than December.
S8E18 Recorded 1/6/2022
Forgive the zoom blips this week, we had to edit off of one track, old school. This week we deal with being caught in the middle of public school discourse on respecting other cultures and holidays and the (sometimes overwhelming) hegemony of Christmas, along with the public expectation of holiday concerts.
S8E17 Recorded 12/12/21
Our topic meandered a bit on this episode, but it centered around anxiety (ours and our students'), understanding it and growing with it.
S8E14 Recorded 11/14/2021.
Hi Folks, this one jumps the queue because it's topical, so you get Episode 15 this week and then 14 next week. Time travel is rad. Enjoy our annual episode on Gratitude.
S8E15 Recorded 11.21.21
Or "learning to share the burden of project management" if you prefer. Sus has caught herself taking on too much in her role of co-overseeing the musical theater fundraising concert, and discussing the growing pains of working on equal footing with other directors when no one is "in charge."
S8E13 Recorded 11.7.2021
John is anxious and panicking about the future (what else is new). What are you doing to ensure that your ensembles survive past the graduation of the class of 2022?
S8E12 Recorded 10/28/2021
This week Olin, Sus and Veronica talk the perennial favorite topic of scheduling, looking forward and anticipating challenges that crop up as we move forward.
S8E11 Recorded 10/21/21
What happens when you need to change course in the middle of your semester? We find out. When is rigidity in programming an structure an asset and when is it a liability?
S8E10 Recorded 10/17/2021
So, it's not 2019, remember? Some of us cough cough are running up against the consequences of planning like it was. Let us know if you found the easter egg in this episode.
S8E9 Recorded 10/03/2021
How do you rank what needs to get done when everything is urgent, and important, and on fire (sometimes literally on the west coast).
We talk about what we prioritize and what we let fall behind when we're juggling chainsaws mid semester.
S8E8 Recorded 9/23/21
In the wake of Olin's band camp (spoilers: it was great) Sus, Olin and Veronica discuss strategies to keep focused intensity in rehearsals.
S8E7 Recorded 9/19/2021
The Beavs have Band Camp this week and Olin is out, so we brought on some special guests to help make sure we stayed serious and professional. Our topic this week came about organically as we discussed our growth away from comparing ourselves and our programs with the more successful and prestigious programs in our area. The discussion focuses on finding out what your students and school community value and modeling your program to meet those needs.
S8E6 Recorded 9/9/2021
We discuss the ways students accommodations have challenged our teaching and helped us grow and develop more comprehensive strategies that work better for all students.
S8E5 Recorded 9.2.2021
We're still talking about COVID. Sorry. Really doubling down on what music education looks like in Fall 2021, trying to figure out best practices when everything is left up to local municipalities and school boards to make decisions.
S8E4 Recorded 8.26.2021
This week John sits down with Ron Sikes, host the Muted Network's newest member podcast, Jazz Chat. We talk mostly about the rhythm section because of Ron's background as a percussionist.
S8E3 Recorded 7/22/2021
This week We talk about our goals coming out (fingers crossed) of the pandemic and some of the lessons we learned from last year.
S2E8 Recorded 8/17/21
This is a music education podcast. We swear. It's a lot of fun to be back.
S8E1 recorded August 10 2021
As we finish our school year, we do a bit of reflection and goal setting for the summer. Trying to look forward instead of backwards after one heck of a year. Congratulations if you're reading this, you made it.
S7E33 Recorded 5/29/2021
This week the gang discusses not just being behind in terms of pedagogy, but also how all planning has been put off this year, and how many of the things that are finished by the end of the year aren't this year. We have to adjust to be okay with the fact that things will remain ambiguous through the summer.
S7E32 Recorded 5/19/2021
This week we have our friend and mentor Dr. Ruth Brittin on from the University of the Pacific to talk about how the COVID crisis is affecting student teaching and fieldwork during the pandemic and how their programs adapted.
S 7E31 Recorded May 1 2021
The gang discusses the pros and cons f trying to hold a spring concert this year.
S7E30 Recorded April 21 2021
It's Veronica's first week back on campus after over a year away. The gang is tired, the gang has the giggles, we're all nearing the home stretch of this year.
Paull Kimball comes on to talk about his journey through Kodály and his homebrew sightsinging progression that changed the way he teaches elementary music.
Paul is an active musician and choir teacher in Stockton California. He was a French Horn player with the Stockton Symphony for 27 years, has conducted hundreds of performances of local musicals, and is the conductor and artistic director of the Zion Chamber Orchestra. In 2018 he and his wife were presented with the Star Award by the Stockton Arts Commission.
S7 E29 Recorded 4/7/21
Family episodes with the four of us are rare theses days, so we're trying to make time once a month to check in with each other. This week we're unpacking and working through the differing circumstances of our various returns to campus.
S7E27 Recorded 4/3/21
We sit down with Russ Gavin from Stanford to talk about the Jacktrip project. This was recorded via the Jacktrip platform live and in sync.
S7E26 Recorded March 24 2021
This week we have Stephanie on as a guest to talk about getting an elementary music program off the ground in her district.
S7E25Recorded 3/17/2020
Enrollment crises and pressure on kids to take more "academic" classes has us on the back foot this week and discussing how to promote the value of arts education to our admin and families.
This week we discuss putting the definition of success into our students hands for student engagement and ownership of the ensemble and material. The Pandemic is offering us an opportunity.
S7E23 Recorded March 6 2021
Sus, Olin and Veronica discuss the challenges of retention and recruitment when all the social aspects of ensembles that draw kids in seem a distant memory.
S7E22 Recorded 2/25/2021
This week, we bring on Tyson Wooters, a leadership consultant to talk shop about designing a leadership course.
Adapted from his bio on Leaders Creating Leaders:
"Tyson has been called an entertainer, a comedian, and most importantly an educator. His life mission is to educate people through humor, shared experiences, and win-wins, about the phenomenal power of helping those around you by activating them to help each other.
Although Tyson spent his first career educating in public schools, colleges, and corporate events, these days he serves educators in the classroom, in personal development, and even in retirement."
Information on the March 4th #BeBandReady and #KeepPlaying Spring Campaign he mentioned can be found here
S7E21 Recorded 2/18/2021
This episode we talk with Dr. Kaitlin Bove about doing the work to find and perform music by underrepresented composers while remembering that you don't have to do it all at once.
Dr. Bove's bio, taken from And We Were Heard:
Dr. Kaitlin Bove is Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Instrumental Ensembles at Pierce College in Puyallup, Washington. Prior to this appointment, she served as a teaching assistant with the band program at University of Kentucky where she was awarded a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting under the tutelage of Cody Birdwell. Kaitlin earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Education from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California where she studied with Eric Hammer. Kaitlin also serves as a co-founder with the gender parity organization, Girls Who Conduct, and on the board for Lift Our Voices, a scholarship fund for students of marginalized identities in the field of music composition. Dr. Bove served as Director of Bands at Payson High School and Director of Bands and Orchestras at Mt. Nebo Junior High School in Payson, Utah. She is a member of National Band Association, College Band Directors National Association, and Women Band Directors International.
S7E20 Recorded 2.11.2021
This week we have Dr. Steve Zielke on to talk choir and specifically laughter in rehearsal.
Recorded 2/4/2020 S7E19
Sus is out for the week, so John, Veronica and Olin regress to their true selves and talk shop for band in 2021 (let's be honest, it's not much different from when Sus is present, just a little less fun).
S7E18 Recorded 1.30.21
We've all experienced a lot of challenges this year, this week we sit down to figure out where we need to grow and where we're focusing our efforts at improving our teaching.
S7E17 Recorded 1/21/2021
Veronica is back teaching, John starts Marching Season in January, Sus is teaching Musical Theater and Olin is... getting rained on in Oregon. Welcome to 2021.
Recorded 1.14.2021
We look forward to the spring, and Veronica sneaks in to discuss her preparations to return to the classroom.
Here's hoping everyone has a restful and safe Winter Break.
S7E15 Recorded 12.15.2020
What do you do when your kids don't turn in enough work, or work that is too poor quality for a public facing virtual ensemble video?
How do you keep a virtuous cycle of energy going when your kids are checked out? We don't have the answers but tune in anyway!
S7E14 Recorded 12/8/2020
Feeling pressure to produce something at the end of the semester when your concerts are cancelled and kids are way behind? Why? Make sure you're setting reasonable expectations for yourself and your students this term.
Recorded November 30 2020 S7E13
Happy Thanksgiving, whether you're celebrating alone or commuting to visit family, we hope you'll join our PodFam for some reflections on gratitude.
Recorded November 20, 2020. S7E12
Sus has to do evaluations for her student teacher and is struggling with wrapping her brain around writing for an education department and not a school of music.
Recorded 11/15 S7E11
Olin solicits suggestions on what to spend his next six weeks focusing on, what projects can he work on and how can he plan for a winter when every two weeks we have a completely new understanding of how the world is changing.
Special Guest star: Quentin Tonus-Cargile. Sorry.
Recorded November 8 2020. S7E10
Sus is selected as GBHS's teacher of the year, now in the running for Placer County Schools TotY. We discuss growth and professional development that led her here, answer a few questions off her questionnaire, and discuss some ideas we're taking away from the pandemic into our teaching in the future
Recorded 11/3/2020 instead of watching election coverage. S7E9
We continue to patch the holes in our teaching as we are grappling with hybrid learning. Due to Sus officiating a wedding over the weekend, this is a beer podcast, not a coffee podcast. You're welcome.
Recorded October 27, 2020 S7E8
Sorry for the missing week folks, Sus's audio was lost in our conversation on adjusting Pacing for Hybrid Learning. We'll revisit that. This week we talk about how we are adjusting our teaching to a Hybrid model and what that looks like.
Recorded 10/18/2020 S7E7
The PAC-12 announced that they will resume football this fall but Bands will not be allowed to play at or anywhere near games, leaving Olin without a fall marching season. The Hybrid Model now proposed for both John and Sus's schools effectively negates rehearsal, so the question remains: what is a performing ensemble without performance opportunities?
S7E6 Recorded 10.4.2020
The counties where Sus and John teach are meeting the thresholds to open schools, so this week we grapple with what performing arts courses look like without rehearsal in preparation for students in the classroom, some students still online and the current guidelines in CA that preclude instrumental or choral rehearsals.
S7E5 Recorded 9.27.2020
This week we sat down with our friend Patrick about his work opening West Park High School as their band director. He discusses the opportunities of starting a new program, and the challenges of doing so during distance learning in a pandemic.
S7E4 Recorded 9.20.2020
This week, we discuss the challenges we're continuing to face in our digital teaching and share ideas for engaging and meaningful lessons for our students in a remote teaching environment.
S7E3 Recorded September 13, 2020
Welcome Back, for real this time. First Family Episode of Season 7 with Veronica. We debrief our first few weeks of teaching and discuss dipping our toes into digital in this new normal.
S7E2 Recorded 9.6.2020
Welcome Back! We're opening our seventh season with an interview with Messrs. Jonathan Grantham and Patrick Dandrea from Amador Valley High School. They have been doing extensive work in maintaining an ensemble program in a digital environment, and recently hosted a directors band to showcase their ideas as a launching point for other teachers.
That Presentation can be found here:
- YouTube Live Link
- Session Slide Deck
- There are some additional strategies for solfege and rhythm reading included at the end of the deck.
- Additional Resources
- Overview videos we've used for students, some asynchronous projects, and planning template documents.
Recorded 8/30/2020
This is the last regular episode of our Sixth Season. This is the end of semester potpourri, a look back at the year, what we're excited about for the summer and projects we hope to tackle.
"We have no idea what the fall is going to look like but you need to plan for it" - your admin team, probably.
We don't have a lot of answers but we talk about messaging and planning and the differences between university, high school and middle school.
Recorded May 24, 2020
John finishes his last week, Sus wraps up her virtual choir project, Olin is not looking forward for OSUMB instrument return and Veronica laments the regression of her 7th graders.
Recorded May 17, 2020
Back at it again, we discuss recorded lessons vs. synchronous learning sessions and the pros and cons of both.
Recorded 5.2.2020
Veronica debriefs her first week back after local school districts took almost a month off to prepare for digital learning.
Recorded April 19 2020
We bring the spouses back on for a dive into what it's like being confined with a music teacher and some ways to mitigate the problems that stem from that. (Take 2: Sus's Audio is fixed)
Recorded April 16, 2020
John and Sus have been teaching since March 16 in secondary settings, but now Olin and Veronica are moving back into teaching after their spring breaks and debrief the challenges being faced.
Sorry about the bad audio (again) this time John got complacent with his audio set up, since it had been set up all week for teaching.
Recorded April 5 2020.
Jesuit has some survey data based on two weeks of teaching digitally, we break down some of the points that jump out to us as we enter week three of this new paradigm.
Recorded 3/29/2020
We debrief our teaching and lessons learned from trying to adapt to digital teaching and learning in the first week of shelter in place in California.
We had a small hiccup with Sus's audio at the end, so she missed out on a win this week... =(
Recorded March 22, 2020
We sit down with the incoming CMEA VP, Chad Zullinger to talk options for digital and distance learning as we try to adapt to school closures and our new normal.
CMEA Resources mentioned can be found here:
https://calmusiced.com/resources/covid-19-information/
Recorded March 15, 2020
What has merit in a meritocracy besides musicianship? That's the question we try to tackle today.
Recorded March 8, 2020
Veronica dives in with the question that boils down to "when is it time to cut bait" with beginners who are showing no progress. We try to tackle the problem from a few angles.
We debrief our week, ending with a presentation at the California All State Music Educator's Conference. We also discuss our favorite clinics we participated in and Sus reminds herself how much she loves CCDA.
I sit down with Jim Mazzaferro (and his bass) to ask a few questions about developing your bass player, as well as a few questions about guitarists as the conversation progresses.
Forgive the transitions, balancing Jim and his bass as he demonstrates proved to be a challenge.
Jim's bio can be found here
Recorded 1/30/2020
Sus checks in with ways to develop your musicians outside of the normal cycle of formal concerts. What value do informal performances (informances) bring to your program?
Note: Audio is bad on this one, (sorry!) We had trouble with the H6. Olin's audio remains unscathed.
Recorded 02/02/2020
John sits down with Barb Catlin the director at Pomona College and CIT, as well as the incoming president for the California Alliance for Jazz to discuss working in the rhythm section as a new director and a horn player.
Barb's Bio can be found here: http://www.barbcatlin.com/bio
Sus inquires after John's three year checklist for literature and we find ourselves discussing the challenges and processes of choosing literature for our groups.
And... we're back. Quick check-in on how 2020 is shaping up and some of our goals for the semester.
Sus is back trying to solve a few problems with her leadership staff, we break down some lessons learned from our concerts and the semester.
Recorded 12/15/2019
We talk about how to best ensure follow-through with your giant to-do list before the next iteration of whatever it is: new semester, new marching season, new school year. What are some steps to take to make sure the job gets done the way you want it to and things don't get left by the wayside.
Recorded 12.8.2019
We're back from Break, and wary about this post Thanksgiving season. Nov 1st was on a Friday which means when we left for break "Next Month" was actually "Next Week" and that feeling in the air is just a little bit of panic.
Recorded 12/1/2019
We had an opportunity to record close to our release date and make our episode topical, so gratitude ends up being the name of the game. We take a break from all our worries and strife of teaching to focus on what we're grateful for. We hope it finds you on your travel to or from family this break.
Recorded 11/24/2019
This late in the semester in can be frustrating if your classroom procedures have eroded due to lack of maintenance. We talk a bit of our on experience of how and why that happens and about getting back on track.
Recorded 11/11/2019
I talk this week with Dr. Redfield about the easy mistakes first year directors make with their bands, and peel back the curtain on what made Robert McQueen HS in Reno such a powerhouse.
Dr. Redfield's Bio can be found here.
Recorded 11/5/2019
This week we take a look at alternative forms of administrative evaluations that one might be able to use in their own professional development.
Recorded 11/3/2019
So your fundraiser was successful and you have a pile of money, how do you navigate the financial bureaucracy of your new school and spend that money on your students and program? These are the questions Sus brings us today, and we thought it would maybe be helpful for newer teachers to lay out the processes by which we spend money and support our students.
This week I sit down with Max Kiesner, director at our local city college to talk about how he's adjusting to his new gig, and what universal concepts he tries to teach whether he's in front of a bunch of green freshmen, a high powered performance ensemble or a bunch of adults who may or may not practice as much as we'd all like. It's a grab bag of sorts but it was a very insightful conversation.
Recorded 10/8/19
This week we share how we integrate singing, pitch memory, dictation and other musicianship exercises into our lessons.
Recorded 9/29/2019
This week I sit down with Clyde Quick to talk form, organizing the year into units, and choosing charts to teach concepts.
Veronica is exhausted by her seventh graders who don't know how to "band" yet and are not used to delayed gratification when they have questions. What do you do to teach problem solving with your youngest students?
Recorded 9.22.19
This week I sit down with Josh Murray at Rio Americano High School to talk swing, and some of the most fundamental steps one can take towards establishing a swinging rhythm section.
Recorded 9.5.19
This week we discuss a few opportunities to help build community in your ensembles, but our main focus is on the different organizational systems we use for lesson planning and keep on top of the workload of being a program administrator as well as a teacher. Some things work for each of us but don't work for others.
Recorded 09.08.2019
So, Jazz Workshop is the new project we're sprinkling in between family episodes of AMusEd. This week we have on Bobby Rogers. He and John discuss at length what he does to get his kids improvising from day one.
Recorded August 6, 2019
We're back, catching up about changes in our teaching loads and what we're excited about for the coming year.
Recorded 8.24.2019
Our friend Jeff just took a new job where he has to teach a string orchestra. He brought his questions to the podcast. Warning: John talks a lot on this one.
Recorded June 9 2019
Time for our grab bag episode at the end of the year. We talk about Olin's Presentation at the CBDNA Athletics Bands Symposium, student recognition and awards and an assortment of other topics along the way. We'll have a few more episodes out before we wrap our season for the summer.
Recorded June 3 2019
This week we talk with one of Olin's graduating students who is going off to teach in a one music teacher town. We discuss not only the challenges of being a first year teacher but also the challenges of teaching in a rural community.
Recorded 5.18.2019
We spend a lot of time advocating on behalf of our students, our programs and for music education in general. Sometimes we need to take a second and look into standing up for and taking care of ourselves as well.
What can you do at the end of the semester after the final concert? What sorts of units can you build into the curriculum that are not performance based to engage your students?
Recorded 5/5/2019
This week we discuss the difference in scope and mission of a class and a program in the performing arts.
Sus has questions about building the program off of an all inclusive class in the fall and several classes split off of that in the spring, with the focus on bringing community and a sense of belonging to her program.
recorded 4/11/2019
John gets some (more) on air therapy and we talk out some steps moving forward for our programs. Not as much Jazz pedagogy on this episode, but there's sure to be more to come.
Recorded April 7, 2019
Who do you bring in front of your kids for feedback for them and your own teaching? It's Festival Season, so that's on most folks minds, but how else do you engage with feedback for your own teaching and who do you turn to for that?
Recorded April 3 2019.
Or should we say "joys." Selena speaks to teaching band orchestra and choir at the middle school level, and how equally challenging and rewarding it is.
Veronica is looking for best practices in a world with so many demands on our kids time.
Recorded 3.17.2019
What values are on display in your audition process? How does it tell the kids what you value and what you are looking for in them. How does it tell them what is important to you?
Recorded 3/10/2019
Anne stops by this week in a crossover episode (we're still building our expanded universe) to talk about a few resources for General Music teachers and some of her experiences developing as a teacher in Texas.
For more resources, check out her podcast, the Anacrusic Podcast, which can be found at our network site Mutedpodcasts.com
The Holy Names folk song inventory she mentioned can be found here
Recorded 3/3/2019
John and Veronica start a discussion about designing or re-designing curriculum over the summer (for units!).
AMusEd is moving to a Wednesday release schedule to better coordinate with our other MuTeD network podcast pals. You can find Everything Band on Mondays, AMusEd on Wednesdays and the Anacrusic Podcast on Thursdays. Source Material will remain on a monthly release for now.
We discuss what we walked away from our state conference with and talk a bit about master's programs and other avenues of professional development.
Recorded 1/13/2019, our first week back from break. We sat down with Brandon to hash out some questions he had about the different ways our schools scheduled classes, as his is going through a change now and he was interested in how other schedules affected ensemble classes.
This is the kickoff episode for our second semester for this season, where we discuss our goals for our teaching in the second semester.
Recorded 1/21/2019
So this one jumped the queue. Dr. Eric Hammer passed away on Monday 1/28/2019 and this podcast session was spent reflecting on our memories of him and how we processed our grief this week making music with our students.
Recorded 2/2/2019
This is our last episode before we take our mid-season break. We'll be back with new episodes for the Spring Semester on January 28th.
Recorded 12/16/18
Bobby is here to talk about backwards mapping warm-ups and fundamentals exercises from your concert to make sure there is always time for great teaching and not just rehearsal in your class. It's band focused this time but we swear he'll be back to talk strings.
Recorded 12/9/18.
What opportunities do your students have to perform/encounter amazing music around town? With the Holidays approaching those opportunities skyrocket and we wanted to address them.
Recorded 12/2/18
The week before thanksgiving we dealt with the aftermath of the Camp Fire and the impact the smoke had all over Northern California. In light of so many performances in the area being cancelled we discussed what steps does a program take next?
Recorded 11/18/2018
This week we talk about setting up policies in your program so your admin always has your back when parents go around you.
Also, it's John's Birthday.
Recorded 11/13/2018
Olin and John sit down with Justin Preece to talk marching percussion.
Justin is the percussion coordinator for the OSUMB but he worked as a percussionist and educator in Texas for 20 years before moving to Oregon.
Recorded 11/4/18
We suggest strategies to take a look ahead and take a load off of our plates.
Recorded 10/28/18
We talk about how to engage more with composers of your source material in an ensemble class.
Recorded 10.19.2018
We spitball different ideas for mixing up your rehearsal, generally focused on band but can be extrapolated to choir and orchestra. Sus was absent.
We're trying a new recording format, feel free to offer feedback.
Recorded 10.14.18
Veronica is looking for ways to devote more of her time to a curriculum that isn't oriented around performance literature, but in which the performances are a byproduct of everything she has taught up to that point; developing an underlying curriculum that is independent of literature chosen.
Recorded 10.4.2018
Sus vents a few frustrations about collaborating with colleagues on big projects while she's still trying to sort out her role in the department. We then discuss different opportunities for collaboration each of our programs offer us.
This week John talks about the pillars that make healthy community in his quest for building culture and commitment in his program.
Recorded 9.20.18
Veronica is working on her conflict policies with her admin, and so wants to bounce some ideas and get feedback from the group
Recorded 9.16.18
This week we discuss how learning procedure effects music teachers and how we need to be empathetic when teaching procedure to our students. Olin is away at band camp.
Recorded 9.9.18
This week we discuss our efforts at differentiation in our classrooms for students of different abilities in the same ensemble.
Amused is a proud member of the Music Teacher Development Podcast Network.
Season 5 of AMusEd is sponsored by Vandercook College of Music find more info at Vandercook.edu
Recorded 09/02/2018
With a new school year there's just so much going on. We bounce ideas off of one another to solve a few quick problems and share solutions to the worries of how to get off the ground.
Recorded 8/25/18
Welcome back! We hope everyone had a great labor day weekend. This episode is more personal than topical as we haven't done this in a few months and there's a lot to catch up on. Specifically, Sus changed jobs. We have a few surprises in store for this season. Enjoy.
Recorded 8.18.18
Reflections on our teaching this past year and some goals for our programs and ourselves for the 2018-19 school year.
John's back from a week at a BSA Camp School with some pedagogy on enabling youth leadership, and Olin shares his methods for empowering his student leadership. We're no Dr. Tim, but 'tis the season, and we hope you find it helpful.
Recorded 6/1/2018
Veronica is grappling with how her end of the year trip is handled for her band program. We share our thoughts on the value of these trips and suggestions for how one can reflect on that value and purpose.
Veronica did a reflection exercise with her students and we all copied it. We talk about our different results and reflect ourselves on the culture of our programs.
Recorded 5.13.2018
After almost four years we finally have a string specialist on the episode to talk shop with. Olin dragged Kathleen Smith on after a OSUMB gig. Kathy is a middle school band and orchestra teacher in Corvallis as well as a staff member the OSUMB.
Recorded 4.28.2018
What do you do when an institution shows up at your institution? Dealing with insecurities when your predecessor comes for a visit.
We talk at length about what we've been taught and what we have taught in our classrooms regarding counting systems.
This week we brought on our friend and neighbor Patrick Neff from Rosemont HS to talk a little bit about his challenges in his first few years teaching and his perspective from the podium as a percussionist.
Recorded 4/8/2018
We talk about resources for implementing the National Core Arts Standards in your curriculum. Olin was off galavanting around with OSU's basketball team for some reason.
Recorded March 18, 2018
We talk about our interest in small ensembles as middle school, high school & college band directors.
Sus was off galavanting around the city with her choirs.
Recorded 3/11/18
We wrangled Veronica's colleague from Holmes Junior High in Davis to come sit down with us while we pepper him with questions about Brass pedagogy.
Olin is designing a brass methods class for the spring quarter, and so he harasses John and Veronica with questions.
If you have input of things you wanted to see in your brass methods class that you didn't get and we didn't cover, send Olin your suggestions through our Facebook group or our website, Amusedcast.org
We share our student teaching experiences and our thoughts on how we might provide an impactful and helpful student teaching experience in our programs.
We talk about our working relationships with our administration, and what we're looking for in an administrator.
With January behind us we reflect on our local honor groups, their value and how to get the most out of them.
Sorry for the poor audio quality, Sus is on the phone, in a car, with no headphones. Not much we could do.
The question we tackle this week is how best to come back from break and how to you switch gears effectively and hit the ground running.
Hope you're enjoying your winter break! This episode we lay out goals for ourselves for the spring semester. This is our last episode for 2017, we'll be back for more episodes at the end of January.
Recorded 12/17/17
Veronica encountered a patron at one of her concerts that was legitimately offended by her concert programming. We discuss what those pitfalls are, and what it means for us now that we know. Also: Cookie Dough.
This week we talk about dealing with loss in your school community, processing grief as teachers, students and as ensembles.
We talk about our own experiences in teaching and looking for jobs in an effort to decipher what makes a position desirable and what sort of applicants it attracts.
This week we talk about ways we've tried to help our students practice smarter, or more efficient, or let's be honest, at all.
We talk this week about many of the extra musical skills we work with our students on especially given the amount of time we have with each of our kids as secondary educators.
We talk about how we deal with relying on kids who are involved with every program on campus and on whom other coaches rely just as much as we do.
This week Olin brings on his colleague, Dr. Sandy Babb to discuss vocal health for both students and teachers.
John grapples with pushback from his students regarding the implementation of a pre-AP theory curriculum in his intermediate and advanced ensembles.
This week the gang discusses barriers one might encounter to getting to conferences as a younger teacher and how one might navigate around them.
Sus give us highlights of her California Choral Director's Association Fall Northern Conference and we ruminate a bit on the teaching cycle, comparing the different ways we learned it, whether it's Set Followthrough Response, DAPR or 1-2-3, they all follow the same cycle.
John and Sus commiserate about the woes of teaching boys, and then we discuss a myriad of sight singing resources for use in any ensemble, and how one might integrate sight singing into your curriculum.
We talk about our idea of first impressions, who we thought we needed to be and how that worked out for us as first year teachers, and how we start the year now in years 6, 7, & 8.
Be patient, this episode is a little long (we vomit everything that happened since July onto each other for the first time in months).
We discuss what we're hoping to accomplish this summer and wrap up our third season. We'll be recording again in August so you'll probably see the next episode out at Labor Day.
We talk abut about what's on our minds, specifically tackling the end of year requirements before lock up for the Summer.
We meander through the idea of how to pace your concerts and what you can do if your concerts seem to go on for EVER.
Sys gets back from taking part in her district's music olympics hosted by Mark Swope at Stagg High School, and is excited by the prospect of teaching the requisite skills in preparation for next year.
Olin Brings on his colleague Dr. Wesley Brewer to talk about competition in the classroom and in our Festivals. Dr. Brewer serves on the Oregon State University faculty as Associate Professor and Coordinator of Music Education. He completed his doctoral studies in music education at Arizona State University, holds the Master of Music in Conducting from Southern Oregon University, and the Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Arizona. Prior to his appointment at OSU, Brewer served as Associate Professor and Director of Music Education at the Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University from 2009-2016.
Veronica is trying to make better use of the reference notebook she has her students build and is looking for ideas.
What happens when you're writing up your program for your concert and realize that you programmed the same arranger/composer over and over again across groups (or even in the same group)? Is this a problem, are there ways around it? Veronica posits it's okay to hang out in Sweeneytown as its the music thats most important.
This week we go through and discuss how we deal with blend and balance as separate concepts with our younger students.
Recorded March 28, 2017
This week we answer a listener's question as to how we try to schedule our rehearsals week to week to make sure we cover everything.
This week we have Cindy Teresi, Veronica's former colleague from Loomis on to talk about her work with elementary music and the Education Through Music curriculum she uses. To find more information about ETM head to richardsinstitute.org
Sus brings up her struggle in introducing her students to careers in music, she also tells her life story on this episode. Veronica starts an all recorder garage band.
This episode is a collection of stories we recorded at our state music education conference. Recorded Feb 16-19.
We skyped in not just Olin this week, but an entire collegiate NAfME chapter from OSU. We vomited some thoughts all over them and then took questions until the Skype call cut out. We got it back after recording and talked with the students for another 90 minutes, but we cut the podcast at that time because any longer would have taken up too much space.
Olin, Sus and Veronica and our guest, Dr. Bull discuss the job search:interviews, cover letters and what's worth looking at when searching for a new job.
Dr. Bull's bio can be found here.
Recorded January 28, 2017
We had Amanda Craig back to discuss her use of SEL in her general music classes, and we discuss our new years resolutions as teachers.
Recorded 1/1/17
Blurb from the CMEA Handout on the session: This session was designed as a live podcast focused on using technology for professional development and finding ways to develop your own professional learning community or support community followed by a Q&A session. At its core, AMusEd is a PLC: the four of us decided to meet weekly, discuss our teaching, ask for help, and explore a new topic relevant to our professional development. What makes ours different is we record ourselves and share it with the internet. AMusEd is not an advice podcast. We’re not experts, but we are interested in providing our podcast as a proxy for others who don’t have the support we enjoy especially isolated teachers and those in their first five years of teaching.
Recorded on 1/13/17
Sus brings a topic she's been struggling with: how to differentiate instruction in her intermediate ensembles where there are so many variables regarding an incoming students ability and previous exposure to music.
This week Olin brought on his colleague, Dr. Jason Gossett to talk about some of his research into what music educators value and how that has changed (or hasn't) in the last 30-40 years.
From his bio at OSU: Dr. Jason B. Gossett is an instructor in instrumental music education at Oregon State University where he teaches instrumental methods for graduates and undergraduates, research methods for graduates, and supervises student teachers. In addition to his deep commitment to music teacher education, he is the assistant director of the Oregon State University Marching Band and assists with basketball pep bands. Dr. Gossett also oversees and conducts the Campus Band. Prior to entering higher education, Dr. Gossett spent 10 years as a highschool band director in Kentucky.
Recorded Dec. 11, 2016
We invited Natalie and Megan on so we had the entire pod-family to talk about what our spouses see in us and for them to present the challenges in being the significant other to a music teacher.
This week we discuss athletic rivalries, how they affect our students and the music we make.
Since we all squandered our college degrees on music or music education, sometimes we struggle with communication. Especially finding the best means to communicate with large groups of parents and students with varying levels of interest and access to the internet.
This week we talk about the different strategies we use to get information to our students and their parents.
This week we talk about how the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election affected our students, our work with Civil Discourse, and the work outside of making music.
Olin is gone this week so we talk about something more relevant to secondary school teachers: how do you make up missed performances?
This week we talk about the pros and cons of taking masterworks and classic literature in front of adjudicators.
Veronica asks for help in finding exercises to teach tuning in the middle of rehearsal, not just as part of daily routines.
Ever had a day where it's more work to call in sick than and come up with sub plans than just suck it up and go in? With the advent of flu season we talk about coming up with ideas you can prep in advance, develop and work towards a set emergency sub plan. Don't forget your flu shots!
We invited Bobby Rogers from Pioneer High School in Woodland, CA to talk about his experience building a successful AP Music Theory program at his school: including a pre-AP curriculum integrated into his ensembles and a composition course for students who complete the AP course.
We talk about our current and ideal performance spaces, and Olin posits his Grand Theorem of college marching bands.
And.... we're back after a longer than expected break. Olin is in Oregon, Sus got married, and Veronica is now a choir teacher! This episode we get used to Skype as a regular part of our podcasts and discuss our professional goals for the year.
We bring on guest Josh Murray for our last episode this season. Josh is the director at Rio Americano High School in Sacramento and has found great success there with their Jazz and Concert Band programs. We brought him on to pick his brain about stepping into the role of a jazz band director.
How do you evaluate your own teaching and your success this year? What do you measure it against? How do you know if you are growing or meeting your goals? Good questions to ask, not sure if we have the answers.
We brought on the director from Amador Valley High School, Jonathan Grantham to talk about the growth in his teaching from when he started at his school 14 years ago to bringing his band to the Midwest Clinic. This interview was done via Skype, and so had challenges with audio quality, but the quality of our guest should more than make up for it.
Head over to amusedcast.org for Mr. Grantham's bio, and a link to his blog: Accidental Expert.
It's that time of year: the end of the year slog towards graduation and for many of us the rehearsal of coronation marches that come with it. How do you combat senioritis in your classroom? What happens when it trickles down to affect your younger students? How do you combat it in yourself? We discuss dealing with the end of the year drain.
Last week we talked about student perspectives on fun, this week we look at improving that perspective.
Student perceptions, expectations and enrollment numbers are coming to a head. What do you do when a kid says point blank: "Band just isn't fun anymore?"
Yes, Fundraising the director's least favorite word. We bring on our friend Meredith a middle school band director, to talk about some alternatives she's found to selling stuff your students' families don't need.
Sus leads the discussion this week on the benefits of and some of the best practices for recording your enesmbles.
Recorded on Easter. In the evening. Which means beer and not coffee. Which means Olin giggles a lot. Enjoy!
Each of us grabbed a book we've read that influenced our teaching, or have been meaning to read and now had an excuse, to recommend to our listeners. Links to the books and more information at amusedcast.org
This episode we talk about vocal modeling in your classroom, regardless of ensemble and its importance
Want to go back to school but don't want to leave your job? Don't know what to do? That's okay, neither does Veronica. This week we discuss what we value in a masters' degree program and the pros and cons of summer residency programs.
This week Olin recounts different philosophies of practice. Sus is away so we naturally nerd out about band.
This week we talk about the importance of and different strategies we use to help students reflect on their performance.
We discuss the discoveries and errors we've made in programming for educational ensembles.
This week we talk about grading for participation in ensembles; the pros, the cons, the necessity and the pitfalls of doing so.
We discuss our perception of the public misconception of talent, what it is, what it isn't and how it affects our students.
John's percussion instructor drops by to talk about some strategies and resources for teaching percussion.
Julie's Back!This time the topic she brought with her is about inclusion strategies for students who may otherwise not be able to participate in a music program.
We found a slightly quieter location and sat down with Michael Sweeney to talk about literature selection.
Duane Hill is the director of the Texas Tech University "Goin' Band from Raiderland" as well as director of the Concert Band. He holds a bachelor of secondary music education from Texas Tech University under Keith Bearden and Christopher Anderson and a master of music in conducting from Dr. Sarah McKoin.
We discuss approaching if differences in opinion regarding pedagogy in a professional setting.
Our friend George dropped by to talk about building his program and what it was like to have a performance degree in Saxophone and step into an 80% Guitar job.
This we we discuss in identifying core literature to our profession, its musical and pedagogical value and how to implement it into our curriculum.
It's that time of year: everybody is sick and tired of being sick and tired. We discuss the Dark Evil Vortex of Late September, October and November.
Olin was out of town and we ended up recording on the evening of Halloween, so that dominated our conversation
We bring on our friend Julie to talk about Growth vs. Fixed mindsets and teaching music.
We spiral back to our conversation about teaching music beyond the score and what else we can do to teach comprehensive musicianship.
We open the discussion on designing curriculum and units of study beyond the score. Also, Sus talks about how big her room is...
We discuss the benefits of a music supervisor in the district, what they can do and why they are important.
John hijacks the conversation to discuss the concerns he has regarding co-curricular conflicts and performances, and finding solutions.
We discuss our communications with parents and our differingresponsibilities for our Back to School Nights.
We discuss new program items we're taking on this year and how that affects our teaching.
We talk about our first days back, how they're different from years past and what we're focused on this year right out of the gate.
For our first episode back after summer (not all of us were teaching yet), we brought in a friend wo's been teaching a bit longer, but has recently completed a masters degree over summers and is still taking opportunities regularly every summer to grow.
We're taking a break for the summer and will be back at the end of July/beginning of August. We discuss our years in review and our goal for next year: to try to build more of a community and interaction with people who listen to the podcast.
We hinvited our friend Jeff on to talk about putting together a band/choir trip and the lessons we've all learned from that process.
This week We toss around our experience with end of he year concerts, auditions, graduation and the like.
We bring on our friend Brittany to discuss teaching music in a secular private school, her experiences teaching general music, and how her primary instrument (Harp) has influenced her teaching.
This week we talk about how each of us use technology in the classroom and some of the tools we've seen used to great effect.
We recorded the podcast on Easter Sunday, and so thought to bend the topic towards the discussion of Sacred and Secular Music in the classroom.
For Episode 30 (!) we discuss the value of festivals to our programs and to us as young teachers.
This week we talk about what exactly motivates our students and our own experiences in ensembles as students and how they compare.
This week we dig into the benefits and costs of teaching mixed classes as beginners and the prioritization of teaching technique over ensemble skills.
We invite our friend Heather on to talk about her experiences moving into a band program after playing cello and teaching strings her entire life. It's a bit interesting to note the change in our group dynamic from recording on Sunday Morning to Friday evening.
We discuss how each of us recruit and grow our programs as well as the unique challeges that each of us face based on our specific schools and student deomgraphics.
We sit down with our friends Kevin Diggins and Amanda Poon, both of whom attended Holy Names to earn a Masters of Music in Music Education with a Kodaly emphasis. They discuss how they fold the Kodaly method into their teaching in general music and elementary and middle school choir and band.
No guest this week as we check in on Olin's favorite topic to debate: which is more important in Music education, the process or its product.
This week we re-visit general music, this time with a 3rd year teacher from the Washoe County School district in Nevada.
We sit down with Bethany Moslen, the Assistant Director of the Cal Aggie Marching Band-uh to talk about teaching special populations. Bethany has a M.Ed. in Special Education and our conversation leans towards how that affects her teaching practices as a music educator.
We invite our friend Shane on to talk about his first year teaching general music and elementary band.
We met up with Dr. Seggelke in McCormick place, so there's a bit of background noise in this episode. Dr. Seggelke is the director of bands at Illinois State University and currently serves as the artistic director and conductor of the San Francisco Wind Symphony. His bio can be found here: http://www.seggelke.info/wordpress/?page_id=2
We arranged an interview with Dr. Chapman while we were in Chicago. Dr. Chapman is the director of bands at Oregon State, where Olin got to study under him for two years. His bio can be found on their website
http://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/users/christopher-chapman
In which we discuss our experiences at Midwest. All of the materials and handouts from the midwest clinic that we reference will be available on the Midwest Clinic's website: Midwestclinic.org
This week we tackle some stocking-stuffer sized topics regarding the end of the semester. Midwest recap is coming next week, followed by our interviews.
Olin, Veronica and John are headed to Chicago today for the Midwest Band and Orchestra clinic. On this episode we discss the value of local and national professional organizations and their annual conferences.
This is the first installment as we try to work through the new National Core Arts Standards and unpack them. Also on the table is how we incorporate the standards into our teaching and how we can do better.
We address the challenges we're facing and what we're doing to improve as teachers over this year and into next semester. The followup of how exactly we're doing with that will be coming in a blogpost on the website. aMusEdCast.org
This week we invited Clyde Quick to join us and he brought with him the desire to talk about who we are teaching rather than what we teach. This is brought about by watching his student teacher in the classroom and the work she is asked to do.
Our expected guest called in sick this week, so we turned the topic around to do a self check-in and figure out how we stay healthy and focused as each semester wears on.
This episode we evaluate our music selection process. This isn't a "You should be playing these pieces" sort of deal. Again, we're not experts, and we each have our own way of choosing music, mostly based on the needs of our program and our sudents.
Here it is: Episode 10! We're missing Sus this week but the topic is focused on Music Education Advocacy regarding both the public and students (current and prospective) as well as our beefs we have with the way Music ed advocacy has been done in the past.
Basically this is an "It Gets Better" for teachers in the middle of BTSA or other induction programs. The discussion leads to assessment and NCLB (this year is the year every student is to be proficient, according to the language of the law).
This week we take a break from being band nerds. Susanna leads a discussion on vocal health and choral techniques.
We bring on another guest, Tom Slabaugh the director at Davis High School to speak as a percussionist and band director and answer our percussion questions.
We touch on a few topics that could easily take an entire episode for themselves; focused more on the parts of our job that happen outside of the classroom. Olin talks about what it was like to host 10 high school marching bands and the work it took to pull of his Band Day. Sus shares horror stories regarding travel and busses.
This week we go over the some of the warm-up and technical exercsises we use in our ensembles as well as review some of the literature available as method books for beginning, intermediate and advanced instrumental ensembles.
The audio quality is poor this week, but the content quality is top notch!
We invite a guest, Travis Maslen the director at Christian Brothers High School, who has tons of questions (for Olin) about Marching Bands.
We discuss the differences in experience between student teaching and our first weeks in our own classrooms, as well as discovering what motivates our students and a few tips and tricks we've pick up along the way.
Four music teachers all in their first 5 years of teaching discuss current issues in Music education, resources, tips and tricks as well as catalogue their growth and misteps made as young teachers.
Join us for our first episode where we introduce ourselves and our programs, talk about our first few weeks of teaching each year, what's required to prep for the new year and discuss mistakes we made as first year teachers.