arrange • compose • conduct
Posts discussing education, both in and outside of music
Should you “speed run” your teaching? If not, what’s the alternative? I asked my kids, what is the opposite of a “speed run” – the method of playing a game as fast as possible. (For example, the record speed run for Super Mario Bros. is under 5 minutes.) But some […]
How do you define the First Day of School? It seems silly on the surface – the First Day of School is, you know, the first day of school. But listen: our first school day is next Monday. My first day with students, making music, will be today, when we […]
The last 20 years of educational shift has been to increase focus, spending, and requirements around STEM learning and decrease focus, spending, and even requirements around the humanities. Which team are you on? Team STEM or Team Humanities? For me, it’s a no-brainer. I believe that humanities increase empathy, enhance […]
For most college students, and all high school students, school shouldn’t be about helping you become what you want to become. It should be about showing you all the things you could become. Especially including the things you never imagined existed. Yes, trade school exists, and yes, it is vitally […]
This is the slowest and most painful way to learn. And yet, I hear many people insist on making their own mistakes – even fail at things they needn’t – because they feel they’ll learn better that way. There are certainly things you learn better by doing them wrong before […]
Why do people go to football games? The answer, fundamentally, is simple. People go to football games because people go to football games. The history feeds into the present. At a big high school, there might be 5,000-10,000 fans in the stands for a Friday night game (or many more […]
How do you define “ready to perform”? One of the big challenges to helping young people develop their artistry is helping them move their definition of performance ready. I have had many students over the years who have considered performance ready to mean “I know the notes, rhythms, and words.” […]
The future of your program can depend on the smallest of nudges. Do great work all year, recruit, make beautiful music, connect with and relate to your students…still some might decide not to stay in choir next year. A give-back karaoke day and a solo that receives praise from peers […]
Educators shouldn’t always give in to their instinct to offer options for different learning and personality styles. I’m always one to offer different perspectives, different approaches for the things I teach. I want to reach and teach everyone, so I’ll cover a topic in as many different ways as I […]
The joke goes that students ask, “Will this be on the test?” rather than just engaging with the material regardless. Well, of course they do. We’ve taught them to. “It’ll be on the test” is how we’ve tried to convince students to engage with our material since they started school. […]