arrange • compose • conduct
Posts discussing education, both in and outside of music
Sometimes Sir Ken Robinson’s passionate, funny, brilliant keynote speeches (there are many) move me to tears. Here’s an extended quote from one he gave a few years ago at the California Teachers Summit. [The quote begins just before 9:00 in] In it, he differentiates three related terms: learning, education, and […]
Later-life career redirections can feel like trying to turn an ocean liner. It takes full engine power and lots of space to execute the turn. Even as early as just after college graduation, young adults can feel locked into the path they spent so much effort preparing themselves for. Just […]
For most things you aspire to do, the answer is yes. Has anyone grown up in the Midwest and become a session singer in LA? Definitely yes. Has anyone gone to University A and gone on to perform on Broadway? Maybe. Has anyone decided to start running at age 40 […]
I spent the last fifteen minutes of rehearsal reading three children’s books to my students. We preceded it with a conversation about what it takes to deliver a potent performance to an audience. With a solid year since most of them gave a performance, it’s important to at least talk […]
From Dr. Brené Brown’s conversation with Jim Collins, this gem about a trusting mindset. Collins is describing the mindset of his mentor and co-author, Bill Lazier. He said, “There’s this fundamental fork in the road in life, and it is your opening bid to trust or does somebody have to […]
I remember my aunt being an expert at touching the tip of her nose with her tongue (as my daughter is, now). Her advice for learning the skill? Your tongue needs to sneak up on your nose. Now, of course our tongues can’t actually sneak up on our noses. But […]
I listened to a couple of young men talking about their favorite games the other day. “How many hours do you have in-game?” one asked. “1,100 hours,” was the reply. “Oh, I only have 650.” On it went, and it became increasingly clear that in addition to knowing the games […]
I learned to luge today. (Wow, that’s a funny sentence to type.) The thing I learned about luging is that the right choice is highly counterintuitive. You need to lean back, and tuck your legs in, when your instinct is telling you to sit up and use your legs to […]
I love a good Snow Day Reflection … And there was a concern that, with the explosion of skills in remote synchronous teaching, there might never be another one. The good news is that many school districts seem to have committed to maintaining the status quo, at least for now.* […]
I’m in the background watching my son discuss a merit badge he’s working on with a counselor, and thinkng about the motivation that comes from discrete, earnable achievements. Of course, concerts are the ultimate discrete achievements – specific pieces are brought from unfamiliarity to performance in a limited amount of […]