arrange • compose • conduct
The battles worth fighting can take a lifetime to complete. That means you’re going to be fighting the same battles the entire time, over and over again. Battles of advocacy, battles for emotional well-being, righteous battles, battles against complacency. None of these are easily solved in a month, a year, […]
How do you reconcile your knowledge of how long a project will take with others’ estimates? For me, it’s knowing you’re going to need one extra day – and secretly building it in. The more projects you work on, the more you are able to plan effectively, and a big […]
I spent the morning singing backup for our brand-new Superintendent of Rockford Public Schools, Dr. Steve Matthews. Dr. Matthews is not a professional singer, but he’s a visionary leader and passionate believe in education. He wanted to introduce himself to 1,000+ staff in a powerful way, and enlisted Mandy and […]
My purpose is not your purpose…and that’s ok! My dad co-owned a sailboat when I was growing up, for the simple reason that he loved to sail. He registered for sailboat races for the whole summer – Saturday races and a Wednesday night race. We raced against hardcore races, competitive […]
Don’t ignore the middle future. I’m pretty good at thinking about what I have to do tomorrow. I’m less good at thinking – at least in detail – about what I have to do in two months. The practice of taking a few minutes to think in detail about the […]
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 […]
There are times when it’s to your credit to be easygoing, and times when it just adds work for other people. Don’t say, “I’m not picky. You decide.” There are two situations when I’m likely to hear that answer. First is when I’m taking food orders for a group. If […]
One of my goals this year is to send out an agenda the night before every weekly rehearsal. I can’t think of a single ensemble I’ve ever sung in that had a specific agenda that I was aware of ahead of time. I am certain my conductors had specific plans […]
It’s obvious. The best thing about your first year is your second year. That’s often been said to and about first year teachers, and it’s true there, for sure. The learning curve of your first year teaching, and in most jobs, is so steep that the second year is better […]
Summertime affords space for reflection. Can you bring that to your everyday? But I think that waiting till summer to reflect on what’s working and what isn’t takes too long. Often, when I’m in the middle of work, I don’t think I can possibly also devote time to stepping back […]