arrange • compose • conduct
Ask a teacher anywhere I teach, and they’ll tell you that Snow Days are not created equal. An unexpected day off, with sparkling snow and the chance to catch up with your family and maybe some grading or planning? Delightful. Six days in a row, unable to do the job […]
It might take a snow day (or two in a row!) to remember that you’re not as in control as you think. In our climate-controlled, rigidly scheduled, satellite-beamed lives, you can feel like how your spend your hours and minutes is decided by you, alone. But a snow day can […]
Seth Godin has pointed out that no marathon coach can promise, “I can teach you how to run a marathon without getting tired.” No, a marathon coach’s job is to teach you how to manage the tiredness. It’s important that vocal music educators understand that that’s our job, too. It’s […]
I re-shared my post “Discovery Day” yesterday, about how to make a Snow Day productive and fun. Yesterday for me, like many snow days, was about extra writing time. And I finished the day feeling light and free. Enervated, rejuvenated. I wrote a tremendous amount for me: about 2/3 of a choral […]
Brené Brown wrote in Rising Strong, “Daring is not saying, ‘I’m willing to risk failure.’ Daring is saying, ‘I know I will eventually fail and I’m still all in. Fortune may favor the bold, but so does failure.” (5) There are three steps we should be taking in the failure cycle built into living lives […]
Most of Lower Michigan is waking up to a Snow Day today. Here’s a little letter I wrote to my students this morning. Dear Students, Consider this: You have been granted a seven hour bonus to your life. Are you really going to spend it all sleeping? Or watching Friends […]