Herring’s Head is a cumulative folksong that I taught to and sung with students of all ages at many schools over the course of my teaching career. It features humorous lyrics that deliver a conservation message about whole animal or “nose to tail” eating (mindful consumption). Herring’s Head‘s call-and-response structure, extroverted attitude, and whimsy made it […]
Off The Podium
Off The Podium: Universal Music Education
As we enter the third decade of the twenty-first century, the time has come for music educators to stop pussyfooting around and advocate for Universal Music Education. Indeed, it is long past time. We should stop wasting valuable time – time that belongs to us and to the children in our care – we should […]
Off The Podium: What Your Students Will Remember, Part 2
Continued from What Your Students Will Remember, Part 1 Creating Lasting Memories One of the great boons (and perhaps, banes) of being a music teacher is that we teach a performing art, and the school year follows a rhythm determined by a schedule of seasonal performances. This was true of my teaching experience no matter […]
Off The Podium: What Your Students Will Remember, Part 1
At some point early in my teaching career someone told me: They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. …or something like that. I don’t remember who said it or when, honestly. Someone might have quoted it at a faculty meeting, or as part of a motivational […]
Off The Podium: SphinxConnect 2020
This past weekend I attended the annual Sphinx conference in Detroit, Michigan: SphinxConnect 2020. This was my fifth year in a row attending “the epicenter for artists and leaders in diversity” and in the years since I first attended in 2016 I have seen it grow from a single continuous series of presentations for about […]
Off The Podium: How Great is the Pleasure
This lovely eighteenth century canon was a staple of my school choirs’ repertoires throughout my entire teaching career. I came across it in a songbook when I first started teaching at Blue Rock School in the early 1990s, and I believe I taught this to every choir I directed until I left teaching in 2014. […]