Recently, our district asked each content area to meet, discuss, and submit a plan for teaching our students how to study and prepare for local and state exams. My initial reaction was to roll my eyes and view this request as just another example of something that applies to other subjects and not to music […]
ADIF - Agile Development Instructional Framework
Leading Voices: Developing Audiation in the Choral Classroom
I almost stopped conducting. It was the first song for our first concert of the 2021 school year. My 9-12 Select Choir was singing Set Me As a Seal by René Clausen, and they struggled to lock in D major for the first few measures – it was a bit wonky. By the second phrase, the choir […]
Leading Voices: The Many Voices of the Polyphonic Classroom
Do not accept the concept of failure. You are Antifragile. The idea of antifragile is one of the concepts that I am asking my students to experience this year as they learn to sing, work, and learn together during rehearsals. I am asking them to trust me and take a vacation from some of their […]
Leading Voices: Summer Reading
Whether you are recovering this summer from the past sixteen months of teaching vocal music during a pandemic or currently preparing for the next year, our challenge is that we have no way of knowing what the new school year will bring. The undeniable reality is that we will not and actually should not go […]
Leading Voices: Adjusting to the New Dynamics
“Hey Susan, your work in choir this year was outstanding – thank you for a great year” In disbelief of what I just wrote in Susan’s yearbook, I looked up and said, “You did such a great job this year in and really grew as a musician, congratulations! You know, considering everything we went through, […]
Leading Voices: Purposeful Teaching Through Agile-Centered Instruction
I remember memorizing the phrase “whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half” many years ago when I began taking piano lessons in third grade. My piano teacher Mrs. Peterson was incredibly pleased that I had the phrase memorized and could recite it at a moment’s notice. She would smile and congratulate me on my new skill. The problem was, even though […]