AMusEd

Four music teachers discuss current issues in music education; offer resources, tips, and tricks; and catalogue their growth and missteps made as young teachers. Originally started with all in their first five years of teaching, see how they have grown now in their eighth season. We DeFinItElY kNoW wHaT wE'rE dOiNg.

AMusEnd 08/25/2023

AMusEnd Sorry for ghosting everyone for a year. We're back, but we're not. This is the last episode of the podcast. Series Finale. We decided that the podcast and our listeners meant enough to us that we needed to put out one final episode to actually wrap it up. This whole endeavor has been a wild ride and a labor of love. We felt we filled a role that was really necessary when we started but in the last 9 years there has been explosion of music ed podcasts. We're now almost 15 years into our careers and our focus is now more on our families instead of establishing ourselves as professionals. We'll still be meeting regularly to discuss our teaching and share some epic mistakes and wins but we won't be recording them. We wish you the best in your growth as a music educator and hope that you can find a community of peers like we did to help you on that journey. If you want to see our journey from the beginning, go back and laugh at those kids who thought they might know what they're doing here's a link to our pilot in all it's glory and lack of production value: /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/27846051

The one where Olin forgets to turn on his mic 06/07/2022

The one where Olin forgets to turn on his mic We navigate the last few weeks of school with an increasingly urgent need for the year to be over. Recorded 5.22.2022 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/23354057

Reflections upon exiting "Survival Mode" this year. 05/16/2022

Reflections upon exiting "Survival Mode" this year. We chat about how things are actually returning to the way they were before, and reflect honestly on how we navigated the challenges of this past year now that we're not in the middle of it all. S8E31 Recorded 5.5.2022 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/23125319

Boundaries and Being the Best 05/09/2022

Boundaries and Being the Best Veroinca asks the question: Can you still build a shiny, award winning program while still maintaining healthy boundaries in your life? S8E30 Recorded 4.24.2022 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/23049557

Prism Concerts and Large Combined Events 04/26/2022

Prism Concerts and Large Combined Events We talk about the logistics of showcasing the entirety of the music program, collaborating with others in your department and how to get in and out in a reasonable amount of time. S8E29 Recorded 4/18/22 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/22913846

Awards and other considerations 04/15/2022

Awards and other considerations It's been a while since we were all together so our focus meanders a bit, but our original conversations focuses on rewarding students who are represntative of the values of your program beyond just outstanding musicianship. S8E28 Recorded 4.10.2022 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/22809329

When Student Enrollment Drives Curriculum 04/03/2022

When Student Enrollment Drives Curriculum Olin is out this week so the secondary school teachers discuss how the tail is wagging the dog when it comes to how elective enrollment is driving curriculum. /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/22663301

Managing Student Expectations: Prestige vs Equity in you program 03/27/2022

Managing Student Expectations: Prestige vs Equity in you program How do you thread the needle celebrating your top students without leaving your other ensembles behind? We have our friend Jeff Kumagai on who is going through the last growing pains of taking over a program and dealing with the expectations of students who align with the values of the previous director. S8E26 Recorded 3.26.22 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/22583213

Mid Semester Check-in 03/19/2022

Mid Semester Check-in Sus is out this week due to tech week for the musical, Olin is still in the middle of the madness. Veronica has one very long week til spring break. We check in with our goals for the end of the semester, how (if?) we are on track with them. S8E25 Recorded 3/13/2022 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/22500149

The one where John forgets to Sub 03/14/2022

The one where John forgets to Sub Welcome to the spring. Things are going fine. We're sure. 100% Everything is fine. S8E24 Recorded 3/6/2022 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/22437338

Professional Trajectory Part 2 03/05/2022

Professional Trajectory Part 2 We continue our conversation regarding what a professional trjectory looks like for us, our previous discussion focused on what it wasn't. S8E23 Recorded 2.27.2022 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/22350389

Professional Trajectory 02/27/2022

Professional Trajectory What does a music educator's "professional trajectory" look like? This year we discuss a bit of difference in perspective on this topic between teachers in the classroom, administrators and what the difference is for us as music educators. /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/22267850

Avoiding the Smundays 02/19/2022

Avoiding the Smundays The gang discusses their strategies for setting one's self up for success so as not to dread Sunday evening or Monday morning. S8E20 Recorded 1/30/2022 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/22188830

Normalizing, Benchmarking, Grace and Self- Compassion 02/12/2022

Normalizing, Benchmarking, Grace and Self- Compassion As we are normalizing our expectations of ourselves and our students we're encountering a lot of frustration and need to stop and remind ourselves of a few key concepts. S8E21 Recorded 2.3.2022 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/22111799

Your Literature Bucket List 01/29/2022

Your Literature Bucket List We talk programming and how we might feel guilty for imposing our own bucket lists on our students. Recorded 1/20/22 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/21944768

Season 8 S2 Welcome Back 01/22/2022

Season 8 S2 Welcome Back This time we have the right file. Oops. We're back from break to a January that looks a little different than December. S8E18 Recorded 1/6/2022 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/21858275

Spicy Water and the Hegemony of Christmas 12/20/2021

Spicy Water and the Hegemony of Christmas Forgive the zoom blips this week, we had to edit off of one track, old school. This week we deal with being caught in the middle of public school discourse on respecting other cultures and holidays and the (sometimes overwhelming) hegemony of Christmas, along with the public expectation of holiday concerts. S8E17 Recorded 12/12/21 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/21548996

In-Person Concert Return. 12/13/2021

In-Person Concert Return. Guess who's back, back again? Concerts. S8E16 Recorded 12/5/21 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/21461909

Harnessing Anxiety for Student Success 12/04/2021

Harnessing Anxiety for Student Success Our topic meandered a bit on this episode, but it centered around anxiety (ours and our students'), understanding it and growing with it. S8E14 Recorded 11/14/2021. /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/21375077

Thanksgiving 2021 11/24/2021

Thanksgiving 2021 Hi Folks, this one jumps the queue because it's topical, so you get Episode 15 this week and then 14 next week. Time travel is rad. Enjoy our annual episode on Gratitude. S8E15 Recorded 11.21.21 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/21278294

The Burden of Sharing Project Management. 11/13/2021

The Burden of Sharing Project Management. Or "learning to share the burden of project management" if you prefer. Sus has caught herself taking on too much in her role of co-overseeing the musical theater fundraising concert, and discussing the growing pains of working on equal footing with other directors when no one is "in charge." S8E13 Recorded 11.7.2021 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/21148964

Building a Bench for 2022-23 11/05/2021

Building a Bench for 2022-23 John is anxious and panicking about the future (what else is new). What are you doing to ensure that your ensembles survive past the graduation of the class of 2022? S8E12 Recorded 10/28/2021 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/21067106

Scheduling for the Future 10/29/2021

Scheduling for the Future This week Olin, Sus and Veronica talk the perennial favorite topic of scheduling, looking forward and anticipating challenges that crop up as we move forward. S8E11 Recorded 10/21/21 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/20979092

Recalibrating.... 10/22/2021

Recalibrating.... What happens when you need to change course in the middle of your semester? We find out. When is rigidity in programming an structure an asset and when is it a liability? S8E10 Recorded 10/17/2021 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/20901512

Biting Off More than Your Students Can Chew. 10/16/2021

Biting Off More than Your Students Can Chew. So, it's not 2019, remember? Some of us *cough cough* are running up against the consequences of planning like it was. Let us know if you found the easter egg in this episode. S8E9 Recorded 10/03/2021 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/20836400

Teacher Triage 10/01/2021

Teacher Triage How do you rank what needs to get done when everything is urgent, and important, and on fire (sometimes literally on the west coast). We talk about what we prioritize and what we let fall behind when we're juggling chainsaws mid semester. S8E8 Recorded 9/23/21 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/20669897

High Intensity Interval Workouts (Stimulus Variation). 09/25/2021

High Intensity Interval Workouts (Stimulus Variation). In the wake of Olin's band camp (spoilers: it was great) Sus, Olin and Veronica discuss strategies to keep focused intensity in rehearsals. S8E7 Recorded 9/19/2021 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/20595608

Identifying the Values of Your Program 09/17/2021

Identifying the Values of Your Program The Beavs have Band Camp this week and Olin is out, so we brought on some special guests to help make sure we stayed serious and professional. Our topic this week came about organically as we discussed our growth away from comparing ourselves and our programs with the more successful and prestigious programs in our area. The discussion focuses on finding out what your students and school community value and modeling your program to meet those needs. S8E6 Recorded 9/9/2021 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/20505194

Making Accommodations for Students 09/10/2021

Making Accommodations for Students We discuss the ways students accommodations have challenged our teaching and helped us grow and develop more comprehensive strategies that work better for all students. S8E5 Recorded 9.2.2021 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/20428580

18 Months Later... 09/03/2021

18 Months Later... We're still talking about COVID. Sorry. Really doubling down on what music education looks like in Fall 2021, trying to figure out best practices when everything is left up to local municipalities and school boards to make decisions. S8E4 Recorded 8.26.2021 /episode/index/show/amusedcast/id/20356700

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