Amused

Olin, Sus and Veronica and our guest, Dr. Bull discuss the job search:interviews, cover letters and what's worth looking at when searching for a new job. Dr. Bull's bio can be found here. Recorded January 28, 2017

We had Amanda Craig back to discuss her use of SEL in her general music classes, and we discuss our new years resolutions as teachers.   Recorded 1/1/17

Blurb from the CMEA Handout on the session: This session was designed as a live podcast focused on using technology for professional development and finding ways to develop your own professional learning community or support community followed by a Q&A session. At its core, AMusEd is a PLC: the four of us decided to meet weekly, discuss our teaching, ask for help, and explore a new topic relevant to our professional development. What makes ours different is we record ourselves and share it with the internet. AMusEd is not an advice podcast. We’re not experts, but we are interested in providing our podcast as a proxy for others who don’t have the support we enjoy especially isolated teachers and those in their first five years of teaching.   Recorded on 1/13/17

Sus brings a topic she's been struggling with: how to differentiate instruction in her intermediate ensembles where there are so many variables regarding an incoming students ability and previous exposure to music.

This week Olin brought on his colleague, Dr. Jason Gossett to talk about some of his research into what music educators value and how that has changed (or hasn't) in the last 30-40 years. From his bio at OSU: Dr. Jason B. Gossett is an instructor in instrumental music education at Oregon State University where he teaches instrumental methods for graduates and undergraduates, research methods for graduates, and supervises student teachers.  In addition to his deep commitment to music teacher education, he is the assistant director of the Oregon State University Marching Band and assists with basketball pep bands.  Dr. Gossett also oversees and conducts the Campus Band. Prior to entering higher education, Dr. Gossett spent 10 years as a highschool band director in Kentucky.  Recorded Dec. 11, 2016

We invited Natalie and Megan on so we had the entire pod-family to talk about what our spouses see in us and for them to present the challenges in being the significant other to a music teacher.

This week we discuss athletic rivalries, how they affect our students and the music we make.

Since we all squandered our college degrees on music or music education, sometimes we struggle with communication. Especially finding the best means to communicate with large groups of parents and students with varying levels of interest and access to the internet.   This week we talk about the different strategies we use to get information to our students and their parents.

This week we talk about how the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election affected our students, our work with Civil Discourse, and the work outside of making music.

Olin is gone this week so we talk about something more relevant to secondary school teachers: how do you make up missed performances?

This week we talk about the pros and cons of taking masterworks and classic literature in front of adjudicators.

Veronica asks for help in finding exercises to teach tuning in the middle of rehearsal, not just as part of daily routines.

Ever had a day where it's more work to call in sick than and come up with sub plans than just suck it up and go in? With the advent of flu season we talk about coming up with ideas you can prep in advance, develop  and work towards a set emergency sub plan. Don't forget your flu shots!

We invited Bobby Rogers from Pioneer High School in Woodland, CA to talk about his experience building a successful AP Music Theory program at his school: including a pre-AP curriculum integrated into his ensembles and a composition course for students who complete the AP course.

We talk about our current and ideal performance spaces, and Olin posits his Grand Theorem of college marching bands.

Sus and Veronica discuss some ideas they brought back from ACDA NorCal Regional.

And.... we're back after a longer than expected break. Olin is in Oregon, Sus got married, and Veronica is now a choir teacher! This episode we get used to Skype as a regular part of our podcasts and discuss our professional goals for the year.

We bring on guest Josh Murray for our last episode this season. Josh is the director at Rio Americano High School in Sacramento and has found great success there with their Jazz and Concert Band programs. We brought him on to pick his brain about stepping into the role of a jazz band director.

How do you evaluate your own teaching and your success this year? What do you measure it against? How do you know if you are growing or meeting your goals? Good questions to ask, not sure if we have the answers.

We brought on the director from Amador Valley High School, Jonathan Grantham to talk about the growth in his teaching from when he started at his school 14 years ago to bringing his band to the Midwest Clinic. This interview was done via Skype, and so had challenges with audio quality, but the quality of our guest should more than make up for it.   Head over to amusedcast.org for Mr. Grantham's bio, and a link to his blog: Accidental Expert.