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.

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276 episodes
Updated Aug 25, 2023

Episodes276

Newest first

Oct 7, 2020 · 1 hr 6 min
Focusing on Community
The PAC-12 announced that they will resume football this fall but Bands will not be allowed to play at or anywhere near games, leaving Olin without a fall marching season. The Hybrid Model now proposed for both John and Sus's schools effectively negates rehearsal, so the question remains: what is a performing ensemble without performance opportunities? S7E6 Recorded 10.4.2020
Sep 30, 2020 · 55 min
Hybrid Models and What That Means for Rehearsal
The counties where Sus and John teach are meeting the thresholds to open schools, so this week we grapple with what performing arts courses look like without rehearsal in preparation for students in the classroom, some students still online and the current guidelines in CA that preclude instrumental or choral rehearsals. S7E5 Recorded 9.27.2020
Sep 26, 2020 · 59 min
Starting a New Band Program (during a Pandemic) with Patrick Neff
This week we sat down with our friend Patrick about his work opening West Park High School as their band director. He discusses the opportunities of starting a new program, and the challenges of doing so during distance learning in a pandemic. S7E4 Recorded 9.20.2020
Sep 17, 2020 · 58 min
Eddie Ate Dynamite...
This week, we discuss the challenges we're continuing to face in our digital teaching and share ideas for engaging and meaningful lessons for our students in a remote teaching environment. S7E3 Recorded September 13, 2020
Sep 9, 2020 · 1 hr 5 min
Season 7 Welcome Back
Welcome Back, for real this time. First Family Episode of Season 7 with Veronica. We debrief our first few weeks of teaching and discuss dipping our toes into digital in this new normal. S7E2 Recorded 9.6.2020
Sep 4, 2020 · 1 hr 6 min
Surviving and Thriving in a Digital Environment
Welcome Back! We're opening our seventh season with an interview with Messrs. Jonathan Grantham and Patrick Dandrea from Amador Valley High School. They have been doing extensive work in maintaining an ensemble program in a digital environment, and recently hosted a directors band to showcase their ideas as a launching point for other teachers. That Presentation can be found here: YouTube Live Link Session Slide Deck There are some additional strategies for solfege and rhythm reading included at the end of the deck. Additional Resources Overview videos we've used for students, some asynchronous projects, and planning template documents. Recorded 8/30/2020
Jun 6, 2020 · 1 hr
Season 6 Wrap
This is the last regular episode of our Sixth Season. This is the end of semester potpourri, a look back at the year, what we're excited about for the summer and projects we hope to tackle.
May 29, 2020 · 58 min
Looking Towards the Fall
"We have no idea what the fall is going to look like but you need to plan for it" - your admin team, probably. We don't have a lot of answers but we talk about messaging and planning and the differences between university, high school and middle school. Recorded May 24, 2020
May 22, 2020 · 1 hr 2 min
Managing Student Projects
John finishes his last week, Sus wraps up her virtual choir project, Olin is not looking forward for OSUMB instrument return and Veronica laments the regression of her 7th graders. Recorded May 17, 2020
May 9, 2020 · 1 hr 7 min
The Quarantine Chronicles: Episode 6
Back at it again, we discuss recorded lessons vs. synchronous learning sessions and the pros and cons of both. Recorded 5.2.2020
Apr 24, 2020 · 58 min
Once More Unto The (Digital) Breach
Veronica debriefs her first week back after local school districts took almost a month off to prepare for digital learning. Recorded April 19 2020
Apr 17, 2020 · 1 hr 11 min
Sheltering in Place with a Music Teacher
We bring the spouses back on for a dive into what it's like being confined with a music teacher and some ways to mitigate the problems that stem from that. (Take 2: Sus's Audio is fixed) Recorded April 16, 2020
Apr 10, 2020 · 52 min
University and Elementary teaching while SIP.
John and Sus have been teaching since March 16 in secondary settings, but now Olin and Veronica are moving back into teaching after their spring breaks and debrief the challenges being faced. Sorry about the bad audio (again) this time John got complacent with his audio set up, since it had been set up all week for teaching. Recorded April 5 2020.
Apr 3, 2020 · 1 hr 1 min
Student/Parent Feedback on Digital Learning
Jesuit has some survey data based on two weeks of teaching digitally, we break down some of the points that jump out to us as we enter week three of this new paradigm. Recorded 3/29/2020
Mar 26, 2020 · 55 min
Digital/Distance Learning Week 1 Debrief
We debrief our teaching and lessons learned from trying to adapt to digital teaching and learning in the first week of shelter in place in California. We had a small hiccup with Sus's audio at the end, so she missed out on a win this week... =( Recorded March 22, 2020
Mar 19, 2020 · 1 hr 38 min
Digital/Distance Learning with Chad Zullinger
We sit down with the incoming CMEA VP, Chad Zullinger to talk options for digital and distance learning as we try to adapt to school closures and our new normal. CMEA Resources mentioned can be found here: https://calmusiced.com/resources/covid-19-information/ Recorded March 15, 2020
Mar 14, 2020 · 1 hr 8 min
Ensemble Citizenship
What has merit in a meritocracy besides musicianship? That's the question we try to tackle today. Recorded March 8, 2020
Mar 4, 2020 · 54 min
Challenges with Beginning Students
Veronica dives in with the question that boils down to "when is it time to cut bait" with beginners who are showing no progress. We try to tackle the problem from a few angles.
Feb 27, 2020 · 54 min
CASMEC 2020 Debrief
We debrief our week, ending with a presentation at the California All State Music Educator's Conference. We also discuss our favorite clinics we participated in and Sus reminds herself how much she loves CCDA.
Feb 13, 2020 · 38 min
Jazz Workshop Episode 7: Building your Bassists with Jim Mazzaferro
I sit down with Jim Mazzaferro (and his bass) to ask a few questions about developing your bass player, as well as a few questions about guitarists as the conversation progresses. Forgive the transitions, balancing Jim and his bass as he demonstrates proved to be a challenge. Jim's bio can be found here Recorded 1/30/2020