Vision Boards, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and a Surprise

When One Teacher Didn’t Throw Away Her Shot

Featured NAfME Member Spotlight | Lesley Moffat

Online band is hard.

In an environment where students and teachers normally collaborate and work toward shared goals through the work we do in our ensembles, I was struggling with how to teach those important skills in a virtual environment, and I knew that if I didn’t find a way to help students nurture those skills now, then it would make our work harder when we eventually return to the classroom.

Enter—vision boards.

One of the activities my students and I did is create vision boards that identify one goal we want to accomplish by the end of the school year. When we were making the boards, students asked me what my goal is, and I replied, “I want to have Lin-Manuel Miranda as a guest co-host for You, Me, & A Cup of Tea” (which is the new daily routine we do at the beginning of each class: I spotlight a different student each day with an interview, and they share some music with the class). We’ve been studying Hamilton, and I saw the opportunity for him to not only inspire my own students who are desperately missing making music with their friends but also to speak to music teachers and students with whom I could share this video.

My purpose in doing so was to 1) show my students the power of having a vision, taking steps to reach the goal, and reaching out for help when they need help, and 2) creating a video that can be shared with music educators and students around the world who could use some uplifting words from Lin-Manuel to remind them of the power of the arts—and not to give up when circumstances become difficult.

Fast-forward a few weeks—a short video I posted on Facebook was viewed tens of thousands of times and shared by hundreds of people. I received countless messages with email addresses and other ways to contact Lin-Manuel. I followed up with all of the leads.

But it was William who got Lin to respond.

I awoke early one morning to find a package on my front porch with a note that said, “DO NOT OPEN UNTIL DIRECTED BY Honors Wind Ensemble.” A few hours later during our online class, I was instructed to open the mystery box.

Inside the box was an envelope. When Will said, “Ms. Moffat, who’s it from?”, I looked at the return address, and my jaw fell to the floor when I saw Lin-Manuel Miranda’s name in the top left-hand corner of the envelope!

As I opened the envelope and I realized what Will had done, the tears started flowing.

In my hands was a handwritten note thanking me for my work with my students. And on my computer screen I saw the dozens of kiddos I’ve been with for years share in the joy and excitement of this moment.

Excerpt from Will’s email to me about how this happened:

“I was pretty excited too because less than 24 hours after sending an email to Lin-Manuel, I got a response back from his wife! I was amazed out of my mind that I was talking to Lin-Manuel’s wife! She said that Lin-Manuel would write you a handwritten letter, and I got so excited! I didn’t think it would arrive because of the valiant efforts you have been making to meet him. When I got the letter in the mail, I started jumping up and down! I was not only excited that I was holding something touched by THE Lin-Manuel Miranda, but I was also excited to see your reaction. I have experienced a lot of troubles throughout this pandemic that a lot of other people have as well. It made me so happy to see your reaction and feel the joy coming through the screen. It also made me happy that we can still enjoy these experiences through zoom and still make everyone happy.
I am beyond honored to have received a handwritten letter from Lin-Manuel. Sharing that joy with the kids was really a powerful bonding moment—much like when we all have a performance that required a lot of hard work to make happen, but the payoff is grand when it all comes together.”

Since we couldn’t have a winter concert this year, I created a special video for my students to summarize our Online Band experience. The letter from Lin-Manuel made the video. (Disclaimer: My first day ever rapping was 36 hours before recording this . . . just sayin’!)

I have not given up on having Lin-Manuel as a co-host for You, Me & A Cup of Tea. I have put together a handful of questions to ask him to inspire teachers and students who are struggling with missing making music with their peers and questions for his advice to decision-makers about the importance of keeping the arts alive and well in spite of financial challenges. Our kids have never needed the arts like they do now during these challenging times.

About the author:

NAfME member Lesley Moffat has taught high school band for more than thirty years and is currently the Director of Bands at Jackson High School in Mill Creek, Washington. She is the author of I Love My Job But It’s Killing Me: The Teacher’s Guide to Conquering Chronic Stress and Sickness and Love the Job, Lose the Stress. Moffat has been a presenter at multiple NAfME conferences and participated in conferences and webinars for Washington, Illinois, and Pennsylvania as well as being a guest on podcasts and serving as a guest conductor and adjudicator throughout the Pacific Northwest.

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January 8, 2021. © National Association for Music Education (NAfME.org)Tags: arts education, band, Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, online class, virtual learning, vision board, zoom

What’s the Secret for Music Teachers Who Don’t Feel Anxiety on Sunday Night When They Think about School?

They have a plan – and I’m not talking about a lesson plan for delivering content. I’m talking about a plan for intentionally creating a space where their students and they feel connected, supported, and at-ease.

But what does that look like?

I invite you to grab a cup of coffee or tea (or put something stronger in your mug, no one needs to know) and join me to tacet for a few minutes and experience how you can help ease your own (and your students’) anxiety so you can spend more time making music together and less time feeling overwhelmed.

I hope this short video gives you a much-needed opportunity to pause and take a breath before heading into the rest of the school year.

We’ve got a long road ahead of us. With a little attention to intention, we can make the journey better for everyone.

2021 – Let’s do this!

Lesley

Music Educator Mindful Intention Setting 2021 Replay

Here We Go Into A New Year. Are You Ready?

With all we’ve dealt with in the past 10 months, it’s not surprising that many music teachers are at their wits end as they struggle with student engagement and worry about how they’ll keep their programs alive for next year.

We had zero training for what we’ve endured, and it’s been one heck of a ride to try and figure all of this out. And as we head into spring, we’ll be dealing with registration for next year. That can be scary enough during “normal” times. It’s down right frightening for many music educators right now who are seeing students fall away the further we get into the pandemic.

Are your students eager to show up for your classes? Are they going to continue signing up for your classes? In spite of the way you are teaching (virtual, hybrid or in-person), are they showing up and participating with enthusiasm or has all that amazing momentum you usually experience through ensembles evaporating and leaving you all frustrated and worried?

While many music teachers were masterful at finding apps and activities for students to do in their classes, building the sense of community that is normally such an inherent part of our ensemble classes during a pandemic was incredibly challenging. For many, it was an impossible task and they are now seeing what happens when our normally tight-knit classes are turned upside down.

We all know that the sense of community we create in our ensembles is the backbone of the success our students experience as musicians, but knowing how to create it while also trying to figure out how to pivot to online instruction overnight and all the other stuff we had to do was just too overwhelming for a lot of teachers. The result of that has been many music teachers and students becoming disengaged and frustrated at all they’ve lost during this time.

The stress on students and teachers has been pretty rough. And that has had a negative effect on many aspects of everyone’s music education experiences this year.
When teachers are in a healthy place emotionally and physically, they are much more equipped to lead their students through this hard stuff.

Music teachers who are part of the mPowered Music Educator Academy have been practicing the secret I’ve used for years in my high school band classes – in person and virtually – and they (and their students) are reporting feeling connected and are managing many of the stressors their colleagues and friends are experiencing.

What’s the secret?

mPowered Music Educators have learned that the best way to support their students’ social and emotional needs is by supporting their own social and emotional needs so they can model the benefits of building the skills to navigate hard things. They do this by implementing my mPower Method I designed especially for music educators who want to do this important work without burning out.

What kind of example are you for your students when you are exhausted, worried, full of anxiety, and sad about everything that’s happened to your program and all the work you have to do to hold things together?

Think about it – when you learned to be a music teacher, you had to master your instrument and learn other skills so you could model for your students. Social and emotional health is the same way.

What does this mean?

It means that the teachers who have been intentionally addressing their own and their students’ social and emotional needs are better able to support themselves and their students (and the longevity of their programs) through the challenges we’re facing.

It is easy to spend all our time finding ways to teach content. But the bigger payoff comes in finding ways to reach our students so we can teach our students.

Building a classroom culture that supports healthy and engaged students and teachers starts with two questions:

1) What do my students need?

2) How can I use music to meet those needs?

When those two questions become the driving force in your planning and serving as a music educator, everything becomes easier for you and your students.
Your responses to these questions may require you to think outside the box as you design (or redesign) how you teach.

THIS is where you start and then everything else falls into place.

I’ve been 100% virtual since March 13. In spite of that, student engagement has been 95.5% as measured by submission of assignments and daily MoffatGrams. Attendance is even higher. And that’s because the “band room” is still a place where students’ social and emotional needs are being met.

Don’t take my word for it. On December 18, I surveyed my high school band students.
Here’s what they said:

83.5 % of my students rate their “online band’ experience as SATISFYING or VERY SATISFYING.

82.4% of my students say there is a 75% or greater chance they’ll sign up for band again next year.

Our band classes look a lot different than they used to. But my students are growing as musicians and connecting to one another through their music activities in spite of the challenges.

Band is still a place where they can come and be with their friends, explore their art, and express themselves freely. They just do it in different ways than we did when we had in-person ensembles.

This is why they will return to classes next year.

Are you confident your students will be back next year?

Would you like support in making sure you and your students have the mPowered Advantage as you move into 2021 but you just aren’t sure where to start?

Moffat’s Music Ed Masterclass begins on January 4!
# Weekly live calls
# Lessons and templates you can copy and use for SEL and music lessons for your students
# Connections in a community of music educators to turn to and share ideas with
# Support from me – over 30 years of experience as a high school band director, author, mom of three, and coach – as you face unprecedented challenges
# Much, much more!

If you want to know more about this opportunity for exceptional music teachers, please complete the Music Ed Masterclass Application. If your responses indicate you’d be a good fit, I’ll reach out to set up a quick interview so we can chat.

Start 2021 with a decision that supports YOU in making a positive difference for your students without burning out! You are worth it.

With you on this journey-Lesley

Music Ed Masterclass Application