| As we step into the new school year, are you filled with joy and enthusiasm or is the stress of teaching for a third year during a pandemic putting a damper on everything you usually love about being a music educator? This has been hard. And conditions aren’t likely to improve any time soon. But the show must go on. We must somehow continue to deliver high-quality music experiences for our students, in spite of all the challenges we are facing. Over the past several years, I have been helping music teachers find a healthier balance between their personal and professional lives so they can do this important work for a long time. During the pandemic, my clients and I intentionally worked in ways that supported ourselves and our students so we wouldn’t burn out. Did having a group of supportive music educators by their sides help these music teachers navigate the unusual circumstances? Ms. G, a middle school band director says: “I love Lesley’s classes!!! Every week Lesley always wows me with her new ideas and lesson plans, Seeing the whole picture and zooming out on the goals she’s set up for her kids has been so helpful and sparks new ideas for me. I feel so supported and inspired, and she makes me feel confident that I can tackle this “new normal” with a good plan and some stillness. I look forward to class every week and am excited when rolling out these new lessons and seeing my students progress every week. She’s able to respectfully coach and talk more specifically about what my students need in my teaching situation and she does this for each student in her class. What I’ve learned has been invaluable and has made me a calmer teacher who has been more present with my students and has actually enjoyed teaching during a pandemic.” I was going to retire in the spring of 2020. The next step in my professional journey was going to be exclusively coaching music teachers. I realized that in order for me to best serve the music teachers with whom I work, I needed to stay in the classroom and actually practice what I teach, so I am returning to the classroom again this year so I can continue to support my students and be an effective coach for music teachers. I am opening up a couple of spots for music teachers who are interested in being part of Music Ed Masterclass. In this group, we deep dive into your specific challenges and I teach strategies that support your social and emotional health so you’ll have the stamina to support your students in their musical and personal growth. This is what I am passionate about. I’ve done a lot of things differently than many music teachers during the course of my career, and each year I survey my students to find out how they feel about their experience in my classes to make sure their needs are being met. Here’s their feedback from this past year … after spending 14 months completely virtual and 9 weeks in hybrid learning since March of 2020. |
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| Are you ready to have less stress and more job satisfaction? Do you need some ideas about how to find balance and how to adapt among all the changes and stress? Fill out a brief application to see if we’d be a good fit to work together. I will personally review it and reach out if I can be of service. This year is sure to be full of all kinds of situations that will be stressful. Let’s make sure you are prepared to handle it. With you on this journey -Lesley |