Uncategorized – Page 6 – A Mindful Approach to Music Education

Registration for Next Year’s Classes Can Be Challenging: Here’s a Possible Solution

It’s that time of year again when kids sign up for elective classes for next year, and it can be hard to navigate all of the things you need to do to communicate with the middle school teachers, students, parents, administrators, counselors, and others who are involved in the scheduling process.

If you forget a step, if students or parents aren’t clear about what to do, or if you don’t have a plan at all, then kids who should be in your program will fall through the cracks and you won’t get to have them in your band. That defeats the purpose of building a music program!

Students have lots of choices when it comes to the classes they are going to take. They will have opportunities to hear about your program from their current teachers, friends, family members, you, and in lots of other ways. Your program has a reputation that can go a long way in influencing their decision as to whether or not to sign up for band.

But ultimately kids need to know what you offer, how they can sign up, what the appropriate class is for them to sign up for, and how they can be a part of your program. The easier you can make it for them to understand what you have to offer and what they need to do to register for the correct ensemble, the more likely you are to have a robust program with the numbers you desire.

Clear communication is key to helping everyone navigate this process seamlessly and with the best results. After all, isn’t everyone going to be happiest when students are in the level-appropriate classes with good instrumentation? So why not build that in starting NOW so that when school starts in the fall, you have all your kiddos in the right place and you can hit the ground running!?

In my 32 years as a high school band director, I’ve learned a few things about what does and doesn’t work in terms of recruiting. This year I’ve put together a 10-minute video that will be shared with incoming students. The video, along with a short letter to parents, gives everyone the information they need to make the best decision about which class is right for them as the next step in their musical journey.

You don’t need to reinvent anything. If what you’ve been doing isn’t getting you the results you want, give this a try. Feel free to steal any of the ideas and try them with your students and see what happens.

I’ve been fortunate to have lots of great mentors who shared their tools with me in the past, so it’s my turn to pay-it-forward with this resource.

If you’d like me to email you a copy of the letter I send to parents of incoming ninth graders, shoot me an email with “Recruiting Letter” in the subject line and I’ll send you my document which you can edit and reuse yourself.

Let me know how it goes!

Lesley

RECRUITING VIDEO

😳 My school will be closed on Monday because we’ve had a confirmed case of coronavirus.

As a band director, I want to take the opportunity to be proactive in helping our kiddos stay healthy while playing wind instruments. 🎷🎺 💪 One way to do that is to share information with their families that helps them make choices that minimize their exposure to bugs that could potentially make them sick.

I created a poster to hang in the classroom and a letter to send home to parents as reminders about how to keep their horns healthy so their kids stay healthy.

Feel free to steal and use these. We can band together to lead the way to make sure families have the information they need so their kids can keep playing music without being unnecessarily exposed to unhealthy germs.

You can download pdf versions to share in your community here:

FREE POSTER/LETTER

Love the Job, Lose the Stress

When I was at the end of my third decade of teaching, I found myself saying, “I love my job, but for the love of God, it is literally killing me.” My body and mind were worn out from the sheer numbers of students and events I managed every day. Decision-making was becoming too taxing because my brain was being overstimulated all the time. I nearly walked away from my life’s work in order to keep from losing my battle with chronic health issues that were exacerbated by the sheer exhaustion that came from my job.

In what turned out to be a very smart decision on my part, I decided to do whatever it took to figure out a way to balance my professional and personal lives in a way that let me be the mom and band director I wanted to be and that my children and students needed me to be.

Luckily, in that process, I discovered some strategies that helped me overcome the health issues and fatigue that had become my new normal and made it so teaching is now not the stressor it had been.

I have just finished writing the book that is literally the answer to the problem I’d struggled with for so many decades. In it, I share the secrets of how I’ve been able to up my game as a badass band director and regain control of my health in the process.

The changes I’ve made have impacted me in a million ways. Here are just a few:

I haven’t gotten sick from being over-exhausted this year
Teaching has become much less taxing, going from requiring my active management to students monitoring their own behaviors
I no longer require medication for anxiety, depression, or ADHD
I’ve lost 75 pounds
My classes are SO easy to run – and that’s with 60 kids per hour, with instruments
Students remember and retain what we work on in class
Parental involvement supports the program in ways that free me up to spend more time with students and less time managing the program
Classroom management is a breeze
My stress levels are so low that it helps ground my students in my presence

In my second book, I teach you how you can take your high-stress job and restructure a few things in order to make it more manageable – so you’ll have the energy to do the things you love so much.

Let me know if you’d like to be on my list to receive an advanced reader copy of the manuscript draft. I’ve completed my rough draft and will have a high-level edit ready in a few weeks, so be on the lookout!

If this sounds like you a book that speaks to you, just click this link and you’ll automatically be put on my “Book 2” list to get it as soon as it’s ready to go!

Book 2 Advanced Reader Copy Request

Wishing you a joyous spring. May you rekindle that spark that lights you up with joy in your classroom and at home. You really can be living the dream!

With you on the journey!

Lesley

What is Band Director Boot Camp?

People keep asking me, “What is Band Director Boot Camp?”

Band Director Boot Camp is the program I designed for the band director who wants to:

Up-level your program now
Build a successful and sustainable music program that is respected in your school and community
Serve students by helping them become awesome human beings through the magic of music education
Make band a place where every student feels welcome and safe to be themselves
Spend more time teaching music and less time on all of the other stuff
Find a better balance between work and family life
Build a tribe with other like-minded band directors for support, encouragement, and masterminding
Cut through a lot of the pain and time that go with building a program with practical advice from someone with over 30 years of experience as a high school band director and mother of three

It’s true that between zero period jazz band, evening concerts, pep band events, trips, fundraising, and meetings, the life of a high school band director is never dull! There’s great joy to be had as you shape young musicians into awesome human beings, but there’s also a price to pay when you love doing it so much that your life’s work becomes all-consuming. How do you meet your students’ needs and still have a life of your own – without being so exhausted that you can’t enjoy it?

I found that when it came time for me to actually write the book I’d been thinking about for years, I was successful when I found someone to coach me through the process. It wasn’t about having someone else do the work – I did all the writing, but I did it with someone who has successfully published thousands of books, so I got it done in three months. Not only did I get it done in a much shorter time than if I’d tried doing it on my own, but my book reached Best Seller status and has launched me into coaching, teaching professional development, presenting at conferences, being a guest for webinars, podcasts and radio shows, and mentoring other music teachers. I was far more successful at writing a book and so much more because I worked with a mentor instead of trying to figure it out on my own.

Band Director Boot Camp is the same concept. I’ve taught over 30,000 classes in my teaching career, so I’ll teach you how to sidestep common pitfalls and energy-suckers and spend more time teaching music. I will be your resource and help you identify and reach your milestones, whether that involves starting a booster program or setting up your first big trip, while saving you hours and hours of time – and lots of headaches and stress!

After reading I Love My Job but It’s Killing Me, Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser said, “Most of us have learned many of these lessons [overworking and burning out] THE HARD WAY. We are convinced we can “push a bit harder” each time around…but – alas – we do burn up the engine in doing so. I want all the young teachers to read the book so they can avoid learning some of these lessons through self-abuse. This is a profound contribution to the entire educational profession.”

Band Director Boot Camp takes the principles of my first book and applies them to the life of a busy band director, giving you practical and proven strategies for being the badass band director you always dreamed of being!

If you’d like to learn more, check out this self-assessment to get a clearer picture of your goals and what is keeping you from reaching them.

Band Director Self-Assessment

I’m Looking for a Couple of Badass Band Directors

THANK YOU for submitting Moffat’s Music Teacher Mojo Meter.

If you are a band director who loves your job, knows what you’re doing makes a difference in kids’ lives, and you want to build a successful music program, then I want to meet you!

Check out my video if you want to find out how you can get more done in less time and have a sustainable music program for decades to come!

https://LesleyMoffatCalendar.as.me/

With you on the journey – Lesley

Effortless Classroom Management: From Chaos to Calm in 21 Days with Today’s 21st Century Students

The way many of us were taught to manage our classrooms worked great back in the day, but things are different now and those strategies are not always effective in today’s world.

TODAY’S STUDENTS COME TO US WITH:

Anxiety
Depression
ADHD
Short Attention Spans
Awkward Social Skills
Trauma
A Lot of Influences that Impact Their Ability to Learn in a Traditional Classroom Setting
Addiction (phones)
Over-Stimulation
Lack of Proper Sleep
Lack of Proper Nutrition
Chaotic Home Lives

THIS IMPACTS OUR CLASSROOMS IN MANY WAYS:

Students have a hard time focusing
Students are easily distracted
Students are distracting to others
Anxiety, depression, and trauma keep students’ physiological and biological makeup in stress mode, overloading them with cortisol and other hormones that literally make it impossible for them to focus and learn
Not all students trust adults and are resistant to authority, which adds to the challenge of managing and teaching classes
Good classroom management typically requires an active process by the teacher to constantly keep students engaged, and that’s exhausting hour after hour, day after day

WHEN WE TEACH OUR STUDENTS A FEW SPECIFIC SKILLS, CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT BECOMES EFFORTLESS!

Imagine what it would be like to have a classroom where you are able to:

Get students to fully relax in your presence
Guide them so their heart rates are relaxed and at a similar pace
Disperse the unproductive energy and noise that comes with a new class entering your room
Help students change from being in a state of over-stimulation and stress to being calm and relaxed in your presence, literally changing the hormones their bodies produce, allowing them to access their brains for discovery and learning instead of being in flight-or-fight mode
Invest four minutes a day that fundamentally up-levels the ease with which you teach and students learn

Here’s what Chelsey, one of the directors I’ve worked with through Band Director Boot Camp, says about the First Four Minute protocol I teach:

“Band Director Boot Camp was a game changer for me. It’s helped restore positivity and peace to the culture of my classroom, introduced many significant new protocols that alight with our school’s theme and mission, and has taken the headache off of me and given responsibility to my students. We are all operating in a healthier, more efficient classroom where each individual has a role and we feel safe within our four walls. We laugh as a family and I know they’ll continue on knowing that band was a place where they belonged.”

I’ve been using this new protocol in my classroom since 2016 and the results are off-the-charts amazing, both in my classroom and in my personal life.

Classroom management is a breeze
Students play in tune much better as their bodies are more sensitive to pitch when they are relaxed
They are more musically artistic and expressive
Nearly all tardies have been eliminated
Students are much more engaged
Performance skills (and scores at Regional and State festivals and competitions) are markedly higher across the board
Stress levels are much lower for students and teachers
Non-instructional distractions are eliminated or greatly reduced
Benefits carry over from year-to-year
Kids like the benefits on a personal and group level, so they are motivated to do this every day
Much higher retention rate of what they learn
Reduced heart rates and controlling excess energy results in much easier teaching and learning environment
Students and teachers tap into the intuitiveness of music
Teaching is much more fun and far less exhausting, resulting in a happier and healthier teacher and students!

If you’ve “tried everything” and are out of ideas for how to get your classes to self-manage their behavior so you can spend your energy teaching, then I’d love to talk to you about what I’ve learned and see if it could help you.

You see, I am on a mission to help music teachers build successful programs without burning out, and that starts by making teaching less stressful!

In a desperate attempt to save my own health so I could stay in my classroom, I learned some things that fundamentally up-leveled my personal health and led to a dramatic upswing in my professional success as an added bonus. My students and I have the benefit of incredible day-to-day experiences that revolve around making great music and memories together because our work together has become effortless.

The directors I have worked with to create and implement this strategy in their classrooms have seen dramatic results with lower stress levels, more job satisfaction, higher student success, and much more. In other words, they are loving their jobs again!

Are YOU ready to fast-track your music program to the next level? Let’s talk about it!

Set Up A Call 🙂

With you on the journey!

Lesley

The Biggest Mistake I Made When I Was Trying to Build My Band Program

From as early as I can remember, I knew I was going to be a high school band director. My dad was my high school band director and our family’s life revolved around that band program. I wanted to build the same kind of program that would be visible in the school, community, and beyond and I really wanted to serve students and their families in the process.

I did it … but it was often really hard. I was doing everything I thought I should do to take the program to the next level, but I was desperate to learn how to be an even better teacher without all the trial and error. I wanted to be a band director who was able to spend more time teaching music and less time managing all the drama that goes with the gig. So in addition to teaching full time, I’d attend conferences and professional development to build my skills as a teacher in order to help my students and the program flourish.

It puzzled me as to why I’d go to a conference, attend tons of amazing sessions, capture all kinds of ideas for everything from how to teach intonation and select literature to the nuts-and-bolts of percussion instrument maintenance and incorporating SEL components into my lessons, and return to my classroom gung-ho to implement all the incredible ideas so I could fast-track my students and my program, but after a week or two of trying the new ideas, we’d lose momentum and I’d slip back into old habits.

At conferences, I’d take copious notes and ask lots of questions at the sessions, so why was I having such a hard time successfully implementing these techniques in my classroom? How could I be a more effective teacher without working even harder? How could I work smarter?

In a lot of ways, it makes me think of Pinterest – you know what I mean, you see a post on Pinterest that is way too cool to pass up, so you dive in and gather everything you need to make that Disney Princess cake (even though you’ve never decorated a cake before) and start the project. Only your cake doesn’t look anything like the one in the photo you saw. Instead, you’ve got a hot mess of frosting that makes the princesses look like they’ve been caught in a downpour. Even though you followed all the steps, your results were clearly not aligned with what you intended to do.

That’s how I used to feel after conferences. I would try the newest tuning technique or breathing exercises that someone was teaching at a conference, and I’d get good results…for a while. Then the students and I would slip into old habits and we’d be right back to where we started. It was frustrating for everyone.

As I got older and wiser (and tired of wasting precious time and energy), I took a hard look at why I was having a hard time implementing so many of these awesome strategies my peers were teaching.

The biggest mistake I made when it came to building my program came down to this: I’d take all these new ideas and try to implement them in my classroom and would get haphazard results. I wanted to accelerate kids’ learning so much that I’d overwhelm them with too much and we’d all get frustrated. After the novelty of whatever it was I was trying to implement wore off, momentum to keep working on it faded (on my part and for the students), and then I would assume the new idea didn’t work, when, in fact, it turns out when ideas weren’t successful, it was generally because I hadn’t thought through the crucial steps of how to implement them in a way that made sense in my classroom.

As you head to conferences and other professional development this spring, I’d like to offer a few pointers I’ve picked up over the more than three decades I’ve spent as a band director so you can fast-track your program to success … without burning out in the process.

Don’t try to implement every strategy you learned in every conference session at the same time!
Do pick one strategy that will have the biggest impact on getting you to your primary goal and make a commitment to incorporating it into your routine for 21 days. (For example, if you’ve attended a great session about how to teach students to learn to tune, spend a little time every day for 21 days practicing the new technique so you’ll be able to truly assess whether or not it’s having an impact.)
Consider how you will implement what you learn into your own program (vs. trying to just immediately implement the technique the identical way the person who introduced it did in his or her classroom) so it will be sustainable instead of just one more thing you tried that ends up not working.
Have a non-negotiable why behind the reason you are implementing the new skill or procedure so you aren’t tempted to just give up when it gets hard.
Think about your personality, your students, the way you teach best, and use those things to inform the best way for you introduce and implement new ideas so they are successful with your kiddos.
Find a trusted mentor who is committed to helping you hold yourself accountable and be there to help you through the hard stuff. There’s no substitute for collaborating with someone who’s achieved goals you’re aiming for and having them help you get there faster, easier, and with more sustainable results!

Livin’ the Dream! Here I am in the 1970s. My siblings were lined up on the couch with pretend instruments and piano music while I cranked music on the stereo and conducted them. I wanted to be just like my dad!

Teaching is hard work. When you have ideas or learn new teaching strategies, they can be game-changers … if they’re introduced and implemented properly. After all, isn’t that the ultimate goal when you attend a conference or PD? Don’t you want to take a new idea back to your classroom and see improvements for you and your students?

It can be hard to know where to start or what to do next to move your program in the direction you want it to go. That’s where I come in. I help music teachers build successful programs without burning out. I believe music educators can change the world, and it’s my mission on this planet to help music teachers build sustainable programs they can serve in for a long time. We have important work to do, and I’m here to support music teachers on their journey.

To schedule a complimentary 15-minute call to see if we’d be a good fit to work together, click this calendar link and let’s connect! I’ve got a couple of openings for motivated music teachers who are tired of trial and error and are ready for results!

With you on the journey-

Lesley

Schedule a Call!

What’s YOUR Super Power?

I Used to be Really Good at Classroom Management, But Things Are Different Now

For most of my teaching career, I had been really good classroom management.

As soon as attendance was taken each day, I’d get the kids’ attention so we could get down to business. I had clear expectations and the kids were almost always really good about meeting them. I was quite effective at keeping kids engaged and classes ran smoothly. It took a lot of energy to do this hour after hour and day after day, but the consistent efforts gave me really good results, so I continued to work hard to maintain outstanding classroom control.

Sure, there were always a handful of kids in each class who were excessively chatty or who couldn’t seem to stop playing their horns when I cut the band off in rehearsals, but 97% of the time, I was in control and things ran smoothly. At the end of the day, I usually felt pretty darned good about how my classes operated.

But as the decades have passed, teaching has changed. Kids today are different than when we were kids, and if you’ve been teaching for more than ten years, you know that teaching effectively in this day and age requires a different set of skills than how we were taught in school.

Teenagers haven’t changed – they are simply reflecting what they see going on around them. Having been exposed (or dare I say OVER-exposed) to electronics and other stimuli since birth, their attention spans and ability to focus on anything for more than a few minutes is staggeringly low. It’s not their fault, but that is their reality.

Traditional forms of classroom management and discipline aren’t always effective in today’s classroom.

Like I said at the beginning of this, I used to be really good at classroom management.

But now things are different. Now the students in my classes manage their own behavior and I spend my time and energy teaching music instead of responding to student disruptions!

Several years ago I made a significant change in how I approached teaching, and the results have been off-the-charts amazing!

In the 30,000+ classes I have taught in my teaching career, it is how I structure the FIRST FOUR MINUTES that has fundamentally uprooted everything about how my classes run and how students are learning and retaining what I teach.

I asked my students to share how the First Four Minutes have impacted our class. Here are a few of their responses:

We play better in tune because we can feel pitch and not just hear pitch.
We are more musically sensitive and expressive.
Hardly anyone is tardy anymore. (They don’t want to miss our routine)
Everyone is more engaged.
Our performance skills are improved.
The stress level is much lower.
Non-instructional noise has been eliminated.
Benefits carry over from year to year as students.
It’s easier to learn and retain what we learn.
We have a communal energy.
Music feels much more intuitive and easier to learn.
Band is a lot of fun because we can work super efficiently and make great music together. In my old band (where we didn’t do this routine), so much time was wasted on discipline and constant disruptions that I stopped looking forward to that class. I almost quit, but now that I’m in a class where we actually get to spend time playing music, I’m staying!

As a teacher, I have reaped the benefits of having classes where I get to do the very thing I wanted to do all my life – teach music! I get to do it in a setting where classroom management has become effortless. I no longer expend energy on “being in control” because I’ve learned to teach students how to take control of their own energy. And they do it. Every day.

I love one of my recent client’s comments where she said,

“I’m in a coaching cycle with this outstanding author and Bad Ass Band Director and ideas are constantly leaping off the pages in the book and out of our Zoom calls. Even strategies I didn’t know I needed are coming to life and finding a home in my unique and non-traditional classroom.“

Chelsey has implemented my First Four Minute routine into her classroom and it has been a game-changer for her, too. The reason it’s working is because we took the concept and customized it into a routine that works in her classroom and in her situation.

That’s what I do now – I help teachers create and implement a successful First Four Minute routine that helps them take today’s students and get them ready to focus and learn so they can teach content and not spend their energy “controlling their classroom.”

If you are a music teacher who is already running a successful program but needs an easier, more effective, and reliable way to keep kids’ attention and focus without having to give constant reminders, (you know what I’m talking about…”put away your phone”, “trumpets – stop talking”, “percussionists, wake up and pay attention”, etc.) then I’d like to talk to you.

I am looking for a small group of dedicated music teachers who have a 2020 VISION of taking their already good program to the next level by learning and implementing a strategy that will fundamentally up-level their teaching.

Because we are kicking off a new decade, I am offering a 50% tuition discount to anyone who schedules a strategy session with me by January 5. I am interested in working with teachers who are highly motivated to get results and who are open to achieving them in unconventional ways.

If you know you have a lot to teach your students and want to spend more time teaching and less time re-teaching and managing your classroom, I can help you!

Click the link below and let’s talk about your situation. If I can help, I will offer to do so. If I can’t help, I will be honest with you so you don’t waste your time or money.

Are you going to up-level in 2020? I’m with you on the journey. Schedule a call and let’s get started!

Hugs – Lesley

Schedule A Call

Band Director Boot Camp

What if you could spend your summer enjoying your family and still be ready to hit the ground running with your program ready to flourish when school starts?

One of the biggest challenges band directors face is finding balance between teaching, building and managing a program, and having time and energy for their personal lives.

Our jobs involve so much more than just teaching kids how to play songs for concerts and football games. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes before we even get into the classroom, and so much to do to build and maintain our music programs so we can continually offer a high-quality experience for our kiddos. And somehow we are supposed to be able to do it all and still have energy left over for our own families.

And since most of us band directors are Type A people who pride ourselves on taking care of other people, we never think of asking for help when it comes to doing all the things that need to take place for our programs to be successful. We simply do whatever it takes to get the job done.

When I started my first teaching gig, I was the ripe old age of 23, just a few years older than the students in my classes. All the years of training in high school and college had prepared me for much of what I was about to encounter, but there was a LOT of stuff I was about to learn through baptism by fire!

Besides the instructional part of the gig, I had to figure out how to do a ton of other things that are crucial to supporting a growing music program. I attended conferences, reached out to other band directors, and asked a million questions. I had to learn a lot of things on the fly…and through lots of trial and error.

I was spending so much time and energy on administrative things like managing budgets, building a booster program, running fundraisers and trips, keeping inventory, selecting repertoire, and doing all the necessary peripheral activities that it began taking time and energy from my own family.

The reality was that my program was growing by leaps and bounds, but the cost to my personal life and health was pretty high. In less than ten years, the size of the bands tripled – and along with that, so did the workload.

I found myself loving what I was doing, and the results were fantastic, except on my own health. I was wearing myself ragged as I built this program, and I was spending more time with other people’s kids than my own children.

There had to be a way to serve my students without sacrificing my health and time with my own family.

As much as I loved what I was doing, I couldn’t maintain the intensity anymore, so I began to look at ways to streamline my processes so I could spend more time and energy on teaching and less on the administrative pieces.

The result of this has become the basis for my next book, No More 14-Hour Work Days. The book, which will be released next year, is full of practical advice and reusable templates for everything from building a booster program and managing trip finances to selecting repertoire and getting your groups to perform on stages like Disney Theme Parks and Carnegie Hall. It’s a collection of the materials I’ve created in the three-plus decades I’ve spent as a high school band director and includes lots of tried and true ideas for building your program.

The book was written as a tool for band directors who want to build successful programs with high retention rates and supportive booster programs so they can work their magic in the classroom and have energy left for their own families.

I am looking for a few band directors who are starting fresh or ready for a fresh start in building a successful program to participate in Band Director Boot Camp this summer.

This program will teach you proven strategies that will help you:

Build a successful music program in your school with your vision
Have high retention rates, providing on-going enrollment that builds a strong culture that sustains itself
Create or expand a booster group that can provide support with everything from inventory and finances to chaperoning and more, freeing you up to spend time in the music-making part of your job
Get more done in less time with greater results by having access to the physical resources (templates, samples, etc.) and personal help (my expertise, connections to other people and programs) available through this program
Learn which management tools can help you streamline all your inventory, finances, library, personnel, attendance, and other records all in one place
Take your program to the next level, whether that’s expanding enrollment or getting on stages like Carnegie Hall or Disney Theme Parks
Increase the rate of student participation in outside opportunities (solo and ensemble / honor groups / community ensembles) to give the students and your program more positive exposure
Create a student-centered program where with a family atmosphere of support that draws people to want to be part of it
Manage all the drama that comes with the territory!

At the end of Band Director Boot Camp, you will have:

An action plan that outlines your upcoming school year with activities to support your goals and program
Resources to help you achieve those goals (templates, connections to people in the industry, personal help from me, support from like-minded peers, etc.)
Realistic timelines and processes to ensure the goals are achievable and met
On-going support opportunities as you implement these program-building strategies
An autographed copy of my first book, I Love My Job but It’s Killing Me: The Teacher’s Guide to Conquering Chronic Stress and Sickness, before it’s available in bookstores

If you’d like to find out more about Band Director Bootcamp, just send me an email at lesley@mpowerededucator.com with “Boot Camp” in the message and I’ll get back to you.

I’m looking forward to helping a few band directors set up next year to build the programs they’ve been dreaming of without having to sacrifice family time to make it happen. Can’t wait to see the magic happen!

Hugs

Lesley

What’s YOUR plan for beating the stress and exhaustion that comes with teaching during this hectic time of year?

As we come to this time of the year, the demands of our jobs can be even more overwhelming with testing, concerts, festivals, field trips, meetings, graduation, and dozens of additional requirements being added to our plates.

One of my clients, Michelle, came to me six weeks ago because she was tired of feeling crappy and she knew that getting through spring semester was going to be really tough if she didn’t do something to feel better fast.

She says, “I have been on several diets, but nothing worked. I thought, why not try what Lesley offered? I decided to take a leap of faith, and never looked back. Lesley’s 4 m’s: music, meals, movement, and mindfulness, have changed my life for the better. Her experience and support have helped me stay focused and positive. In the past 4 weeks, my high blood pressure has decreased. I have been breathing more and becoming more mindful about my breath. I’m so thankful that I found Lesley.”

If you’ve tried everything you can think of to manage your stress, aches and pains, exhaustion, and weight issues and you haven’t gotten the results you desire, then it’s time to try something different.

Let me put my 31 years of experience as a teacher who has finally figured out how to beat the chronic exhaustion and illnesses brought about by stress to work for YOU.

People keep asking me why I wrote this book. Here’s the reason –

Book an Appointment