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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The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) provides a number of forums for the sharing of information and opinion, including blogs and postings on our website, articles and columns in our magazines and journals, and postings to our Amplify member portal. Unless specifically noted, the views expressed in these media do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Association, its officers, or its employees.

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

A Tribute to “Online Band” in 2020!

At my age, the only wrapping I should be doing this time of the year is wrapping gifts. But it’s 2020 – and here I am at the age of 55 making my rapping debut for my students!

We just finished a month-long study of Hamilton, so this seemed appropriate.

Most of them had their cameras on today and their faces were priceless. It was worth risking my dignity to see all the smiles and laughter.

I share this in hopes of reminding you what we CAN do to keep kids engaged and growing as artists and musicians no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in.

Watch at your own risk. 🙂

Cheers to a safe and healthy new year!

Will Your Music Program Survive the Pandemic?

For a FREE sneak peek at my latest book, go to mPoweredEducator.com/contact

Music teachers across the country are struggling with engagement and are worried about retention as they teach under stressful circumstances brought about by the pandemic.

I’ve talked to thousands of music educators, and their fears about students enrolling for their classes next year and their program longevity have them anxious as they worry that their life’s work as a music educator is in jeopardy.

Add to that the challenges they’re having engaging students in a virtual, hybrid, or in-person-but-wearing-masks-and-social-distancing scenario and it’s no wonder there is wide-spread panic among so many music teachers.

The past ten months have turned many thriving music programs upside down. In schools where kids were able to experience active music programs, students and teachers are now facing the harsh reality of not being able to make music together and it’s devastating to students, teachers, and the music programs.

The biggest frustrations I’m hearing from music teachers include:

A lot of students are not engaging in activities
Students who usually thrive in ensembles seem lost in our new environment
Students are expressing sadness at not having “normal” ensembles and are dropping out
Delivering important content and using all the latest apps aren’t enough to keep students actively engaged in making music and collaborating with their peers
The honeymoon period is over and kids (and teachers) are burning out
The love of teaching music that propels music teachers during challenging times isn’t present in this pandemic teaching environment and many are depressed and at their wit’s end
If we don’t meet our students’ social and emotional needs, they will find other electives where those needs can be met

What if I told you it doesn’t have to be this way?

What if you could change things?

How would your life be different right now if you could:

Get over 90% of your students engaged on a daily basis
Spend less time planning lessons but have more engaging activities that draw your students in
Have students who actively participate in a variety of activities that support them as musicians in addition to supporting a collaborative environment no matter what kind of teaching situation you face
Meet yours and your students’ social and emotional needs so your classroom returns to being a place of refuge, community, and creativity – and the stress levels for you and your students are reduced while engagement and a sense of belonging are increased
Feel energized and excited again as a music teacher instead of feeling like your world is falling apart

Well I have some very GOOD NEWS for you!

Since the moment our schools were closed on March 13, I’ve been obsessed with helping music students and teachers thrive during and after the pandemic and now I’m opening up my private coaching group for a few more music teachers who recognize the opportunity we have in this moment to either reimagine music education or face some major losses.

My newest book, Love the Job, Lose the Stress: Successful Social and Emotional Learning in the Modern Music Classroom, is all about the steps I’ve taken with my own students and the strategies I use with my clients that have helped us to thrive in spite of the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Even though their situations vary widely, their feedback about what they’ve learned through our work together is consistent. Here are a few comments from some of the directors I work with.

“I feel so supported, and inspired, and Lesley makes me feel confident that I can tackle this “new normal” with a good plan, and some stillness! I look forward to the class every week, and am excited when rolling out these new lessons, and seeing my students progress each 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.”
Lindsey – Band Teacher and Client

“What I’ve learned has been invaluable and has made me a calmer teacher who has been more present with my students, and has made me actually enjoy teaching during a global pandemic. I look forward to learning more from her in the future.”
L.O. – Music Teacher in Music Ed Masterclass

“Teaching during a pandemic has been crazy–I think everyone can agree with that. However, I haven’t felt the same kind of stress that I had in the spring and I attribute that largely to what I have learned from Lesley. Taking the time to address students’ social emotional needs first, and then proceeding with content has allowed us to grow together, and to have successful experiences in the classroom regardless of the pandemic.”
Evonne G – Middle School Music Teacher and Client since June, 2020

Here’s the good news for YOU … I am opening up a few spots in my Music Ed Masterclass starting in January!

I’m taking all the best nuggets I’ve shared with my clients in our weekly classes and creating a course where you will:

Have access to SEL lessons I’ve designed specifically with the intent of keeping students actively engaged in the music-making process during virtual, hybrid, or in-person teaching

Meet weekly with the Music Ed Masterclass where you will learn additional tips, share ideas, and get hands-on experience with implementing successful SEL activities in your classroom

Get personalized coaching with me to talk about you, your students, and your program so we can come up with ways to meet their needs so your program survives
A group of highly motivated music educators from all over who will become your support system and accountability buddies – an absolute MUST if you are to survive this with your program and sanity in-tact!

I’m looking for a few music teachers to join the Music Ed Masterclass beginning in January.

If you are looking for support in meeting the social and emotional needs of your students so they’ll continue to engage and enroll in your classes, complete this quick application to see if we’d be a good fit to work together.

This class is geared toward music teachers who know the power of music education and who are looking for innovative and proven ways to engage and retain students through challenging situations so the long-term survival of their programs as well as the immediate needs of their students can be met – all without burning out the already overworked music educator!

Apply Now

BONUS for registering by December 31 = 50% off your first month tuition!

Hurry – limited spots are available. If your responses indicate we could be a good fit to work together, I will reach out and set up a call with you.

How different will the rest of your school year be if you’ve got a support system in place to help you serve your students and keep your program alive during and after the pandemic? The peace of mind alone is priceless.

Here’s to a renewed 2021!

Lesley

How Do You Engage Teenagers In “Online Band?”

Story time, of course.

There was SO much information they needed to know on that very first day, but the most important lesson of all was that it will all be okay. The kids needed to hear that they are not alone and that I’m here to walk this walk with them.

This will be a hard road, and if they don’t get the chance to build relationships with one another while we are in a 100% virtual environment, it’ll be pretty hard to keep them engaged when they no longer get to play in ensembles with their friends in their band classes.

By the time they go to register for classes next year, they’ll be burned out and disconnected from the band kids unless we intentionally spend time building the kind of culture online that so organically occurs in our classrooms.

When kids listen to stories as children, most of their memories involve feeling peaceful and being interested in what’s happening. Story time is usually something children love … no matter how old they are.

So we connected on our first day of virtual high school band for the 2020 school year with good old story time.

As soon as my voice fell into the familiar beat of the rhyming patterns they’ve heard so many times before and they saw pictures of the very people they made memories and music with in past years, I could see their faces visibly relax as the stress dissipated and smiles began to appear.

The kids are as overwhelmed as we are and they said over and over again how grateful they were that we are taking the time to do this before jumping into content.

As you move through your school year, remember why you are pouring so much love and energy into an impossible job. It’s hard. It’s never enough. And people still complain.

Know that you are making difference in kids’ lives every single day. I am hearing stories about the conditions under which you are teaching and I am in awe.

Music teachers are incredibly resilient – but that can also be our downfall because we (and others) expect ourselves to just figure out how to do the impossible because we always seemed to solve unsolvable situations in the past.

I, too, am feeling the strain of trying to teach huge classes online without being able to see most of them while monitoring the chat room and breakout sessions and internet issues and screenshares and the list goes on and on. I have to plan out my classes with the same level of detail I did my first year…and this is my 33rd year!

I decided that there’s just too much stuff out there right now. Lots of great apps. Tons of great platforms. A million pre-designed lessons.

We’ll get to that later.

None of that matters until my kids and I connect and we create an online classroom truly worthy of being called a “band room”, that magical place where students thrive through music, relationships, and love.

“Connecting Through Music” is the theme my students selected for this year. We will use music to connect us as humans, but it’ll be in new and innovative ways. The delivery and some of the content changes. The fact that we are teaching little humans remains the same.

I wish you a year of growth and grace.
Lesley

That is the actual Kaypro computer I got when I started college in 1983! They sure didn’t tell us we’d eventually be teaching high school bands using computers back when I was at Indiana University!

Summertime, and the Livin’ is Anything But Easy Right Now. What are YOU doing to make sure you’ve got the stamina to make it through a school year like no other next year?

You’ve spent the last three months learning all kinds of new ways to deliver instruction and teach in a distance learning environment, despite never having experienced this as a learner or having been trained how to deliver all your content in new ways – and you made these changes overnight.

While you somehow got through the most surreal educational (and life) experience, you may be looking back at what you’ve learned and now have more questions than answers as we move forward.

Now that school has ended for this year and you’ve had a moment to take a breath, you may be wondering, “What in the hell am I going to do next year?”

How am I going to teach? Will I even have a job? How do I deliver content and realistically meet all the guidelines and expectations without spending 10 hours a day this summer rewriting my curriculum and planning for multiple types of teaching platforms and situations? How can I balance my family and professional lives when I don’t even know how classes will be structured? I’ve never been trained for distance teaching, and I’m not sure how to adapt my performance-based classes… there’s so much to worry about!

To order book from JW Pepper, click this link

As educators, we tend to be organized with plans for every contingency that could come up. But in a pandemic and during a time when there’s so much anxiety about what school will look like in the fall, the time we normally take during the summer to relax and recharge can easily be hijacked by stress and fear of how to teach and support your own family in a sustainable way.

Are you going to spend all summer worrying about next year or would you rather spend it making sure you’re ready to face whatever comes at you without the stress, anxiety, and exhaustion taking over?

It’s possible to use the next few weeks as a time to rebuild your own toolbox with skills you can use to keep yourself in the best mental and physical space possible so you have the stamina to do this important work.

Don’t waste all summer trying to figure out where to start. Jump to the front of the line by figuring out how to recharge by identifying your own current mental and physical health status so you can determine what you can do to take care of your own needs so you can support your students, family, and yourself in the upcoming year.

Where do you even start when it comes to figuring out what is creating the most stress for you so you can begin to figure out how to address it?

I’ve designed an assessment to help you do just that!

Check out Moffat’s Mojo Meter for Educators. This quiz will help you identify the very things that are keeping you from being able to truly relax and recharge this summer.

I hope you find the few minutes you invest in taking this assessment to be helpful in identifying what you need to do for yourself in order to support everyone else through this journey.

Peace-
Lesley

Today Was My Final Evaluation, and I Ended Up In Tears.

It’s my 32nd year of teaching, so this shouldn’t have been a big deal. I’ve been through dozens of these and had no reason to believe this would be any different other than the fact that it was taking place online due to the pandemic.

Mr. Peters and I met on Zoom, and after exchanging pleasantries, he screen-shared my evaluation form.

There on page six he had a running narrative of what was going on in the classroom:

T askes Ss to raise their hands if they had a trill at the end.
T: …We don’t breathe before the deedle-eedle-eet – that would sound silly… I want you to hear the melody and realize how hard it is at this speed, because they have to take in gigantic amounts of air in…
T: Keeping a beautiful tone at all times, you’re doing a nice job keeping long phrases – keep doing that.
T stopped Ss playing just after a measure.
T: I’m going to show you what I heard and then I’m going to show you what I want.
T demonstrated the measure using the piano, tune with different fingers coming in at slightly different times vs. all simultaneously. Told Ss to “Lock in even better… nice and together.” Acknowledged when she heard the improvement she was looking for.
S took responsibility – “I know what I did.” T thanked him, moved on.
T: I loved that we didn’t all start our articulations the same and that you eventually came together!

As he scrolled through a couple more pages of that narrative, I saw in front of me what an ordinary day used to be like in the band room at our school. Oh, the things I took for granted.

I was reminded of the sense of accomplishment we’d feel when we’d woodshed a passage and finally master it. Or the wave of emotion that would sweep over all of us when we’d executed a passage with exceptional passion. Or the simple thrill of watching that third clarinet player finally get over the break without alarming the rest of the band with horrible squeaking.

All of the seemingly ordinary things we did every single day at school seem so much more significant now that we have been away from our kids for a couple of months. I long for the days when we could high-five ’em as they walked in our classrooms and then settle them in for 55 minutes of music and memory-making.

As I read the narrative of what happened in my classroom during wind ensemble on that ordinary day in November, tears poured from my eyes as it finally sunk in just how precious that time together had been. Those days in our classrooms did so much more than just teach kids how to play songs. Through the process of developing as musicians, I watched them grow up. I watched them overcome personal struggles and challenges. I grew to love them not just as music students, but as humans. We’d become a family and suddenly the pain of being ripped from my band family was really raw and all I could do was cry.

I am sad for so many things that we’ve lost as a school, community, nation, and world. I worry about the future of everything from education to survival and more. And I wonder how I can continue to be a band director and serve my students in a post-pandemic world.

I don’t have all the answers, but I know it’s up to me to do a few things:

Identify the core values and concepts I am charged with teaching my students
Figure out how to deliver that content in a safe and meaningful way
Implement strategies that will help me sustain my own mental and physical health so I can support my students for the long-haul

If you are a music teacher who is looking for strategies to support the long-term survival of your music program and sustainable ways for you to balance work and family lives while you do this important work, then I invite you to do a self-assessment that can help you identify your readiness for what lies ahead. It will help you ask yourself the questions you need to face as you plan for what’s next.

We have important work to do, and I, for one, plan to be ready to serve my students in spite of the obstacles that will arise as we get closer to September. Budget cuts, loss of performance and trip opportunities, and the fear of the unknown can be crippling – but our kids are counting on us to be brave, step up, and be there for them.

Take five minutes and check-in with yourself using this self-assessment. The peace of mind that comes when you get the clarity you need to take the next step can make the difference between stepping into the next few months in fear or with purpose. I choose purpose!

Self-Assessment for Music Teacher Readiness-for-September

🎼 Teaching Music in a Post-Pandemic World… 🎺 Are You Going to Figure It Out or Freak Out? 💪or 😧?

How will you make sure your students and program survive through all the growing pains facing us in music education?

Join veteran band director and author Lesley Moffat as she discusses how to assess your readiness to return to teaching music in the fall. Lesley will present strategies to help you define your core values as a teacher, set goals for teaching to those values, outline strategies to achieve them, and design a 4-Minute Protocol to help students focus their minds and make rehearsals the best part of their day.

Lesley Moffat has taught high school band for over thirty years in the Pacific Northwest. Following decades of chronic illness and exhaustion that were the result of the stress that comes with running a band program, she revamped her teaching strategies to support a healthier balance and lifestyle. Now on a mission to help other music teachers navigate the responsibilities of teaching music in a post-pandemic educational system, she founded the mPowered Music Educator Academy, where she runs the Band Director Boot Camp – a program that gives the music teacher tools to build a successful program without burning out.

Lesley is the author of I Love My Job but It’s Killing Me as well as the upcoming Love the Job, Lose the Stress.

How Will We Sustain Ourselves, Our Students, and Our Programs During and After This Pandemic?

Are you a “Type-A, super-organized, ultra-planner” who is used to being in control kind of teacher and now feels like a fish out of water as you undo all of your spring events, plan new activities for distance learning, and try to figure out what next year might look like for you and your program?

This is a pretty unnerving place to be, especially for those of us who like to plan in advance and be prepared. How can we possibly do that for our programs when we have no idea what next year might look like? How can we offer music classes to students and grow our ensembles when being socially distant might mean limited in-person classes and activities next year?

Now that the initial shock and disbelief that our in-person school year ended in March has worn off, many of us are beginning to wonder how we are possibly going to be able to do our jobs when school finally does resume. There are so many unknowns about what education will look like that it can be paralyzing, frightening, and extremely overwhelming to think about. And when we consider the impact all this can potentially have on our music programs, well, it can be downright discouraging.

I remember the same kind of feeling after 9/11.

I was just starting my 14th year of teaching. As a parent, I was scared about what this tragic event meant for my own kids’ future. My girls were 4, 8, and 12 at the time, and in order for my husband to remain employed, he had to transfer to a different work location, making his commute three or more hours per day. I found myself with very long days that started with zero period jazz band classes and ended with evening activities, trying to balance the extra parenting responsibilities I had while my husband was commuting. As a teacher in the changing landscape of education after that event and the stressors that came with it, I really struggled to keep it all together.

Fast-forward 19 years. Ready or not, as a result of this pandemic, we are at another major changing point in education. Having experienced teaching and parenting after a major event that impacted life as we had known it before, I am prepared to share what I learned through my personal story so other teachers can skip a lot of the growing pains and be the teachers, parents, and partners they want to be and come out stronger on the other side.

Educators are natural leaders. Being a leader at a time like this requires vision, passion, and stamina. Being a leader during distance learning while juggling your own family, limited access to resources, and sketchy internet can be incredibly challenging. But as music teachers, we are not intimidated by challenges. In fact, we often thrive in situations that seem impossible to mere mortals.

If you are a music teacher with a vision of helping your students be the best version of themselves through the magic of music education and you want to be a leader who does that in spite of the circumstances, then I want to invite you to check out my new book.

In my latest book, I share all kinds of strategies and resources that will help you do this important work efficiently, with greater ease, and with less of a drain on your energy. Having taught more than 30,000 classes in my career while raising a family of my own, I’ve walked the walk and am delighted to be able to pass on what I’ve learned.

The book will be published next month, but YOU can get a FREE advanced copy of the ebook NOW and get started on tapping into strategies for your long-term stamina as a music teacher!

If you read it and find it helpful, I’d love to know. In fact, if you send me any feedback before May 4, I can include it in the eBook that will be published next month on Amazon! I would be really grateful for any reviews because that will help me get it into more people’s hands, and that was the whole reason for writing it in the first place. 🙂

I’m really grateful to Dr. Tim for his enthusiastic support. I put a sneak peek of his foreword below so you can see for yourself if this information will be helpful for you.

In-person teaching will one day resume. It will look different than what we’ve known it to be. We can either wait and see what happens, or we can be the leaders and visionaries who use our platforms as music educators to shape the future of music education.

Our students are counting on us, so let’s do this!

FREE Advanced Copy eBook!

Foreword

by Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser

Lesley Moffat’s newest book, Love the Job, Lose the Stress, redefines the term “self-help.” Her first best seller, I Love My Job, but It’s Killing Me, awakened us to a new landscape of personal and professional sanity. This latest-greatest contribution offers a tried-and-true blueprint for vocational success while embracing the critical importance of fueling one’s mental, emotional and physical health. Spot on! Bull’s eye!

What is uniquely wonderful about Lesley’s writing is based on her own teaching journey. Her wisdom reflects reality rather than hypothesis. She has “been to the well,” she “walks her talk,” and she does it with a sense of understanding unknown in common hours. Rather than simply focusing on the obvious, she delves into the why, what, and how of the given situations:

Here’s why you need to take stock of this concern or breakdown.
This is what you can do to reset your compass to achieve resolution.
… and this is how you can do it to reach your destination.

A bit of history: By all standards, Lesley Moffat was at the top of her teaching (band directing) career. She developed a program-of-excellence recognized (and envied) by her colleagues. The numbers grew, the quality soared, and the awards continued to spotlight this one-of-a-kind culture-of-artistic-excellence being driven by her ongoing desire to serve the students, the school, and the community. However, all of this manifested at the expense of Lesley’s health and well-being. To attain these high, self-appointed educational standards, she was short-changing the most important part of her program: Lesley Moffat. Let us be reminded of this cornerstone truth: “You can’t lead others until you lead yourself.” Fortunately, she recognized her plight and executed a massive course-correction. Now, we are the benefactors of her self-explored research via her trademark writing talents.

This manuscript is an endless treasure chest of immeasurable value. From the self-reflection templates to proven time-management skills, each page reveals yet another golden nugget you can integrate into your own daily agenda. This is not a book you read and then put on the shelf; rather it is a file cabinet of priceless data certain to bolster the health, happiness and good fortune of every (music) educator.

We’ve all heard the familiar teacher outcry, “I’m tired. I’m frustrated. My health is suffering. I live in stress. I don’t have a life. I don’t know what to do. I want to give-up. I’m just plain burnt out!” It truly is “a sad state of affairs” when one experiences this kind of desperation. Might I suggest that reading Love the Job, Lose the Stress offers-up a powerful prescription availing us to a personal/professional avenue arriving at one’s desired contentment and fulfillment.

Lesley, thank you! We know the master teachers are also keystone role models. That being said, you are an exemplar for all of us!