band director boot camp – Page 2 – A Mindful Approach to Music Education

I remember teaching after 9/11. The events of that one day had a ripple effect that impacted every classroom in America in many different ways.

Things were very different as a teacher, parent, and community member after September 11.

The images of the planes hitting the towers and all of the horrible things that happened impacted students who already struggled with anxiety.

The event and everything that happened afterward triggered depression and impacted kids’ (and teachers’) ability to focus. Parents became reluctant to let their kids participate in events that required traveling very far for fear that we didn’t know what was safe anymore.

Returning to the classroom and establishing a new normal and doing that while leading hundreds of students through it at the same time took a lot of energy and mental stamina as we navigated new territory. I had to learn new ways to engage students who were dealing with all kinds of stressors that made it difficult for them to learn. Simply jumping back in and teaching the same old way wasn’t going to serve my students. They needed more than that and I had to figure it out fast!

As I think about returning to school post-COVID 19, I realize education will look very different once again.

The miracles teachers have worked in a matter of weeks and days to still serve students in spite of every school in the country being shut has been nothing short of astonishing. Now that we’ve explored many innovative ways of delivering music education through virtual teaching during the stay-at-home orders, we have new tools at our disposal, so the actual teaching we do may look different as we begin to implement some of the new ways with the old.

But the biggest challenge we face as teachers will be helping our students put pieces back together. During the school closures, we all know there are some kids who will have enriching experiences and others who will struggle with some pretty scary situations. Some will academically be just fine, but others will have slipped further behind while school’s been closed. We may not have a chance to say goodbye to our seniors or other kids, and when we do finally get back in the classroom, we’ll all be wondering what’s next.

I don’t plan on waiting until school starts again to figure out what to do. I’ve already lived through a major change in society that impacted education and I can see the potential pitfalls and opportunities that are around the corner for us as educators. We can either react to the new situations we face when they happen in class, or we can be prepared to support our students and ourselves in ways that are sustainable.

Join me for FREE Music Ed Mondays with Moffat at 9:00 AM pacific time where I will share strategies you can think about now so you and your students are prepared for creating and nurturing a new normal when we get to go back to school.

This is the perfect time to evaluate your vision for your music program and take the steps you need to take to make the transition back to school successful for you and your kids.
I’ve been through a similar experience and would love to share what I’ve learned so you don’t have to figure this out on your own!

If you can’t make it to the webinar live, register anyway and I’ll send you the replay.

With you on the journey
Lesley

Teachers Are Grieving – Yet Somehow We’re Supposed to Keep Calm and Teach On…

If that seems a bit overwhelming to you in the current situation, you are not alone.

Music teachers are known for being uber-prepared, super organized, and ready for anything. And now our whole world has been turned upside down, and yet we teachers, who are still trying to acclimate to this unusual scenario, are redesigning everything we’ve ever done and are working miracles to ensure our students don’t miss out on learning while we’re apart.

But this is SO hard to do – especially since there’s almost TOO much information out there to filter through. That’s why I’m offering to help.

In case you missed it, on Monday’s webinar I shared a few things that you might find helpful during the school shutdowns and resulting upheaval to education as we know it.
A few highlights from the webinar include:

Understanding the “three types of teaching,” pre-, during-, and post-COVID

Recognizing how our roles as music educators are changing and will continue to change and how to use this opportunity to grow rather than feel overwhelmed

Discovering the power of how we music teachers can emerge as leaders to help our students and communities deal with the losses and changes that are happening at warp speed

I want to be sure to invite you to be part of my FREE series on Mondays in April where I’ll deep-dive into the content of my second book, in which I teach teachers how to reduce their own stress levels and how to most effectively teach students who come to us distracted by overstimulation of electronic devices, anxiety, depression, ADHD, and so many other things that keep them from learning.

When I wrote the book, I knew teachers around the world struggled for ways to keep students engaged in a very distracting world. Now more than ever, the techniques I share in my book are critical building blocks for helping students and teachers adjust to a new normal that faces us when we return to school.

Rather than waiting until the book comes out in May, I am sharing the content on these webinars NOW. This is the time to start thinking about how you’ll teach students who have experienced all kinds of trauma, new stressors, and situations that will make “normal” learning even more challenging.

I’ve taught over 30,000 classes during my career (so far!) Long before the COVID-19 outbreak happened, I’d experienced personal challenges of teaching when I was dealing with my own stress and exhaustion, and over the years I’ve seen more and more kids coming to my classroom with all kinds of barriers that make it difficult for them to learn.

That’s why I wrote my books – to share what I learned so you can learn from my lessons and not have to struggle as much. The content of the books are more relevant now than ever.

Here’s what Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser said about my most recent book:

“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.”
Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser, excerpt from the foreword for Love the Job, Lose the Stress, releasing in May 2020

Join me on Music Ed Mondays to dig in to the new realities of what it takes to be a successful music educator in a post-COVID world.
See you on Monday! Lesley

Music Ed Mondays with Moffat: Replay March 30

After 32 years as a high school band director, I was going to retire this year. But things have changed.

Now is not the time to leave my students. I still have work to do and I need to be in my classroom with my kiddos when they return to school next year for a different kind of experience than what any of us have known.

In addition to the many ways they’ve always counted on us, our students will need us in new and different ways. It will require intentional preparation to have the mental, emotional, and physical stamina to serve them without becoming overwhelmed in the process.

This is the exact topic of my second book, which comes out in May, but I’m going to be sharing the content NOW because it’s relevant to any music teacher who wants to use this time to be prepared for what’s to come but who doesn’t know where to start.

I’ve already thought through a lot of this and have a plan – and I’m going to share it with you so you don’t have to start from scratch.

Join me tomorrow for Music Ed Mondays with Moffat to find out why I believe our roles as music educators are critical to the healing of our students and communities during and after this pandemic and resulting upheaval to everything we’ve ever known.

I will share a plan you can access for no cost that will guide you step-by-step through the process of being fully prepared to support yourself and your students through crisis and beyond.

The webinars will be on Mondays at 9:00 am pacific time and I’ll share how you can access the full course of my signature program that goes with my second book, Love the Job, Lose the Stress, for FREE!

_______________________

You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Mar 30, 2020 09:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Music Educator Mondays with Moffat

Webinar Registration

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Can’t make it? Register anyway and I’ll send you a recording!

With you on this journey.

As If Our Jobs Weren’t Already Stressful Enough … How Will You Serve Your Students In This New Normal? And How Do You Do It Without Becoming Even More Emotionally Exhausted As You Help Kids Cope with Stress, Anxiety, and Uncertainty?

Maybe you’re so overwhelmed right now that you haven’t thought very far beyond how to survive and function as the whole world is transitioning from what we’ve always done and known into a completely different reality.

I’m 54 years old – I was set to retire this year, and for the final few months of this school year, it looks like I’ll have the opportunity to completely revamp everything I’ve ever done!

I understand your stress. And I also know what you can do right now to protect yourself from going to those dark places where you feel so overwhelmed that you just want to give up.

Filtering through all the information that is coming at us and changing by the minute can put us in survival mode, which makes it impossible to access the parts of our brain where creativity and planning and functioning are regulated. It feels chaotic as everything we’ve ever done has completely been upended. And on top of making sure we and our families are okay, we are now thrust into a world where we must figure out how to teach band, choir, orchestra, and other music classes online.

Online. Seriously.

When I was at Indiana University in the early 1980s, computers weren’t really a thing for most of us. For the first seven years of my teaching career, I didn’t even have a computer at school. Everything I taught was done with me in front of my class delivering instruction and interacting with my students in real time.

Teaching face-to-face was how we learned and how we learned to teach. But in light of COVID 19, everything I’ve been doing in person with my students for the past 32 years has come to a grinding halt and, like you, I must figure out how to connect with my students and their families and somehow deliver meaningful experiences for them in spite of not being able to be physically present with them.

Even though I am a pretty chill woman who has been there and done that, I, too, am experiencing anxiety about how I can serve my students in a situation and future that are unpredictable.

I figured that I’m probably not the only one who needs to have coping mechanisms in order to not just survive but actually thrive, so I wanted to be on the forefront in talking about how music teachers can minimize the stress and maximize the opportunities that are arising.

Dr. Matthew Arau and I teamed up on Monday to share what we’ve learned in our combined nearly six decades of music education experience to help you cope with the stress that comes in the moment as you are trying to figure out how to get through each day as well as what you can do to prepare for a smooth re-entry when you and your students return to school.

Things will be very different. We can help you prepare now so your new normal will be one where you and your students can thrive. I hope you’ll check out our webinar and tons of free resources we’ve put together for you.

You are not alone in this. Reach out to people like us rather than spinning your wheels and trying to figure it out on your own.

Music educators have always changed the world through the magic of music education – and we’re gonna keep doing it no matter what obstacles arise.

Together we rise.

With you on the journey –
Lesley

FREE Resources

WEBINAR with Lesley & Matthew 1-Click Replay

PS – Join me next Monday at 9:00 am pacific time to talk about what you can start doing NOW to make returning to your classroom as smooth as possible for you and your students.

Music Educator Mondays – Let’s Prepare for the Future of Music Education Together!

I am STOKED to have Dr. Matthew Arau of #upbeatglobal joining me on a webinar for Music Educator Monday this week at 9:00 AM pacific / noon eastern time, where we will talk about the realities of what our roles as music educators are during school closures and what we should be prepared for when we return to our classrooms, whenever that may be.

Matthew and I will be sharing our thoughts about the critical role music teachers play in helping our students and communities cope during this crisis.

We’ll also be sharing tools you can use to keep your own stress levels managed so you have the stamina to do this for the long haul.

If you can’t make it to the webinar, register anyway and I’ll send you the replay.

Together we rise!

Webinar Registration

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sX3udf6DSqW3EvW7kIlz_A

How Do I Nurture My Students Through These Uncertain Times?

We have been called to do more than teach music.

Every music teacher I know believes we have the responsibility of teaching kids the life skills they need to function in the world, like collaboration, goal setting, grit, artistry, and a million other skills. We just happen to do it through the magic of music education.

How do we nurture our students and continue this important work through the shut down of schools and everything else we all have come to depend on?

Are you prepared for the significant changes that will inevitably take place when your students return to your classroom?

When we return to our classrooms, this world will be a different place and our students will be looking to us to help them navigate it because they will be different, too. The fears, anxieties, and other emotions they experience during this epidemic will change them, and we must be ready to meet them wherever they are and help them heal.

We will need to do a lot more than just deliver content. Our students will be looking to us for leadership and as an example for how they should react to our new normal.

There are so many things to consider during this time – but it can be overwhelming to know where to begin when you start trying to figure it out.

Don’t do it alone.

Music teachers are the ultimate collaborators. Let’s use our collective power to up-level this world by leading the healing. Now more than ever, the world needs what we offer.

We must be ready!

Join me for Music Mondays with Moffat as we “band” together to help our kiddos navigate this new territory with as much grace and love as possible.

Together we rise!

Webinar Registration

HELP! What Do I Do Now?!

So many questions in light of COVID-19 and how we serve our music students during this challenging time

I teach at the first school in the US that was shut down for a confirmed case of coronavirus at the end of February, so I’ve had a little bit of time to think about this and start asking a bunch of questions.

In case you missed it, here’s a replay of the webinar from Saturday morning where I share some ideas for music teachers who find themselves with all their major concerts, festivals, trips, activities, and recruiting up-in-the-air.

If you’re wondering what you’re going to do next, join Elisa Janson Jones, Shannon Shaker and me for resources, ideas, and practical advice.

We are with you on this journey, because together we rise!

WEBINAR LINK

BANDing-Together-for-Success Supplemental Material and Links Download

BANDing Together for Solutions

In the wake of the coronavirus, we music teachers have unique challenges we are facing. In addition to delivering content (i.e. teaching) in new and innovative ways, we likely are facing uncertainty with our upcoming spring performances, festivals, recruiting activities, and trips.

I teach north of Seattle. My school was one of the first in the US to close for a confirmed case of the virus last Monday, so the realities of what we need to think about and plan for have been at the forefront of my mind.

The long-term ramifications on our programs both financially and with future enrollment as this hits while kids are registering for next year’s classes could be devastating – unless we are proactive in how we are handle this with them.

Whether it’s the prospect of losing tens of thousands of dollars that have been invested in upcoming festivals and trips or spending hundreds of hours preparing for concerts and other performances that may or may not happen, it’s all up in the air right now.

Right now is the time we should be approaching the peak opportunities of our year, enjoying the activities we’ve planned where we take our music on the road, play for school concerts, graduations, trips, and other events.

Instead, we are in limbo.

We don’t know if events are going to be cancelled or if our schools will even allow us to take the trips. And we won’t know until we see how things develop over the next few weeks.

But we must be prepared, both musically and financially, in the event that we’ll still be able to do these activities.

You may be wondering – How am I supposed to teach my students when they can’t or don’t come to school. Am I equipped to teach ensembles remotely or do I have another plan? What about logistics for preparing our ensembles if school’s closed for a few weeks but we end up being able to go on a trip in a month or two?

There’s a lot of money at stake.

If you’re in a situation like I am, you’ve signed contracts with vendors that are not refundable and your community has rallied behind your kids and program to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars that may never get to be used as intended.

How will you handle this and how will you navigate the legal and personal challenges this will bring?

There’s a lot of momentum and energy at stake as you’ve been building up to these culminating experiences.

And what will happen as your students select courses for next year? Some of them may feel like the rug’s being pulled out from under them and be hesitant to sign up for your class (or at least future trips) again next year.

There’s a lot of fear around all the unknowns, for kids, for teachers, for parents, for administrators, for our communities, and beyond.

What are we supposed to do when the momentum that we’ve been building suddenly comes crashing to a confusing halt? Students and their families will be looking to us for answers. We may not have them all, but we need to be prepared to ask the questions and have the difficult conversations.

If you are planning a trip for future years, what are you learning from this situation that changes how you proceed? How does this situation inform you when it comes to trip insurance, contingency plans, and other preparatory activities? Will your community have enough faith to sign up for future trips if they end up losing a lot of money due to unavoidable cancellations this year?

What are you doing to ensure your students don’t make any rash decisions about enrolling next year based on what will likely be a couple of emotional months, no matter how things pan out? And why is it important that you have a vision for how you are going to lead the conversations and handle the questions from kids and parents? Are you aware of what you can and can’t decide vs what you need to run by an administrator?

If you don’t even know where to start or what questions to ask, you’re not alone. This is new territory for all of us.

I was supposed to adjudicate a festival next SATURDAY but due to cancellations, I’ll no longer be doing that, so I am going to host a FREE WEBINAR for music teachers who want a little help navigating the complexities of the fallout on our music programs as a result of the impact from coronavirus. I don’t have all the answers, but since I’ve been teaching and traveling with group for over 30 years, I do have a very good idea of where to start asking questions.

I hope you’ll join me in two ways:

1) Fill out this short survey to let me know how the coronavirus is impacting you and your program.

BANDing Together SURVEY

2) REGISTER for the webinar and join me LIVE on Saturday, March 14 at 9:00 am PST.

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

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