This week Olin brought on his colleague, Dr. Jason Gossett to talk about some of his research into what music educators value and how that has changed (or hasn't) in the last 30-40 years.

From his bio at OSU: Dr. Jason B. Gossett is an instructor in instrumental music education at Oregon State University where he teaches instrumental methods for graduates and undergraduates, research methods for graduates, and supervises student teachers.  In addition to his deep commitment to music teacher education, he is the assistant director of the Oregon State University Marching Band and assists with basketball pep bands.  Dr. Gossett also oversees and conducts the Campus Band. Prior to entering higher education, Dr. Gossett spent 10 years as a highschool band director in Kentucky. 

Recorded Dec. 11, 2016

We invited Natalie and Megan on so we had the entire pod-family to talk about what our spouses see in us and for them to present the challenges in being the significant other to a music teacher.

This week we discuss athletic rivalries, how they affect our students and the music we make.

Since we all squandered our college degrees on music or music education, sometimes we struggle with communication. Especially finding the best means to communicate with large groups of parents and students with varying levels of interest and access to the internet.

This week we talk about the different strategies we use to get information to our students and their parents.

This week we talk about how the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election affected our students, our work with Civil Discourse, and the work outside of making music.

Olin is gone this week so we talk about something more relevant to secondary school teachers: how do you make up missed performances?

This week we talk about the pros and cons of taking masterworks and classic literature in front of adjudicators.

Veronica asks for help in finding exercises to teach tuning in the middle of rehearsal, not just as part of daily routines.

Ever had a day where it's more work to call in sick than and come up with sub plans than just suck it up and go in? With the advent of flu season we talk about coming up with ideas you can prep in advance, develop  and work towards a set emergency sub plan. Don't forget your flu shots!

We invited Bobby Rogers from Pioneer High School in Woodland, CA to talk about his experience building a successful AP Music Theory program at his school: including a pre-AP curriculum integrated into his ensembles and a composition course for students who complete the AP course.

We talk about our current and ideal performance spaces, and Olin posits his Grand Theorem of college marching bands.

Sus and Veronica discuss some ideas they brought back from ACDA NorCal Regional.

And.... we're back after a longer than expected break. Olin is in Oregon, Sus got married, and Veronica is now a choir teacher! This episode we get used to Skype as a regular part of our podcasts and discuss our professional goals for the year.

We bring on guest Josh Murray for our last episode this season. Josh is the director at Rio Americano High School in Sacramento and has found great success there with their Jazz and Concert Band programs. We brought him on to pick his brain about stepping into the role of a jazz band director.

How do you evaluate your own teaching and your success this year? What do you measure it against? How do you know if you are growing or meeting your goals? Good questions to ask, not sure if we have the answers.

We brought on the director from Amador Valley High School, Jonathan Grantham to talk about the growth in his teaching from when he started at his school 14 years ago to bringing his band to the Midwest Clinic. This interview was done via Skype, and so had challenges with audio quality, but the quality of our guest should more than make up for it.

Head over to amusedcast.org for Mr. Grantham's bio, and a link to his blog: Accidental Expert.

It's that time of year: the end of the year slog towards graduation and for many of us the rehearsal of coronation marches that come with it. How do you combat senioritis in your classroom? What happens when it trickles down to affect your younger students? How do you combat it in yourself? We discuss dealing with the end of the year drain.

Last week we talked about student perspectives on fun, this week we look at improving that perspective.

Student perceptions, expectations and enrollment numbers are coming to a head. What do you do when a kid says point blank: "Band just isn't fun anymore?"

Yes, Fundraising the director's least favorite word. We bring on our friend Meredith a middle school band director, to talk about some alternatives she's found to selling stuff your students' families don't need.

Sus leads the discussion this week on the benefits of and some of the best practices for recording your enesmbles.

Recorded on Easter. In the evening. Which means beer and not coffee. Which means Olin giggles a lot. Enjoy!

Each of us grabbed a book we've read that influenced our teaching, or have been meaning to read and now had an excuse, to recommend to our listeners. Links to the books and more information at amusedcast.org

This episode we talk about vocal modeling in your classroom, regardless of ensemble and its importance

Want to go back to school but don't want to leave your job? Don't know what to do? That's okay, neither does Veronica. This week we discuss what we value in a masters' degree program and the pros and cons of summer residency programs.

This week Olin recounts different philosophies of practice. Sus is away so we naturally nerd out about band.

This week we talk about the importance of and different strategies we use to help students reflect on their performance.

We discuss the discoveries and errors we've made in programming for educational ensembles.

This week we talk about grading for participation in ensembles; the pros, the cons, the necessity and the pitfalls of doing so.

We discuss our perception of the public misconception of talent, what it is, what it isn't and how it affects our students.

We have a guest who teaches choir! No really. It's not a joke.

John's percussion instructor drops by to talk about some strategies and resources for teaching percussion.

Julie's Back!This time the topic she brought with her is about inclusion strategies for students who may otherwise not be able to participate in a music program.

We found a slightly quieter location and sat down with Michael Sweeney to talk about literature selection.

Duane Hill is the director of the Texas Tech University "Goin' Band from Raiderland" as well as director of the Concert Band. He holds a bachelor of secondary music education from Texas Tech University under Keith Bearden and Christopher Anderson and a master of music in conducting from Dr. Sarah McKoin.