Sorry for ghosting everyone for a year. We're back, but we're not. This is the last episode of the podcast. Series Finale. We decided that the podcast and our listeners meant enough to us that we needed to put out one final episode to actually wrap it up. This whole endeavor has been a wild ride and a labor of love. We felt we filled a role that was really necessary when we started but in the last 9 years there has been explosion of music ed podcasts. We're now almost 15 years into our careers and our focus is now more on our families instead of establishing ourselves as professionals. We'll still be meeting regularly to discuss our teaching and share some epic mistakes and wins but we won't be recording them. We wish you the best in your growth as a music educator and hope that you can find a community of peers like we did to help you on that journey.

If you want to see our journey from the beginning, go back and laugh at those kids who thought they might know what they're doing here's a link to our pilot in all it's glory and lack of production value: https://amusedcast.libsyn.com/amused-podcast-pilot

We navigate the last few weeks of school with an increasingly urgent need for the year to be over.

Recorded 5.22.2022

We chat about how things are actually returning to the way they were before, and reflect honestly on how we navigated the challenges of this past year now that we're not in the middle of it all.

S8E31 Recorded 5.5.2022

Veroinca asks the question: Can you still build a shiny, award winning program while still maintaining healthy boundaries in your life?

 

S8E30 Recorded 4.24.2022

We talk about the logistics of showcasing the entirety of the music program, collaborating with others in your department and how to get in and out in a reasonable amount of time.

S8E29 Recorded 4/18/22

It's been a while since we were all together so our focus meanders a bit, but our original conversations focuses on rewarding students who are represntative of the values of your program beyond just outstanding musicianship.

 

S8E28 Recorded 4.10.2022

Olin is out this week so the secondary school teachers discuss how the tail is wagging the dog when it comes to how elective enrollment is driving curriculum.

How do you thread the needle celebrating your top students without leaving your other ensembles behind? We have our friend Jeff Kumagai on who is going through the last growing pains of taking over a program and dealing with the expectations of students who align with the values of the previous director.

S8E26 Recorded 3.26.22

Sus is out this week due to tech week for the musical, Olin is still in the middle of the madness. Veronica has one very long week til spring break. We check in with our goals for the end of the semester, how (if?) we are on track with them.

S8E25 Recorded 3/13/2022

Welcome to the spring. Things are going fine. We're sure. 100% Everything is fine.

S8E24 Recorded 3/6/2022

We continue our conversation regarding what a professional trjectory looks like for us, our previous discussion focused on what it wasn't.

 

S8E23 Recorded 2.27.2022

What does a music educator's "professional trajectory" look like? This year we discuss a bit of difference in perspective on this topic between teachers in the classroom, administrators and what the difference is for us as music educators.

The gang discusses their strategies for setting one's self up for success so as not to dread Sunday evening or Monday morning. S8E20 Recorded 1/30/2022

As we are normalizing our expectations of ourselves and our students we're encountering a lot of frustration and need to stop and remind ourselves of a few key concepts.

 

S8E21 Recorded 2.3.2022

We talk programming and how we might feel guilty for imposing our own bucket lists on our students.

 

Recorded 1/20/22

This time we have the right file. Oops. We're back from break to a January that looks a little different than December.

 

S8E18 Recorded 1/6/2022

Forgive the zoom blips this week, we had to edit off of one track, old school. This week we deal with being caught in the middle of public school discourse on respecting other cultures and holidays and the (sometimes overwhelming) hegemony of Christmas, along with the public expectation of holiday concerts.

S8E17 Recorded 12/12/21

Guess who's back, back again? Concerts.

 

S8E16 Recorded 12/5/21

Our topic meandered a bit on this episode, but it centered around anxiety (ours and our students'), understanding it and growing with it.

S8E14 Recorded 11/14/2021. 

Hi Folks, this one jumps the queue because it's topical, so you get Episode 15 this week and then 14 next week. Time travel is rad. Enjoy our annual episode on Gratitude.

S8E15 Recorded 11.21.21

Or "learning to share the burden of project management" if you prefer. Sus has caught herself taking on too much in her role of co-overseeing the musical theater fundraising concert, and discussing the growing pains of working on equal footing with other directors when no one is "in charge."

S8E13 Recorded 11.7.2021

John is anxious and panicking about the future (what else is new). What are you doing to ensure that your ensembles survive past the graduation of the class of 2022?

S8E12 Recorded 10/28/2021

This week Olin, Sus and Veronica talk the perennial favorite topic of scheduling, looking forward and anticipating challenges that crop up as we move forward.

S8E11 Recorded 10/21/21

What happens when you need to change course in the middle of your semester? We find out. When is rigidity in programming an structure an asset and when is it a liability?

S8E10 Recorded 10/17/2021

So, it's not 2019, remember? Some of us *cough cough* are running up against the consequences of planning like it was. Let us know if you found the easter egg in this episode.

S8E9 Recorded 10/03/2021

How do you rank what needs to get done when everything is urgent, and important, and on fire (sometimes literally on the west coast).

We talk about what we prioritize and what we let fall behind when we're juggling chainsaws mid semester.

S8E8 Recorded 9/23/21

In the wake of Olin's band camp (spoilers: it was great) Sus, Olin and Veronica discuss strategies to keep focused intensity in rehearsals.

S8E7 Recorded 9/19/2021

The Beavs have Band Camp this week and Olin is out, so we brought on some special guests to help make sure we stayed serious and professional. Our topic this week came about organically as we discussed our growth away from comparing ourselves and our programs with the more successful and prestigious programs in our area. The discussion focuses on finding out what your students and school community value and modeling your program to meet those needs.

S8E6 Recorded 9/9/2021

We discuss the ways students accommodations have challenged our teaching and helped us grow and develop more comprehensive strategies that work better for all students.

 

S8E5 Recorded 9.2.2021

We're still talking about COVID. Sorry. Really doubling down on what music education looks like in Fall 2021, trying to figure out best practices when everything is left up to local municipalities and school boards to make decisions.

S8E4 Recorded 8.26.2021

This week John sits down with Ron Sikes, host the Muted Network's newest member podcast, Jazz Chat. We talk mostly about the rhythm section because of Ron's background as a percussionist.

S8E3 Recorded 7/22/2021

This week We talk about our goals coming out (fingers crossed) of the pandemic and some of the lessons we learned from last year.

S2E8 Recorded 8/17/21

 

This is a music education podcast. We swear. It's a lot of fun to be back.

 

S8E1 recorded August 10 2021

As we finish our school year, we do a bit of reflection and goal setting for the summer. Trying to look forward instead of backwards after one heck of a year. Congratulations if you're reading this, you made it.

S7E33 Recorded 5/29/2021

This week the gang discusses not just being behind in terms of pedagogy, but also how all planning has been put off this year, and how many of the things that are finished by the end of the year aren't this year. We have to adjust to be okay with the fact that things will remain ambiguous through the summer.

S7E32 Recorded 5/19/2021

This week we have our friend and mentor Dr. Ruth Brittin on from the University of the Pacific to talk about how the COVID crisis is affecting student teaching and fieldwork during the pandemic and how their programs adapted.

S 7E31 Recorded May 1 2021

The gang discusses the pros and cons f trying to hold a spring concert this year.

 

S7E30 Recorded April 21 2021

It's Veronica's first week back on campus after over a year away. The gang is tired, the gang has the giggles, we're all nearing the home stretch of this year.

Paull Kimball comes on to talk about his journey through Kodály and his homebrew sightsinging progression that changed the way he teaches elementary music.

Paul is an active musician and choir teacher in Stockton California. He was a French Horn player with the Stockton Symphony for 27 years, has conducted hundreds of performances of local musicals, and is the conductor and artistic director of the Zion Chamber Orchestra. In 2018 he and his wife were presented with the Star Award by the Stockton Arts Commission.

S7 E29 Recorded 4/7/21

Family episodes with the four of us are rare theses days, so we're trying to make time once a month to check in with each other. This week we're unpacking and working through the differing circumstances of our various returns to campus.

S7E27 Recorded 4/3/21 

We sit down with Russ Gavin from Stanford to talk about the Jacktrip project. This was recorded via the Jacktrip platform live and in sync.

S7E26 Recorded March 24 2021

This week we have Stephanie on as a guest to talk about getting an elementary music program off the ground in her district.

 

S7E25Recorded 3/17/2020

Enrollment crises and pressure on kids to take more "academic" classes has us on the back foot this week and discussing how to promote the value of arts education to our admin and families.

This week we discuss putting the definition of success into our students hands for student engagement and ownership of the ensemble and material. The Pandemic is offering us an opportunity.

 

S7E23 Recorded March 6 2021

Sus, Olin and Veronica discuss the challenges of retention and recruitment when all the social aspects of ensembles that draw kids in seem a distant memory.

S7E22 Recorded 2/25/2021

This week, we bring on Tyson Wooters, a leadership consultant to talk shop about designing a leadership course.

Adapted from his bio on Leaders Creating Leaders:

"Tyson has been called an entertainer, a comedian, and most importantly an educator. His life mission is to educate people through humor, shared experiences, and win-wins, about the phenomenal power of helping those around you by activating them to help each other.

Although Tyson spent his first career educating in public schools, colleges, and corporate events, these days he serves educators in the classroom, in personal development, and even in retirement."

Information on the March 4th #BeBandReady and #KeepPlaying Spring Campaign he mentioned can be found here

S7E21 Recorded 2/18/2021

This episode we talk with Dr. Kaitlin Bove about doing the work to find and perform music by underrepresented composers while remembering that you don't have to do it all at once.

Dr. Bove's bio, taken from And We Were Heard:

This week we have Dr. Steve Zielke on to talk choir and specifically laughter in rehearsal.

 

Recorded 2/4/2020 S7E19

Sus is out for the week, so John, Veronica and Olin regress to their true selves and talk shop for band in 2021 (let's be honest, it's not much different from when Sus is present, just a little less fun).

 

S7E18 Recorded 1.30.21

We've all experienced a lot of challenges this year, this week we sit down to figure out where we need to grow and where we're focusing our efforts at improving our teaching.

 

S7E17 Recorded 1/21/2021

Veronica is back teaching, John starts Marching Season in January, Sus is teaching Musical Theater and Olin is... getting rained on in Oregon. Welcome to 2021.

 

Recorded 1.14.2021

We look forward to the spring, and Veronica sneaks in to discuss her preparations to return to the classroom.

Here's hoping everyone has a restful and safe Winter Break.

 

S7E15 Recorded 12.15.2020

What do you do when your kids don't turn in enough work, or work that is too poor quality for a public facing virtual ensemble video?

How do you keep a virtuous cycle of energy going when your kids are checked out? We don't have the answers but tune in anyway!

 

S7E14 Recorded 12/8/2020

Feeling pressure to produce something at the end of the semester when your concerts are cancelled and kids are way behind? Why? Make sure you're setting reasonable expectations for yourself and your students this term.

Recorded November 30 2020 S7E13

Happy Thanksgiving, whether you're celebrating alone or commuting to visit family, we hope you'll join our PodFam for some reflections on gratitude.

Recorded November 20, 2020. S7E12

Sus has to do evaluations for her student teacher and is struggling with wrapping her brain around writing for an education department and not a school of music.

 

Recorded 11/15 S7E11

Olin solicits suggestions on what to spend his next six weeks focusing on, what projects can he work on and how can he plan for a winter when every two weeks we have a completely new understanding of how the world is changing.

Special Guest star: Quentin Tonus-Cargile. Sorry.

Recorded November 8 2020. S7E10

Sus is selected as GBHS's teacher of the year, now in the running for Placer County Schools TotY. We discuss growth and professional development that led her here, answer a few questions off her questionnaire, and discuss some ideas we're taking away from the pandemic into our teaching in the future

 

Recorded 11/3/2020 instead of watching election coverage. S7E9

We continue to patch the holes in our teaching as we are grappling with hybrid learning. Due to Sus officiating a wedding over the weekend, this is a beer podcast, not a coffee podcast. You're welcome.

Recorded October 27, 2020 S7E8

Sorry for the missing week folks, Sus's audio was lost in our conversation on adjusting Pacing for Hybrid Learning. We'll revisit that. This week we talk about how we are adjusting our teaching to a Hybrid model and what that looks like.

 

Recorded 10/18/2020 S7E7

The PAC-12 announced that they will resume football this fall but Bands will not be allowed to play at or anywhere near games, leaving Olin without a fall marching season. The Hybrid Model now proposed for both John and Sus's schools effectively negates rehearsal, so the question remains: what is a performing ensemble without performance opportunities?

S7E6 Recorded 10.4.2020

The counties where Sus and John teach are meeting the thresholds to open schools, so this week we grapple with what performing arts courses look like without rehearsal in preparation for students in the classroom, some students still online and the current guidelines in CA that preclude instrumental or choral rehearsals.

 

S7E5 Recorded 9.27.2020 

This week we sat down with our friend Patrick about his work opening West Park High School as their band director. He discusses the opportunities of starting a new program, and the challenges of doing so during distance learning in a pandemic.

 

S7E4 Recorded 9.20.2020

This week, we discuss the challenges we're continuing to face in our digital teaching and share ideas for engaging and meaningful lessons for our students in a remote teaching environment.

 

S7E3 Recorded September 13, 2020

Welcome Back, for real this time. First Family Episode of Season 7 with Veronica. We debrief our first few weeks of teaching and discuss dipping our toes into digital in this new normal.

 

S7E2 Recorded 9.6.2020

Welcome Back! We're opening our seventh season with an interview with Messrs. Jonathan Grantham and Patrick Dandrea from Amador Valley High School. They have been doing extensive work in maintaining an ensemble program in a digital environment, and recently hosted a directors band to showcase their ideas as a launching point for other teachers. 

That Presentation can be found here:

• YouTube Live Link
• Session Slide Deck
  • There are some additional strategies for solfege and rhythm reading included at the end of the deck.
• Additional Resources
  • Overview videos we've used for students, some asynchronous projects, and planning template documents.

Recorded 8/30/2020

This is the last regular episode of our Sixth Season. This is the end of semester potpourri, a look back at the year, what we're excited about for the summer and projects we hope to tackle.

"We have no idea what the fall is going to look like but you need to plan for it" - your admin team, probably.

We don't have a lot of answers but we talk about messaging and planning and the differences between university, high school and middle school.

Recorded May 24, 2020

John finishes his last week, Sus wraps up her virtual choir project, Olin is not looking forward for OSUMB instrument return and Veronica laments the regression of her 7th graders. 

Recorded May 17, 2020

Back at it again, we discuss recorded lessons vs. synchronous learning sessions and the pros and cons of both.

 

Recorded 5.2.2020

Veronica debriefs her first week back after local school districts took almost a month off to prepare for digital learning.

Recorded April 19 2020

We bring the spouses back on for a dive into what it's like being confined with a music teacher and some ways to mitigate the problems that stem from that. (Take 2: Sus's Audio is fixed)

 

Recorded April 16, 2020

John and Sus have been teaching since March 16 in secondary settings, but now Olin and Veronica are moving back into teaching after their spring breaks and debrief the challenges being faced.

 

Sorry about the bad audio (again) this time John got complacent with his audio set up, since it had been set up all week for teaching.

Recorded April 5 2020.

Jesuit has some survey data based on two weeks of teaching digitally, we break down some of the points that jump out to us as we enter week three of this new paradigm.

 

Recorded 3/29/2020

We debrief our teaching and lessons learned from trying to adapt to digital teaching and learning in the first week of shelter in place in California.

We had a small hiccup with Sus's audio at the end, so she missed out on a win this week... =(

 

Recorded March 22, 2020

We sit down with the incoming CMEA VP, Chad Zullinger to talk options for digital and distance learning as we try to adapt to school closures and our new normal. 

CMEA Resources mentioned can be found here:

https://calmusiced.com/resources/covid-19-information/

 

Recorded March 15, 2020

What has merit in a meritocracy besides musicianship? That's the question we try to tackle today.

 

Recorded March 8, 2020

Veronica dives in with the question that boils down to "when is it time to cut bait" with beginners who are showing no progress. We try to tackle the problem from a few angles.

We debrief our week, ending with a presentation at the California All State Music Educator's Conference. We also discuss our favorite clinics we participated in and Sus reminds herself how much she loves CCDA.

I sit down with Jim Mazzaferro (and his bass) to ask a few questions about developing your bass player, as well as a few questions about guitarists as the conversation progresses.

Forgive the transitions, balancing Jim and his bass as he demonstrates proved to be a challenge.

Jim's bio can be found here

Recorded 1/30/2020

Sus checks in with ways to develop your musicians outside of the normal cycle of formal concerts. What value do informal performances (informances) bring to your program?

Note: Audio is bad on this one, (sorry!) We had trouble with the H6. Olin's audio remains unscathed.

Recorded 02/02/2020

John sits down with Barb Catlin the director at Pomona College and CIT, as well as the incoming president for the California Alliance for Jazz to discuss working in the rhythm section as a new director and a horn player.

Barb's Bio can be found here: http://www.barbcatlin.com/bio

Sus inquires after John's three year checklist for literature and we find ourselves discussing the challenges and processes of choosing literature for our groups.

And... we're back. Quick check-in on how 2020 is shaping up and some of our goals for the semester.

Sus is back trying to solve a few problems with her leadership staff, we break down some lessons learned from our concerts and the semester.

Recorded 12/15/2019

We talk about how to best ensure follow-through with your giant to-do list before the next iteration of whatever it is: new semester, new marching season, new school year. What are some steps to take to make sure the job gets done the way you want it to and things don't get left by the wayside.

Recorded 12.8.2019

We're back from Break, and wary about this post Thanksgiving season. Nov 1st was on a Friday which means when we left for  break "Next Month" was actually "Next Week" and that feeling in the air is just a little bit of panic.

 

Recorded 12/1/2019

We had an opportunity to record close to our release date and make our episode topical, so gratitude ends up being the name of the game. We take a break from all our worries and strife of teaching to focus on what we're grateful for. We hope it finds you on your travel to or from family this break.

 

Recorded 11/24/2019

This late in the semester in can be frustrating if your classroom procedures have eroded due to lack of maintenance. We talk a bit of our on experience of how and why that happens and about getting back on track.

 

Recorded 11/11/2019

I talk this week with Dr. Redfield about the easy mistakes first year directors make with their bands, and peel back the curtain on what made Robert McQueen HS in Reno such a powerhouse.

Dr. Redfield's Bio can be found here.

Recorded 11/5/2019

This week we take a look at alternative forms of administrative evaluations that one might be able to use in their own professional development.

 

Recorded 11/3/2019

So your fundraiser was successful and you have a pile of money, how do you navigate the financial bureaucracy of your new school and spend that money on your students and program? These are the questions Sus brings us today, and we thought it would maybe be helpful for newer teachers to lay out the processes by which we spend money and support our students.

This week I sit down with Max Kiesner, director at our local city college to talk about how he's adjusting to his new gig, and what universal concepts he tries to teach whether he's in front of a bunch of green freshmen, a high powered performance ensemble or a bunch of adults who may or may not practice as much as we'd all like. It's a grab bag of sorts but it was a very insightful conversation.

 

Recorded 10/8/19

This week we share how we integrate singing, pitch memory, dictation and other musicianship exercises into our lessons.

 

Recorded 9/29/2019

This week I sit down with Clyde Quick to talk form, organizing the year into units, and choosing charts to teach concepts.

 

Veronica is exhausted by her seventh graders who don't know how to "band" yet and are not used to delayed gratification when they have questions. What do you do to teach problem solving with your youngest students?

 

Recorded 9.22.19

This week I sit down with Josh Murray at Rio Americano High School to talk swing, and some of the most fundamental steps one can take towards establishing a swinging rhythm section.

 

Recorded 9.5.19

This week we discuss a few opportunities to help build community in your ensembles, but our main focus is on the different organizational systems we use for lesson planning and keep on top of the workload of being a program administrator as well as a teacher. Some things work for each of us but don't work for others.

 

Recorded 09.08.2019

So, Jazz Workshop is the new project we're sprinkling in between family episodes of AMusEd. This week we have on Bobby Rogers. He and John discuss at length what he does to get his kids improvising from day one.

 

Recorded August 6, 2019

We're back, catching up about changes in our teaching loads and what we're excited about for the coming year.

 

Recorded 8.24.2019