Summers Off? Not exactly...
Make MusicXT part of your process
Spend some time this summer browsing the ARCHIVE? There’s a “search” function, so you can go directly to the topic or theme you’re looking for. Do you need a game to go with your unit on triplets? Look it up! Or… buy my NEW BOOK called “Make It Music” and get a glimpse into my brain!
If you’re new to MusicXT, here’s how it works! If you’re a free subscriber you’ll get emails with lesson ideas and wisdom. If you’re ready for a deeper experience, ready to dive into the ARCHIVE and pull out the best lessons, attend monthly masterclass sessions, and access bonus content… join the TEAMM. The Totally Effortless Approach to Musical Movement is your ticket to Movement supremacy.
From the Archive:
Teaching the Body
Classroom management is probably the most important requisite skill that a teacher must develop. If the classroom isn’t well managed, there isn’t much hope that the rest of the class will be productive. It’s hard. I always preface this discussion by saying that no one was WORSE at classroom management than me when I first started. When I think of the ma…
Part of the MusicXT lifestyle involves embracing the cyclical nature of teaching. I have often made the comparison to farming, as I grew up on a family farm in western Pennsylvania. There is a season for planting, for cultivating, and ultimately for harvesting. There is also an off-season. Setting up a year-long process for curriculum and student growth is important, but it’s also important to embrace this way of thinking about your own growth and development. In most western cultures, the conventional wisdom is that teachers have “summers off.” Many teachers do in fact take this time to unplug completely from the work and enrich their lives in myriad ways. The MusicXT approach encourages teachers to use the summer for the following purposes:
1. Rekindle your love of music
Central to MusicXT is that the teacher must be a lover of music. I love to use the summer to pursue my own creative musical projects, recording in my studio, and attend concerts of my own favorite artists. Whenever I visit a new city, you can bet I’ll find the best record store and dig through crates of vinyl. By taking this opportunity, I serve my students better. They can completely sense my passion for music and it is contagious! Here is an example of a song that I produced in the studio with my beautiful wife:
Take some time this summer to have fulfilling musical experiences of your own! Join your church choir or praise team, write a song and perform it at a local open mic, attend a community brass band rehearsal, offer a short recital at your community library, or take a few lessons with a master teacher!
2. Attend Dalcroze-based workshops and training
Using the Dalcroze approach to ignite musical experiences through movement is a practice that needs continually sharpened. If you haven’t been through a deep movement-based workshop, you should definitely take the opportunity! If you have, it is critical to reconnect to the work every year. I suggest the following:
Marta Sanchez Dalcroze Training Center, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
The Dalcroze School of Music and Movement, Dallas, TX
MusicXT is grown out of the Dalcroze approach, and any kind of training in this method will help you to use this platform more effectively. It is also central to my own approach to music and creativity!
3. Teach in new situations
For the second year, I have been invited to teach at Interlochen Summer Arts Academy. Being able to get out of my usual teaching bubble, to encounter students with a different skill set, from different backgrounds, and in a new environment is a huge opportunity to grow my own practice. The students at Interlochen are completely different from the students I encounter in my public school situation, and older and more advanced than my students at CMU. I get a chance to stretch out my chops with a new population and grow as a teacher.
If you are a MusicXT subscriber, try to find a local camp or summer school that might invite you to hold a few classes. Growing your own skills by introducing diversity is a wonderful way to avoid being stale and bring new perspectives to your career.
4. Refresh and Renew Your Perspective
Spending quality time with family and friends, reading a good novel, catching up on a binge-watchable show, sleeping in, gardening, or taking a trip; these are all things that ideally are a part of your weekly routine all year. In the summer, we can prioritize them a bit more and make sure that we allow our lives to be well rounded. Teaching is such demanding and energetically draining pursuit, it is important to touch grass, to be reminded of what is really important. We bring this balance with us into the classroom and it ultimately benefits our students.
5. Strategize and Envision The Upcoming Year
This is where TEAMM members will get an advantage! Going through the ARCHIVE and finding the best lessons to include in your upcoming curriculum, thinking deeply about how movement can be a more significant part of your approach, and reflecting on the philosophies that drive your program are all wonderful ways to spend a few hours each week. Make sure you’re upgraded to a TEAMM subscription so you can get access to all of this content and start to put together a winning strategy for the fall!