Music & Arts Education Professional Learning & Consulting
Listen to this blog post by clicking the player below! It was my first year teaching at a bilingual charter school in Washington, DC where the vast majority of my students were from Spanish speaking backgrounds, primarily from South America. Not being a strong Spanish speaker myself (I had taken a study abroad trip after … Read more
Listen to this blog post by clicking the player below! An often missed opportunity when planning and creating the foundation for your music program is setting the vision. Of course, we must consider our curriculum when we think about our vision for our music programs: the repertoire we’ll teach, what musicians we’ll explore, what skills … Read more
Listen to this blog post by clicking the player below! Culturally responsive practice is the most impactful lever we can pull towards equity in music education. But what exactly does it mean for there to be “equity in music education”? What does it mean to utilize a lens for “diversity, equity, and inclusion”? The “Alphabet … Read more
Listen to this blog post by clicking the player below! Music programs can be the heart and soul of our schools. A great music program fosters a sense of belonging & community, gives learners a way to express themselves, and helps to boost learner well-being just to name a few benefits. While the numerous benefits … Read more
Listen to this blog post by clicking the player below! As music educators committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, it’s important to point out that there will be pushback. We must expect it and we must be ready for it. As with any kind of change, there will be discomfort, and in fact when there … Read more
Listen to this blog post by clicking the player below! In Dr. Rudine Sims-Bishop’s 1990 article “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors,” she presents a useful metaphor for the importance of diverse children’s books when she says that “books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange… … Read more
Listen to this blog post by clicking the player below! Contrary to popular beliefs, the first step towards an equitable music room is not selecting diverse repertoire or designing arts integrated lessons. The first step towards cultivating an equitable music classroom is understanding your own mindset and frames of reference. Understanding your own frames of … Read more
Listen to this blog post by clicking the player below! It’s back to school time! As music educators, we have a million things on our beginning of the year to-do list: setting up our rooms, staff meetings, district training, pacing guides, the list goes on and on. But before you get too far into your … Read more
Listen to this blog post by clicking the player below! First designated in 1979 as Black Music Month by President Jimmy Carter, June was officially declared Black Music Month by presidential proclamation in 2000. In President Joe Biden’s 2024 Proclamation, he notes that “Black music is a staple of American art and a powerhouse of … Read more
Listen to this blog post by clicking on the player below! In my last post, I shared that my initial career aspiration in music was to become the principal flutist of a major metropolitan symphony orchestra. As I changed my path and decided to go into music education, my first few years of teaching consisted … Read more