Be honest: you had a dream job in mind when you graduated with your music education degree. Maybe you had your heart set on leading a major national marching program as a head director. Maybe you wanted to teach beginning strings. Unfortunately, your ideal position may not have been available when you did a job search.
I’m a huge fan of parent booster groups. They can really help promote your program, make fundraising easier, and engage your community. Joining me to talk about booster groups this week is Ryan Crabtree, president-elect of the Colorado Bandmasters Association. More importantly, however, Ryan is my daughter’s band director. Since I’m an active member of Ryan’s parent booster organization, you’ll also get some behind-the-scenes glimpses at how and why Ryan’s approach works so well.
Led by the National Association for Music Education, Music in Our Schools Month (MIOSM) was created to demonstrate the powerful role that quality music programs play in the lives of young people. This month we highlight how critical it is to make music education available to every student. Your mission is to go out there and promote the heck out of your program!
In this very special episode of the Music Ed Mentor Podcast, we welcome our first GRAMMY-winning guest! I’m excited to share my conversation with Melissa Salguero, who was recently named the GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year. You may recognize Melissa’s voice from Episode 12, where she shared tips on how to get the most from music education conferences.
Do you know how to start a rock band? Many schools are starting to incorporate commercial and popular music ensembles as part of their music curriculum. While these approaches have advantages for students, especially in smaller programs, teachers steeped in traditional music education pedagogy often don’t have a lot of training in popular music.
A great recruitment strategy is key to keeping your program healthy and maintaining or increasing enrollment. Equally important is to retain the students you already have. Making sure that kids don’t run off for a shiny new elective is just as important as getting them in your door in the first place.
Savvy music educators know that getting students signed up for their program is a critical part of the job. If your program isn’t growing, it isn’t thriving. Having a great recruitment and retention strategy not only keeps your ensembles sounding great, but also helps expand your budget, secure support from the community, and show value to administrators.
Making New Year’s resolutions is easy. Keeping them is hard. One key is to choose resolutions that make a tangible difference in your life. Resolutions are about more than “setting goals,” they’re about becoming a better person.
As regular listeners know, I’m a little obsessed with helping music educators have the best lifestyle they can.
Whether you’re just getting started in music education or are thinking about a new position, you likely have questions about getting a job. Depending on your situation, you may not even know how to get started on your job search.
In this episode, I speak with five educators with experience in the field.
Parents are as unique as students – and teachers. Many are very invested. Some won’t attend a single concert all year. Much of this depends on the individual, but both the culture of your school and your communication with parents can play a role in shaping the quality and frequency of their interaction.