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Recent Episodes:
Quick Pro Tip: Getting Students to Meet Deadlines
Alan and Steve dig into a common teacher frustration: students who don’t take deadlines seriously. Alan shares a practical approach to setting deadlines that actually mean something—by clearly explaining the “why,” distinguishing between preferred and true drop-dead dates, and avoiding fake or inflated due dates that desensitize students. Steve adds…
MindShifting for Music Teachers: Turning “I Can’t” into “Perhaps I Can” with Mitch Weisburgh
Alan and Steve talk with educator and mind‑shifting coach Mitch Weisburgh about how music teachers can help students—and themselves—move from limbic “survival mode” into resourceful, resilient, and collaborative mindsets. They explore how to respond when students say “I can’t do this,” how to use music itself as a powerful self‑regulation…
Quick Pro Tip: A Fast, Effective Way to Review This Year and Plan the Next
Alan and Steve share a fast, practical debrief tool you can use after a concert, contest, trip, marching season, or school year: WWW/TALA — What Went Well and Take A Look At. Built on Alan’s longtime approach to project improvement, this quick tip shows music teachers how to gather useful…
Beats, Bands, and Attention Spans: A Conversation with Amani Roberts
DJ, author, and music business professor Amani Roberts joins Alan and Steve to unpack how today’s students are listening to and creating music—and what that means for K–12 music educators. In this episode, they discuss: Amani also shares highlights from his book on the history of R&B groups, his life as a touring…
“Back in January I spent about a good two hours going back and listening to the podcasts. I have really enjoyed them all a lot. So many episodes make me wish I had this podcast back when I was first teaching; it would have saved me some headaches early on.”
– Josh Hahn, Band Director, Prairie High School
