Researchers suggest that twenty to thirty percent of teachers in America have moderately high to high levels of burnout (source). Maybe you know the feeling:

Tired, mentally and emotionally.
Distracted and uninspired.
Going through the motions.
Trouble making decisions.

These are warning signs.

Why does this happen? Why do we get burnt out and is there anything we can do about it? Today, I'm sharing five practical things you can do when you feel stressed or burnt out plus a few of my go-to resources.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Burnout: Unlocking the Stress Cycle (Emily Nagoski, Ph.D., Amelia Nagoski, D.M.A)

Overwhelmed? 8 Ways to Overcome It (Think Simple Now)

Simply Tuesday: Small-Moment Living in a Fast-Moving World (Emily P. Freeman)

How to Use Milanote As a Music Educator

FitOn app

Free Batching Worksheet

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

There's been a lot of talk in recent years about creative teaching strategies and being a creative teacher. But what does that really mean? What does it look like in practice?

In our world today, creative teaching seems to mean having an arsenal of note-naming worksheets, interactive Google Slide activities, and dice board games to reinforce every new skill or concept. Some of these tools are great and technology has certainly changed the way we teach and present new information, especially in the past few years.

The problem is the quality.

What are the educational goals or objectives of these games and activities? Are they musical (this is a big one for me)? Do they help the learner develop their musicianship skills? Do they provide the right amount of challenge?

These are questions I've been pondering in my own teaching this year and today, I'm sharing some of what I've been reading and learning about creative music teaching in practice.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Wunderkeys (Andrea Dow)

Teach Piano Today blog

A Piano Teacher’s Legacy (Richard Chronister)

Ep. 041 - Focus on the Music

Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity (Keith Sawyer)

Ep. 011 - Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

I have a new 1st-grade student this fall, a younger sibling of another student. Their temperaments and personalities could not be more different and I feel like I'm still learning how best to relate to the younger brother in lessons.

Aaron is very smart and artistic but also has a rebellious streak. Sometimes he'll come into his lesson and say he doesn't want to play the piano or he'll resist reviewing a concept or piece from the previous week and give me only a half-hearted attempt.

After one particularly challenging lesson, I made a plan to incorporate a few more fun activities the following week—movement, creativity prompts, and musical discovery. Little did I know that Aaron would bring all the creative inspiration we needed for a 30-minute lesson: a binder of Pokémon cards.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Piano Safari Friends

The School and Society (John Dewey)

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

It's back-to-school season, which means cups of hot tea in the mornings, new music to learn and explore, a new teaching schedule, and a few new organizational tools and strategies to test out, per usual.

Of course, there are certain parts of my routine that I enjoy coming back to—things I look forward to picking up again—but there are always a few things I’m ready to change or alter in my teaching or my business. You, too?

Today, I'm sharing an inside look at three big studio projects I worked on this summer—repertoire planning, technique organization, and an aural skills video library—and how I'm implementing them into my studio this fall.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Ep. 006 - Four Things I’m Doing Differently in My Studio

RCM Celebration Series, 6th Edition

Keybop, Vol. 2 (Jason Sifford)

Preludes in Patterns (Kevin Olsen)

Milanote - the tool for organizing creative projects

How I Use Milanote As a Music Educator

RCM Piano Syllabus (2022)

Ep. 047 - An Inside Look at My Lesson-Planning Process

Notability - note-taking app

How to Use Notability for Assignment Sheets in Your Studio

RCM Online Ear Training

Ep. 026 - My Favorite Aural Skills Games & Activities

My YouTube playlists for RCM ear training

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

I first heard about this book from one of my grad school professors.

We were sitting around a long table one snowy January evening at our annual dinner for current and prospective doctoral students. I asked my professor about books he was reading lately and he named several including Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers and Carol Dweck's Mindset.

It's been on my list since then (let's just say it's been a few years), but I finally read it last year.

Today, I want to share my four biggest takeaways from Mindset: The New Psychology of Success to give you an idea of what it's about and how we can learn from it as musicians, teachers, and leaders.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Outliers: The Story of Success (Malcolm Gladwell)

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (Carol Dweck)

Ep. 021 - How to Use Praise with Intention

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

This summer, I've been teaching buddy lessons to two rising 1st graders. One started lessons with me in January and the other just started last month. They are both using the method book, Piano Safari Friends, which I have really enjoyed teaching this year.

Both students have had 30-minute lessons with me almost weekly this summer and since I was able to schedule them back to back, I'm doing 25 minutes with one student, 10 minutes with both (2-3 activities), and then 25 minutes with the other student.

Back in Ep. 18, I shared a glimpse into an elementary buddy lesson in my studio—the types of activities we did together and how I facilitated things. Today, I'm sharing a behind-the-scenes look at how I organized our buddy lesson activities and sequenced them from week to week.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Piano Safari Friends

Ep. 018 - This Is What an Elementary Piano Buddy Lesson Looks Like

Evernote, a free note-taking app

Ep. 047 - An Inside Look at My Lesson-Planning Process

Post-it® app for iPad

Piano Safari Animal Rhythm Cards

Piano Safari Music Alphabet Cards

Music Tree: Time to Begin Activities

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Do you pre-plan lessons in your studio? The truth is, I haven't always done this.

As a young teacher, I loved planning and sequencing activities for every individual lesson, but it was challenging to predict what we'd realistically get through and so much was dependent on a student's preparation and practicing during the week. Would they be ready to begin this new piece or would we need to spend another week reviewing concepts in a review piece?

I began making quick lesson sketches when a student would hand me their lesson notebook and pre-planning other activities to reinforce rhythm, aural skills, and technique. But these activities were often more general, more level-specific than student-specific, and they weren't tied to the student's repertoire.

When the pandemic happened, I found myself without my students' notebooks to reference, so I started writing digital assignment sheets.

Today, I'm sharing my lesson-planning workflow: the steps I take every day before teaching to plan individual lessons for my students. Plus, at the end, I'll answer a few questions I received on Instagram that are related to this topic.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

How to Use Notability for Digital Assignment Sheets in Your Studio

Notability app

iPad + Apple Pencil

Ep. 039 - A Creative, Integrated Approach to Teaching Music Theory

RCM Piano Syllabus

Sight-Reading and Rhythm Every Day (Helen Marlais)

Ep. 045 - The Blues Composition Project

Piano Literature for Teaching & Performance: A Graded Guide and Annotated Bibliography (Jane Magrath)

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

We talk a lot about the teaching and learning process on this podcast and what that looks like in practical, real-life experiences. But today, I want to take a step back and talk about what it looks like in the beginning, when you're just getting started.

Maybe you're just beginning your teaching career or you’re pivoting to teaching after doing something else. Maybe you've been teaching for a while but you're looking for ways to evolve and further develop or shape your career.

Wherever you are in your career, we’re all aspiring to be better musicians, teachers, and artists. In this episode, I'll share seven practical tips for designing and developing your music teaching career.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Institute for Creative Music

Blues Course 1.0 by Nick Finzer

Musik at Home

Free Teaching Reflection Workbook

Musician & Co. - a blog and web resource for self-employed musicians

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

In February of this year, I organized a month-long, studio-wide composition project based on the 12-bar blues.

I got the idea for this project from a session I attended at NCKP last summer, led by Leila Viss and Bradley Sowash. Leila shared how she's structured a blues composition project for her students and I thought it would be a good way to acknowledge and celebrate Black History Month and incorporate composition for my elementary and intermediate students.

Today, I'm sharing a behind-the-scenes look at how I organized this project in my studio, how I structured and guided the composition process each week, some blues examples we studied from the repertoire, and a few of my students' final compositions.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Key Ideas with Leila, Ep. 017 - The 12-Bar Blues

Rock Around the Block (Sam Holland, Music Tree, Part 1)

Jazz Blast (Faber, Piano Adventures, Level 2A)

Captain Hook's Rockin' Party (Faber, Piano Adventures, Level 2B)

Black Bear Boogie (Chee-Hwa Tan, Circus Sonatinas)

Slide Easy (Robert Vandall, Celebrated Jazzy Solos, Book 1)

Surfboard Boogie (Martha Mier, Jazz, Rags, and Blues, Book 1)

Spiderman Theme (old-school theme song)

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (U2)

Stuck in the Middle With You (Stealers Wheel)

Hound Dog (Elvis)

Be Cool and Play the Blues by Leila Viss (digital resource)

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

I remember the warm, wood-paneled walls of the recital hall where we gathered; the blue theater chairs and parquet floors; the tall windows along one wall and narrow stage at the front, large enough for only a Steinway grand piano and a few chairs and music stands.

I liked to sit toward the back because, since the hall was small, it gave me a good visual perspective. I pulled out my wooden notebook with the leather spine, flipped to the next clean page, and began to write.

This is where I captured ideas and inspiration and revelations from teachers like Martin Katz, Graham Johnson, Victor Rosenbaum, Rena Sharon, and Alice Parker, among others.

There's so much we can learn from observing how music is made—the gestures, the movement, the physicality of it.

As a student, I remember feeling like there was so much to take in: to see, hear, and experience. That's why I took notes.

Now, as a teacher, I've been thinking about ways to provide my students—even elementary-age—with more opportunities for observation, as another avenue of learning.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

The Inner Game of Tennis (Timothy Gallwey)

Ep. 041 - Focus on the Music

Ep. 018 - This Is What an Elementary Buddy Lesson Looks Like

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew