Pass the Baton: Empowering Students in Music Education, a Podcast for Music Teachers

This week’s interview features Robby Burns, a middle school band and general music teacher in Howard County, Maryland. Robby talks about how he incorporates creativity and music composition in his middle school band classes.    

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This week’s interview features Sonya Knussen, a music educator, singer, and composer, currently living in Maryland. Sonya also runs Go Compose North America, an organization that provides music composition workshops for students. Sonya comes from a musical family, and always knew she was going to be a musician. As a result, she’s found a variety of ways to share her music both as a performer and an educator.  

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This week, Kathryn and Theresa talked to Dianne Nelson, a choral teacher at Talmadge Middle School in Independence, Oregon. Dianne has experience in a variety of settings, including degrees in biology and music education, teaching experience in early childhood and Waldorf settings, and a current position teaching music pedagogy at Western Oregon University. One of Dianne’s passions in education is project based learning, which she shared about in this interview.   

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• Amplify student voice with Exit Tickets for Self Reflection

In part two of this interview, Kathryn and Theresa continue the conversation with Jesse Rathgeber, a music education professor at Augustana College. Jesse discusses his views on planning and teaching student-centered music classes. Jesse’s wealth of knowledge and passion for music education are evident, creating an interview you don’t want to miss.  

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• Amplify student voice with Exit Tickets for Self Reflection

In this two-part interview, Kathryn and Theresa talk to Jesse Rathgeber, a music education professor at Augustana College, about his views on planning and teaching student-centered music classes. Jesse’s wealth of knowledge and passion for music education are evident, creating an interview you don’t want to miss.  

Connect with Jesse:  

Get a free preview of Pass the Baton: Empowering All Music Students

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Learn more about Pass the Baton

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• Join the Coffee Club
• Support Pass the Baton
• Amplify student voice with Exit Tickets for Self Reflection

Sarah Gulish is a high school music teacher outside of Philadelphia, PA. She teaches orchestra, guitar, and “Creativity and Collaboration,” which is a required course at her school. Sarah is a 2007 graduate of Temple University, where she later earned a PhD in Music Education. Sarah runs F-flat Books, a music education publishing company, and along with Marissa Guarriello and Matt Shaffer, co-wrote the book, The Creative String Orchestra.   

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• Amplify student voice with Exit Tickets for Self Reflection

Matthew Shaffer is middle school orchestra director in State College, PA. While Matt is primarily an orchestral cellist, he also played in a band in high school. That band experience, jamming with friends, drove him towards incorporating creative activities with his students. Matt is also a co-author of the book, The Creative String Orchestra, which describes ways orchestra teachers can incorporate more creativity in their classes. In this interview, Matt talks about how he does this with his own students.   

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• Amplify student voice with Exit Tickets for Self Reflection

Marissa Guarriello is a 6th-12th grade orchestra teacher in the Penn Ridge School District, in Eastern Pennsylvania. Marissa is an advocate for creativity in the orchestra classroom, even though that’s not how she got her start in music! In this interview, Marissa talks about how she made this transition and why she feels it has been so beneficial to her students.  

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Abigail Blair is pre-k through 5th-grade general music teacher in the Chicago suburbs. She has a bachelor's degree from Augustana College and a master’s degree from Boston University. Abigail has created several games that help empower her music students. Check out this episode to learn about "Jazz Idol," "World's Got Talent," "The Joey Awards" and more!   

Connect with Abigail: 

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Steve Selfridge has been teaching in Garnet Valley School district in southeast PA for 20 years, teaching elementary band, middle school jazz band, and now high school band. Steve has had outstanding success creating videos to empower his band students and band students around the world! 

Connect with Steve:  

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Learn more about Pass the Baton

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• Amplify student voice with Exit Tickets for Self Reflection