The Anacrusic Podcast

I was having a conversation with my good friend, Victoria Boler about the conversations we have with other music teachers we’re working with in our programs or chatting to on instagram. And THIS is the one that comes back again and again. I’m sure you’ve asked yourself the same, because I know I definitely have!

It’s not a bad question. The intention behind the question is to figure out what certain songs, games, and activities are appropriate for which students. But instead of focusing on grade level, there are better questions we can ask that get to the root of the issue.

Here’s a few things we discuss on today’s episode…

• Why the question “what grade level is this good for” is a tricky one to answer.
• The five questions you should ask yourself instead.
• How to start back at square one if you’ve seen an ending “big picture” that you think would be a cool experience for your kids.

To listen to last week’s episode, How to Teach a Singing Game Part I, click here

For the New England Dance Masters’ Website, click here.

Today's episode of The Anacrusic Podcast is sponsored by my FREE guide, The Planning Playbook. Snag your copy here: anacrusic.com/planningplaybook

For today's full episode notes, click here. 

To chat with other music teachers and share Ideas and strategies for all things #musicteacherlife, join the Anacrusic Insiders Community here: anacrusic.com/community 

Today on the podcast, we’re taking the next step towards the best way to teach a singing game in your classroom. Last week was all about the things you think about before kids ever come into your classroom: the planning, their experience, and how you can build off of it. And today is all about what to do with kids actually in the room.

In this episode, I’m walking you through how I teach three of my favorite singing games in my music classroom. The big takeaway? It’s so important to have a sequence for everything. Do you have to do things exactly the way that I’ve outlined here today? Absolutely not. But you do need to think about what will make your students feel most successful and most like independent musicians as you walk them through a new music making experience. 

Here’s a few things we discuss on today’s episode…

• Whether or not you should teach the song first (and the things to keep in mind either way)
• How to break things down in digestible chunks and scaffolds for your kids to feel successful playing a new game.
• How to sneak in “keeping track of turns” through assessment opportunities

To listen to last week’s episode, How to Teach a Singing Game Part I, click here

For the New England Dance Masters’ Website, click here.

Today's episode of The Anacrusic Podcast is sponsored by my FREE guide, The Planning Playbook. Snag your copy here: anacrusic.com/planningplaybook

For today's full episode notes, click here. 

To chat with other music teachers and share Ideas and strategies for all things #musicteacherlife, join the Anacrusic Insiders Community here: anacrusic.com/community 

You don’t really think about it until you’re in it. It’s like teaching a song to your students. Since you know how it goes, and can sing, say and play upside down with your eyes closed… it seems almost inherent.

But just like teaching a song, teaching your students a new singing game requires a very specific sequence. And there are a lot of things you have to think about before you start teaching kids, and honestly? Before you even put your teaching sequence together.

That’s what today’s podcast is all about. We’re diving into exactly how to teach a singing game.

Here’s a few things we discuss on today’s episode…

• Whether you should teach the song before or during the game
• How to get kids to successfully choose partners and get to their spots to play
• A couple things to think about when you consider taking turns.

To listen to the episode on 7 ways to teach a song, click here.

Today's episode of The Anacrusic Podcast is sponsored by my FREE guide, The Planning Playbook. Snag your copy here: anacrusic.com/planningplaybook

For today's full episode notes, click here. 

To chat with other music teachers and share Ideas and strategies for all things #musicteacherlife, join the Anacrusic Insiders Community here: anacrusic.com/community 

It’s seriously one of the most frustrating experiences you can have as a teacher. You feel like you’re hitting your head against the whiteboard, saying things as many different ways as you possibly can, and the kids just aren’t getting it.

We’ve all been there. Either the kids are off catching stars instead of being truly engaged in our lessons, or they are doing exactly what we’re telling them to do... but it’s not even close to what we really meant. It’s so tricky, and you can literally hear Ross from Friends yelling “PIVOT!” But you have no idea which way to turn or which step to take to get the stupid couch up the stairs.

And that’s exactly it. What direction do we take? Which step do we need? And how do we get our foot centered squarely on the step to keep ourselves grounded, and you know, restore balance in our classrooms.

Today on The Anacrusic Podcast, we’re talking what to do when your music lesson flops.

Here’s a few things we discuss on today’s episode…

• Why it’s important to think about your classroom as your laboratory
• The truth about your kids’ responses
• What to do next time your lesson flops

Today's episode of The Anacrusic Podcast is sponsored by my FREE guide, The Planning Playbook. Snag your copy here: anacrusic.com/planningplaybook

For today's full episode notes, click here. 

To chat with other music teachers and share Ideas and strategies for all things #musicteacherlife, join the Anacrusic Insiders Community here: anacrusic.com/community 

What is your earliest memory of music making?  I have these memories of really organic, joyful music making with my family. We were always singing, my dad was always creating, and my mom was always there to dance and smile and sing along with us.

My earliest memories of music making in a "formal setting"? Well, that was a little bit different. I was thinking about this a lot the other day, after a call with the members inside of The Sequencing Solution, as they often spark these thoughts and ideas that make their way onto the podcast... but the thought that I had was, how is the way that I teach music different from the way I was taught music?

Today on the podcast, I'm talking about exactly that. Here are a few things I share:

• What those early memories of elementary music meant to me
• The things my most impactful teachers made sure of
• How my own music education influences my teaching style today

Today's episode of The Anacrusic Podcast is sponsored by my FREE guide, The Planning Playbook. Snag your copy here: anacrusic.com/planningplaybook

For today's full episode notes, click here. 

To chat with other music teachers and share Ideas and strategies for all things #musicteacherlife, join the Anacrusic Insiders Community here: anacrusic.com/community 

I'm not okay.

I hit a MAJOR wall this week. We had a massive home improvement project finally wrap up after six months (YES, seriously), and half of our house is boxed up... yes with two toddlers running around.

I started a new collaborative project which took up way more of my time and energy than I expected it to (which is classic Anne, by the way, total recovering people pleaser over here).

And then to top it all off... our beloved dog of 12 years died.

I'm not okay.

There is SO MUCH going on right now. Even if there's light at the end of the tunnel, it's still a lot. It feels insanely... heavy.

So today, music teacher friend, I wanted to take a quick moment to say I'm not okay. And you know what? I haven't said that out loud yet... have you?

On today's episode of The Anacrusic Podcast, we're going to talk about the music teacher burnout. It's very real. The importance of acknowledging it. And what moving forward really means.

Here’s a few things we discuss on today’s episode…

• You are not alone
• You are enough
• How to move forward

Assessment is one of those things that I really really struggled with when I first started teaching. I think I mostly didn’t have a lot of knowledge about how assessment in the music room relates to assessment in other subjects, whether it should be the same or different, and how it could fit in the same box as the other grades my students are receiving on a report card.

I’ve learned over time a couple of things: (1) active assessment is embedded and inherent in what we do in our music classrooms, as long as we are intentional about our lesson objectives; and (2) although our classrooms function differently than a grade level classroom, we are consistently making observations, gathering data, and adapting our instruction based on what our students need—all of which, I might argue, are at the very heart of what assessment truly is.

Today, I’m talking with my good friend, Victoria Boler, all about how she approaches active, embedded assessment in the music classroom. Victoria is an absolute master pedagog and an expert in how to seamlessly integrate meaningful assessment opportunities into your active music making classroom, based on the intentional activities you are likely already incorporating into your lessons.

Victoria Boler is a leading elementary general music educator and curriculum designer. In addition to general music, Victoria has taught orchestra, choir, and percussion ensembles. In an administrative role, Victoria has served as Fine Arts Coordinator, leading band, orchestra, choir, general music, and musical theater at the programmatic level. With Orff certification in all 3 levels, and a masters in music education, Victoria is also in the process of completing her Kodaly training. She publishes general music curriculum and instructional materials at victoriaboler.com, where she serves and collaborates with educators in their journey to create grounded and artistic music curriculum for their unique teaching scenarios.

Here’s a few things we discuss on today’s episode:

• How assessment functions in an overall philosophy of music teaching
• How to keep up with regular assessments as a natural part of the lesson planning process
• How you can learn more about active embedded assessment, and specifically, how you can work with Victoria on this very topic.

Today's episode of The Anacrusic Podcast is sponsored by my FREE guide, The Planning Playbook. Snag your copy here: anacrusic.com/planningplaybook

For today's full episode notes, click here. 

To chat with other music teachers and share Ideas and strategies for all things #musicteacherlife, join the Anacrusic Insiders Community here: anacrusic.com/community 

I don't know how to start.

If you've ever thought this to yourself, you're not alone. As a matter of fact, it's one of the first places we go, our default, if you will, when it comes to trying new ideas and incorporating new approaches to our teaching practice.

It's something I often hear when I share an activity at a workshop, or I'm sharing different modes of active music making that may feel unfamiliar and uncomfortable to those who have never experienced them, let alone have never taught them to kids.

The answer is simple. It doesn't feel easy, but it's simple. Just Start. And start with with the music. And today's conversation is all about how to start with active music making... instead of starting with notation.

Here's what I'm sharing on today's podcast:

• Why your curriculum isn't really the notation
• How to cast a big picture vision that is actually doable
• What you need to do to finally just start

Today's episode of The Anacrusic Podcast is sponsored by my FREE guide, The Planning Playbook. Snag your copy here: anacrusic.com/planningplaybook

For today's full episode notes, click here. 

To chat with other music teachers and share Ideas and strategies for all things #musicteacherlife, join the Anacrusic Insiders Community here: anacrusic.com/community 

If I could count the number of times I've been influenced on Instagram... oh boy. There's a reason that influencer marketing is so effective. We can see the change in people's lives, see how they can be transformed... whether we're talking about a new vacuum cleaner or a meal delivery service.

Why is this important? Because I could tell you about a million different times, a million different ways how The Sequencing Solution can totally transform your music teacher life. But until you hear it from other community members firsthand, who have used this system and seen massive results in their teaching, it won't make sense.

So today on The Anacrusic Podcast, I'm sharing a conversation I had in June with two community members of TSS. 

Here's what we discuss in today's episode:

• The importance of community
• What being a member of The Sequencing Solution has done for their classrooms
• How YOU can truly get unstuck and start choosing intentional teaching

The doors to my signature course, The Sequencing Solution are OPEN!! To snag your seat before the doors close again on January 17th, head to anacrusic.com/tss

For today's full show notes, or to watch a video of the conversation on today's episode, click here.

To chat with other music teachers and share Ideas and strategies for all things #musicteacherlife, join the Anacrusic Insiders Community here: anacrusic.com/community 

Okay, real talk... do you feel like you have this lesson planning thing completely mastered? There's no doubt that whether you just started teaching this year, or you've been doing this for what feels like a thousand, I'll bet you're looking for a few tips to shape up and refresh your teaching practice.

Well, this past weekend, I did a series of free workshops called, "the ultimate music lesson planning roadmap" and inside of that workshop I shared the 4 pillars to completely simplify and streamline your music lesson planning once and for all... with a not so little bonus at the end.

I absolutely adore giving workshops like this and sharing with members of the music teacher community, but there's a good chance that a few of you either missed the workshop or just couldn't seem to make it work. And since it's been a while since I've done this particular workshop, and I'm not 100% when I"ll do it again. I wanted to share just a quick rundown of some of the things that we talked about.

Here's what I'm sharing in today's episode:

• the 4 planning pillars that make magic happen in the music room
• a not-so-little bonus tip that ties it all together
• how you can make this process your own, right now

The doors to my signature course, The Sequencing Solution are OPEN!! To snag your seat before the doors close again on January 17th, head to anacrusic.com/tss

For today's full show notes, click here.

To chat with other music teachers and share Ideas and strategies for all things #musicteacherlife, join the Anacrusic Insiders Community here: anacrusic.com/community