As a member of the greater music education community, chances are you’ve come across the topic of programming for diversity in one way or another. Maybe you’re already programming with diversity in mind. Maybe you’re just getting started. Or maybe you’re asking, “What’s the big deal?”

This week’s episode addresses the relationships we all have with administrators. As music educators, we have a responsibility to demonstrate the value of the arts and what music does for the greater school community. This can sometimes feel like an uphill battle when trying to gain admin support. What is it exactly that they want from us?

In this episode, I turn over the hosting reins to my friend John Mlynczak live from the exhibit hall at the Texas Music Educators Association annual conference. I’ll be honest, I much prefer being the host and instigator, asking the tough questions, and it was a big change to be in the spotlight. I hope you all enjoy this inside look into the Music Ed Mentor Podcast.

In this episode we’ll give you some very much needed clarity about copyright for music educators. We’ll share some horror stories in this episode, but don’t worry. Today’s guest is arranger, composer, conductor, publisher, and copyright expert Steve Martin. Steve is going to help us with decisions surrounding real-life situations: streaming our performances, copying our folios, arranging our own pop tunes, or burning CD’s. Not only will we cover what NOT to do, we’ll also learn how to get the permissions to do all that we want and more - legally.

Today’s episode is a story about a boy who had all of the advantages in life, but still had a hard path. Jake Douglass, today’s guest, was raised by affluent parents, and was introduced to music at a very young age. Jake’s story and transformation have lessons that apply to all of us. I’m excited to share his views on healthy passion, focus, self-awareness, and helping students to have transformative experiences.

However, I also need to offer a COA. You should also know Jake’s story includes references to drug abuse, possibly sex, and incarceration. If that’s not your thing, or if you have little ones in the room, you may want to skip this episode or put in headphones.

One of the smartest things I did in my pre-music teaching life was to work at a music store. I cannot stress enough how important it is for educators to have knowledge of the industry, and to help you gain that knowledge, I have brought on one of my favorite friends, a mentor, educator, music publisher, entrepreneur, marketing guru, and outstanding conference presenter, John Mlynczak.

I know exactly how busy you are right now with the holiday season upon us. Which is why this episode is short, sweet, and to the point. We’re going to talk about some top tips for encouraging your students to practice over the holiday breaks. SmartMusic is one great tool, and to help me come up with even more ideas for how to encourage students to have fun practicing over the break, I turned to two resources: Lou Ann Pope, education specialist for Tonara, and some of our band director friends from Facebook.

This episode is about something that I feel, and I”m sure YOU feel, quite poignantly this time of year: inadequacy. For this episode I brought in the man trademarked the term “Comparanoia”, Davide DiGiorgio. Davide is fresh of a wildly popular TEDx talk where he shares how to be Unapologetic about just being YOU.

I recorded this episode while attending the National Association for Music Education conference in November, and the best part was getting to meet so many people! I met music educators from across the country. I met parents of all national honor ensemble students. I reconnected with friends I haven’t seen in months. I heard musical performances that made me cry. And I spoke to attendees about their conference experience.

Today I’ve brought on one of the world’s foremost experts in a truly relevant topic in music education today: Social Emotional Learning. Dr. Edgar presents internationally on music education and social emotional learning and literally wrote the book AND the workbook “Music Education and Social Learning.”