The Anacrusic Podcast

Today on the podcast, I’m sharing a letter I wrote to all first year music teachers. But if you’ve tuned into this week, and you are not a first year music teacher, I want you to stop. Collaborate. And listen. AND YES, I”m serious.  We’re all first year teachers. Because, yes, we were thrown into the ring last spring with all the distance learning and all the things that happened in what seemed li...

Today on The Anacrusic Podcast, we are talking about all things Fall 2020. It’s no doubt that with COVID-19, this year is going to look, feel, and function completely differently then anything we’ve ever done before, whether you’re a first year teacher or a thirty year teacher.  I’ve asked a few of my friends to leave a message for you to consider as you get ready to head back to school, whether i...

Today on the podcast, I’m talking about my signature program, The Sequencing Solution, and it’s exactly what you need in your music teacher life right now. Yes, even though the world is bananas, even though there are tons of things that we don’t know and are out of our control, the absolute most important thing for us to do is focus on what we can control and concentrate on music making experience...

Today on the podcast, I’m sharing my experience with wanting to do all the things in my music classroom, falling flat on y face when I tried to do it all without a process, and how I finally made the magic happen. (Spoiler alert: it’s all about being purposeful, sequential, and joyful… shocker, I know!) Here’s what you can listen for in this week’s episode:  Things you should think about as you’re...

Today on the podcast, I'm giving you Part II from TAP 089: Why You Should Improvise Earlier Than You Think . Today's episode Is all about seeing improvisation in action, and I'm giving you some real strategies to make magic happen in the music room, so that your students can be both literate and fluent musicians. Today on the podcast, you'll hear: Why you should always start wi...

Improvisation used to be one of those really hairy scary words for me. But then I finally got a handle on what it really Is and why it's so important to do early and often. Today on the podcast, you'll hear: My college horror story about being asked to improvise for the first time... (yes, in COLLEGE!!) How I define improvisation and how it can empower you to own it for both yourself as...

Today on the podcast, I’m going to talk about music in kindergarten and why it is 100% it’s own beast. It’s a friendly beast that you want to kind of cuddle up with and spend a little bit of extra time with inside of your classroom but it’s definitely it’s own animal when it comes to what concepts to teach how to sequence and this whole idea of setting the foundation for what we’re doing in kinder...

One of the most commonly asked questions I get in all of Anacrusic-land is about learning targets. It’s no doubt that learning targets, student objectives, behavioral objectives, or “I can” statements (whatever you like to call them!) are essential to your students’ success and YOUR success as a teacher. Not only does a learning target give students the opportunity to self assess and evaluate thei...

Today on the podcast, I’m sharing how I’ve connected and shared a music making idea with my students in our local youth chorus. I realize that so many of us are in different situations with our teaching and what is expected of us, but I know we all want to be connected with our students in a meaningful way. Hopefully today’s episode will help you feel connected with your kiddos and confident that...

“Dream with me folks. You never thought your current reality would be possible right? Why not use some of this time you’re stuck in the house to imagine something more?”   Today on the podcast, I’m sharing my newly adopted mindset with all the crazy in the world. It’s inspired by an article that I found on Angela Watson’s blog. And although she is not a music teacher, and the context is a little d...

Today’s episode of The Anacrusic Podcast is brought to you by my FREE Music Teacher Challenge, Power UP Your Lesson Planning--5 Secrets in 5 Days to Music Lesson Magic. Head to anacrusic.com/challenge to sign up!   Today on the podcast, I’m sharing why I decided to push forward with the lesson planning challenge, even though we are in C-R-A-Z-Y times. I realized that so many of us are in different...

Today’s episode of The Anacrusic Podcast is brought to you by my FREE Music Teacher Challenge, Power UP Your Lesson Planning--5 Secrets in 5 Days to Music Lesson Magic. Head to anacrusic.com/challenge to sign up!   Whew. What a crazy couple of weeks. Today on the podcast, I’m really sharing what’s on my heart with all the things happening in our world and how it’s impacting the music education com...

Today’s episode of The Anacrusic Podcast is brought to you by my FREE Music Teacher Challenge, Power UP Your Lesson Planning--5 Secrets in 5 Days to Music Lesson Magic. Head to anacrusic.com/challenge to sign up!   It’s really difficult to talk about lesson planning without talking about curricular planning or learning sequence framework. But we need to start SOMEWHERE. This episode will get you o...

There have been a handful times I’ve just wanted to sing the darn song and plan the darn game. In those cases, I have to admit, I have made my children victims to lining out a song.   I know, I know. Did you shudder at the mere mention of the good ol’ “your turn, my turn”? I mean, to be honest, if you need to teach a song swiftly, it’s not a bad method. And truth be told, no matter which approach...

I felt really called to share all of this with you today because it seems like there are lots of new people popping up on social media, in groups, and elsewhere who are creating resources and inspiration for music teachers. Aren’t we so lucky to have this community? It’s amazing!      I've always wanted to share and help teachers. It started with collaborating in my district, to going on to d...

Register for my signature program, The Sequencing Solution, here→ anacrusic.com/tss (Don't wait, doors close Sunday, January 19th @ 9 PM PST!!)   Today on TAP, I'm sharing why you need a plug + play formula for everything you teach. And here's a hint: it's because you are an intentional music teacher, who cares, and who deserves to conquer the overwhelm once and for all. Don&ap...

Register for my FREE Music Teacher Workshop, “The Ultimate Music Lesson Planning Roadmap: How to Plan the Perfect Lesson Without the Overwhelm” → anacrusic.com/workshop   Today on TAP, I’m chatting about the five things you need to make 2020 your best year yet, and really just in your music teacher life in general… and psst! This is a sneak peek at this weekend’s workshop and all the juicy stuff w...

Register for my FREE Music Teacher Workshop, “The Ultimate Music Lesson Planning Roadmap: How to Plan the Perfect Lesson Without the Overwhelm” → anacrusic.com/workshop   If you’re wondering what your music teacher secret sauce is, and are ready for your custom ingredients list, take the quiz here → anacrusic.com/quiz   Today on TAP, I’m chatting about the one thing you need to make 2020 your best...

Have you checked out my brand new, free resource?? Click here to download How to Teach ANYTHING & EVERYTHING: a Guide to Sequencing Musical Concepts→ anacrusic.com/howto   If you’re wondering what your music teacher secret sauce is, take the quiz here → anacrusic.com/quiz   In the last episode of 2019, I’m sharing some of my thoughts as I look back on the past year and make plans for 2020. Aft...

Have you checked out my brand new, free resource?? Click here to download How to Teach ANYTHING & EVERYTHING: a Guide to Sequencing Musical Concepts→ anacrusic.com/howto   Today in our last interview of the season, I’m chatting with Abbie Hunter all about building community support. This episode pairs perfectly with our conversation from last week, where Abbie shares her experiences with culti...

Have you checked out my brand new, free resource?? Click here to download How to Teach ANYTHING & EVERYTHING: a Guide to Sequencing Musical Concepts→ anacrusic.com/howto   Today on the podcast I’m talking to Rainy Barton all about cultivating a culture of music appreciation. In today’s chat, Rainy shares exactly what music teachers can do to help educate students, parents, administrators and t...

Have you checked out my brand new, free resource?? Click here to download How to Teach ANYTHING & EVERYTHING: a Guide to Sequencing Musical Concepts→ anacrusic.com/howto   Today on The Anacrusic Podcast, I’m chatting with Katie Miller about her experience at a campus with 1-to-1 technology--yes, even in the music classroom! Since this topic is outside of my expertise, I am so thrilled to have...

Have you checked out my brand new, free resource?? Click here to download How to Teach ANYTHING & EVERYTHING: a Guide to Sequencing Musical Concepts→ anacrusic.com/howto   Today on TAP, I have the great privilege to talk to Justin Hockey all about his experience teaching (and learning about!) music outside of the United States. Justin has a slightly different point of view than the episode ear...

Today on the podcast, I have a LONG overdue interview with my friend Jessica Peresta. Jessica is really and truly a breath of fresh air. I love our honest and raw conversations and I am so glad to share one of them with you today on the podcast! Jessica shares her story and actionable tips about how to make life work as a music teacher. I know you’ll enjoy listening in on our conversation as much...

Today on the podcast I am so pumped for the community to hear from Ally Schneier all about Social and Emotional Learning in the Music Classroom. At the time we recorded this interview, Ally had just finished up her coursework for her Masters degree, where her research was on this very topic! She shares lots of applicable tips and resources for us music teachers to make sure we are appealing to the...