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.  What is Project Based Learning?  To explain project based learning (PBL), Dianne started by explaining what it is not. PBL is not a stereotypical project where one person does most of the work and it’s not a “dessert project,” where…

In part two of this interview, Kathryn and Theresa continue the conversation with Jesse Rathgeber, a music education professor at Augustana College, about his views on planning and teaching student-centered music classes. If you missed part 1, check it out here: Crafting Student-Centered Lessons, Part 1.  Transforming an Elementary School Performance  One specific area that Jesse transformed to be more student-centered was what started as an elementary school Christmas program. After purchasing a pre-packaged program the first year, the next year he did a program based on the Carnival of the Animals and worked together with students to create the movements. The next year’s program was a jazz themed program,…

In this two-part interview, Kathryn and Theresa talk to Jesse Rathgeber, a music education professor, 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. Here are some highlights and key takeaways.  About Jesse Rathgeber Jesse Rathgeber is currently a music education professor at Augustana College in Rock Island, IL. Before coming to Augustana, Jesse taught at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA, where he helped found the Center for Inclusive Music Engagement. At both schools, Jesse has created community-based, participatory music experiences, called JMUke and AugiePlay. Jesse received his PhD…

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.  When Sarah began teaching at her school, there was no high school orchestra program. She was working with the middle school choirs and the high school bands, taking on various roles and supporting several other teachers. The orchestra curriculum at the…

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.  Prior to creating the games, Abigail felt her student couldn’t talk about music, despite what she was teaching them. She found students saying things like “that’s weird” or “I don’t like it,” instead of using music vocabulary. She wanted her students to talk about music intelligently, and be able to articulate what they love and don’t love about a piece of music. Abigail wanted students to understand music from other cultures…

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. Steve created his first video in 2011, when a group of beginner flute students begged him to teach them how to play “Firework” by Katy Perry. While not familiar with the song initially, Steve found a recording online and realized it was a simple 5-note melody. He put the melody into concert B-flat and taught it to the flute students. Then word got out,…

Holly Gage is an elementary and middle school band director in South Dakota. She has taught in a variety of settings in both South Dakota and Washington DC and during that time has worked to make her classrooms student centered. Holly likes to use checklists in her band room to give students ownership of their music making. Here are three types of checklists that Holly will use with her students. Student-led Sectionals  While Holly agrees that having a section leader is great, she has found that giving students a checklist helps empower the entire section. The checklist will contain a clear objective, one that is obtainable, as well as options to…