This week we had the pleasure of speaking with Ashley Cuthbertson, an elementary general music teacher in Fairfax County, Virginia. Ashley has taught music in a variety of settings, teaching private lessons, school students of all ages, and even adults at a nearby university. Ashley loves working with kids and helping them connect their learning…
This week, Kathryn and Theresa talked to Kevin Feher, a high school band director in Southeast Pennsylvania. After graduating from Duquesne University with a degree in music education, Kevin taught in a variety of settings before joining the music department at Penn Ridge High School, where he has been for the last seven years. In…
Laura Johnson is a band director at a Title I middle school in Chesapeake, Virginia. Before moving to Virginia, she taught middle school band in central Minnesota. Laura is passionate about having students select repertoire in her ensembles. She was inspired by her own high school band experience, where she and her classmates were given…
We had the pleasure of interviewing Allison Rakickas, a junior high school band director in Aptakisic-Tripp School District in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. She’s been in Aptakisic-Tripp School District for 20+ years, first teaching 5th and 6th grade band, and now 7th and 8th grade band. Allison talked to us about how she passed the baton to her students…
One thing we have learned over the last nine months is that music teachers are incredibly creative people and very capable of innovation! We’ve seen bitmoji classrooms, virtual field trips, bouncing ball videos and more. All of this to meet the musical needs of our students during a highly unusual time in history. Where there’s…
Providing opportunities for voice and choice is one of the most basic ways to empower students (and personalize learning) in the music room. When students feel they have a voice in their musical journey and can make choices for themselves, they can take ownership of their learning. **This post was originally published on Off the…