Thanks to everyone who has joined us this season for the Pass the Baton podcast! This week, to wrap up season 1, Kathryn and Theresa begin by recapping their school years and then discuss some highlights from this season on the Pass the Baton podcast.
Season 1 Highlights
Throughout season 1, there were several recurring themes which were not a coincidence. Some of these include:
Relationships
The importance of building relationships. Dr. Scott Edgar talks about this in Episode 27: The Connection Between SEL and Student Empowerment. He says, “The most powerful question that we can ask is, ‘what do you know about your students?’ Beyond ‘what do we know,’ we ask ourselves, ‘what don’t we know, and how are we going to find out?’”
Start Small
When making any shifts in instruction, it’s important to start small. Scott Sheehan shares how to do this when looking at the national standards in Episode 23: Empowerment in the Standards. Scott shares this advice: “Take a look at one standard, look at the verbs, and ask yourself, ‘what are the students doing? How can I empower them to take charge of this action?’ It’s that easy.”
Lifelong Musicians
Our goal is to build independent, lifelong musicians. Krystal Williams discusses how she uses technology to do this in Episode 29: Using Technology to Promote Student Ownership. Changing our mindset might be necessary! Krystals explains, “The one thing I had to unlearn was the power of the podium. If I’m not the one in charge, who’s in charge? All of us. This is your band room too. If it doesn’t sound good…we all own that.”
We Can Do Both
Finally, we must remember that it’s not an “either/or” situation when empowering students and thinking about high-quality performances. We can, and should, do both. Angela Ammerman shares her thoughts on this in Episode 24: Empowering English Language Learners in Music. Angela says, “It’s a slow burn. As we empower our students it leads to this incredible increased motivation and loyalty, and that leads naturally to a fire for music.”
What’s Next?
Now that season 1 has ended. There will be a short break this summer. Season two will begin next school year. There are several guests already lined up, and we are excited for what this season will bring.
This summer, Kathryn and Theresa will host the first ever Empowering All Music Students: Summer Cohort! This cohort will accompany the online course, Empowering All Music Students. It combines the self-paced elements of online learning with the collaboration and support you’d receive in-person. It’s the best of both worlds.
The cohort begins July 5th and will run through August 1st. For more details, check out Empowering All Music Students: Summer Cohort. As a bonus, anyone who registers for the course before July 5th can use the coupon code PassIt2gether to receive $10 off the course fee!
Did you purchase the course previously? You’re still more than welcome to join the cohort! Register here: Summer Cohort Registration.
If you need to catch up on previous episodes of the Pass the Baton podcast, you can find them on YouTube, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform. Have a great summer! We’ll see you back here in the fall!
Listen to the full interview on your favorite podcast platform, or here on Anchor!
