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Professional Development

TEACHING TIPS

SELF CARE

MASTER EDUCATOR COLLECTIVE

CONFERENCES

Incorporating Mindfulness into Rehearsals

Watch the energy in your band room change when your students engage in mindfulness techniques like meditation and breathing exercises.

Teacher Evaluations: Show the Bigger Picture

Most teacher evaluations capture a fraction of what actually happens in your classroom. Here’s how to clearly show student growth and document what matters.

Conflicts with Colleagues

Try these tips when you don’t see eye to eye with a coworker.

School band practicing outside.

FOOTBALL AND BAND: A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN?

Build teamwork and collaboration within your music program and throughout your campus community by working with athletic coaches and spirit team directors.

Young female cellist playing.

REDUCING PERFORMANCE ANXIETY

How can we help our students deal with nerves and anxiety before a concert, competition or performance?

Teaching Tips

Looking for new – or new to you – ideas? Check out these teaching tips.

CHECK OUT TIPS

Flow Theory in the Classroom

A Florida music educator designs rehearsals that maximize engagement and motivation while building a sense of psychological safety and musical accountability.

Teach Music from a Trauma-Informed Lens

Students are whole people with more than just musical experiences, and you must consider their history, culture, insecurities, stressors and more to effectively reach them.

Top Five Rules You Don’t Need to Follow

When you start examining where your students are and where you want them to be, you may find simpler, more effective ways to run your program.

Apple sitting on stack of books with nearby stack of ABCs spelled in blocks.

The ABCs of Classroom Management

These 26 tips will help you connect with your students and make your music class run smoother.

Computer mouse on top of sheet music.

Try this Creative Composition Activity

Ignite creativity with this lesson, which teaches composing and arranging as well as sight reading.

Teacher showing student how to play trombone.

Practice Effectively: Go Slow to Go Fast

Help students play music at a high level with slow practice and gradual increases in music difficulty.

Self-Care

Sharing your expertise and encouraging the next generation of musicians takes a toll. Some ideas for self-care here.

BROWSE SELF-CARE

Conflicts with Colleagues

Try these tips when you don’t see eye to eye with a coworker.

Stay In Your Lane: Know When to Help, Refer or Let Go

When situations with students go beyond your training, learn how to support students, recognize limits and connect them with the right mental health resources.

When to Call Parents, When to Meet and How to Handle Both

When a student issue comes up, it’s important to involve parents at the right time and in the right way and keep communication clear, productive and focused on solving the problem.

School Politics: How to Keep Your Nose Clean

Casual conversations can turn into long-term problems. Here’s how to stay out of situations that can damage your reputation. The goal isn’t to win — it’s to stay clean.

Master Educator Collective

Experience. Commitment. Expertise. Meet these educators and learn more about what makes them masters of their craft.

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Meet Yamaha Master Educator Dana Sedatole

From serving as a head band director teaching beginning 6th grade instrumentalists to addressing the needs of over 20,000 music educators as president of the Texas Music Educators Association, Dana Pradervand-Sedatole has done it all! Her methodology of keeping fundamentals at the core of her teaching has led her students to become more responsible for […]

Meet Yamaha Master Educator Dr. Sarah McKoin

Dr. Sarah McKoin is a passionate educator dedicated to discovering art at any level of performance. She serves as the Director of Bands and Division Chair of Conducting and Ensembles at Texas Tech where she oversees all facets of the University band program, including four concert bands and two athletic bands as well as mentoring […]

Meet Yamaha Master Educator Dr. Dennis Llinas

Vitality! Fervor! Passion! Understanding! Dr. Dennis Llinás doesn’t hide his emotional investment in anything that he does. As an educator, conductor, and composer, Dennis deems music to enrich the lives of everyone involved in the music-making experience … not only the music-makers but the audience members through inventive and engaging programming. He approaches his life’s […]

Conferences

ASTA, MEAs, MTNA and PASIC – find out about these and other conferences for music educators here.

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