OrchestraTeacher.net Blog

ASTA Virtual National Conference 2021

I’m so honored to present a session at the 2021 ASTA (Virtual) conference this year. This session was entitled “Podcasting 101: Share your program with the world!” It discusses the possibilities for podcasting in music education and goes through the basic steps for recording your own. Several real-world examples are...

MMEA2021 Headliner

Minnesota MEA Midwinter and Fulton Education Conference

It was an honor to be invited to present at the Minnesota Music Educators Association Midwinter conference and the Fulton Education Conference on the same weekend. I presented on three different topics involving audio recording, instructional technology, and building a complete music program. The great thing about presenting on technology...

Bow Warm-Ups 2.0

It has been 11 years since I recorded the first bow warm-ups video in my fifth-grade class in Hilliard, Ohio.  That video was filmed spontaneously on an older low-resolution cell phone in class by a student volunteer.  The backing tracks were played live on a little Bose SoundDock Portable speaker....

Back to School 2020: More resources coming your way!

It is an unprecedented time in our world’s history, with COVID-19 shutting down schools last spring and creating some difficult decisions for school adminstrators this fall. Many schools are going back to school virtually and will be making plans to bring students back face to face when conditions allow. Some...

Teaching Music in the Virtual World

With the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic, most schools shut down in March of 2020. Overnight and without warning, teachers were expected to step up and create a completely brand new way of delivering their instruction. Most secondary school-based courses, such as band, chorus, and orchestra heavily rely on the ability to...

Podcast Episodes on Distance Learning

Hello everyone! As we navigate through these uncertain times, I have seen so many music educators pull together in an effort to provide our students with the best experience possible. While distance learning will never replace face-to-face instruction, we should all feel fortunate that we have the technology that affords...

ASTA 2020 Sessions

Attending the ASTA conference is always one of my favorites mostly because of the amazing people I get to interact with. I am able to catch up with friends who I haven’t seen in a long time and have meaningful conversations with them. In addition, I always meet new people...

Making Practice Videos for Your Students

I have a few sections within my orchestras where students need some extra help, so I’ve decided to make a few “play along” videos for them to view (and listen) that may help them practice at home. I recorded these in class, during rehearsal with a metronome at a slower-than-performance...

GMEA 2020 Session Information

I love the opportunity to gather with friends and colleagues from my state. Even though we are relatively close geographically, there is never enough time to get together and get into a deep discussion about what we are all doing. Attending GMEA allows this to happen! It’s fantastic to meet...

“The Orchestra Teacher” Podcast

I am proud to introduce my latest project, a podcast entitled “The Orchestra Teacher!” It is my hope that I will be able to capture the interest of string and orchestra teachers by interviewing some of the most outstanding educators in our profession to get their insight into what they...