Music Ed Amplified

  Youth Advocate Donovan Taylor Hall and Missy collide like a supernova in this Season 3 opener. What was supposed to be a conversation about Donovan's work helping kids develop a true growth mindset turned into 2 people connecting on multiple levels and having an incredibly real conversation about working with kids, being educators, learning … Continue reading Music and Connection: Donovan Taylor Hall | S03E01 →

  Listen in to Part 2 of the discussion between Guest Host Jasmine Fripp and Kelsey Burkett and Dr. Chantae Pittman. In this episode they discuss what it was like helping singers with the realities of in person choir rehearsals, performances, and competitions. They also take time to evaluate their perspectives on the current state … Continue reading The Great Return – Thoughts on the 2021-22 School Year Pt. 2 | S02E14 →

  Fellow music educators, it's been one HECK OF A YEAR! We've dealt with the ebbs and flows of COVID, reestablishing excellence in our music programs, rebuilding culture in our classrooms, helping students repair their mental health, fighting teacher burnout, and watching our colleagues join “The Mass Exodus of Educators,” mending our hearts from traumatic … Continue reading The Great Return – Thoughts on the 2021-22 School Year Pt. 1 | S02E13 →

  Canadian neuroscientist Dr. Krissy Doyle-Thomas talks with Missy about music and the brain, and touch on the importance of neuroplasticity in learning. They also discuss the tremendous stress under which many educators find themselves, with Dr. Krissy offering a few powerful, practical steps to help teachers protect their overall mental well-being. Dr. Krissy Doyle-Thomas … Continue reading Dr. Krissy Doyle-Thomas: Everyday Neuroscience for Music Teachers | S02E12 →

  Tune in to hear Dr. Karen Howard, the very first guest on Music Ed Amplified, talk about what has happened in Music Ed since their first interview in 2020 when it comes to decentering whiteness. We have more DEI committee's than ever, but have we made real gains in these areas in our music … Continue reading Karen Howard: So Now What? Going Beyond Performative Allyship | S02E11 →

  Does the thought of working with Autistic students make you uneasy, or do you feel lost knowing how best to serve this population in your school? Join Missy as she speaks with Dr. Alice Hammel about how to forge true connection with these students, especially in the context of a self-contained classroom. Dr. Alice … Continue reading Alice Hammel: Connecting with Autistic Students in the Music Room | S02E10 →

Part 2 of the conversation with Maria A. Ellis (Girl Conductor), Jasmine Fripp (The Passionate Black Educator), and Karla Bell (The Graceful Educator) as they talk honestly about what is going on in music education, especially when it comes to issues of diversity, equity, and antiracist practices.

  Listen in on a conversation with 3 powerhouse music educators: Jasmine Fripp (The Passionate Black Educator), Maria A. Ellis (Girlconductor), and Karla Bell (The Graceful Educator) as they talk honestly about what is going on in music education. Bios: Karla Bell, The Graceful Educator, is a veteran Music educator, serving more than 15 years … Continue reading Whachu Think, Sis? Three Black Women's Perspectives on the Current State of Music Education: Part 1 | S02E08 →

Have you struggled when it comes to making sure that all learners in your classroom have equal access to your instruction? This conversation between Missy and Elise is a great starting point for you- listen to Elise talk about Universal Design for Learning and how it can transform your program and learn about how it … Continue reading Elise Hackl-Blumstein: Accessibility in the Music Room | S02E07 →

  Karla Bell, the Graceful Educator, joins Missy on the podcast to talk about the work she does every day in her program to lift up and nurture students, helping them grow into the learners and leaders that they need to be. You'll hear about what it means to focus on equity and antiracist practices … Continue reading Karla Bell: The Graceful Educator | S02E06 →

  Missy talks with Taylor Kurilew, a teacher in the first years of using John Feierabend's Conversational Solfege music literacy program for elementary students. In a former podcast, Missy and Taylor spent 3 episodes talking about the mechanics of CS as well as how to roll it out for the first time in her classroom. … Continue reading Taylor Kurilew: CS – Let's Get Back Into It! S02E05 →

  Austin Martin is the founder of Rhymes with Reason, an online interactive platform helping students study vocabulary words through hip hop music. Austin talks to Missy about his enduring love for hip hop and why it seemed like a natural fit for truly meeting students where they live. Along the way, there are some … Continue reading Austin Martin: Rhymes with Reason | S02E04 →

  Natasha outlines a few important considerations as teachers create lessons for Native American Heritage Month in November. She also shares some of her own favorite modern Native artists who are helping break stereotypes for students (and teachers!) Natasha Verhulst is a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and a descendant … Continue reading Natasha Verhulst: Changing the Narrative About Indigenous Music | S02E03 →

  Missy sends out another tech SOS to Amy Burns who, as always, steps up in a big way to help Missy think through attempting a virtual performance with elementary students. They discuss the most basic approach to doing this for the entire school when they have very limited singing time and no in person … Continue reading Amy Burns: Virtual Performance? Help! | S02E02 →

  Season 2 kicks off with a great discussion between Franklin and Missy about how teachers can find ways to dig into their own creative wells as musicians while also finding ways to joyfully draw out musicality from students…even in a pandemic.   Franklin Willis, music educator and instructional coach with Metro Nashville Public Schools … Continue reading Franklin J. Willis: Digging Deep While Pressing Forward | S02E01 →

  Missy talks to Trinity Christian College Professor Dr. Mark Peters about the transformation of his introductory music listening/literature course. This class, often called “music appreciation” in many universities, has been renamed “Music in Context” at Trinity. Dr. Peters describes how he's moved on from the story that has most often been told to undergrad … Continue reading Mark Peters: Telling a Different Story: a New Approach to Music History | S01E18 →

In Part 2 of Missy and Chris Anne Powers' interview with Katie Wardrobe of Midnight Music. Chris gets a chance to ask her questions about using tech in the music classroom, including what Katie thinks are the “must haves” for tech in the music room. Katie Wardrobe is a music technology trainer, consultant, blogger and … Continue reading Katie Wardrobe: Teach Me Your Ways – Part Two | S01E17 →

  Missy once again complains about her very up and (mostly) down relationship with technology to the queen of tech, Katie Wardrobe of Midnight Music. In Part One of the conversation, in which they are joined by FAME Teacher Trainer and Midnight Music fangirl, Chris Anne Powers, the ladies talk about the stressors involved with … Continue reading Katie Wardrobe: Teach Me Your Ways – Part One | S01E16 →

  Are you seeking ways to better represent all students in your classroom, or looking for some great and engaging repertoire to use during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month as well as all year long? Tune in to hear Missy chat with author and teacher Tiffany Unarce Barry about her new song collection, … Continue reading Tiffany Barry: Filipino Songs & Culture in the Music Room | S01E15 →

  White teachers looking for authentic, sustainable ways to create equitable classrooms for all students, especially BIPOC students, will benefit from this conversation between Miriam and Missy, 2 teachers who have been part of the FAME community for many years. They talk about creating safe spaces for students who need so much more than just … Continue reading Miriam Capellan: Using an Equity Lens in the FAME-Friendly Classroom | S01E14 →

  Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is something on the lips of many educators. For those who aren't yet familiar with it, Dr. Scott Edgar, author of Music Education and Social Emotional Learning: the Heart of Teaching, joins Missy to talk about what SEL is and why it has found such a natural home in music … Continue reading Scott Edgar: Social Emotional Learning in the Music Room | S01E13 →

  Music Ed Tech guru, author, and elementary music teacher Amy Burns talks to Missy about Missy's arch-nemesis, technology. Tune in to hear about ways Amy is using technology to forward instruction in her classroom! Amy has taught PreK-grade 4 general music for over 20 years at Far Hills Country Day School. She has authored … Continue reading Amy Burns: Using Technology in the Elementary Classroom | S01E12 →

  David Rankine is a dual-endorsed Teacher Trainer with the FAME organization and he comes on the podcast to chat with Missy about how things have been going for him up in Canada during COVID. He also talks about his brand new series, Mr. Rankine's Musical Cabin with GIA Publications! A native of Elora, Ontario, … Continue reading David Rankine: Finding the Positive in the Pandemic | S01E11 →

  Dr. Loneka Battiste, Assistant Professor of Music Ed at the University of Tennessee, describes the importance of seeing, acknowledging, and connecting with every student in your classroom and the disequilibrium she herself experienced as she came to this realization in her first years as a teacher. Loneka Battiste is Assistant Professor of Music Education … Continue reading Loneka Battiste: Confronting the Colorblind Fallacy | S01E10 →

  Laura Harmon is Associate Music Director of the Philadelphia Girls Choir and an elementary music teacher in Southern New Jersey. She and Missy discuss what life as a choir director is like right now in the Covid era. She also describes some of the things that make the PGC so unique and forward-thinking in … Continue reading Laura Harmon: Choir in the Time of Covid | S01E09 →

  Maria A. Ellis joins Missy to talk about Bach & Beyoncé, her new radio show where she gets to geek out about her love for music and challenge assumptions about a broad spectrum of musical genres, including Classical Music. She shares her desire to inspire educators to teach in a variety of ways and … Continue reading Maria A. Ellis: From Bach to Beyoncé, How Music Helps Us Heal | S01E08 →

Music teachers don't always know what to do for Black History Month, and there are far too many only doing a lesson in February. Jasmine talks to Missy about the importance of making sure that long before February rolls around, we are teaching students about Black history, culture, and music throughout the school year. Jasmine … Continue reading Jasmine Fripp: Black History Year-Round | S01E07 →

  FAME Teacher Trainer and Indiana Music Educator Association's 2021 Outstanding Elementary Educator Award recipient Andy Himelick talks with Missy about how teaching is going for him during the pandemic. They chat about his First Steps and Conversational Solfege instruction and he gives Missy an update on the Conversational Solfege and Orff book project he … Continue reading Andy Himelick: FAME Teacher Trainer Talk | S01E06 →

  Music Educator Natasha Verhulst, an enrolled tribal member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians and a descendant of the Menominee Nation, talks to Missy about her life growing up in Wisconsin and shares how her love for the music and culture of her people led her to become a musician … Continue reading Natasha Verhulst: Reversing False Narratives & Talking Native Truths – One Teacher's Perspective | S01E05 →

  Join Missy as she chats with David Row about their shared love for using puppets in the music program. Learn fun ways to utilize these wonderful teacher sidekicks in your classroom right away. It's possible that you'll have just as much fun (or even more) than your students! David Row loves teaching music to … Continue reading David Row: Music Ed Puppet Master | S01E04 →

  FAME Teacher Trainer Chris Anne Powers joins Missy to talk all about the new Feierabend Repertoire Database, a truly exciting new resource that Chris has been working on for GIA Publications that will help music teachers easily find just the right song, chant, or game at just the right time! Chris Powers has been an … Continue reading Chris Anne Powers: A New Repertoire Database | S01E03 →

  Music Educator extraordinaire Franklin Willis joins Missy to talk about a few great topics – from some of the irons he has in the fire as a Teacher/Entrepreneur, to his new book Edward's Rhythm Sticks, to describing how becoming a father to his young son and the events of 2020 have changed him as a … Continue reading Franklin Willis: A New Vision for Music Ed | S01E02 →