Find the show notes here: https://victoriaboler.com/podcast/national-core-arts-standards-nyssa-brown 01:52 - Nyssa’s role in the 2014 standards, and what the National Standards are 07:38 - What is Literacy? 10:55 - What is a Concept? 15:33 - Enduring Understandings24:22 - Concepts and Skills 33:25 - Sequencing Understanding 36:48 - What do I do with these standards? 46:10 - Should we teach the standards sequentially? 52:12 - How to connect with Nyssa

01:44 - Nesting Concepts in Elementary General Music10:10 - Areas of Balance through Tension 12:16 - Emphasizing Music 12:18 - Emphasizing the Child Over the Curriculum Document 15:07 - Emphasizing a Functional Classroom 17:51 - Possible Applications 18:59 - Transferrable Understanding 1: Ensemble 27:05 - Transferrable Understanding 2: Complement 34:07 - Where to Read More

Full Show notes: https://victoriaboler.com/elemental-conversations In this Conversation…. 00:00 - Intro01:27 - About Aileen04:05 - Benefits of centers08:33 - Should we do one concept or more than one concept in our centers? 12:38 - Aileen’s “formula” for center categories20:11 - Setting up for success26:45 - Choices, classroom management, and assessment : What to think about and options for structuring 32:45 - Centers for student choice: keeping it manageable and giving students ownership 41:53 - Scaffolding centers throughout grade levels44:33 - Centers for band and choir 48:30 - Final thoughts and advice from Aileen: Giving grace 50:43 - Aileen’s centers course 52:00 - Where to connect with Aileen

Find the full show notes: victoriaboler.com/podcast/starting-from-scratch-in-2nd-and-3rd-grade-musicToday we’re thinking through what it can look like to start at the beginning of the music sequence with our 2nd and 3rd grade musicians. It can sometimes feel like these students are overlooked with teaching materials intended for both Kindergarten / 1st grade, and older beginners. Let’s take a look at a possible roadmap for the first several months of the 2nd and 3rd grade school year when these musicians are starting “from scratch” at the beginning of the sequence. In this Episode: 00:00 - Intro, framing the conversation 03:40 - Elemental Questions04:19 - Skip to the end - a quick roadmap 08:31 - What’s the point of a sequence? 14:27 - What makes something a 2nd or 3rd grade song? 20:30 - What are 2nd and 3rd grade students like? 28:26 - A possible roadmap for 2nd and 3rd grade beginners

If your year is just starting and your voice is already feeling tired, I know you'll appreciate all the wisdom Dr. Caitlin Moore has to share about vocal health for music teachers! Over the summer Dr. Moore took time out of her day at Interlochen Summer Arts Camp to talk about vocal care, vocal fatigue, vocal mechanisms, and much more. Read about Dr. Moore and get in touch with her here: victoriaboler.com/podcast/2023/9/12/vocal-health-for-music-teachers-dr-caitlin-mooreIn this episdoe…. 00:00 - Intro02:00 - Dr. Moore’s work and story 09:30 - Soprano vs Alto Distinctions 11:20 - Tessitura and Passaggio14:00 - What is “mixed” voice? 17:46 - Speaking and Singing with Tension in the Classroom 19:40 - Value of a Laryngologist21:36 - Body Awareness, Amplification, and Tension 29:52 - Habit Stacking 32:38 - The Tongue, Tongue Tension, and Tongue Release Exercises 43:48 - When Your Voice Feels Fatigued… 51:25 - Where to Find Dr. Moore

Metric counting…. notation-based…. beat based…. What is the deal with these counting systems? Where did they come from?And why takadimi? As we look into some elemental questions around takadimi, we see that most of us are starting from the same set of core values. The differences in our choices come down to how we answer a few elemental questions: 1. What is the role of the symbol in a sound-before-symbol approach? 2. What do we want to emphasize? 3. What is the best communication system for the ensemble we’re working with? Find the show notes and references here: https://victoriaboler.com/podcast/why-takadimi——————————————00:00 - Takadimi03:47 - Elemental Questions04:32 - Why Takadimi? TL;DR10:20 - Beat-based system vs notation-based11:36 - What is sound before symbol? 14:43 - What do we want to emphasize? 16:40 - History of rhythm syllables in Western music education 17:02 - French Time Names19:09 - Branches of off of French Time Names21:22 - Kodaly syllables 22:07 - North American Kodaly syllables24:12 - Gordon 25:22 - Takadimi27:31 - Arguments for and against beat-based systems 28:41 - “We want to prioritize sound to symbol” 29:56 - “Too many names makes everything confusing”32:39 - “We use moveable do, so it only makes sense to use ____”35:23 - What works best for the ensemble? 36:43 - Wrapping up, moving forward

This is such a great conversation with my friend, Matthew Stensrud! We talk about structuring the first elementary general music experiences of the year through the lens of Responsive Classroom.Find Matthew’s bio and connect with him here: https://victoriaboler.com/podcast/responsive-classroom-for-the-beginning-of-the-music-year-matthew-stensrud In This Episode: 00:00 - Intro 01:35 - What is Responsive Classroom?04:45 - “Misbehavior” through a Responsive Classroom Lens07:00 - Holding Boundaries During Inappropriate Behavior (3 Steps)10:16 - Following up with Positive Interactions 12:16 - Responsive Classroom at the Beginning of the Year 15:07 - Opening Routine 18:31 - Teacher Language 27:35 - First Day Activities 31:11 - Structured Choices 34:51 - Closing Routine & Reminding Language39:50 - Beyond the First Day41:37 - Procedures to Have in Place 44:11 - How to Connect with Matthew

Let’s think through some ways to set the tone for learning - both at the beginning of the lesson and at the beginning of the year. Additional Podcast Episodes:Opening the First Day of Music - An Elemental Conversation with Anne MileskiClassroom Management for Elementary General Music (Before the Sticker Charts)Lower Elementary SongsEngine Engine Feeling Fine, It’s Music Time Hey Betty Martin Caballito BlancoAll Around the ButtercupUpper Elementary SongsTo Stop the TrainBonjour, Mes AmisWelcome Welcome Yonder Come DayPop Songs: Sunday Best, I’m Good, Best Day of My Life

Today I’m sharing an elemental conversation with the fabulous LeslieAnne Bird, all about setting up music room routines. We talk about how to know it’s time to think or rethink routines, and we go over some very specific pain points a lot of us experience in class - things like getting students into the learning space and starting class, lining up at the end, and other things during the actual lesson like passing out instruments. Read LeslieAnne’s bio hereThe Efficient Music Classroom: https://teachingwithorff.mykajabi.com/webinar-efficient-music-classroom

After the getting-to-know-you activities, after the name games, after the routines….. what’s next? How do we know where to start the year from a musical content perspective? How will we know what students remember? How can we review and make sure kids aren’t bored? What if we’re at a new campus and we don’t know what students have done? How do we take information from singing games in a way that’s usable?We probably all have at least a few of these questions, so let’s look at some possible ways to answer them. This episode is a continuation of two other conversations: This podcast episode with my friend Anne Milseki This post on the review and assessment process Today we’ll emphasize the data-collection piece of the process.