WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.419 Welcome to the Classroom Narratives Healing in 00:00:02.419 --> 00:00:04.900 Education podcast, the space where education 00:00:04.900 --> 00:00:09.019 meets resilience. I'm Dr. Joey Weisler, and in 00:00:09.019 --> 00:00:11.400 each episode, we dive deep into the personal 00:00:11.400 --> 00:00:15.099 stories of educators, students, leaders, and 00:00:15.099 --> 00:00:18.079 frontline advocates who are navigating the complexities 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:21.260 within modern education. Whether you're just 00:00:21.260 --> 00:00:23.879 starting your teaching journey, or are a seasoned 00:00:23.879 --> 00:00:26.260 professionals looking for inspiration, we'll 00:00:26.260 --> 00:00:29.059 explore how to foster meaningful change, prevent 00:00:29.059 --> 00:00:31.859 burnout, and build trauma -informed communities 00:00:31.859 --> 00:00:34.979 within our schools. Now, let's take a seat at 00:00:34.979 --> 00:00:36.799 the front of the classroom as we get started. 00:00:37.469 --> 00:00:39.850 Welcome back to the podcast. And today I'm so 00:00:39.850 --> 00:00:42.630 privileged to be talking with Dr. Guiliana Conti, 00:00:42.630 --> 00:00:44.810 who is a director of professional development 00:00:44.810 --> 00:00:47.829 at Music Workshop. And she's also a music educator 00:00:47.829 --> 00:00:51.009 herself and advocates for the people doing powerful 00:00:51.009 --> 00:00:53.579 work around music and student well -being. So 00:00:53.579 --> 00:00:55.439 our conversation today is going to take a look 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:57.719 at how music can support things like emotional 00:00:57.719 --> 00:01:00.960 regulation, student identity, and this conversation 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:03.380 is also especially for teachers who don't focus 00:01:03.380 --> 00:01:05.640 on music every day in their classrooms. We're 00:01:05.640 --> 00:01:07.140 going to be getting into today some of the. 00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:10.459 impacts of trauma and how music plays a solution 00:01:10.459 --> 00:01:13.000 and bridging classroom connections. So if you 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:15.640 have ever heard a song that's brought you to 00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:18.140 a special place in your soul, then this segment 00:01:18.140 --> 00:01:20.299 is going to be for you and seeing how your own 00:01:20.299 --> 00:01:22.319 students can also experience that same emotion, 00:01:22.500 --> 00:01:25.000 but right under your guidance in your own classroom. 00:01:25.140 --> 00:01:27.200 So Juliana, thanks for being our guide today. 00:01:27.379 --> 00:01:29.700 Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having 00:01:29.700 --> 00:01:32.640 me. What a great introduction. It's so great 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:35.000 to have you and to be working together. So, Guiliana 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:37.599 and I were talking a couple months back, and 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:40.480 what I was so surprised is that even though her 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:43.540 work is on professional development through Music 00:01:43.540 --> 00:01:46.700 Workshop, a lot of what she puts emphasis on 00:01:46.700 --> 00:01:49.180 is actually how trauma plays a role in the classroom 00:01:49.180 --> 00:01:51.840 itself. So, let's start with the core of what 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:53.859 you're working on. I'm curious that a lot of 00:01:53.859 --> 00:01:55.799 our conversations really focus throughout this 00:01:55.799 --> 00:01:58.500 podcast on the idea of social and emotional learning, 00:01:58.540 --> 00:02:03.359 or SEL. In terms of music, how does that shape 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:06.359 how SEL can work in the classroom? And do you 00:02:06.359 --> 00:02:08.180 have a story of your own as to how that's assisted 00:02:08.180 --> 00:02:10.680 what you've done in the classroom as well? So 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:15.039 with music being one of those elements in everyday 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:18.680 life that people turn to so often for emotional 00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:21.969 support themselves. What we see is an opportunity 00:02:21.969 --> 00:02:25.550 for the discipline of music and music education 00:02:25.550 --> 00:02:31.150 to step in as a greater resource and tool for 00:02:31.150 --> 00:02:33.990 social well -being. And that really comes down 00:02:33.990 --> 00:02:37.389 to teaching the individual child. I taught K 00:02:37.389 --> 00:02:41.009 -5 mostly, general elementary music. At the same 00:02:41.009 --> 00:02:43.930 time, there was this larger shift in their personalities 00:02:43.930 --> 00:03:13.150 that I saw was. bigger than just the social and emotional elements. There was a sense of self that grew that I think is core to well-being. Where when we are confident about ourselves, we know how to take care of ourselves, and we know how to self-regulate, we just feel better we become better humans which can allow us to become more socially responsible and more emotionally regulated.. Could you tell us a time 00:03:13.150 --> 00:03:15.590 when there was a moment that has confirmed what 00:03:15.590 --> 00:03:17.909 you do with music in the classroom with student 00:03:17.909 --> 00:03:20.110 well -being? Was it through allowing students 00:03:20.110 --> 00:03:22.469 to experiment with instruments or maybe you play 00:03:22.469 --> 00:03:24.169 a song for them that they had a reaction to? 00:03:24.389 --> 00:03:26.469 What was that moment like? And how could other 00:03:26.469 --> 00:03:29.050 teachers have that same duplication for themselves? 00:03:30.090 --> 00:03:32.370 That's actually why I went to grad school. When 00:03:32.370 --> 00:03:34.849 I was teaching, I was at a school that had a 00:03:34.849 --> 00:03:37.830 lot of international students. And so many of 00:03:37.830 --> 00:03:41.159 these students would join the school. not speaking 00:03:41.159 --> 00:03:44.780 English, and I would watch them struggle, not 00:03:44.780 --> 00:03:47.340 just socially because they couldn't engage with 00:03:47.340 --> 00:03:50.740 their peers, but to expect a child to be learning 00:03:50.740 --> 00:03:53.780 math and language arts and history and all of 00:03:53.780 --> 00:03:55.759 the core subjects when they're also learning 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:59.400 the language is crazy to me. But some schools 00:03:59.400 --> 00:04:02.520 are just not set up to adequately support those 00:04:02.520 --> 00:04:05.000 students in the way that they need. And what 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:10.849 I found was by putting them in charge of their 00:04:10.849 --> 00:04:13.110 own learning and asking what they were interested 00:04:13.110 --> 00:04:15.030 in learning. And I would go through the parents 00:04:15.030 --> 00:04:19.189 to help translate that these students not only 00:04:19.189 --> 00:04:21.290 came alive in the classroom and I got to see 00:04:21.290 --> 00:04:24.430 a whole new side of them, but other students 00:04:24.430 --> 00:04:28.620 had something more concrete to connect to. Concrete 00:04:28.620 --> 00:04:31.240 example that I can say is I had the student that 00:04:31.240 --> 00:04:34.620 had just moved from Russia to where I was teaching 00:04:34.620 --> 00:04:38.779 in California and had a lot of behavioral challenges, 00:04:38.920 --> 00:04:42.779 acting out, physical aggression, breakdowns. 00:04:42.779 --> 00:04:48.399 And it's not confusing when you think about what 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:51.220 it must feel like as a second grader, not speaking 00:04:51.220 --> 00:04:54.339 the language of your environment. So understandably, 00:04:54.399 --> 00:04:58.180 this poor kid was just. All over the place, being 00:04:58.180 --> 00:05:00.720 asked to sit quietly in class and learn when 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:03.220 he's probably listening to what sounds like the 00:05:03.220 --> 00:05:07.839 equivalent of the Peanuts teacher. So at some 00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:12.620 point I asked this boy who was super sweet with 00:05:12.620 --> 00:05:17.079 me what he would want to learn. And in his limited 00:05:17.079 --> 00:05:19.759 English at the time, he said that he had a favorite 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:22.939 song. And so the mom came in. She and I built 00:05:22.939 --> 00:05:26.500 this little slideshow for his class. where they 00:05:26.500 --> 00:05:30.420 learned it's a basically the song oh my gosh 00:05:30.420 --> 00:05:32.660 i can't believe i'm going to sing this i don't 00:05:32.660 --> 00:05:36.560 want to be a duck so I clap something like that 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:39.199 it's like a nursery rhyme about being a duck 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:41.980 and flapping your wings and there was a Russian 00:05:41.980 --> 00:05:44.689 version of it And now there was this exchange 00:05:44.689 --> 00:05:48.850 between this boy who had not been getting along 00:05:48.850 --> 00:05:51.490 with his classmates, his classroom teacher seeing 00:05:51.490 --> 00:05:54.790 him in a whole new light, and these other students 00:05:54.790 --> 00:05:57.730 in the class also learning about different places 00:05:57.730 --> 00:06:00.589 in the world that share the same song but in 00:06:00.589 --> 00:06:02.370 different languages, which for some reason at 00:06:02.370 --> 00:06:04.269 that time just really opened this door for them. 00:06:04.769 --> 00:06:08.589 From that day on, he had friends. It was like 00:06:08.589 --> 00:06:13.949 they humanized him. from being this scary kid 00:06:13.949 --> 00:06:16.470 that they can't understand. And because of that 00:06:16.470 --> 00:06:19.170 music exchange, we transitioned to being able 00:06:19.170 --> 00:06:21.449 to sing and learn other children's songs and 00:06:21.449 --> 00:06:24.050 games. It became this test where they would start 00:06:24.050 --> 00:06:26.670 one and then him and his mom would be like, oh 00:06:26.670 --> 00:06:28.189 my gosh, we have that too. And then they would 00:06:28.189 --> 00:06:30.050 sing the Russian version of it. And it was so 00:06:30.050 --> 00:06:33.589 adorable. It's a second grade. I got to know 00:06:33.589 --> 00:06:37.529 him for another year and a half and he transformed. 00:06:37.930 --> 00:06:40.089 He was a totally different child from then on. 00:06:40.410 --> 00:06:43.410 And that's just one example in many that then 00:06:43.410 --> 00:06:45.569 drove me to apply to grad school where I wanted 00:06:45.569 --> 00:06:49.189 to understand the relationship between music 00:06:49.189 --> 00:06:52.350 and personality development and social integration 00:06:52.350 --> 00:07:12.160 and identity. We all can experience, like you 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:14.699 did as well, Dr. Conti, in your classroom, that 00:07:14.699 --> 00:07:18.000 you can still communicate with music. And as 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:20.459 you said, it built bridges between all the cultures 00:07:20.459 --> 00:07:22.819 that were in front of you. Music listening is 00:07:22.819 --> 00:07:26.779 such a vehicle for learning. It's something that 00:07:26.779 --> 00:07:29.600 we all do on our own time anyway. So why not 00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:32.019 incorporate that in the classroom? Any subject 00:07:32.019 --> 00:07:34.959 teacher. can learn how to incorporate music listening 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:37.399 for many reasons in their class. And that, I 00:07:37.399 --> 00:07:40.579 think, has been lost in our formal music education 00:07:40.579 --> 00:07:42.620 for quite some time that we are trying to bring 00:07:42.620 --> 00:07:45.100 back. Definitely. And I mentioned this on a recent 00:07:45.100 --> 00:07:47.740 podcast with Megan Farris, the host of the podcast 00:07:47.740 --> 00:07:51.689 Sing, Coach, Conduct. One thing that Megan and 00:07:51.689 --> 00:07:54.750 I were talking about is how I also use daily 00:07:54.750 --> 00:07:57.649 song within our classroom as well. And usually 00:07:57.649 --> 00:08:00.670 I'm a quirky lover of show tunes. So I'll typically 00:08:00.670 --> 00:08:03.689 do these really offbeat Disney show tunes for 00:08:03.689 --> 00:08:06.089 our lessons. And I've realized that with music, 00:08:06.110 --> 00:08:09.189 I communicate to artists or rather through artists 00:08:09.189 --> 00:08:11.509 that I know that my students like. There are 00:08:11.509 --> 00:08:14.149 some Lady Gaga songs that talk about abuse, 00:08:14.170 --> 00:08:16.329 which go with some of the trauma stories we read 00:08:16.329 --> 00:08:19.189 in novels like The Hate U Give. And with that, 00:08:19.209 --> 00:08:21.670 it begins to form that mutual language as to 00:08:21.670 --> 00:08:24.110 how we can check in with well -being as well. 00:08:24.350 --> 00:08:26.870 And throughout your PD, you've mentioned something 00:08:26.870 --> 00:08:29.750 about student well -being and how music can support 00:08:29.750 --> 00:08:32.350 the wellness of a student. So I wanted to hear 00:08:32.350 --> 00:08:34.570 a bit more about, if we could, about what student 00:08:34.570 --> 00:08:37.549 well -being really means to you and how music 00:08:37.549 --> 00:08:40.129 can help us not only recognize our students, 00:08:40.230 --> 00:08:43.340 but also help us explore this relationship as 00:08:43.340 --> 00:08:45.759 the classroom teachers between trauma and regulation? 00:08:46.919 --> 00:08:50.940 Great question. Yeah, I'm just so happy to be 00:08:50.940 --> 00:08:55.320 talking about this. So when it comes to student 00:08:55.320 --> 00:08:58.720 well -being, there's formal definitions. You 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:02.840 can look to, I think, the World Health Organization 00:09:02.840 --> 00:09:05.639 for a formal definition of well -being. You can 00:09:05.639 --> 00:09:09.100 go into scholarship as a teacher. When I think 00:09:09.100 --> 00:09:10.940 about student well -being, I think about someone 00:09:10.940 --> 00:09:14.799 who is not distracted by any plight in their 00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:19.100 life and is able to find interest and engagement 00:09:19.100 --> 00:09:22.759 throughout their school day and isn't in survival 00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:27.379 mode. As someone with considerable childhood 00:09:27.379 --> 00:09:32.019 trauma myself, I don't have memories of many 00:09:32.019 --> 00:09:35.309 years of my life where I am just picturing. the 00:09:35.309 --> 00:09:39.009 little girl I was sitting mindlessly in class, 00:09:39.330 --> 00:09:43.389 totally absent from the material being delivered. 00:09:43.610 --> 00:09:46.350 I got really poor grades for a long time because 00:09:46.350 --> 00:09:49.210 of it. And this is from having two parents with 00:09:49.210 --> 00:09:52.409 serious health conditions. So as an only child 00:09:52.409 --> 00:09:55.370 with no one else in the country as family, it 00:09:55.370 --> 00:09:59.169 was really isolating. And I think about that 00:09:59.169 --> 00:10:05.080 little girl and when she would go home, She would 00:10:05.080 --> 00:10:09.639 use music as a way to ground herself. And I think 00:10:09.639 --> 00:10:13.399 that's where I went from being that little girl 00:10:13.399 --> 00:10:18.399 to being this advocate for music listening. Because 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:24.820 for me to be well was me finding music that was 00:10:24.820 --> 00:10:28.049 relatable. that connected to something more deep 00:10:28.049 --> 00:10:30.549 in me that i couldn't vocalize i didn't know 00:10:30.549 --> 00:10:32.830 how to ask for help i didn't know that there 00:10:32.830 --> 00:10:34.750 was help out there i honestly didn't even know 00:10:34.750 --> 00:10:39.110 that i was broken i just knew that i had to get 00:10:39.110 --> 00:10:42.279 through each day I had responsibilities like 00:10:42.279 --> 00:10:45.200 homework and practicing my viola that for whatever 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:48.860 reason continued, even brushing my teeth. I resented 00:10:48.860 --> 00:10:51.559 all of it because I was like, how are you going 00:10:51.559 --> 00:10:54.460 to expect me to care for these adults who parentify 00:10:54.460 --> 00:10:57.720 me and have to witness like my father getting 00:10:57.720 --> 00:11:00.200 a liver transplant and basically dying multiple 00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:03.379 times and flatlining and just the amount of chaos 00:11:03.379 --> 00:11:05.980 in my personal life. Everything else felt like 00:11:05.980 --> 00:11:10.980 a joke. And for students. We don't know what 00:11:10.980 --> 00:11:14.000 they go home to. We don't know what is happening 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:15.960 in their lives that they are bringing into the 00:11:15.960 --> 00:11:18.679 classroom. And there's so many statistics about 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:22.100 student behavior that is actually symptoms of 00:11:22.100 --> 00:11:26.059 trauma that manifest as disciplinary issues that 00:11:26.059 --> 00:11:29.139 also lead to perpetuating the school -to -prison 00:11:29.139 --> 00:11:32.279 pipeline. We punish kids for symptoms of trauma. 00:11:33.289 --> 00:11:35.889 Having come from that background myself, what 00:11:35.889 --> 00:11:39.490 I want for students in their well -being is to 00:11:39.490 --> 00:11:41.669 feel like there are resources out there so that 00:11:41.669 --> 00:11:44.490 they can vocalize asking for help. They can know 00:11:44.490 --> 00:11:46.590 what's happening in their bodies and be able 00:11:46.590 --> 00:11:50.389 to assign names to it. And that they don't live, 00:11:50.649 --> 00:11:54.490 like I said, in fight or flight survival mode 00:11:54.490 --> 00:11:59.970 all day. And it's also fight, flight, fawn, and 00:11:59.970 --> 00:12:03.570 freeze. There are new ones out there too. And 00:12:03.570 --> 00:12:05.710 so teachers, be mindful of that fawn. If you 00:12:05.710 --> 00:12:08.629 have a teacher's pet, that could also be a survival 00:12:08.629 --> 00:12:11.830 mechanism. Anyways. My point being that well 00:12:11.830 --> 00:12:15.769 -being is for students in school being able to 00:12:15.769 --> 00:12:19.490 actually engage and not disassociate. And what 00:12:19.490 --> 00:12:21.669 our PD course covers is a lot of the symptoms 00:12:21.669 --> 00:12:25.830 that teachers may not understand that are adverse 00:12:25.830 --> 00:12:29.129 childhood experiences or signs of trauma or toxic 00:12:29.129 --> 00:12:32.990 stress in students that may be brushed off as 00:12:32.990 --> 00:12:37.269 just poor student behavior when those students 00:12:37.269 --> 00:12:40.320 actually need different resources. capacity for 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:43.879 music to be one of those resources is for multiple 00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:48.639 reasons. One of them, it's not direct. as it 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:51.000 would be if we were to sit down a student and 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:53.200 say hey what's going on in your life are you 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:55.220 okay what's wrong what are you feeling what's 00:12:55.220 --> 00:12:57.100 happening in your body right now some students 00:12:57.100 --> 00:12:59.600 don't respond to that they get afraid they don't 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:01.899 know how to talk or there's a legitimate threat 00:13:01.899 --> 00:13:04.159 in their life or they're unable to talk about 00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:07.759 it whereas music is a vehicle that communicates 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:11.480 so much without being direct there's like the 00:13:11.480 --> 00:13:14.840 cognitive and neurochemical and nervous response 00:13:14.840 --> 00:13:21.409 systems that have been shown to become activated 00:13:21.409 --> 00:13:25.149 through music listening and for example like 00:13:25.149 --> 00:13:27.629 when we get the chills when we listen to music 00:13:27.629 --> 00:13:30.429 that's a physiological response connected to 00:13:30.429 --> 00:13:32.929 how we're hearing and processing it mentally 00:13:32.929 --> 00:13:36.129 and there was a part of our professional development 00:13:36.129 --> 00:13:39.129 that talks about this great mechanism in music 00:13:39.129 --> 00:13:42.970 for people who have experienced trauma or for 00:13:42.970 --> 00:13:46.289 people who have challenging emotions or intrusive 00:13:46.289 --> 00:13:49.370 thoughts, where when listening to music that 00:13:49.370 --> 00:13:53.409 is sad or scary, there's so much research dedicated 00:13:53.409 --> 00:13:55.990 to trying to understand why sad music feels good. 00:13:56.230 --> 00:14:01.909 Part of it is because you get to experience the 00:14:01.909 --> 00:14:05.029 threat in the sound of the music, which I think 00:14:05.029 --> 00:14:08.549 is part of why cinematic music is also so profound 00:14:08.549 --> 00:14:11.230 and has such a great effect on how we process 00:14:11.230 --> 00:14:14.529 movies. The way that we respond to that emotionally 00:14:14.529 --> 00:14:17.309 is like being put in a threatening situation 00:14:17.309 --> 00:14:23.210 and then coming out of it safely. Students are 00:14:23.210 --> 00:14:27.100 in a developmental stage in their lives. that 00:14:27.100 --> 00:14:29.960 are setting them up for the rest of their life 00:14:29.960 --> 00:14:33.100 to understand their place in society and what 00:14:33.100 --> 00:14:36.759 kind of threat they're under. And if we think 00:14:36.759 --> 00:14:41.139 about human evolution, being able to identify 00:14:41.139 --> 00:14:44.639 threats is how we survive. And for students who 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:47.679 are living in conditions or have experiences 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:50.799 that have altered their understanding of threats, 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:55.200 which is definitely the case for trauma, one 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:58.080 of the best ways that they can learn to stop 00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:00.960 being so hypervigilant all the time and anticipate 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:03.720 threats constantly, which I'll tell you is incredibly 00:15:03.720 --> 00:15:05.879 distracting when you're in school trying to learn, 00:15:06.019 --> 00:15:13.340 is to expose them to unreal threats, which music 00:15:13.340 --> 00:15:16.240 can be. Like when we think about, if you were 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:20.200 to listen to Mars by Gustav Holst, it's a standard. 00:15:20.860 --> 00:15:23.120 piece of music that's used in films all the time 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:26.559 to show scenes of war and chaos, and it's really 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:30.840 intense. The body responds to that in a similar 00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:33.759 way it responds to threats, except when the piece 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:38.919 is over and your nervous system comes back to 00:15:38.919 --> 00:15:41.639 equilibrium, you're retraining your mind and 00:15:41.639 --> 00:15:44.340 your body to understand that other kinds of threats 00:15:44.340 --> 00:15:46.240 can exist and you're still going to be okay. 00:15:46.860 --> 00:15:50.750 Students need to understand and experience. being 00:15:50.750 --> 00:15:54.529 okay despite there being threats and fear, whether 00:15:54.529 --> 00:15:58.190 or not they're actually in existence, because 00:15:58.190 --> 00:16:02.429 so many times students learn to be hypervigilant 00:16:02.429 --> 00:16:07.190 to where fear is part of their everyday life, 00:16:07.350 --> 00:16:09.909 even though maybe that threat that trained it 00:16:09.909 --> 00:16:13.370 in them has been gone for a long time. Music 00:16:13.370 --> 00:16:16.750 is a way for us to practice being scared or being 00:16:16.750 --> 00:16:20.039 vulnerable, being emotional. and it being safe. 00:16:20.419 --> 00:16:23.600 Music also provides us senses of safety. And 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:27.279 I think nostalgia comes into that big time. Teachers 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:30.139 are in a position at this stage in children's 00:16:30.139 --> 00:16:34.879 lives when the music that becomes nostalgic is 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:37.279 happening right now. We listen to music from 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:40.730 when we were kids. And we get this flood of memories 00:16:40.730 --> 00:16:43.889 and emotions. And it's like you get to see someone 00:16:43.889 --> 00:16:47.169 you haven't seen in decades. And it feels as 00:16:47.169 --> 00:16:48.970 if the last time you saw them was yesterday. 00:16:49.610 --> 00:16:52.889 It's such a phenomenal ability for the human 00:16:52.889 --> 00:16:56.690 mind to connect to our past in that way. And 00:16:56.690 --> 00:16:59.649 teachers are in a position right now in that 00:16:59.649 --> 00:17:03.490 student's developmental stage to help guide and 00:17:03.490 --> 00:17:05.750 facilitate music listening where students can 00:17:05.750 --> 00:17:08.950 find that music right now that they connect to 00:17:08.950 --> 00:17:12.549 so deeply it becomes their nostalgic connecting 00:17:12.549 --> 00:17:16.410 point in the future. We can help children create 00:17:16.410 --> 00:17:19.509 emotional anchors through music and nostalgia 00:17:19.509 --> 00:17:24.230 to help also combat the negative emotions that 00:17:24.230 --> 00:17:27.390 come with trauma. And I think that's part of 00:17:27.390 --> 00:17:30.769 trauma -informed teaching that isn't really discussed 00:17:30.769 --> 00:17:33.650 because it's such a novel concept and it's so 00:17:33.650 --> 00:17:37.670 intuitively sensical. Like you hear it and you're 00:17:37.670 --> 00:17:39.750 like, that makes so much sense because I listen 00:17:39.750 --> 00:17:42.230 to music. I experience all these things, but 00:17:42.230 --> 00:17:45.519 for it to become teaching practices. has to be 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:48.460 done in a way through a professional development 00:17:48.460 --> 00:17:52.299 series like ours, where all those dots are connected. 00:17:52.380 --> 00:17:54.319 And then we tell you, okay, this is how you can 00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:57.059 actually do that and make it a reality. But all 00:17:57.059 --> 00:18:01.240 of it is incredibly important and so easy to 00:18:01.240 --> 00:18:03.369 integrate. I just have to pause because you're 00:18:03.369 --> 00:18:05.210 making me remember one of my favorite practices 00:18:05.210 --> 00:18:07.789 from when I was that middle school teacher. So 00:18:07.789 --> 00:18:10.750 when we talk about my quirky Disney show tunes, 00:18:10.869 --> 00:18:13.170 one of the things that I did when I was teaching 00:18:13.170 --> 00:18:14.809 eighth grade is that every day when they would 00:18:14.809 --> 00:18:18.000 come in, I would. have playing in the background, 00:18:18.200 --> 00:18:20.880 the opening to I Can Go the Distance from Hercules. 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:23.240 And as they were doing that, they'd be putting 00:18:23.240 --> 00:18:25.059 all their phones in little pockets and we would 00:18:25.059 --> 00:18:26.759 call it phone nap time where they put their phones 00:18:26.759 --> 00:18:29.839 away for 90 minutes. And then at the end of class, 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:31.839 I would pace it out so it was minutes before 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:34.299 the bell rang. I would play the second half of 00:18:34.299 --> 00:18:36.039 I Can Go the Distance and they would go and grab 00:18:36.039 --> 00:18:38.480 their phones again. And after that triumphant, 00:18:38.519 --> 00:18:42.579 like that triumphant ending, I would then just 00:18:42.579 --> 00:18:45.839 say like a little. I don't know, classroom closure 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:47.599 thing where I would just say, because I actually 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:49.359 have it right in front of me. I cleaned my clipboard 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:51.940 recently. May you find your way and go the distance 00:18:51.940 --> 00:18:53.859 to see if it is here in this classroom, this 00:18:53.859 --> 00:18:56.359 space where you belong. And then the bell would 00:18:56.359 --> 00:19:01.119 ring every day. And after I left that year, I 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:04.299 had a student's mom email me a picture of her 00:19:04.299 --> 00:19:07.440 son watching the fireworks at Disney World. I 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:09.200 can go the distance in the background. She says, 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:11.720 he thinks of you every single time he hears this 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:15.859 song. That is so profound. That proves your point 00:19:15.859 --> 00:19:18.960 that it brings certain songs are rooted in the 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:21.079 now, like the songs that we play for our students 00:19:21.079 --> 00:19:24.259 are setting nostalgia for them at that moment. 00:19:24.380 --> 00:19:26.039 And we can't take that for granted as our classroom 00:19:26.039 --> 00:19:31.940 teacher. No. And I understand why it's not such 00:19:31.940 --> 00:19:34.680 a regular practice, because especially if you're 00:19:34.680 --> 00:19:37.670 working in a school where you don't. or at least 00:19:37.670 --> 00:19:40.950 if you're of the age where you genuinely do not 00:19:40.950 --> 00:19:45.930 understand student taste in music, like that 00:19:45.930 --> 00:19:49.410 is a real barrier. I know that what I listened 00:19:49.410 --> 00:19:51.650 to growing up is very different from what people 00:19:51.650 --> 00:19:55.809 listen to now. And when I was teaching, I felt 00:19:55.809 --> 00:20:00.490 like such an old fart at 25 when I wasn't an 00:20:00.490 --> 00:20:08.039 old fart. And at the same time, If we are in 00:20:08.039 --> 00:20:13.759 a place to act as guides, we also have to consider 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:16.500 the capacity for student taste to change and 00:20:16.500 --> 00:20:19.859 evolve and grow and widen. When I was growing 00:20:19.859 --> 00:20:24.200 up, my parents are very internationally musically 00:20:24.200 --> 00:20:29.380 oriented. So our CD rack, because that's what 00:20:29.380 --> 00:20:33.059 we use to listen to music, was filled. hundreds 00:20:33.059 --> 00:20:36.960 of CDs from all over the world. And part of my 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:40.859 music listening habits, especially when I was 00:20:40.859 --> 00:20:43.019 feeling alone and isolated when my parents were 00:20:43.019 --> 00:20:46.539 either sick in bed or at the hospital, was to 00:20:46.539 --> 00:20:51.000 identify on the spine of the CD cover, the art 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:55.480 or the title of it. And I would remember what 00:20:55.480 --> 00:20:59.220 I felt when I listened to that CD and I would 00:20:59.220 --> 00:21:04.279 put that CD on in order to maybe, I'm not even 00:21:04.279 --> 00:21:06.920 sure what that equation was, but it was like 00:21:06.920 --> 00:21:11.869 craving this sense of feeling. When I would listen 00:21:11.869 --> 00:21:14.529 to certain pieces of music based on my emotional 00:21:14.529 --> 00:21:17.650 needs at the time. And I might be spending my 00:21:17.650 --> 00:21:21.549 entire career chasing that equation. Yes. And 00:21:21.549 --> 00:21:24.680 I think I'm getting closer to it. And that's 00:21:24.680 --> 00:21:26.859 part of why I love bringing this kind of information 00:21:26.859 --> 00:21:30.539 to teachers, because I had teachers who were 00:21:30.539 --> 00:21:33.299 my parents. They were the ones that exposed me 00:21:33.299 --> 00:21:38.819 to blues and rock and music from different parts 00:21:38.819 --> 00:21:42.619 of Europe and Southeast Asia and Chile and just 00:21:42.619 --> 00:21:46.160 so many different kinds of music that I definitely 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:48.579 felt like an outsider growing up with all my 00:21:48.579 --> 00:21:51.839 friends who... did not understand me and my taste. 00:21:52.099 --> 00:21:54.900 But then when high school hit, I became this 00:21:54.900 --> 00:21:57.740 bringer of musical cultures. And all of a sudden, 00:21:57.740 --> 00:21:59.799 my friends were all like, what do you have for 00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:01.900 this feeling? What do you got here? Oh, what 00:22:01.900 --> 00:22:05.180 is that? And I'm sharing music. And when I became 00:22:05.180 --> 00:22:08.190 a teacher. I was exposing my students to music 00:22:08.190 --> 00:22:11.210 from different genres and cultures and time periods, 00:22:11.269 --> 00:22:14.309 and their taste grew and grew and grew. And so 00:22:14.309 --> 00:22:16.390 what would have been an isolated conversation 00:22:16.390 --> 00:22:19.670 about maybe like hip hop, which I have a limited 00:22:19.670 --> 00:22:22.049 understanding of modernized hip hop, but I can 00:22:22.049 --> 00:22:26.349 speak to like 90s, early 2000s hip hop. And that 00:22:26.349 --> 00:22:28.430 would be kind of enough of a connecting point. 00:22:29.630 --> 00:22:32.210 Instead, we started with their interests and 00:22:32.210 --> 00:22:35.130 then we grew it. And I learned with them and 00:22:35.130 --> 00:22:37.690 I showed them some of what I know and learned. 00:22:37.769 --> 00:22:40.369 And they loved hearing from me and learning about 00:22:40.369 --> 00:22:45.710 the human side of me. And I remember my students 00:22:45.710 --> 00:22:48.210 then asking for a school performance if they 00:22:48.210 --> 00:22:50.529 could perform like these blues songs and these 00:22:50.529 --> 00:22:52.970 other songs that they otherwise would never have 00:22:52.970 --> 00:22:58.490 heard and are now loving, which have become. 00:22:59.180 --> 00:23:01.519 probably, I assume as they've grown up, parts 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:04.819 of their music listening options. So even if 00:23:04.819 --> 00:23:07.680 a teacher doesn't know directly about the music 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:10.259 from their students, one, their students can 00:23:10.259 --> 00:23:13.559 teach you. Never miss an opportunity to be taught 00:23:13.559 --> 00:23:16.259 by your students. It is such a rewarding exchange 00:23:16.259 --> 00:23:19.779 and it's a necessary part of being a good teacher. 00:23:19.960 --> 00:23:22.960 We don't own all the knowledge. We aren't the 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:25.339 bringers of knowledge. We are the facilitators 00:23:25.339 --> 00:23:29.519 of learning. And then learn with them. What can 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:32.240 you tell them about your musical taste? And then 00:23:32.240 --> 00:23:34.980 what can you all learn about the world of music? 00:23:35.079 --> 00:23:37.299 And this is where I think Music Workshop's free 00:23:37.299 --> 00:23:40.779 curriculum is really helpful. For teachers of 00:23:40.779 --> 00:23:43.440 academic subjects like English, history, science, 00:23:43.579 --> 00:23:45.660 math, what would you want them to know about 00:23:45.660 --> 00:23:49.200 the power of music in their classrooms? Music 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:52.700 is involved in everything. Language arts, songwriting, 00:23:52.920 --> 00:23:58.420 poetry. You talk about how to understand metaphors 00:23:58.420 --> 00:24:02.180 and what makes someone write songs the way they 00:24:02.180 --> 00:24:06.779 do. How do our emotions react to the combination 00:24:06.779 --> 00:24:09.140 of certain words? There's so much potential there. 00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:13.240 Student creative writing can be magnified when 00:24:13.240 --> 00:24:25.299 explored through the lens of music. students 00:24:25.299 --> 00:24:27.740 different ways of demonstrating knowledge and 00:24:27.740 --> 00:24:30.220 understanding. If you've got a sixth grade class 00:24:30.220 --> 00:24:32.359 and normally you would have them do an essay 00:24:32.359 --> 00:24:36.380 or go home and do some equations and just memorize 00:24:36.380 --> 00:24:38.779 the information until they're blue in the face 00:24:38.779 --> 00:24:40.779 and then hope they know how to do it on the test. 00:24:41.420 --> 00:24:44.180 What if instead you could offer the option for 00:24:44.180 --> 00:24:46.619 them to write a song about the concept that they're 00:24:46.619 --> 00:24:48.880 learning and demonstrate that by performing it 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:51.440 to the class or rewrite the lyrics to another 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:54.460 song? And what if they were to create a one act 00:24:54.460 --> 00:24:56.299 or a skit and they could perform that for their 00:24:56.299 --> 00:24:58.819 class or they just submit this information and 00:24:58.819 --> 00:25:00.759 you see that they're understanding the material 00:25:00.759 --> 00:25:03.279 and maybe you've given them a different vehicle 00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:05.619 for demonstrating their knowledge? And I can 00:25:05.619 --> 00:25:08.440 say from personal experience that I am a horrible 00:25:08.440 --> 00:25:13.440 test taker. But when verbally tested, my teachers 00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:16.460 could see I understood the material. I just had 00:25:16.460 --> 00:25:19.380 such bad test anxiety that I would undoubtedly 00:25:19.380 --> 00:25:22.900 fail it. So students benefit when there's different 00:25:22.900 --> 00:25:25.900 ways of learning and demonstrating their understanding 00:25:25.900 --> 00:25:29.339 of a topic. And music is a great vehicle to do 00:25:29.339 --> 00:25:31.579 that. And then, of course, you get into the humanities 00:25:31.579 --> 00:25:36.720 and music is human. What makes music? humanly 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:40.180 unique and what makes humans uniquely musical. 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:44.420 There's so much to explore there around the human 00:25:44.420 --> 00:25:49.359 experience. And again, in our PD for general 00:25:49.359 --> 00:25:53.140 educators, there's countless activities that 00:25:53.140 --> 00:25:56.160 we recommend for ways to integrate music in a 00:25:56.160 --> 00:25:58.980 way that's not overwhelming for teachers. And 00:25:58.980 --> 00:26:02.019 I know with math, when I was in algebra one, 00:26:02.509 --> 00:26:04.930 The quadratic formula was just letters and numbers. 00:26:05.029 --> 00:26:07.529 Okay, x equals negative b plus or minus square 00:26:07.529 --> 00:26:11.130 root. But in high school, in Algebra 2, when 00:26:11.130 --> 00:26:13.109 they taught it to us through Pop Goes the Weasel, 00:26:13.269 --> 00:26:16.509 x equals negative b plus or minus square root. 00:26:17.210 --> 00:26:21.549 B squared minus 4ac all over 2a. Oh my gosh, 00:26:21.569 --> 00:26:24.670 I didn't know I remembered that until now. Nostalgia, 00:26:24.890 --> 00:26:28.130 point in case. Look at that! If you had asked 00:26:28.130 --> 00:26:30.829 me for the quadratic formula, I would have just... 00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:33.519 said i'm done with this interview um but for 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:36.299 some reason it's like i could picture the entire 00:26:36.299 --> 00:26:39.599 formula in my head as soon as you said pop goes 00:26:39.599 --> 00:26:42.420 the weasel yeah that's wild point in case it 00:26:42.420 --> 00:26:44.750 meant something after that music made it mean 00:26:44.750 --> 00:26:46.990 something. But I'm still thinking about that 00:26:46.990 --> 00:26:49.089 one teacher, let's say like the science teacher, 00:26:49.210 --> 00:26:51.309 because we haven't gone there yet. The science 00:26:51.309 --> 00:26:53.710 teacher who says they had the state test at the 00:26:53.710 --> 00:26:55.750 end of the year and that's what we're teaching 00:26:55.750 --> 00:26:57.910 to. How can someone like them continue to use 00:26:57.910 --> 00:27:00.450 music in the way that helps, as you said, bring 00:27:00.450 --> 00:27:03.569 out the well -being of their child? What if 00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:06.880 as a class, you create a playlist. But if you 00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:09.839 create two playlists, one is a calm playlist 00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:13.680 and students can contribute songs that either 00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:17.480 don't have lyrics or obviously like the prompt 00:27:17.480 --> 00:27:22.220 that we like to use is choose a song that won't 00:27:22.220 --> 00:27:26.250 get me fired because then students become responsible 00:27:26.250 --> 00:27:28.329 for your own well -being, too, as a teacher. 00:27:28.450 --> 00:27:30.309 And then they're not sending you explicit lyrics 00:27:30.309 --> 00:27:33.369 because that's a real issue. And you can also 00:27:33.369 --> 00:27:36.349 find like different versions of it. But if you're 00:27:36.349 --> 00:27:38.730 going to integrate study time into your class 00:27:38.730 --> 00:27:40.829 or if you're going to have time that's calm and 00:27:40.829 --> 00:27:43.890 you're lecturing or you really want student attention, 00:27:44.109 --> 00:27:46.470 have some music playing in the background. Have 00:27:46.470 --> 00:27:49.569 something calm. Another great option is covers. 00:27:50.250 --> 00:27:55.509 There's so many. people who do piano or guitar 00:27:55.509 --> 00:28:00.569 or even like bossa nova or ska versions of other 00:28:00.569 --> 00:28:05.109 songs and if you have students that love certain 00:28:05.109 --> 00:28:08.670 music and you don't want the actual version of 00:28:08.670 --> 00:28:11.569 it you can find a cover of it probably in another 00:28:11.569 --> 00:28:14.230 genre or on another instrument and then now you've 00:28:14.230 --> 00:28:18.490 got a playlist of student songs and an atmosphere 00:28:18.490 --> 00:28:22.700 that is calm and engaging And you're filling 00:28:22.700 --> 00:28:25.559 that space that sometimes students feel the need 00:28:25.559 --> 00:28:28.180 to fill with their voices. And instead, it's 00:28:28.180 --> 00:28:31.720 musical. Alternatively, if you create an active 00:28:31.720 --> 00:28:34.259 playlist, let's say that you have lab time in 00:28:34.259 --> 00:28:36.380 class, you need them to study something or to 00:28:36.380 --> 00:28:40.380 learn something hands on. And there's not really 00:28:40.380 --> 00:28:44.180 direct teacher to student communication happening, 00:28:44.220 --> 00:28:47.440 but like group work. going on then you have a 00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:50.940 playlist created by your students of music that's 00:28:50.940 --> 00:28:53.460 activating that gets them excited maybe they're 00:28:53.460 --> 00:28:56.519 singing along with it while they're also working 00:28:56.519 --> 00:28:59.819 on the science experiments what is it that your 00:28:59.819 --> 00:29:03.140 students want and are interested in and can you 00:29:03.140 --> 00:29:06.819 compromise on that Even something like creating 00:29:06.819 --> 00:29:10.059 that climate of trust and safety and validating 00:29:10.059 --> 00:29:12.099 their interests can be enough for them to trust 00:29:12.099 --> 00:29:14.160 that you're leading them in the right direction. 00:29:14.220 --> 00:29:16.319 And when you say that they need to learn something, 00:29:16.500 --> 00:29:20.519 even if it's just to get higher test results 00:29:20.519 --> 00:29:23.400 for the state test, they're probably more inclined 00:29:23.400 --> 00:29:26.500 to work harder for you because you've shown that 00:29:26.500 --> 00:29:30.359 you work hard for them too. Thank you for that 00:29:30.359 --> 00:29:32.319 insight. And my last question is, what would 00:29:32.319 --> 00:29:35.119 you say is the secret sauce to education and 00:29:35.119 --> 00:29:38.000 especially education that involves the child 00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:43.980 through music? So music is a social tool for 00:29:43.980 --> 00:29:50.509 so many students to feel seen. Because when you 00:29:50.509 --> 00:29:52.930 have students who experience trauma in particular, 00:29:53.150 --> 00:29:56.109 social thinning and isolation is a very real 00:29:56.109 --> 00:29:58.630 side effect where maybe they don't really know 00:29:58.630 --> 00:30:00.970 how to connect with people anymore. Music can 00:30:00.970 --> 00:30:05.289 fill that space. So music has an ability to help 00:30:05.289 --> 00:30:10.470 people become similar to open -minded, open -eared. 00:30:10.890 --> 00:30:14.049 And research on that shows that when you become 00:30:14.049 --> 00:30:16.789 open to hearing music that you're unfamiliar 00:30:16.789 --> 00:30:21.150 with, that skill transfers into other areas like 00:30:21.150 --> 00:30:24.690 being open to new ideas, being open to new and 00:30:24.690 --> 00:30:28.049 unfamiliar people and cultures. That's how you 00:30:28.049 --> 00:30:31.579 develop. greater friendships. When you are exposing 00:30:31.579 --> 00:30:33.960 yourself to more people, you get to know more 00:30:33.960 --> 00:30:37.140 people, you find alignment and compatibility 00:30:37.140 --> 00:30:40.640 with more people. And then now you have the strength 00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:42.960 of a social circle that helps you feel really 00:30:42.960 --> 00:30:47.619 embedded in who you are and valued for who you 00:30:47.619 --> 00:30:50.900 are by these others. The more exposure we get, 00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:54.619 the more we are able to then discern what works 00:30:54.619 --> 00:31:00.359 for us and what helps make us well. people, music, 00:31:00.420 --> 00:31:03.799 these are elements of everyday life that if practiced 00:31:03.799 --> 00:31:08.599 in school years, can become strengths that really 00:31:08.599 --> 00:31:11.180 enrich our lives. And that's why I think music 00:31:11.180 --> 00:31:14.519 is such a superpower, because it's got all of 00:31:14.519 --> 00:31:17.900 these capacities. And it really comes down to 00:31:17.900 --> 00:31:21.240 the moment of like, do you have music on? What 00:31:21.240 --> 00:31:25.019 do you turn to music for? Can you do that more 00:31:25.019 --> 00:31:28.630 often? Where do you find new music? Can you find 00:31:28.630 --> 00:31:32.009 other areas? And that's what I think makes better 00:31:32.009 --> 00:31:35.450 people. Absolutely. Could you tell us exactly 00:31:35.450 --> 00:31:37.690 what Music Workshop is and some of the roles 00:31:37.690 --> 00:31:39.890 that you play within the organization? I'd be 00:31:39.890 --> 00:31:42.670 happy to. Thank you. Yeah. So anyone who's listening 00:31:42.670 --> 00:31:45.150 to this, if you want to shoot over to musicworkshop 00:31:45.150 --> 00:31:48.029 .org, go for it. We've got two types of programs. 00:31:48.269 --> 00:31:51.309 First is our free programming, and that is for 00:31:51.309 --> 00:31:55.049 any teacher. Originally, we were an organization 00:31:55.049 --> 00:31:57.990 dedicated to music teachers to fill the gap of 00:31:57.990 --> 00:32:00.789 those who might be absent in school or first 00:32:00.789 --> 00:32:03.430 year, need more resources that are culturally 00:32:03.430 --> 00:32:07.329 responsive and vetted by professional advisors. 00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:12.359 of that work for you. And it's all free. The 00:32:12.359 --> 00:32:14.799 only catch is that we just ask for feedback. 00:32:15.019 --> 00:32:18.259 How'd it go? Did your students like it? So that's 00:32:18.259 --> 00:32:21.900 half of our organization. The other half is professional 00:32:21.900 --> 00:32:25.240 development, which is what I have the great privilege 00:32:25.240 --> 00:32:29.220 of facilitating. So starting about two years 00:32:29.220 --> 00:32:33.500 ago, we built our first Music for Wellbeing course. 00:32:33.579 --> 00:32:37.519 And these are online, self -paced for both music 00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:40.420 teachers. who have their own course, and then 00:32:40.420 --> 00:32:44.140 general educators. And we have two other types 00:32:44.140 --> 00:32:46.740 of courses as well. One of the courses is six 00:32:46.740 --> 00:32:50.059 hours. And it's for music teachers called Teaching 00:32:50.059 --> 00:32:52.119 Music for Well -Being. And we talk about the 00:32:52.119 --> 00:32:54.519 fundamentals of well -being. We use the PERMA 00:32:54.519 --> 00:32:57.539 framework from positive psychology as a way to 00:32:57.539 --> 00:33:01.900 identify five areas of well -being in students 00:33:01.900 --> 00:33:05.319 or lack thereof and give teachers a tool for 00:33:05.319 --> 00:33:09.380 being able to recognize signs that some students 00:33:09.380 --> 00:33:12.339 are maybe not OK, but not quite at the level 00:33:12.339 --> 00:33:14.920 of calling CPS. And that's usually where teachers 00:33:14.920 --> 00:33:18.720 find themselves experiencing burnout and secondary 00:33:18.720 --> 00:33:23.559 trauma. And I think having been in this position 00:33:23.559 --> 00:33:27.440 myself, a lot of helplessness that leads to mental 00:33:27.440 --> 00:33:29.480 health challenges for the teachers as well. Because 00:33:29.480 --> 00:33:32.259 what do you do for a student who you have limited 00:33:32.259 --> 00:33:34.279 time with and you can tell they're just not okay? 00:33:35.039 --> 00:33:37.420 Well, music is a great tool for that. So for 00:33:37.420 --> 00:33:40.500 music teachers, we empower them with a heightened 00:33:40.500 --> 00:33:43.220 skill set, given their focus is already on music, 00:33:43.259 --> 00:33:45.940 to turn their attention to student well -being 00:33:45.940 --> 00:33:48.519 through music. And then for general educators, 00:33:48.799 --> 00:33:51.319 we realize we have to do some of the lifting 00:33:51.319 --> 00:33:54.460 for what kind of music can general educators 00:33:54.460 --> 00:33:57.900 confidently teach in class. So we provide the 00:33:57.900 --> 00:34:00.799 same framework, the PERMA model, which includes 00:34:00.799 --> 00:34:04.400 positive emotions, engagement. relationships, 00:34:04.619 --> 00:34:06.819 meaning, and achievement. Those are the five 00:34:06.819 --> 00:34:09.559 areas that teachers learn to recognize and target 00:34:09.559 --> 00:34:12.780 through music. And each of these courses are 00:34:12.780 --> 00:34:15.000 six hours and it comes with a certificate. So 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:17.739 it also counts towards your professional development 00:34:17.739 --> 00:34:21.179 hours usually required for continuing education, 00:34:21.539 --> 00:34:25.159 for recertification, or for higher salary levels. 00:34:25.260 --> 00:34:28.000 The more we allow ourselves to be stretched thin 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:32.289 by teaching, the less effective we're going to 00:34:32.289 --> 00:34:34.610 be for the students who do genuinely need our 00:34:34.610 --> 00:34:38.570 help and our best. So if you've got two hours 00:34:38.570 --> 00:34:41.409 and you want to learn some strategies for implementing 00:34:41.409 --> 00:34:45.250 boundaries, understanding teacher burnout, and 00:34:45.250 --> 00:34:48.670 some of the symptoms that can lead teachers to 00:34:48.670 --> 00:34:51.170 really lose that passion, this is definitely 00:34:51.170 --> 00:34:53.750 a course for you. And currently we are building 00:34:53.750 --> 00:34:57.590 one on classroom management. Title is TBD. But 00:34:57.590 --> 00:35:01.849 the idea is that Since it's our most requested 00:35:01.849 --> 00:35:05.050 topic. How, as music teachers and then separately 00:35:05.050 --> 00:35:08.050 for general educators, can music be a tool for 00:35:08.050 --> 00:35:11.329 facilitating learning in a classroom when we 00:35:11.329 --> 00:35:15.369 see statistically that student behavior and absenteeism 00:35:15.369 --> 00:35:20.289 is at all -time lows and we need help? So in 00:35:20.289 --> 00:35:23.050 order for us to feel like we're able to contribute 00:35:23.050 --> 00:35:26.289 to the teaching workforce in a meaningful way, 00:35:26.510 --> 00:35:29.650 we are working with three expert advisors who 00:35:29.650 --> 00:35:33.579 are helping us develop. develop some concrete 00:35:33.579 --> 00:35:36.119 tools and recommendations for teachers to feel 00:35:36.119 --> 00:35:38.599 equipped with better classroom management skills. 00:35:38.820 --> 00:35:40.300 It's great to know that there's tools out there 00:35:40.300 --> 00:35:42.420 that help them do that. And I think one of the 00:35:42.420 --> 00:35:44.420 things that helped play into that training is 00:35:44.420 --> 00:35:46.960 in fact that PERMA model that you offer, which 00:35:46.960 --> 00:35:50.699 is positive emotions, engagement, relationships, 00:35:51.219 --> 00:35:54.039 meaning. and accomplishments, those five different 00:35:54.039 --> 00:35:56.280 categories, which are a good framework to positive 00:35:56.280 --> 00:35:58.159 psychology. And I wanted to say thank you so 00:35:58.159 --> 00:36:00.460 much again for continuing to share both your 00:36:00.460 --> 00:36:03.280 expertise and humanity for teachers of really 00:36:03.280 --> 00:36:06.710 all subject areas. Whether it's a playlist, a 00:36:06.710 --> 00:36:09.150 lyric, or even just a quiet moment of music in 00:36:09.150 --> 00:36:11.510 our classrooms, what you choose to bring in could 00:36:11.510 --> 00:36:14.130 be what helps the student feel safe, seen, and 00:36:14.130 --> 00:36:16.210 heard. You don't have to be a music teacher to 00:36:16.210 --> 00:36:18.369 offer any of that. So thank you again for listening. 00:36:18.489 --> 00:36:20.710 And as always, remember to take care of yourself 00:36:20.710 --> 00:36:22.809 and your classrooms and let the power of music 00:36:22.809 --> 00:36:25.710 guide you there. Thank you for joining us on 00:36:25.710 --> 00:36:27.730 the Classroom Narratives Healing and Education 00:36:27.730 --> 00:36:31.010 podcast. If today's episode inspired you or made 00:36:31.010 --> 00:36:33.010 you think differently, I'd love to hear from 00:36:33.010 --> 00:36:35.869 you. drop a comment or review wherever you listen 00:36:35.869 --> 00:36:38.670 to podcasts and stay connected with us on the 00:36:38.670 --> 00:36:41.050 at classroom narratives podcast over instagram 00:36:41.050 --> 00:36:44.550 and facebook remember together we can transform 00:36:44.550 --> 00:36:48.190 our scars into stars in education one conversation 00:36:48.190 --> 00:36:49.269 at a time