• Watch my hands as I conduct your scales. You’ll notice some nuances. Will I hear you match my expressions?


• Sing the song like you’re telling the story. Tat’s what anyone listening wants to hear: your expres- siveness.


• Let’s sing/play the fourth phrase. Disregard the bar lines, because I want you to shape the sound for that cluster of notes. And the cluster doesn’t fit within the bar lines.


• How will you make your hand signs as musical as your singing while you perform that pattern?


Teaching music in lifeless and unmusical ways can wear on our spirits. Prioritizing musicality and expressiveness can revitalize us. We can give ourselves permission to choose music we enjoy and to preserve its musical integrity in our teaching. When we teach what we love, we are passionate about it, and our teaching will reflect that vibrancy.


Take Your Best Self To School


Too easily and too frequently, we can adopt a habit of being in perpetual fight-or-flight mode at school. Te stress caused by living in constant anxiety can interfere with sleep, mood, digestion, resilience, and, of course, good teaching.


We can all-too-easily slide into a pattern of seeking (and finding!) behaviors that rile us, people who threaten us, and conflicts that make us want to fight or flee. When we consciously choose the intention to be our best, all sorts of interactions, big and small, shiſt our focus and recast our feelings. Manifesting our intent each morning can power- fully frame the way we want to behave, react, comment, and care.


Te simple yet powerful attitudes and behaviors described here will not eliminate the hard, sometimes wearisome work required of all educators. Tese ideas can, however, re- vive you in moments of doubt and vitalize you in the midst of myriad emotional challenges every teaching assignment presents. Regaining the life in your teaching may require the baby steps of experimenting with these dimensions of play- fulness, understanding, musicality, behavior, and your best self, but your mental, physical, and social health is worth every step!


References


Bennett, P. D. (2016). Questioning the unmusical ways we teach children music (286–307), Teaching general music: Approaches, issues, and viewpoints. Eds. Car- los Abril & Brent Gault. New York: Oxford University Press.


9 MMEA wishes to thank JWPepper & Son, Inc., for their


generous sponsorship of numerous MMEA events, including:


• General Music Fall Workshop • Collegiate Conference


• Young Singers Choral Workshops • Elementary Honors Choir • Board Meeting Lunches


Please visit their website: www.jwpepper.com


Bennett, P. D. (2014). Playfulness is an attitude: A practice that revitalizes teaching and learning. Alfred Music. Ledger Lines email blast.


Bennett, P. D. & Bartholomew, D. R. (1997). SongWorks 1: Singing in the education of children. Van Nuys, Cal- ifornia: Wadsworth. 2014 republished by SongWorks Press.


Charles, C. M. (1985). Building classroom discipline: From models to practice. New York: Longman.


Ruiz, D. M. (1997). Te four agreements: A practical guide to personal freedom. San Rafael, California: Am- ber-Allen Publishing.


Rusk, T. (1993). Te power of ethical persuasion. New York: Penguin.


Reprinted with permission from Texas Music Educators Association.


Peggy D. Bennett is Professor Emerita of Music Education at Oberlin Conservatory of Music and is a certified mediator and life coach. Vicky Suarez is an Elementary Music Special- ist at Prairie Creek Elementary (Richardson ISD).


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