67 episodes
On The Road To A Better Band Better Music Teaching
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- Education
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5.0 • 19 Ratings
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Inspirations, thoughts, and challenges on how to improve your teaching in your elementary, middle school, or high school concert band program. The topics can also be excellent thought-pieces for music education majors and their professors.
Listen on your way to or from school! Episodes are built around a five-day cycle:
Day 1: Core beliefs
Day 2: Working smarter, not harder
Day 3: Ask me anything!
Day 4: The more you know
Day 5: The more they know
Episodes run between 10 and 20 minutes, perfect for your drive. Every Band Director is on their own journey, but let me help you apply my years of experience to yours. “On the road to a better band” is professional development that actually applies to YOU as a band teacher. See you on the road.
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It's Not About You
Day 1 in the 5 day cycle where we discuss core beliefs about teaching band
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Short term and long term solutions
Day 2 in the five-day cycle covers topics around “working smarter, not harder.” In today’s episode I’ll be giving some suggestions and examples of solving not only short term conflicts but the importance of implementing long term solutions.
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Creating “Buy-in”
Day 3 in the topic cycle is an “ask me anything” day. Today’s question was “how do I get my students to buy-in?”
Ask me a question for a future episode: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScfR1J0MKn3oKVf5oWZ52QbP_uQSesXh48GQYKnOoyMmmlDAw/viewform?usp=sf_link -
Cooperation vs. Competition
Day 4 in the weekly cycle is a “The More You Know” day. Today we’re looking at the ways internal (not external) competition can hold back the growth of your musicians and ensemble.
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Major scales, key, and fluency
Day 5 in the cycle is a “The More They Know” day. What do students need to know as they continue in their journey towards becoming self-sufficient musicians? Today we’re looking at major scales. What does it mean to *really* know a scale, and why do we want students to know them? Do you have comments on the first full topic cycle in the show? Let me know what you think: brianjwis@gmail.com
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Honoring the music
Day 1 in the topic cycle is always about core beliefs. Today I talk about what it means to me for students to fully know the piece (not just the part) they are learning.
Customer Reviews
Concrete, sequential wisdom
No fancy guests. Just the voice of experience dropping valuable knowledge in each bite-sized episode. 👍🏼👍🏼
A MUST for all band directors
There are many podcasts devoted to the nuts and bolts of being a band educator. Some are also focused on best-known personalities in the industry and their own keys to success. Brian Wis is an unsung hero who challenges directors to think about the WHY. He discusses the philosophies behind methodology and his student-centered approach causes me to really think about how I approach my classroom. I like that each episode is short and concise. I can listen on my way to work and digest the ideas as I go about my day.
I wish I had known Brian early in my career but I encourage those who are to subscribe and also access the supporter-only content. It’s worth every penny.
If you aren’t listening to this… you are missing out!
This podcast is the new essential band listening podcast!!!
What makes this podcast so special:
1) Every episode is a reminder that students should be at the center of everything we do.
2) He challenges you to THINK and really reflect in every episode. Every episode causes me to self evaluate and it’s amazing!
3) Every episode is so carefully crafted to be direct and helpful. The attention to detail in ideas shared and flow of each episode is fantastic.
4) Everything Brian says is THE TRUTH!!! It’s amazing.