193 | Reflect & Renew: Setting Intentions for a New School Year

Season 7 kicks off with a fresh invitation to pause, reflect, and set meaningful intentions for the school year ahead. In this episode of That Music Podcast, Bryson shares six thoughtful reflection prompts designed to help music teachers process last year’s highs and lows, from student breakthroughs to classroom challenges and personal wellbeing.

Listeners will walk away with actionable ways to build on their successes, learn from missteps, and bring more joy and intention into their teaching. Whether tuning in during a commute or a planning break, this episode offers a grounded, encouraging start to a new season of teaching.

Episode Chapters:

• 0:00 Introduction
• 2:02 A student moment that stuck with you (and why)
• 3:09 Reflecting on a teaching challenge and what it taught you
• 4:06 Where your students grew, and how you helped
• 4:25 What gave you energy last year? What drained you?
• 5:54 Non-teaching routines that helped you feel renewed
• 6:46 Your one word or phrase for the school year
• 7:34 Why this kind of reflection matters
• 8:30 Takeaways

Links and Resources: 

• The Elementary Music Summit®
• Elementary Newbie Guide
• Disabilities Guide
• Steady Beat Survival Guide
• Join Elementary Music EDGE™

Have questions or want to share feedback? Reach out to us at hello@thatmusicteacher.com - we’d love to hear from you!

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 2:02 A student moment that stuck with you (and why)
• 3:09 Reflecting on a teaching challenge and what it taught you
• 4:06 Where your students grew, and how you helped
• 4:25 What gave you energy last year? What drained you?
• 5:54 Non-teaching routines that helped you feel renewed
• 6:46 Your one word or phrase for the school year
• 7:34 Why this kind of reflection matters
• 8:30 Takeaways

Transcript

Bryson Tarbet: 0:00

We are so back and I cannot wait for us to dive into a brand new season of that music podcast. You are listening to that music podcast with Bryson Tart, the curriculum designer and educational consultant behind that music teacher in the elementary music summit. Each week, Bryson and his guests will dive into the reality of being an elementary music teacher and how music can truly be transformative in the lives of the students you serve. Show notes and resources mentioned in this episode. Can be found@thatmusicteacher.com. Hello and welcome back to another episode of That Music podcast. We are super excited to be here in season seven, which is absolutely wild to say because we are super excited to dive into another season of bite-sized content specific professional development that you can listen to while you're driving washing dishes. Dissociating on the drive home, whatever. We are so glad that you are, we are in your ear holes, wherever you're listening today. Before we dive into this week's episode, I want to ask you a question, and that is, what is one thing from last year that you want to carry into this year? Think about that for a second. What is something that happened, an idea that you had a whatever, inspiration. What is something that you had with you in the previous school year that you want to bring with you in this year? That's what we're really gonna be talking about today. We are going to be talking about how we can reflect on what ha, what went well, what didn't went well, and use that reflection to build out the perfect year. Right. Um, obviously things will, will go against. That plan here and there and everywhere. Uh, but at least we can have a plan and we can make some steps to make this year your best school year yet. So grab a pencil and paper, or if you're driving, don't do that. Um, and we're gonna dive in and talk about how we can truly make this school year your best year yet. All right. The first thing I want you to think about is the student side of things, the student facing side of things, the things that the students would notice, the things that they kind of, their day to day. And I want you to start by describing, you know, taking your pencil or if you're driving, doing this in your head. Um, I want you to describe one moment from the last year that you felt a strong connection with your students through music. And then ask, how'd you get there? What facilitated that? What was that moment? What were the pieces that made that moment so special that they're sticking with you now? So take a moment, brainstorm on that, pause the episode if you need to, and come on back. And once you've done that, then I want you to take an action step and I want you to think about how you can be more intentional. This year to create more opportunities like that. So if you notice that you really felt connected with your students when you were able to bring popular music into the classroom. Well then there you go. Come up with some plans to create more of those, opportunity to have that kind of music in your classroom or to invite that into your lessons. Alright, here's your next question. What is one teaching challenge that you faced this year, and what did you learn from it? Maybe it was you implemented a new strategy or you implemented ukuleles for the first time and it just didn't go very well. Um, what didn't go well? And then here's the really important part. What did you learn from it? Because even if it was an absolute failure and you never got it all figured out, I'm sure you learned something. So take a moment, think about that, pause if you need to, and then we'll be right back here. Once you've done that, then I want you to come up with your action step, which is identify one small way that you can apply what you learned. Your teaching this year. So again, if we're sticking with that example of the ukuleles being an absolute mess or you know, logistically, you know, passing them out was just a nightmare and create all these classroom management issues. Alright, there's an opportunity for you to figure out a better way to pass out your instruments so that you can keep control of your classroom and use those instruments in the future. Here's question number three. What is one area that you saw significant musical growth in your students this past year? What strategies contributed to that success? Think about that for a second. Write it down. And then once you've figured that out, I want you to ask yourself and write down some answers. How can you build upon that success this year? For question four, we're going to shift a little bit more into your teacher wellbeing because I think it's important and I don't think we talk about it nearly enough. So question four is what consistently gave you energy last year and what consistently drained you? Think about that. Think about things that are in your control and things that are, you're out of control because I want you to remember both. Um, and then once you've kind of created a list of those, I want you to plan one small way to incorporate more of what energizes you into your life. And one, and try to figure out how you can create one way to mitigate what drains you. Let me give you an example. I always had kindergarten as my very last class of the day. Um, the kindergarten teachers loved it. I wasn't a huge fan, but there we go. So that was something that. Really drained me. Um, not because I didn't like kindergarten, 'cause I love kindergarten. It's just kindergarten music at the end of the day was just a little bit too high intensity for me. So for me, I realized that I need to be more aware of my sensory needs earlier in the day so that I could be more present in that kindergarten class. And then the thing that just lit me up is whenever I could take a. Even just a minute or two in my class and connect with my students. So for me, I've talked about this before. I stole this idea from a cooperating teacher a long time ago, Megan McDonald, um, where every single day I would show them the silly socks that I was wearing, and they got a chance to show me what socks they were wearing. It didn't take a lot of time. It had nothing to do with music, but it was a really good way to connect with my students and it really lit me up. Question five is, I think, really important, which is what is one non-work activity that help you feel refreshed and renewed? One non-work activity. And then your action step for that question is schedule a specific time for that activity in the near future. So for instance, earlier in my career, um, I, for the first couple of years actually, I sang, um, in a professional church choir. Um, and I loved it. It was a lot of work. Um, it was a lot of rehearsals, but I loved it and it was something that really lit me up because it was performing that I didn't get to do. It was different than elementary music. And also it was a great way for me to just stay spiritually grounded. So for me, I, you know, if I were gonna be sitting down and think about the different ways that I could, you know, non-work activities that lit me up, it would say, all right, how can I be a part of the worship band now? What can I do? How can I make my schedule, make that happen and make it happen? Here's your last question, and that is, what is your one word. Short phrase, if you're not one over one word, what is your one word that you want to embody your approach to teaching and wellbeing this year? What is your, what is the word of the year? Write down that phrase, place it somewhere that you're gonna see it all the time. I use typically had mine on a post-it note and I'm put it on my bathroom ear.'cause I wanted to see that every day. Um, for me, honestly, most years my word was joy because I wanted my students to come into my classroom and feel the joy of music. I wanted to walk into my classroom and feel the joy of music. Like, especially like, I think I first started doing this words during the co, all the COVID craziness. Like I wanted to feel that joy again. So whatever your word is, write it down, place it somewhere that you're gonna see it and make it happen. So do I think that answering these six questions is going to make every problem go away this year? No. I, I, I know what the reality of teaching is. I know that we're gonna, even the best made plans will kind of fall off the rails sometimes. But I still think it's important for us to make a plan, um, because, you know, if we're sticking with this train analogy, right, of going off the rails. A train that has rails is gonna be far more successful than one that doesn't, you're gonna make it so much farther. You're gonna make it so much more. You're gonna know where you're going, know when, know when you're off track, when you have a compass point to follow. Um, so I think it's really important for us to take some time, think about what happened last year. Think about it now with a clear head now that it's not, you know, June, and you're still in the craziness of it all, but think about how. You can take all of the things that happened this past school year, the good, the bad, the ugly, and use that to make this your best school year. Yet. On that note, I wanna leave you with this. I know that I, and all of my podcast episodes and trainings and workshops and everything. Thanking you for making a difference in your students' lives. Um, and I'll be honest, I don't remember when I started doing that. It just kind of started happening. Um, but I think it's really, really important for us, especially at the beginning of the year, to remember that what we're doing matters. Even when it doesn't feel like anybody else cares. There's a student in your classroom that their day is better because they got to see you and because they got to experience music through you. So let's do the work so that we can make sure that happens each and every day. Again, thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of That Music podcast. I cannot wait for you to hear the rest of the episodes for season seven. If you haven't left us a review on iTunes or Spotify or YouTube or wherever you're listening or watching, we would really appreciate if five star review, if you're watching on YouTube, leaving a comment down below, letting us know that you list like this week's episode. Or maybe if you didn't, I don't know. Above everything else. Thank you so much for making a difference in the wise of the students that you teach.