This Post Has Been EVERYWHERE This Week:

On Tuesday, Highland Park Elementary School (in Derby, NY) shared this post that has absolutely dominated my social media feeds.

If you haven't seen it, the headline reads, "YOU CAN DO BOTH!" and it features student athletes (etc) with their musical instruments.

The message? You don't have to choose. You can play an instrument AND play a sport.

Of course, StudioTeacherWorld loves this kind of messaging.

How many of our hearts have been broken over talented students abandoning lessons in the name of sports?

...but here's where my brain kept going when scrolling this post...

Of ALL the instruments mentioned, piano was nowhere to be seen. Presumably, all of the student musicians featured were part of their school band/orchestra, where playing their instruments is built into their school day.

Their directors don't have to worry about getting them to sit down with their instrument (at least, for rehearsal). They don't have to worry about scheduling conflicts and whether or not a student will choose the football game over band class.

Moreover, band is "a thing", right? It's an established organization; students know exactly what is expected of them and what role they play within the group.

These are aspects of running a private music studio we sometimes miss. We often neglect the importance of establishing our studios as "a thing". We overlook communicating clear expectations and giving our students a variety of roles so they understand where they fit in the larger whole.

...so as I saw teacher after teacher celebrate that Facebook post this week, I couldn't help but wonder: how many of us are STILL missing the point here?

These are thoughts I've been working through for the last decade or so. I've collaborated with one of the most respected Sports Psychologists in the field today, Dr. Lindsay Blom, to put together a presentation PACKED with strategies to help studio teachers position themselves alongside team sports.

I first debuted this material at the MTNA Conference in 2016. Since then, it has solidified itself as my most-requested presentation for teacher groups.

I recently decided it was time to hit the "refresh" button on this session, giving it a new format and including new action items and updated research.

And - since I'm missing the MTNA National Conference this year - I figured I might as well try to conjure up a tiny bit of conference magic on my own and offer it up online.

SO, FRIENDS: We're doing this!

Tuesday, March 19th, at noon (eastern time), I will present my UPDATED Varsity Musician's Playbook.

A replay and all downloadable resources will be available the following day.

The way I see it, we have two choices: We can either choose to run our studios the same-old-way and watch our students abandon their lessons for team sports, or we can experiment with new approaches (many of which are simple!) and prove that they can, indeed, DO BOTH!

Of all the things I talk about in TeacherWorld (which is a lot!), I am most confident in the ideas found within this presentation.

There truly is something for everyone found within this subject matter, and I CAN'T WAIT to share it with more of you.

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Let's have our own little mini-conference experience while so many of our peers are living it up in Atlanta!

🥂Cheers to DOING BOTH, indeed, friends!" 🥂

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