I wasn’t always this way! People look at me – 57, getting better looking each year, married to my high school sweetheart, parent of four, grandparent of 10 (and counting), successful band teacher, author, speaker, musician – and they think “Wow, James is so confident and sure of himself. Life has been good to him. …
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Choosing Quality Band Literature Here are a few things I have learned about selecting music for wind band… Ability Level of the Ensemble You Direct: A piece of music may be the greatest creation ever made, but if it is too difficult for the students to play, they will become discouraged. I often made the …
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In 1998, I started my first teaching job with passion, dedication, love and joy. I gave my all to my students, but I neglected myself and – I’m ashamed to say – at times my family. I became extremely burned out. When I left that school for another in 2005, I promised myself I would …
Read more “Are you burned out? Take this easy test. Make changes.”
11 Ways To Lose (and Keep) A Band Student Nobody wants to lose a band student. Sometimes it’s inevitable – you get a student who doesn’t want to work at all for example. Other times it may be our own fault. Here are 11 ways to lose a band student for sure (and 11 ways to …
Dealing with a family member who has had a stroke is very difficult. There are so many things to attend to, not to mention wondering if your family member will even survive! My mom had a stroke in May of 2016. At first we thought she was going to die. When she made it through …
Have you ever had a teacher say or do something that had a huge impact on you for your entire life? I have had many of these opportunities. Some teachers affect you in a negative way. I’ve had my share of those. Most of my teachers had huge, positive impacts on my life. My seventh …
In a few short days, I celebrate 34 years of marriage with my best friend Susan. My own 5 foot tall mom was able to predict the success of this marriage with this little known secret for success way back in 1984 when I first started dating Susan. Today, I share this secret worldwide so …
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And don’t forget to be thankful for all the blessings in your life. YOU are a blessing in mine. YOU make my life rich. I love you. James hosts The Music Ed Podcast and also shares an inspirational keynote in which he uses his 100+ year old saxophone to talk about how – even though our lives …
Read more “7 (Fun) Rules for Losing Weight and Staying Healthy”
I spent 1986-1996 as part of the Army band in Virginia, Japan, and Colorado. During that time we usually performed more than 200 times a year and often participated in high-profile events that included the media. I can’t tell you the number of wonderful events I was a part of that were featured on the …
4 Tips to Help you be a Better Band Director using the Acronym BAND. There are four key areas that – if you focus on these and make them a priority – they can help you be a better band director. None of them have anything to do with music, but the word “BAND” does …
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My Italian mom told me so many stories of her father – how she struggled to keep up with his long legs while he walked with purpose, how proud she was of him providing for her family, and especially how he told Bible stories to his 9 kids, making them come alive with his story-telling …
Read more “What If She Had Not Decided To Be My Grandmother”
If I can write a book, anyone can do it. I’ve had the honor of writing six. I’m working on number seven right now. Here are ten steps to follow… I created a course that takes you step by step through this process. Find it HERE. James is a retired teacher, now motivational speaker. He …
I once had a friend who was very overweight and had diabetes. We were hanging out and he ordered a double sugar, extra fat, triple whipped cream something or other from the coffee chain. When I expressed surprise that he was able to drink that, he showed me his insulin pump attached to his hip …
Several years ago, the school community I was a part of suffered a terrible tragedy! A mom and three of her kids died in a highway accident. The dad was not on this trip and survived. Two of the kids were in the same class that I taught. It was a small class of about …
There are three types of people in the world: The Sheep, The Sheepdogs and The Wolves. Most people are sheep. They live a somewhat normal life…they go to work, do what they’re told, pay their taxes, raise their families, watch tv, hang out on weekends. For the most part not creating any waves. Most of …
Read more “The Sheep, The Sheepdogs and the Wolves. Which one are you?”
Many people set their aim on becoming famous, thinking that’s the path to earning money as a musician. It’s not. There are famous people who make money, but there are many musicians you probably have never heard of who make $75,000 a year or more plugging away in their local community. I have a friend …
Did you know that the ancient Hebrew language does not have a word for coincidence? I “found” my first teaching job by “coincidence”. (in quotes because I don’t believe in that word) I was performing full time and wanted to give teaching a try. I would not have sought out a full time teaching job, …
Education is in an upheaval. Teachers have been forced to learn how to teach online practically overnight. Parents were forced to suddenly become their child’s coach, teacher, and counselor. All this while we are at record unemployment rates, with many working from home while still supervising their kids. What if we took advantage of this …
The summers of 2010-2012 I was driving every week to Weatherford, Oklahoma to work on a master’s degree in music education. The trip took me through the Texas panhandle. The panhandle gets its name because when you view Texas on a map, there’s a thin stretch of land in the northwest corner that – when …
In 2016, my mom suffered a debilitating stroke. I was the one tasked with handling her affairs. I sold her condo, packed away many of her things and found a place where she would live after her rehab. It was a daunting and exhausting task! Little tasks that should have been simple and easy to …
We received the news of all of our kids arrivals with joy and anticipation. Children are a gift from God. With one of our children, the doctor was a little concerned with some things he saw on our required test results. We were told that there was a good chance the baby would be born …
Read more “It was recommended that we abort one of our kids”
Throughout my childhood, I was often picked on and bullied. I was somewhat of a momma’s boy. I was not close to my father. I had a high emotional IQ and cried easily…the men in my life pounded into me (sometimes literally) that men don’t cry. One day in 7th grade things turned around… Red …
Read more “I Became A Bully. I Felt Powerful. I Felt Strong. It Was Wrong.”
The first (and only) time i picked up a prostitute It was October of 2000, one of those rare, grey drizzly days we sometimes get in Colorado. I was on Nevada Avenue – the main drag through downtown Colorado Springs – when I saw her. I pulled my van to the side of the road …
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When I first started teaching band in 1998, I was VERY isolated. I didn’t even know very many band directors in my local area. I was only part time, showing up on campus right before my 1st class and leaving right after my 2nd class…I had kids to pick up from daycare. Most of my …
Read more “5 Great Band Directors and How They Influenced Me”
ENROLL HERE I think that EVERYONE has a book inside of them, but maybe they just don’t know how to get started writing it. In this course, I teach you the steps I used to create my own six books. You won’t become a millionaire, but you can get your message out there and sell …
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Dear Fellow Title I Teacher: Don’t compare yourself to other teachers. You are amazing. You work hard. Even if they don’t tell you, your students appreciate and love you! You may be one of the few stable things in their life! When you look at where your students are “on the charts”, often they fall …
Man’s Best Friend. Faithful. Loyal. These are just some of the ways dogs have been described. Not many dogs have undertaken the task of writing about life. It’s important for you – the human – to understand what it is we see in life as dogs. Dogs were designed by God to be special, to …