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Posts by category
- Category: Blog
- Are you burned out? Take this test to find out.
- 11 Ways to Lose (and Keep) a Band Student
- Episode 179 – Job Hunting Tips
- James Divine – Youth Success Speaker
- A Glimpse of my (Italian Widowed) Mom in Heaven
- One piece of charcoal…
- Episode 178 – 7 Things They Don’t Teach You in College
- Episode 177 – Help! I’m retiring/leaving and don’t know what kind of job to do
- Episode 176 – Take Care of YOU
- Episode 175 – Creating a Great Culture
- Tube Socks, Giants, and a Teacher’s Trust
- Be a Thermostat – Not a Thermometer
- Little Known Italian Secret Predicts Marital Success
- 7 (Fun) Rules for Eating During the Holidays
- Episode 169 – Why I Don’t Do Christmas Concerts
- Why I Don’t Trust the Media
- The Cruelty of Quarantine
- 4 Tips to Help you be a Better Band Director using the Acronym BAND.
- The Cool Grandpa Podcast
- Doing Part-Time Work Within the Four Corners of Your Home
- The Grandmother I (Almost) Never Had
- Lights. Cameras. Action. – Tips for Online Teaching
- 10 Steps to Writing a Book in 9 Months
- 10 Ways (tongue in cheek) To Make America Safer
- America The Beautiful – My Tribute
- Tribute to My Dad
- Episode 159 – I Almost Didn’t Join 6th Grade Band
- Sometimes You Need a Coach
- Episode 158 – A Love Letter to Title I Teachers
- Hashtags Don’t Change The World
- The Sheep, The Sheepdogs and the Wolves
- Don’t Confuse Being Famous With Making Money
- Searching for a Job?
- Just Say No!
- James Divine – Youth Speaker
- 9 traits that GREAT students have
- Graduation Speech
- How To Practice
- A Farmer’s Life – Tone Poem
- Education Reimagined
- I Thought I Was Going To Jail
- The Day I Stole my Mom’s Identity
- It was recommended that we abort one of our kids
- I Was a 7th Grade Bully
- Get A First Down
- The First (and only) Time I Picked up a Prostitute
- The 5 Band Directors You Meet In Heaven
- Get Started Writing a Book
- Music Intervals Lesson
- 7 Ways Christians Can Serve During the Coronavirus
- Papa Jimmy Is Running for President
- A Love Letter to my Fellow Title I Teachers
- All Dogs Go To Heaven
- Be Nice
- 93 year old schools you about facebook
- Be Thankful for Everything
- Put Some SPICE in Your Life in 2020
- Prayer Has Never Been Removed from Schools
- How To Book More Gigs
- I Wasn’t Always This Way
- The Beatles Had It Right
- You could never disappoint me!
- College Students – You’ve Been Lied To
- I Was Interviewed by The Cannoli Coach
- 11 Ways To Lose A Band Student
- Teachers: Powerful Forces for Good or Bad
- Risk
- Why I Love Colorado
- Keeping Up With The Times
- You Matter!
- James Divine’s Year In Review
- Advice From Your Italian Grandfather
- Don’t Jump Off The Rollercoaster
- I Want an Answer!
- Your life is measured
- Here’s a replay of “Conversations with Michelle” radio show
- Block out Fear
- I Have the Best Job in the World
- My Earliest Memories
- Wait Until You See What His Mom Gave Him for Breakfast
- I Wasn’t Always This Way
- Advice On Choosing Quality Band Literature at the Appropriate Level for Your Musicians
- Advice for Churches on Hiring a Worship Leader
- 4 Steps to Being a Better Band Director Using the Acronym BAND
- The Story Project – Funny stories of growing up Italian
- Deutschland – The experience of a lifetime
- Everybody Loves Jimmy
- With one proclamation, President Trump would have my unending support
- Differentiation in Band Camp
- How To Be A Great Student
- Don’t Waste Your Time On New Year’s Resolutions
- I’m Glad My Marching Band Didn’t Make State
- Follow these 7 tips for an extra 7 hours this week
- Sleeping Underneath A Piano
- Category: Education
- Category: Music Business
- Category: Events
- Category: Podcast
- Episode 182 – Should You Focus On Sound With Beginners – Here Are Three Tips
- Episode 181 – Teaching Jazz Phrasing
- Episode 180 – Have you thought of leaving the profession – Hang in there
- Episode 173 – Easy Ways to Incorporate Reading Into Band
- Episode 172 – 5 Tips for Student Engagement in an Online Environment
- Episode 171 – Marching Band is Needed Now More Than Ever Before
- Episode 170 – Interview with Scott Watson of the University of Kansas
- Episode 168 – Why I Made the Shift to Teaching Business
- Episode 167 – Radically Rethinking Grading
- Episode 166 – 6 Strategies for Surviving the Stress of Teaching Music
- Episode 165 – Interview with DJ Eshelman
- Episode 164 – Why Large Ensembles are STILL Important
- Episode 163 – Don’t Neglect These Four Things
- Episode 162 – 5 Tips to Gain 5 Hours in Your Week
- Episode 161 – Starting the First Day of School Well
- Episode 160 – 10 Band/Life Lessons I Learned from the Coronavirus
- Episode 157 – What To Do This Summer
- Episode 156 – Searching for a Job
- Episode 155 – A Method for Teaching Students How to Practice Difficult Passages
- Episode 154 – 8 Tips to Add Spice to Your Rehearsal
- Episode 153 – Make Lesson Planning Easier
- Episode 152 – How Music Saved My Life; James’ story
- Episode 151 – Making More Music by Managing Administrative Mayhem
- Episode 150 – Top 13 Mistakes New Directors Make
- Episode 149 – 7 Strategies for Working with a Small Jazz Band
- Episode 148 – 4 Tips to Help Your Band Sound Their Best
- Episode 147 – Getting Students to Play in Tune
- Episode 146 – 7 Tips for Gaining More Time for Teaching Music
- Episode 145 – Dealing with Post-Marching Band Season Depression
- Episode 144 – 6 Tips for Keeping Percussionists Engaged
- Episode 143 – 16 Things I Wish I Knew About Festival as a Young Director
- Episode 142 – Repertoire Selection Tips
- Episode 141 – What To Say at the Concert
- Episode 140 – 5 Tips for Developing Great Student Relationships
- Episode 139 – Help Beginner Trumpet Players Change Partials
- Episode 138 – Getting Middle School Students to Quiet Down and Focus
- Episode 137 – How To Structure Rehearsal Time
- Episode 136 – 10 Ideas For Creating Traditions
- Episode 135 – 8 Tips For Dealing With Kids Wanting To Switch Instruments
- Episode 134 – Interview with Marc Gelfo, Creator of the Modacity Practice App
- Episode 133 – Baby Shark by Rote
- Episode 132 – The Funniest Statement You’ve Made to Your Ensemble
- Episode 131 – Healthy Easy Eating
- Episode 130 – When Students Misbehave for the Sub
- Episode 129 – Preventing Purposeful Damage to School-Owned Instruments and Accessories
- Episode 128 – 6 Small Steps to Avoid Burnout
- Episode 127 – 11 Movies Every Band Kid Should See
- Episode 126 – 7 Tips For Great Concert Behavior
- Episode 125 – 7 Tips For Making Band Fun
- Episode 124 – Should Practice Outside Of School Be Required
- Episode 123 – Six Responses When Students Say “I Want To Switch To Drums”
- Episode 122 – How To Properly Use Festival Warm-up Time
- Episode 121 – Prepare To Be Judged
- Episode 120 – How To Get Admin On Your Side
- Episode 119 – 12 Band Room Hacks
- Episode 118 – Ways To Mix Up The Method Book
- Episode 117 – Can I Go To The Bathroom – How To Respond
- Episode 116 – When A Life Is Lost
- Episode 115 – 11 Tips For Managing A Large Group Of Beginners
- Episode 114 – Parents Are 45 Minutes Late. What Do I Do?
- Episode 113 – When Students Are Dating
- Episode 112 – HELP! I’m a Band Teacher Teaching Orchestra.
- Episode 111 – What To Do With Too Many Trophies?
- Episode 110 – Getting More Parental Participation
- Episode 109 – Interview with Frank Tracz of Kansas State
- Episode 108 – When To Play (and other tips) for Football Games
- Episode 107 – A Rehearsal Method for Learning Marching Band “Sets”
- Episode 106 – Things I Never Thought I’d Say During Rehearsal
- Episode 105 – Motivating Students to Practice
- Episode 104 – Teaching the Audience Proper Etiquette
- Episode 103 – Incorporating Special Needs Students in Band
- Episode 102 – I Can’t Play, My Throat Hurts…How to Respond
- Episode 101 – Posting Audition Results
- Episode 100 – Instilling High Standards
- Episode 99 – Jazz Band Warm-ups
- Episode 98 – Are Practice Sheets Worthwhile
- Episode 97 – Thoughts on Marching Band Philosophy
- Episode 96 – 5 Tips for Dealing with Bullying Colleagues
- Episode 95 – Leaving or Retiring? Some Communication Tips…
- Episode 94 – 8 Tips to Consider on Overnight Trips
- Episode 93 – Dealing with Poisonous Students
- Episode 92 – Dealing With “I Quit”
- Episode 91 – Getting Non-Performing Groups to Sit Quietly
- Episode 90 – Retention and Recruiting Ideas
- Episode 89 – Dealing With Student Profanity
- Episode 88 – Tuning Tips
- Episode 87 – Italian Pronunciation of Music Terms
- Episode 86: 7 Things Your Middle School Director Wants You To Know
- Episode 85: How To Organize Your Music Library
- Episode 84: 5 Performing Groups in 62 Minutes
- Episode 83: How To Be a Great Guest Clinician
- Episode 82: Create a Yearly Task List
- Episode 81: Make Your Marching Band Rehearsal More Efficient
- Episode 80: Getting Sax Players To Play With Good Tone
- Episode 79: 14 Tips on How To Get Better At Fixing The Music
- Episode 78: Answers to Listener’s Questions
- Episode 77: How and Why You Should Start a Tri-M Chapter
- Episode 76: What to do (and eat) the night of a concert
- Episode 75: Student Led Rehearsal
- Episode 74 – Teaching Guitar Effectively: Interview with Bill Swick
- Episode 73: Creating a Marching Band Schedule and Plan
- Episode 72: Incorporate Writing & Math WITHOUT Giving Up Band Time
- Episode 71 – How To Practice, with Professor Jimmy
- Episode 70: Interview with Greg Martin, author of “Marching Band Techniques”
- Episode 69: What To Do The Last Two Weeks Of School
- Episode 68: Successful Differentiation In The Music Classroom
- Episode 67: 5 Tips For More Efficient Rehearsals
- Episode 66: The Joy of Teaching in a Rural School 2; interview with Karen Gregg
- Episode 65: How To Properly Use Festival Warm Up Time
- Episode 64 – Interview with Jane Church
- Episode 63: 11 Ways To Lose A Band Student (and 11 Ways To Keep Them)
- Episode 62: What To Do If You Don’t Have A Bass Player For Jazz Band
- Episode 61: Get Organized and Save TIME
- Episode 60: Proper Eating and Fitness for Band Directors
- Episode 56: Stop Comparing
- Category: Testimonials