Developing Teaching Habits toward Health & Well-Being

Music education programs and teaching can be stressful. Besides general life stress, music education students also have performance expectations, challenges with scheduling rehearsals and observations, and zero- or one-unit coursework. This collegiate chat will engage pre-service teachers in discussions related to teacher health and well-being through an examination of classroom practices. We will discuss the development of healthy habits related to community building, rehearsal techniques, responding to behavior, and mindful self-regulation.

Michelle S. McConkey is an Associate Professor of music education at California State University in Chico. She teaches courses in music education, aural musicianship, and music for children for Liberal Studies students. Michelle received her degrees in music education: a doctorate degree from Arizona State University in Phoenix, a Master of Music from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and a Bachelor of Music from the Crane School of Music, State University of New York in Potsdam. Michelle has taught children for more than 20 years, including nine years in public and private schools in New York, Utah, and Arizona. She has completed Kodàly certification and has presented professional development workshops and research sessions at various state, national, and international conferences. Michelle’s research interests include the health and wellness of undergraduate music education students, the music teacher’s role in the emotional development of children, and social emotional learning. She is the author of Social Emotional Learning for the Pre-service and In-service Music Teacher: Your Wellbeing Matters.

Aaron Lohmeyer is Assistant Professor of Music Education and Jazz Band Director at Winona State University in Minnesota. He received his B.A. in religion from Davidson College, in Davidson, North Carolina; an M.M. in saxophone performance from Florida State University in Tallahassee; and his M.Ed and Ph.D. in music education from Florida State University. Aaron has developed his pedagogy and research interests through public school teaching experiences in classroom general music, beginning band, world drumming, class guitar, jazz band, adaptive music, and creative composition. His publications can be seen in Psychology of Music; Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education; The Orff Echo; General Music Today; String Notes; and The Florida Music Director. He has presented at both the state and national levels on Orff-Schulwerk, jazz pedagogy, popular music pedagogy (PMP), electronic music composition, and music in special education. His current research and practice examine diverse musical literacies for the digitally connected world.

NAfME presents this live virtual event at no charge to all as a service to the music education profession. To register, you must enter your NAfME member information or create a nonmember account. After registering, check your email for instructions. A recording of this program will be available to all registrants for one week following the live event. Members can also view archived NAfME webinars in the NAfME Academy. The views expressed are those of the presenter; they do not necessarily reflect the views of NAfME.