Explore sessions and workshop descriptions below

Activating Student Leaders: Nurturing Voice and Agency.

Empower your student leaders to become catalysts for positive change in your school’s culture and climate. This session will provide practical strategies for developing essential leadership skills that enable students to influence their peers and advocate for systemic change effectively. By equipping student leaders with the tools they need to cultivate relational trust and foster a sense of belonging, you can create an environment where every student feels empowered to make a difference. Attendees will leave with actionable ideas for activating student leaders who can drive meaningful change within their schools and communities.

Charting our Future Conference – Foundation for Tacoma Students 2024 Session Notes | Slide Deck

Cultivating Inclusive Classrooms: Strategies for Equity and Growth

Explore innovative strategies for fostering inclusive classrooms focused on equity and student growth. Learn about trust psychology and growth pedagogy to empower educators in dismantling systemic barriers and addressing implicit biases. Discover practical approaches to champion diversity, equity, and inclusion, creating learning environments where all students can thrive.

Charting our Future Conference – Foundation for Tacoma Students 2024 Session Notes | Slide Deck

Motivate students and inspire musicality with implicit and explicit SEL.

Based on research in Trust Psychology, Growth Pedagogy and the CASEL Framework for SEL, this session connects what students believe about themselves and their music classroom to their musicianship and ensemble contribution. Focusing on SEL fosters knowledge, skills, and attitudes around social and emotional competence, and establishes equitable learning environments. Examining the beliefs of teachers and students impacts their habits/actions, which shapes their outcomes/results. Participants will leave with practical and conceptual skills to inspire both student growth and ensemble musicianship.

WMEA – Yakima 2024. Session Slides – Links & Resources

Developing a Growth Mindset for Music Students with Differentiated Portfolios

Have you seen teachers struggle with engaging multiple skill levels in one class or providing concrete evidence of mastery? Differentiated Portfolios are the solution!  Implementing them will challenge all students at appropriate levels, collect evidence of student learning and show student growth. Students learn how hard work leads to improvement over time, fostering growth mindsets. This session will show examples of portfolios, give tools to create your own and examine options for managing student work.

Association of Washington School Principles – Annual Conference, Spokane, 2019
FreshGrade Webinar – EdWeb Online, 2018
Tacoma Public Schools – Professional Development Session, 2018
Pacific Lutheran University – Guest Lecture, 2018
Washington Music Education Association – Conference Session, 2018
National Association for Music Education – National In-Service Conference, Dallas TX, 2017
WMEA Yakima – 2024 – SESSION SLIDES

Fostering a Culture of Belonging to Cultivate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The culture in any community directly impacts the joy and success of its members.  As teachers, coaches and leaders, it is imperative to foster communities based on welcoming, seeing and including all.  By utilizing research-based in Trust Psychology and Growth Pedagogy, it is possible to build spaces in which all belong and thrive.  Come to this session to learn equity focused strategies to create culture, deliver instruction and inspire change.

School’s Out Washington SUMMER BLAST – June 2023
Fostering Belonging to Support DEI – Slide Deck PDF
Fostering Belonging Session Notes – WORD / GOOGLE DOC

Fostering Joy, Trust and Belonging to inspire ensemble musicians

How do ideas of belonging, trust and joy impact your classroom, your teaching and your life?  How does focusing on these three things impact student growth? How can these strategies center students and create culturally responsive classrooms?
Looking through the lenses of Trust Psychology and Growth Pedagogy, we’ll unpack the ideas of belonging, trust and joy.  Participants will discuss strategies for practical implementation and evaluate outcomes for targeting student growth and culturally responsive practices.  Specific skills will relate to classroom climate and culture, delivering instruction, classroom management, and self-care.

All Northwest NAfME Conference, Bellevue – Feb. 2023
Joy Trust & Belonging – Slide Deck PDF

Teaching Drumline as a non-percussionist

When you are not an experienced percussionist but are teaching drumline with your marching band, there are a few basic entry points that can build the foundation for success.  This session will explore concrete strategies for teaching and assessing drumline technique, including grip, stroke types, rudiments, and an overview of various styles.  Participants will receive a method for differentiated skill development as well as numerous exercises and resources to use with students.

All Northwest NAfME Conference, Bellevue – Feb. 2023
Teaching Drumline – Slide Deck PDF

Making Equity Actionable: Practical Strategies to bring excellence for all students

After examining the WHAT and WHY of equity, this session will help you explore WHO is represented in your classroom and curriculum, WHERE the access and opportunities are and are not, and HOW we can ensure that all students belong and can thrive in our music classrooms.  Come and learn practical equity-based strategies for delivering instruction and establishing a successful classroom culture where all music students belong and succeed..

Washington Music Education Association, Yakima – Feb. 2022
Making Equity Actionable – Session Notes PDF

Growing All Students with Trust Psychology and Growth Pedagogy

This course will examine research driven brain-based teaching and learning through the lenses of Trust Psychology and Growth Pedagogy. 
Trust Psychology examines and explains how a high level of trust results in a high level of success.  Growth Pedagogy is a method and practice of teaching where every interaction leads to student growth.  Through examining research and experience, participants will understand how a balance of psychological foundation and pedagogical implementation result in student success.  Participants will reflect, make personal growth targets, and practice skills in four specific areas: classroom culture and social-emotional learning, delivering instruction, classroom management and teacher self-care.  This workshop provides both conceptual foundations and practical skills for immediate implementation in the classroom.  Participants will learn to find joy and inspire growth in all students.

Tacoma Public Schools – Professional Development Session, 2019
First Creek Middle School – Staff Development Day, 2019
Mason Middle School – Staff Development Day, 2020
Washington Music Education Association – State Conference, 2020
SoundEd Conference – Tacoma, 2020

Culturally Responsive Music Teaching

This session will explore research around culturally responsive teaching and apply to the music education context.  Participants will define critical terms relevant to culturally responsive teaching.  Participants will develop cultural competency and culturally responsive pedagogy through examining Trusty Psychology and Growth Pedagogy.  Participants will develop strategies to implement these practices in a music classroom to inspire growth in all students. In order to make equity actionable, teachers need to see the practical path forward and understand the philosophical rationale for developing new methods where all students are invited, included and encouraged.  More than covering the “what and why” of culturally responsive music teaching, this session will inspire action by reimagining our content , innovating and integrating our curriculum, examining our implicit values and sharing collective solutions we can find through community.

Western Washington University, Guest Lecture, 2020 & 2021.
Elliot Bay Music Education Association, Inservice Workshop 2020.
Northwest Division NAfME Conference – Online 2021

Finding Success in a Title I Music Program

In order to thrive, music educators need a balanced understanding of the challenges facing Title I programs and the methods / resources to provide access and opportunity for musical growth.  This panel of teachers has over 75 years of combined experience in an urban setting and is eager to share a rich understanding of the realities urban music students face, as well as successful teaching methods, supports and resources. Participants will understand the major challenges that Urban and Title I music programs face, explore teaching methods, strategies and support systems that enable success and develop an inspiration for the joy that teaching all students can bring.

National Association for Music Education – National In-Service Online Conference, 2021
Northwest Division NAfME Conference – Portland 2019

Using Hip Hop Pedagogy to support Curriculum Design in the Music Ensemble Classroom

This session will explore the philosophical framework of Hip Hop Pedagogy and apply to the music ensemble classroom.   Course Outcomes: Participants will examine the 5 elements of Hip Hop praxis and how these reimagine and enhance ensemble performance.  Participants will learn research based instructional practices that engage all students.  Participants will compare ensemble skills developed from director centered learning versus student centered exploration. Deconstructing the traditional structures of “director centered” ensembles is a critical piece of building equity, centering student learning and developing responsive and sustaining instructional practices. It can seem daunting to deconstruct without having a functional framework for rebuilding.  This session makes the idea of empowering student driven ensemble learning seem like an imperative tool for helping students find their voice through music.

Washington Music Education Association – Yakima, Feb. 2022
Hip Hop Pedagogy – Session Notes PDF

Students who IMPACT: Developing Student Leadership

Student leaders significantly impact a program when they are equipped with tools to develop trusting relationships, set/protect the culture and coach their peers.  This session will provide concrete strategies and anecdotes to support a positive and successful program through investing in your student leaders.

Washington Music Education Association – State Conference, 2020

Teaching Drumline

From percussion pedagogy to equipment and supplies, marching percussion can be a mystery for non-percussion teachers.  This session explains how to instruct a drumline.  Topics covered will include the basics of grip stance and posture, overview of exercise types, resources and assessment.

Central Washington University – Guest Lecture, 2018