Professional Development

“Band is family” rings true for many marching arts participants across the country. But making the cultural paradigm a reality rather than an empty platitude could take years of strategizing.

There is nothing quite like creating a role-playing game (RPG) for a multi-modal elementary violin classroom. I did it and saw dramatic improvements in student engagement and musical skills, and you can, too.

Unlike woodwinds and trumpets, French horns and other medium to low brass instruments are not popular with middle school and high school band members.

Performing everything from Tchaikovsky to Christina Perri, students at Orange Grove Elementary School in Anaheim, California, have a variety of opportunities to stretch their musical skills.

The Youth Chorus of Central Texas (YCCT) serves singers in grades 3 through 12 who do not have access to sequential musical instruction in their educational environment or who seek additional experiences not afforded them otherwise.

What’s on your wish list of school supplies? I’m talking beyond the basics like pencils and paper or more expensive items like a laminator or Cricut.

What if you could grant your music students special powers like laser-focused attention, impressive productivity and the ability to make smarter decisions?

In college, my focus was instrumental music education. For over four years, I prepared myself to become a band director.

I created Swick’s Classroom, my YouTube channel, as a solution for a non-musical substitute during my four-week paternity leave in 2018.

For several years, I have taken the curriculum planning and classroom management approach of backward planning and modified it to a pedagogical approach for percussion students in grades 6 through 12 within the Wakeland High School cluster in Frisco, Texas.