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I'm going to be the weird band director and say it: I hate  Bandtober. And before anyone comes for me, I love band. I just don’t love crying in storage closets while fixing clarinet reeds and replying to 80 tech-crisis emails. I don’t even teach marching band anymore and I hate Bandtober. Some people have their “Wicked” moment in Act II — mine hits around week two of October, when sleep is a myth and feedback comes louder than the kids screaming down the hallway. I’m not tryi

For years, I’ve sat through one size fits all professional development. This kind of professional development rarely benefited myself or the students in my classroom, because it was never about us. Truthfully, I just got tired of pretending that “one-size-fits-all PD” works for music teachers. I have learned more from a 30-minute clinic on my beginner oboes and bassoons than I have from a full day of PD sessions. That was my wake-up call. I found myself questioning so why we

This post is proudly brought to you by Dr. Pepper and an embarrassing number of Canva drafts. What started as "just another class...

Parks and Rec is my all time favorite TV show. As every stereotypical millennial does, I watch it on repeat. It is literally the only...

People-pleasing and perfectionism are two daily struggles I have battled throughout my journey in music and it has continued during my...

Welcome to the Band Hall – Where Innovation Drops the Beat In the words of Tom Haverford "I don't do anything halfway. I'm a full-on,...

As band directors we are constantly listening and adjusting levels for balance, for tone, and for growth. Often times we rely on our...

As we discussed in the last blog, I have many female leadership heroes. Hermione and Leslie Knope are just the tip of the iceberg. We...

Leadership is in my DNA I am the oldest of 3 sisters. My middle sister is 3 years younger than me, and my youngest sister is 6 years...

When I first started teaching band, my classroom was filled with music, stands, and instruments- and not much technology. As my career...

As a teacher and lifelong learner, it is my belief that growth should be visible (or audible in the case of musicians) not just to...

Hello! My name is Jennifer Haden and I have been a teacher for 15 years. Over the years I have taught band, music appreciation, music...