Hello and welcome to Band Together, a six-part series exploring how different music teachers foster positive classroom cultures in their band room.

In this second episode, I’m talking to Alexis Silver who teaches at large, urban Manitoba high school that has a diverse demographic of newcomers and immigrants, indigenous and settler Canadians. What I really love about this conversation is that everything she says and does revolves around kids—It’s a deeply student-centered approach. And not just regarding pedagogy and planning (though that’s certainly part of it), but in the day to day environment of the classroom. Referring back to my conversation with Michael Brandon last episode, the students’ emotional presence and engagement are really the culture’s thermometer and it really comes across here, particularly in her story about the messageboard.

The show is available at bandtogetherpodcast.com or on Apple podcasts and Google Play. Listen at your computer or on the go. The results of the research are published via two papers in Canadian Winds, a peer-reviewed journal for instrumental music educators.

You can contact me at kenley[at]kenleykristofferson[dot]com or at my website at http://www.kenleykristofferson.com. Follow me on twitter @kenley_k and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/kenley.