This training with Anne Mileski of anacrusic.com is about how to connect with your students. As music teachers, it's harder to form a relationship with our students when we don't see them as often as the regular classroom teachers. But, there are definitely ways you can connect with your kiddos, even on the hardest of days.

Key takeaways from this training include:
1. "Being able to reach our students outside of any instruction requires us to have a relationship with them."
2. "In order for students to buy into what you're teaching, they have to feel like you care about them as well."
3. "Little things like taking the time to learn every students name and greeting them at the door goes a long way."
4. "Having the kids see you're part of the school community as a whole, instead of just hiding in the music room, is a huge way to build connection and make students realize that you're there and that you care about them."
5. "Developing a safe space that creates trust, and dealing with the behavior problem kiddos, helps the kids feel safe in your classroom."
6. "You're still connecting with the students, but are doing it musically."
7. "Kids connect to music through emotions in a variety of different ways and will find something that resonates with them."
8. "Your music classroom is your laboratory. If something you're doing isn't working, change it up. Try anything that works and that's ok."
9. "Letting kids problem solve on their own helps them learn problem solving skills. You're able to do this after you've formed this sense of community in your music room."
10. "We're a constant for our kids even if their life outside of school is predictable or not."