Books On My Shelf, Tools In My Box, and Apps In The Cloud

As a teacher I manage life, family, and work with an array of books, tools, and apps.

Here are is an almost exhaustive work-in-progress list of the resources I use for work and life.

I list work tools first, then life tools. Clearly, some overlap – especially those involving life planning, goal setting and productivity.

Some are very specific to music education, others are applicable to most people reading this, whether or not you’re a teacher.

Most of these are not my own resources, but I will be uploading some of my own tools, starting with original songs for primary or elementary age children.

Index:

1. Work Tools
   1. Teaching Music
      1. Songs & Repertoire
      2. Philosophies
      3. Educators & Podcasts
      4. Professional Networks
   2. Professional Teaching Insights
   3. Business & Leadership Insights
2. Life Tools

Work Tools

Teaching Music

Songs & Repertoire

Online Song Collections

Sing Up – Aimed at school music teachers, a curated list of over 800 songs, most of which feature backing tracks and performance tracks. Great resource for music teachers using singing in schools, no matter the age, stage, or topic. My school pays for my subscription.

My Song File – Teachers with a Kodaly background will appreciate this catalogue of songs and activities.

JWPepper – Band, choral, orchestral, and classroom sheet music. I first heard of this company from a band director colleague years ago. Definitely worth while, especially for people like me working internationally – you can purchase selected sheet music and download it instantly.

Analogue Song Collections (Books)

Coming soon

Philosophies

For those who are music educators, this will make sense: each of these figures requires it’s own post, so for now I’m just going to say I’ve been most influenced by Emile Jacques Dalcroze’s approach to music education through movement. Zoltan Kodaly’s approach to music through singing is also very significant. I’d like to learn more about both Kodaly and the Orff approach.

Educators & Podcasts

At the time of writing, I’ve listed a few here, but there are many more I’d like to add – keep checking back for updates!

Scott Lang Leadership – Band director and entreprenuer, Scott does an amazing job helping teachers use music to do leadership development. As he told me, “Music is the vehicle, leadership development is the payload.”

The Anacrusic Podcast – Anne Mileski – Anne has a great resource in her podcast and website, for anyone who teaches music in a classroom.

The Domestic Musician – Jessica Peresta – Jessica also helps music teachers, particularly elementary music teachers. She recently started a great membership site which I’ve joined – the next entry.

Professional Networks

HARMONY Membership Site – Jessica Peresta, who runs The Domestic Musician, started this amazing resource for elementary music teachers.

Facebook Groups – to be added.

Teacher Insights

Teacher Productivity and Workload

Angela Watson – 40 Hour Workweek Club – this has been a gamechanger for me and many, many other teachers. Angela Watson has been coaching teachers for years on productivity and workload. Highly recommended.

Twitter, like most social media, is fraught with challenges, but a number of teachers have found it to be full of interesting and useful insights. Most of all, the ability to connect with teachers across the globe is an amazing opportunity. I’ll be adding a separate post about this soon. In the meantime, look me up @hybridconsnance

Business & Leadership Insights

This really deserves a whole post of it’s own. In the meantime, here are just some of the amazing people who have taught and inspired me.

Leadership

Aaron Walker – View From The Top

Daniel Bauer – Better Leaders, Better Schools

John Miller – QBQ – The Question Behind the Question –

David Marquet – Turn the Ship Around

Business

Business on Purpose – Gregory Gray – podcast https://www.gregorygray.com/

This Is Marketing – Seth Godin

Blogging

Jeff Goins – Blogging Course

Jeff Goins – Effective Writer

WordPress –

Goal Setting & Productivity

Michael Hyatt – Best Year Ever book

Michael Hyatt – Full Focus book

Michael Hyatt – Living Forward

Cal Newport – Deep Work

Cal Newport – Digital Minimalism

Vocation and Work

Cal Newport – So Good They Can’t Ignore You

Life Tools

Many of these can be used personally and professionally. Each blurb explains how I fit it into my life and work.

Phone / Computer

Airmore – http://web.airmore.com/ – transfer files between your device and your computer if you’re on the same Wifi network.

Lastpass – Password Manager https://www.lastpass.com/ – never have to remember all your passwords, just your master password!

Momentum – Home Page https://momentumdash.com/ – an option to set as your home page when you start your browser.

TextExpander – frequently used snippets, to save you time.

F.lux – Screen dimmer and blue light remover

Evernote

Notion

Voice and Video Calls

Zoom.us

Google Hangouts –

Exercise

Writing

Google Drive – Docs, Sheets, Forms

Bear