Boonshaft’s Blog

#157. Reveal That Person

#157. Reveal That Person

I once had a fortune cookie that simply read: “Circumstances do not make the person; circumstances merely reveal that person to themselves.” The power of those words have long...

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#156. How Do We Show Up?

#156. How Do We Show Up?

Each of us finds ourselves teaching differently than a year ago. How’s that for an absurd understatement? Our “classroom” may be a computer screen or a dozen students spread out...

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#155. The Glass

#155. The Glass

Though I desperately try to be an optimist, sadly, my nature doesn’t make that easy. I envy those who always see the glass as half full. Unless I work at it, I don’t just see the...

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#154. The Choice Is Ours

#154. The Choice Is Ours

As we live through these uncertain, ever-changing times I think each of us would be well-served to remember the words of Bertram Carr, that we can view everything “in the spirit...

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#153. It Takes Time

#153. It Takes Time

About 45 years ago, in an undergraduate psychology class, I learned that it took 21 days to develop a new habit. At that time, while studying to be a teacher, I remember thinking...

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#151. Practice What?

#151. Practice What?

In that so much of our students’ playing time will be done practicing at home, we can augment what they are doing to challenge them, enhance their growth, provide variety, and...

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#150. The Box

#150. The Box

Now, maybe more than ever these words of Deepak Chopra seem to describe what we as music teachers need to do every day: “Instead of thinking outside the box; get rid of the box.”...

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Dr. Boonshaft, Director of Education for KHS America, is the author of the critically acclaimed best-selling books Teaching Music with Passion, Teaching Music with Purpose, and Teaching Music with Promise. He was honored by the National Association for Music Education and Music For All as the first recipient of the “George M. Parks Award for Leadership in Music Education.” Dr. Boonshaft was selected for the Center for Scholarly Research and Academic Excellence at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, where he is Professor Emeritus of Music.