Introduction

This is the Crescendo Music Education Podcast – Episode 81. Hello, everyone, I’m Debbie O’Shea from Crescendo Music Education. Thank you for tuning into this episode. I think you’re going to love it. I get to talk to Jessica Peresta.Now many of you know her already through her podcasts and her social media and her membership and all sorts of things. That’s Jessica Peresta.

And I’ll have all of the links for you in the show notes and the blog post. I had a great time hearing a little about her background, and I feel like we had a lot in common. In this episode, you’ll hear her tips on keeping inspired and engaged as a music educator. They’re fabulous tips I agree with everyone. I was here going nod, nod, yes, yes. And when we get to the nuggets of fabulous there’ll be more head nodding from all of my listeners some great advice, a great podcast episode. Let’s go now to Jessica Peresta.

About ‘Read the Episode’: Sometimes, we would rather skim visually than listen to a podcast! That’s a great way to learn too!
The transcript of episode 081 of The Crescendo Music Education Podcast is below.

Introducing Jessica Peresta

Debbie
Hello, Crescendo community. I want to welcome Jessica Peresta. It’s so exciting to have her here. Welcome, Jessica.

Jessica Peresta
Hi, thank you for having me.

Debbie
I’m going to start off by reading your bio. Now I’m sure that many of my listeners listen to your podcast. But in case they don’t know you or maybe don’t know your background, I think reading the bio is a nice place to start. So here we go. Upon starting her first teaching position in the middle of the school year at a low income Elementary School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Jessica was asked to restart the music program, which had been non existent for seven years. Oh goodness, that would be hard.

During her second year of teaching she won the Teacher of the Year and Teacher of Today awards. Wow I’m just going to interrupt for a minute and say your second year of teaching. Oh my goodness you must have done some magic things really, second year. Gosh, in my second year, I knew like nothing. Anyway. Now Jessica is the elementary music teacher at the Hill School in Fayetteville is that Arizona? Is AR Arizona?

Jessica Peresta
Arkansas.

Debbie
Arkansas, if you can’t tell I’m not American. Okay, and is the founder and CEO of the Domestic Musician LLC where were products include the Curriculum Design Roadmap Course, the Harmony Membership site, and the Elementary Music Teacher Blueprint course.

She’s also the host of the Elementary Music Teacher Podcast, the author of the book Make a Note what you really need to know about teaching elementary music. She is on the teacher advisory board at Teacher Vision and the Professional Development Coordinator for F-flat books. So obviously, you’re not very busy. I can see that.

Jessica Peresta
No, not at all.

Debbie
No. She holds a Bachelors of Music Education degree from Oral Roberts University and a Masters in Educational Technology Degree from the University of Arkansas. When she’s not talking all things music education she loves hanging out with her husband and her three boys Owen, Brady and Reece and her sweet doggies. Oh I’m a dog owner too.

Jessica Peresta
I love my fur babies.

Debbie
Okay. All right. So listening to that brief bio that I just presented, what would you like to add to that summary of your work?

Jessica Peresta
I think I did forget to mention that I also do curriculum writing. I’ve written curriculum for Virtual Virginia, they are a virtual music education program, as well as helped align curriculum, the National Music standards for a UK curriculum, I got to work on the team that did that. I also have done business and teacher coaching one on one and in a group setting.

And then I also am a presenter at various online and in person conferences. So as you’re reading that, I was like, I think I forgot to include that. But that pretty much, other than that wraps it up, sums everything up.

Debbie
There’s just so much in there, that would be great to talk about, Oh my heavens. But before we get into those because I just have so many questions and I would just love to pick your brain. But let’s come back to some of those things.

I do like to ask my guests about gratitude because I think it’s important for us all to not lose sight of things for which we’re grateful, professional or personal. So what would you say you are most grateful for?

What Jessica Peresta is Grateful For

Jessica Peresta
Well first of all I did mention my family, I have been married 17 years to my husband Grant and our journey has taken us a lot of different directions where sometimes it’s been me more supporting him in his career than him and me. And then we have three sons. Like I said, they’re 13, 11 and 8 now. I’m really, really grateful for my family, because they are my hugest supporters and I love them and my family is everything to me.

But also professionally I’m really grateful for online colleagues that I’ve gotten to meet just through my podcast and the work I’ve done online but also in person at any of the schools I’ve worked at. I’m just grateful for colleagues, both in the music education world, but also just teachers in general. I feel like I’ve learned so much just from having conversations or observing or listening in at different presentations and so I’m really grateful for that. And then I would say those things are probably at the top of my list the things I just mentioned, for sure.

Debbie
Yes. And it’s actually one of my favourite things about being a presenter and a music education leader, is the fact that you get to learn the whole time. You’re learning from the people you’re talking to, you’re seeing what they do, and how other people think and I just, I love learning, even though you’re on the other end of it, technically, you’re learning the whole time. So yes, I can certainly empathise with what you’re saying. I think that’s amazing.

I’d love to hear about your book, too. But we’ll come back to your book, if we’ve got time, I want to hear about your book. I didn’t realise until I read that, that you had a book. So I’d love that, that’s one of my back burner projects. So I’d love to hear about your book.

But first of all, I think with all of your experience, and having worked with so many teachers in lots of different contexts, I think that you’d have a lot to help my listeners with around the longevity and enjoyment of their career. It’s difficult sometimes to stay positive and enthusiastic. It’s a tough job, and it’s a high energy job. Someone has equated music education, at some stage to me as like being one of The Wiggles on speed.

Like you’re just on constantly, you’ve only got them for such a precious short time. So you can’t say come on in kids silent reading I’ll give you 10 minutes. We can’t do that. So it’s a frantic job with so many pressures from our system. We’re not often appreciated, because we’re just the music teacher. We’re not doing the important stuff, all of those things.

So I think that you would have some great advice for us on helping us stay positive and love this career and want to stay in it. So what would be your top tips?

Jessica Peresta’s Top Tips for Staying in a Music Education Career (and loving it!)

Jessica Peresta
Yeah, so I took some notes and things I want to say. But as you were just talking, I thought of something else where I kind of this last week had one of the mornings, something happened with one of my sons, nothing major, everybody’s okay, but just some conversations with his teachers. And I just remember driving to school feeling heavy.

Let Students See You Vulnerable Sometimes

Jessica Peresta
And I feel like sometimes when there’s a lot going on in your home life showing up to teach, like you said, you feel like an entertainer, sometimes you’re like, well, it’s stage time and put that face on. And that’s kind of what I did but when I got to kind of my older group of kids, I didn’t tell them everything that was going on, because it’s personal.

But also, one of them could kind of tell, Ms Peresta are you okay? And I was like, Yeah, you know, but I just said, you know, what, I just kind of had a hard morning, but sometimes, you know, and I was just letting them see the realness in me and the like, kind of took the mask off for a minute, I guess I could say, and just let them see me be a little bit vulnerable.

I think that shows them that we’re human too, as teachers, and that they’re gonna have rough days and rough moments. And it’s okay that we can keep moving forward. But that is just something that happened last week. So I wanted to mention that but it is really hard to stay super enthusiastic. On those hard days, those hard weeks, those lets just be honest, some classes that have behavioural issues, or whatever it might be.

So I just jotted down four main thoughts that I have a million around this, but four that I really wanted to relay to your listeners.

Make Your Classroom Your Own

Jessica Peresta
So the first thing is to make your classroom your own. And what I mean by this is, I remember when I first started teaching, let’s be honest, none of us knew what we were doing. I would just teach the way I saw my cooperating teacher, the way she had taught or I would teach the way I saw someone do something at a workshop, but I just remember feeling so, it just didn’t feel like me.

And once I started thinking about what lights me up as a teacher? What songs do I enjoy teaching? How do I like to teach? In college they have you talk about your teaching style, I don’t really feel like we know what that is until we actually get in there and start doing it. So I just want to relay to your listeners to be yourself and teach what lights you up, even if you don’t necessarily see anybody else doing it the way you do, I feel like that’s what’s gonna help you keep your enthusiasm is because if you’re excited about what you’re teaching, your students are going to be excited to learn it.

Now, it’s not a magic formula where every single students on board, but they can tell if you’re excited about teaching something versus you’re just doing it because a lesson plan told you to. And on top of that, I wanted to let you know to teach to the students you have. I’ve been at two different schools, and I can’t teach the students I have currently at my school now, the same way I taught my students at a different school. They’re not the same kids. They don’t learn the same way. They’re in different states in America to be honest, and I’m teaching towards the students I have, like where are they musically? How do they best learn? What music really sparks their interest?

Don’t Be Afraid to Change Things Up!

Jessica Peresta
And then I also want to say to be creative and change things up, if you’re starting to feel, you know, a little like ho hum about going to school. I mean, obviously, there’s a lot of reasons behind that. But one of those might be because you’re just not feeling that creative juice, maybe you used to feel coming out of you anymore.

Maybe it’s just time to change things up, not completely overhaul everything you do. But maybe it’s time to substitute a certain lesson for something else. Or let’s say you’re teaching about I don’t know, form, ABA form, I don’t know why that came to mind. But you’ve always used the same song and same activity, maybe change it up a little bit.

And then let go of what you can’t control and of perfectionism. I am speaking to myself here when I say that, I have a perfectionist personality to a tee, I don’t like things not to go the way I’ve planned it, or to feel like it’s out of my control. It doesn’t come easy to me. So I know if you’re listening it this is not me saying like this is just gonna magically happen overnight. But what I mean is let go of what you can’t control, you’re gonna have students come to you who are just, let’s be honest, I don’t know if it’s a full moon or it’s a class party day, or they’re just extra hyper and can’t focus for some reason.

And you feel like everything you’re trying with these students is not going well. That’s out of your control, it doesn’t mean just let them act out of control. But it also means that you may need to pivot a little bit and let go of perfectionist tendencies and know, this is not working. I still want to teach music today, what am I going to do instead, and then it’ll help you once you kind of get the hang of that your enthusiasm will come back. Because you’re going to know you have confidence that you can do that again and again.

Set Boundaries on Your Time

Jessica Peresta
And then one more point is, one thing that really works well for me is to set boundaries on my time, and I make sure I take breaks. I am one of those people that as you read my bio, I have done a lot in my career and I’m very proud of that. But also, I am good about saying no when I need to.

And I’m good about looking at my calendar and saying this won’t get done this week. But I have time on let’s say next Tuesday at blah, blah, blah, time to get this done. I think as a teacher we are, you know, if I come in early, or I stay late, it’s not a badge of honour, and it will make you feel burnt out.

And I know the pushback to that is but then when do I get everything done that I need to get done. I feel like it comes in waves, we’re always going to have busy seasons. And so there’s going to be some times where yes, it’s a busier season. But then look at your calendar and circle when you know that less busy seasons coming and give yourself something to look forward to or maybe it’s the next school break coming up.

So you know, I’m really busy right now. But I know that’s coming up. And so give yourself breaks in your everyday life. Even if it’s your 30 minute drive home, maybe you need to sit in silence, maybe you want to listen to a podcast or music and then also really be good with your time on the weekend. You may have to get some work done, but also pencil in time for fun, and rest and relaxation.

And so those are some points I just wanted to throw in there about that that really have worked well for myself.

Debbie
They are all fabulous, I think I can hear everybody listening in the car or whatever, go Yes, yes, yes, I should do that. There’s so many, I love them. That teaching as you, you know, if it’s not going right, mix it up. Like you learn something in a workshop and you try it and you’re just going I’m just not feeling it.

There’s another song that you could use that serves the same purpose. You know, if you hate the song, don’t do it. Yeah, I love it. And you’ve got to be you. You know whether it’s someone like me that likes to add a little bit of fun, bad humour. You know, they tell me I have dad jokes. That’s fine. Another teacher might not want to use humour. They might be very softly spoken. You’ve got to do you, haven’t you? You do you. But it’s true, you’ve got to wear that as part of your personality, I love that.

And your second one teach the students in front of you. So true. It’s so true, isn’t it. And you’ve got to sometimes just gauge their reaction, that you can have the same, it could be quite extreme. I’ve had, In the Hall of the Mountain King is one of my favourite pieces of art music to do with the little ones because, you know, I just love it, getting faster is so obvious, getting louder is so obvious. It’s amazing. But I had one little person, it’s just a story that popped in my head, that was really scared of the music, like, terrified, which I can understand that.

So I just had to not do that piece of music. I mean, I’m not gonna go, I’m gonna push, it’s my favourite. I’m gonna keep going. I had to consider the children in front of me. I know that’s a bit of an extreme example. But you do have to do that.

And I love that, be creative, change things up. Like I’m a Kodály inspired educator. I do Seesaw all the time but if you really, the kids aren’t really sick of it, because they haven’t done it for 42 years. Right? But if you do get sick of it, switch it up, do Bye Low Baby O, do Good Night Sleep Tight, you know, if you get sick of it, switch it out? Yes, I think that’s a great idea.

And I actually like mixing things up by adding new manipulatives and fun things. You know, like, I’ve got a new cat puppet. So I’ll put that in the cat song. And I think that adding manipulatives mixes it up for them and for you. So I love that creative, change things up, let go of what you can’t control. Oh goodness, teachers have to be good at that don’t they.

Jessica Peresta
Oh, my gosh, it happens every day. Yeah.

Debbie
And that perfectionist, I think we all just go yeah got to do that. And that boundaries. I don’t think we’re all very good at that. Set the boundaries, make some whitespace for yourself and stop saying yes. I know, I have an issue with being a bit people pleasing. Oh, could you do this for us, Debbie? Yes, I could. Instead of going, I’d love to do that. I have some spare time in the next holidays or whatever. So they are amazing tips. And I think you it will help everybody. Absolutely.

So thank you. And I’m sure there’s lots lots more there. Before we go on to nuggets of fabulous, which is just one of my favourite bits because I get good tips, good songs or whatever. Can you tell us a little bit about your book? Because I’d love to hear about that and where people can get it?

Jessica Peresta’s Book, “Make A Note: What You Really Need To Know About Teaching Elementary Music”

Jessica Peresta
Yeah, absolutely. So you shared in my bio, the experience of me starting my very first teaching position without a mentor teacher? Well, actually, no, I had one but she taught third grade, didn’t teach music. And then just the experience of me feeling like, whether it had been a school that didn’t have music for seven years, or one that had had music for a long time.

That new teacher experience of getting in there and all of a sudden realising these are your students, this is your classroom, and what am I supposed to do? You kind of have a plan. But you’re also Ah, you feel like a fish out of water is the best way I can describe it. So I had this book on my heart or I didn’t even know that it was a book.

I just knew I wanted to share what was on my heart around that, around what you really need to know about teaching elementary music because all these questions I had had, but then working with music teachers have been asked the same questions over and over. I didn’t know where to go with it.

And so F-flat books, which is an e book company for music educators, Dr. Sarah Gulish and her brother David Allen founded, she and I had been kind of online colleagues or friends for a while. And she and I started talking about it. She just casually mentioned just why don’t you write a book about it? And I’m like, you know, like, oh, sure, why don’t I just do that? Anyways, I had never written a book, I’ve written blog posts and articles, but never a book. And I didn’t even know where to start.

And so she just encouraged me just to kind of start brain dumping my ideas. It didn’t even need to turn into chapters yet, it needed to be words, but just bullet points. And once I started doing that, and on a Google doc started seeing how it needed to be shaped into chapters and sections. That’s kind of how it was born. And so the ebook copy is available on F-flat books, it’s just fflatbooks.com. And then JW Pepper sells the physical copy as well, as well as you can get the physical copy on Amazon.

Then yeah, so it’s really exciting how that’s put into the world and writing a book is it’s like I’m so used to talking on a podcast or I have a blog, but putting your book into the world. I don’t know why that makes you feel a little bit more vulnerable. It’s so weird, and maybe it’s because it’s getting into the hands of people who haven’t connected with you as much maybe by hearing your voice. They’re hearing your voice in a different way. but it is really neat. It’s something I never thought I would be able to do. And I’m really Yeah, it’s awesome to have it out there now.

Debbie
Thank you. And yes, I have heard you speak about F-flat books on one of your podcasts. So I’ve not yet gone in and had a look. I think it’s not as well known here in Australia. So that’s great. Hopefully, you’re reaching a bit of a new audience here, too. Okay, so let’s get on to my nuggets of fabulous. What nuggets do you have for us?

Jessica Peresta’s Nuggets of Fabulous

Jessica Peresta
Okay so when I was thinking about this, this could have gone a lot of different directions. Of course, I just want to drive home the point not to sound like a broken record, which you and I know what that is. But I say that to my own children, they’re like, What’s a record? A broken mp3, I don’t know.

Debbie
A broken link.

Jessica Peresta
A broken hyperlink, there you go, a broken website.

Just Be Yourself

Jessica Peresta
But yeah, just be yourself. That’s the first nugget of fabulous is just to be yourself. I just cannot stress that enough where you already mentioned, gosh, going to workshops, and I just remember, trying, I’ve already said this, but trying to do things the way even the presenter said, to do this song this way, in this order with your students, and it would completely sometimes bomb with my kids, they were just not receptive to it.

And so I also remember, I’m very sarcastic as well, I’m very loud and very, just, you know, and I was trying to be very robotic and very stern, and very, just like, this wasn’t me. And so I believe in classroom management. But I was trying to be too strict, because that was the advice I was given by a teacher, but be yourself is the first nugget of fabulous.

Never Throw Away a Song or a Lesson Without Trying to Rework It a Different Way

Jessica Peresta
And then I also want to say, if a lesson doesn’t go over, well, don’t give up and evaluate what went wrong or what could have gone better so you can improve for next time, I don’t think it’s always that a song or lesson needs to be thrown out permanently.

I think sometimes it’s just, it’s either the students we’ve already talked about that are sitting in front of you, or maybe just a couple of pieces, maybe it’s the game needs to go before the dance, or the dance before the game or whatever, you know, there could be many reasons it didn’t work.

But I used to sometimes, going back to the perfectionist tendencies I still struggle with, but used to always think if this did not work, it’s a sign of me not being a good enough teacher. And I want to tell you that that’s not the truth. A lesson not going well does not mean you’re not teaching it well, it just means it may need to just, something needs to move around.

Structure Your Class Time Well

Jessica Peresta
And then the other one is one thing that’s really worked well for me as well is about structuring your class time. I really think it’s important for your students to know what to expect from the minute, actually, before they even walk into your classroom, in the hallway before they come into music, they need to know what to expect until the moment that they’re leaving.

And so when you kind of have a plan for how to structure your class time, let’s say it’s 45 minutes, and have transitions that flow from from one activity to another, it really does help cut down on classroom management issues when your students know what to expect.

And when you’re giving them something to do with their hands or their bodies or their mouths when they’re singing it cuts down on them being able to use their mouth or bodies for other reasons, you know, pushing their neighbour or talking or whatever. But also on the flip side of that give your students opportunities to talk.

When I like to give them small group activities or partner activities or talk about this with your partner or with a neighbour. But also with instruments I used to always be like, don’t play until I tell you to. Now, when I’m handing instruments out, I say I’m gonna count down by 10, especially with my little ones and when I get to zero, they know, I say your instruments are frozen.

And so when the instruments are frozen, like ice, they can’t pick them up anymore because they’re frozen. But I’ve noticed giving them an opportunity to play the instrument. And obviously give them guidance on that. Don’t just bang it. Whatever instruments I’m handing out, play it, get it out of your system, get your you know kinesthetically, touch the instrument, listen to it. And then we’re done. Until it’s time to do the activity.

That has helped so much. And I’m just like, Why did I not try that sooner? Used to be Don’t touch it? Oh, you played it I’m taking it away. And now I’m like, Well, why not? When I get an instrument what’s the first thing I want to do? I want to shake it or hit it or you know, and so those are just some things that came to mind around nuggets of wisdom that I wanted to share.

Debbie
Yeah, I love it. And you know, don’t you love it when you sort of work out something that like, Duh, I should have been doing this all along. Because do you know what? As you can see I am older than you and it’s actually only fairly recently that I too have changed with that playing, because I have this big You get the instrument, no we’re not playing it yet. I even have a If at the wrong time you play, Mrs. O’Shea will take it away. We even chant.

So they come and I have rest position, they have to put their instrument in rest position on the floor in front of them hands in their laps. So I know that there’s going to be music teachers out there going, Oh, for goodness sake, Debbie. But I’ve realised I let them get it and have a play appropriately.

Yes, we learned the rules of the instruments, we have a little play. I like to use the word noodle that I got off Tanya Lejeune was listening to one of her podcasts, they have a little noodle, little play, little noodle. And I say, Okay, everyone, rest position, they put it down hands in laps, because like you said, Isn’t that what we want to do as adults? And can you imagine five year olds, with an instrument in their hands.

Jessica Peresta
And they’re just like dying to pick it up?

Debbie
Yes, it’s that balance. Of course, you need that classroom and behaviour management. But you’ve Yeah, I agree with that. And that time to talk as well, where we might have just watched a performance. You might hear the response of four kids and you can see the other kids busting to tell you, it just takes a minute to say, if you’ve got something to say about it, tell someone near you that bla bla bla bla bla bla, and then they’re back.

And they feel good, because they’ve been able to express themselves. So it’s fairly obvious but I think sometimes we overlook those things because we have so much we want to do, and so much we need to do. If I take time to let them have a chat, I will not have time to practice, you know, my melodic component or you know, whatever, because we tend to in Australia, in Queensland anyway, we have half hour lessons, 30 minute lessons, like we’re go go go, most of us once a week.

So it’s not much time. But you’ve got to give that time. I love it. And structuring that class time. I love that hint, and not giving up on a lesson or a segment or a song just because it doesn’t go well. There’s so many factors. And I think that that self reflection, or what could I do differently, that would help, though there’s many things out of my control. I love it, I love it and be yourself. They are definitely, definitely nuggets.

Jessica Peresta
Thank you.

Debbie
And before we get onto my soapbox that I like to do at the end, and I’ll get you to email me all of your links, so I can put them in the show notes. And also, we create a blog post from each of these episodes as well. So I’ll get you to email me all of your links, including F-flat books, all of those things. But for those who are just listening who don’t have time to look it up, how could they find you?

Jessica Peresta
Yeah, so my website is thedomesticmusician.com and there is a story behind that. Yeah, I know, it’s a unique website name. But on there, you’ll find links to my podcast and blog and the products I mentioned and things like that, and then my book.

And so that’s just kind of like the hub where everything is and then F-flat books is fflatbooks.com. And I like to hang out on social media. I’m on Instagram and Facebook and all the places, but I kind of have a mixture between Facebook and Instagram, I would say but yeah, let’s connect and I would love to have a conversation with you.

Debbie
Okay, that would be great. Well, I will be there and hopefully lots of my listeners will too. That’s wonderful. It’s been an amazing chat. And I just, there’s many things we could talk about. But I think that this is a good start. You’ve given us all things to think about to help improve our practice, and to have a longer, more enjoyable career. So we really appreciate that. So I like to offer a chance to get on your soapbox, pretend this podcast is going to millions of people across the globe. It’s not quite that big. But anyway, tell us something that you want to tell the world.

Jessica Peresta’s Soapbox

Jessica Peresta
Okay, so I like to step on toes a little bit. That’s just the way I roll. But you’re like, let’s go what’s she going to say? So social media is a good thing, but it can also be a tricky thing where you’re comparing yourself to others. So first of all, let’s talk about these music teacher Facebook groups. And I have one and I know Debbie has one.

Sometimes in music teacher but not ours of course, but sometimes in music teacher Facebook groups you will ask a question, and then you’ll get tons and tons of answers about what you should have done or why did you do it that way? And this is the way I did it. This is the way and it can leave you feeling a little deflated, I think is the word I want to use but also second guessing your ability and so we’re going to drive that back home of being yourself.

There’s nothing wrong with asking advice, whether it’s on Instagram, Facebook, an email, wherever. But take that advice, and also still put it into the frame of that, who am I? And what’s my personality? What’s my teaching style? And would my students be receptive to this? So like I said, there’s nothing wrong with asking a question, but my soapbox is sometimes those groups bother me because it is sometimes.

This is the way, this is the way to count these rhythms. This is the way to teach melodic concepts. Is it the way or is it just the way you do it? And this person maybe didn’t ask for that advice. They’re just wanting your support. So all of that to say, be yourself, ask questions, but look at those answers through the lens of does this make sense for me? Or do I need to trust my judgment more than anything in this moment?

Debbie
That is great advice, I love it, because it actually can be quite hurtful can’t it, some of the responses bordering on the mean. Yes. So I love that. I love that advice. That is a great great soapbox statement. I love it. We should all hear that.

Jessica Peresta
Yes.

Debbie
Well I look forward to carrying conversations on with you over the socials Jessica, I hope lots of my listeners do as well. And thank you so much for our chat today.

Jessica Peresta
Thank you so much for having me. I’ve loved this conversation.

Sign-Off

Thank you for joining me for this podcast. Don’t forget that you’ll find the show notes on crescendo.com.au/81. Also, you can find the transcripts there so you’ve got all of the detail that you need. If you’ve found this podcast useful I’d really love it if you share the link with a colleague. Remember all I can be is the best version of me. All you can do is be the best you. We’ll meet again. I hope we will. Bye.

Just for Laughs

As we know laughter relieves stress. Don’t lose sight of the funny side of life.

Did you hear about the great new shovel?

It’s groundbreaking.

Links Mentioned in the Episode:

Jessica’s book on the F-Flat Books site: https://fflat-books.com/product/make-a-note-what-you-really-need-to-know-about-teaching-elementary-music/

Website: www.thedomesticmusician.com

FB page: www.facebook.com/thedomesticmusician

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jessicaperesta

People can email Jessica at jessica@thedomesticmusician.com

Where to find me:

• Crescendo Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crescendocommunity
• Official Crescendo Page: https://www.facebook.com/CrescendoMusicEd/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CrescendoMusicEd
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/crescendomusic
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-o-shea-62a3741b/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CrescendoDebbie/
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/crescendodebbie/