Introduction

Here is the Crescendo Music Education Podcast – Episode 155.

This podcast is being recorded on the lands of the Turrbal people. I acknowledge them as the traditional owners of the land and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. They were the first music makers on this land.

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 155 of The Crescendo Music Education Podcast is below.

Debbie O’Shea 

Thank you so much for joining me. I do not take lightly the fact that you are giving up your time to have a listen to the Crescendo Music Education Podcast. So thank you. Thank you very much. We are doing a short series of three podcasts. Each episode will also be quite short, called Thriving in Challenging Schools. Now, if you’re finding that classroom management or behaviour management is becoming increasingly difficult.

I don’t think you’re on your own. I think most schools are including more and more students with special needs and we are receiving little or no additional support for these students. Of course we want them to be included and they need music education, but we also do need some added support to cope with all of those things that are put onto us in the music classroom. So I would like to say at the outset, if you want all of the answers that can fix everything, then you better turn off now, because you’re not going to get all of the answers.

However, you might hear what I’m doing and changes that I am making and things that I am trying. So I would like you to stay tuned and have a little listen to the things I talk about. Have some reflection, and it might just help in some way, because after my 40 years in education I thought I had classroom management pretty much figured out. I don’t. I don’t think I ever will, but I am still trying. I’m facing challenges and I’m questioning things that have always worked for me and aren’t necessarily anymore. So let’s look at the things that I’m doing that are helping a little. So today’s episode is all about mindset. Let’s call it Mindset Mastery. I think if you can master your mindset, your part way coping, you’re getting closer to being able to cope.

Mindset Mastery: Tip 1

Debbie O’Shea 

All right. Tip one, are you ready? There are three tips in this Mindset Mastery. Tip one, reframe obstacles as opportunities to grow. I do like a bit of alliteration. So our obstacles, let’s turn them into opportunities, because there are some obstacles we can remove, some we can work around. Some we can remove over time, some you just can’t get rid of. Our situations are all so different, but let’s reframe whatever obstacles you’ve got as opportunities.

So when you’re faced with some sort of limitation, don’t go, oh, why is this happening to me? Isn’t that the natural reaction? Why is it happening to me? Instead say, How can this make me more creative? How can I work around or with this obstacle? The sort of obstacles that I’m talking about, you might find yourself in a school with no instruments and you are used to a well stocked school. You may have no manipulatives, and you love using scarves and balls and paddle pop sticks. like me, and you’ve got none. There are ways around most of those things.

You could borrow some things from the PE department. Borrow some things from another school. You might be able to make some instruments with the children. How can you creatively turn these obstacles into opportunities? You may have an admin that are unsupportive, so you could do all sorts of things to start at least working around that. How could you turn this into an opportunity? You could start a stealth campaign. I just called it that, a stealth campaign, to convince them of the importance of music education. You might put in a regular newsletter item that links to some research, a nice little picture. If you do that every newsletter, perhaps you’ll start to convince the admin as well of the importance of music.

You might have no SMART Board TV, maybe not even a speaker. What can you do? Because sometimes you like to use some audio, not just beautiful singing voices. You could bring in your Bluetooth speaker from home. Even gather around your laptop if you really need to see something, perhaps go to the P&C and ask if there’s funding for some sort of TV. These days, they’re just TVs, aren’t they? Not so much the whole big SMART Board thing another obstacle.

What if you have lots of playground duty, or are a little overwhelmed with that sort of work? Well, you could make it your mission to talk to the children in that less formal situation and work on that relationship building in that less formal setting. So there are ways to reframe obstacles like this as opportunities to grow. So that’s tip one. I would suggest that you write down your biggest current limitation and ask yourself, What could this teach me? And look for a creative opportunity hiding within this constraint. So just a thought, if you would like to write down your biggest current limitation, ask what that could teach you, and look for the creative opportunity that’s within this constraint. So that’s tip one.

Mindset Mastery: Tip 2

Debbie O’Shea 

Tip two, focus on what you can control. I would like you to consider creating a personal mantra to redirect your energy when chaos hits. So I’ve had to do this myself recently, and this is what I’m doing at the moment in my head. My personal mantra has three steps or three dot points, if you like. Number one, I say to myself, it’s my job. This is my job. I’m here because it’s my job and I’m getting paid.

Number one, it’s my job. Two, I am growing and I am learning something valuable. Now, even if that would not be your choice to be learning these things, the fact is, you are learning something and you are growing. So I go, it’s my job. I’m growing and learning something. Number three, and this one is a very deeply held belief of mine, these children need what I have to offer. I firmly believe music education has something to offer these students and the more difficult to manage students need what I’ve got to offer even more than the easier ones. I’m using quotation marks “the easier students”.

So I believe that, so therefore I persist. So it’s my job. I’m growing and learning, and these children need what I have to offer. I can’t control their behaviour. I can’t control their backgrounds. I can’t control their previous experiences with music or their previous experience with other adults. They may not trust any adult and here I am asking them to sing with me and hold hands in a circle. I can’t control what they’re bringing to that, but I can control my response, my persistence and my belief in them. Is this easy? No, it’s not. It’s really difficult to divorce yourself from those feelings of the personal attacks, I’m still working on that myself, trying not to be offended when they’re very rude, but I think it’s important we don’t take it personally. We don’t have control over all of those other factors in their lives.

So I tell myself these three things, that’s my job. I’m growing and learning, and the children need what I have to offer. So I would suggest that perhaps you develop your own three point mantra. What would your three point mantra be? You can borrow mine, if you like. Write it down where you see it every day and then you can use it as your reset button when things get a little bit overwhelming go ah, reset button and think of those three things. It just reminds you to get back on track and not feel so personally invested in what is happening around you.

Mindset Mastery: Tip 3

Debbie O’Shea 

Tip three. Are you ready for this one? Celebrate micro wins. Now I’ve deliberately said micro wins because in really difficult schools, you’re not going to finish the day going I am an extraordinary teacher and I completed all my lesson segments, and I saw understanding on the children’s faces, and we had a day full of joy. You’re probably not going to feel that. So let’s celebrate micro wins. So redefine what success is for you and not the whole big outcome. So let’s see, this is the sort of thing I’m thinking, was there a moment in your lesson when all students were engaged, like that’s magic when that happens in difficult schools, They’re all together, whatever that was, a singing game, a drumming circle, anything where they’re all engaged, that’s magic. Take that. That’s my micro win.

Did you make eye contact with one child and exchange a little smile and you just know that there was a connection for that tiny moment? That’s a win. Did one student greet you excitedly in the playground as you’re walking past? That’s a win, perhaps even a child keeping the beat accurately in an activity, that’s a win. A child making a suggestion for the next action. Take anything. Take those tiny little wins and take them on board, celebrate those micro wins. So here’s a practical application for these micro wins. Every day, at the end of every teaching day, identify at least one micro win, one tiny moment, one little breakthrough like I’ve already talked you through.

Perhaps you could keep a win notebook and write that in and then they will add up, and you can look over them and go, yes, there are my micro wins. There’s actually a new little freebie. We will put the link in the show notes for you. There is a new joy jar download that was inspired by my book The Stalagmite Effect. You can download that and it’s really quite beautiful, and you can actually notate your wins in the joy jar notebook. So that’s a freebie for you. If you would like to do that.

Debbie O’Shea 

I am going to leave you with those three things. I’ll do a quick recap. These are the Mindset Mastery tips. One – reframe obstacles as opportunities to grow. Two – focus on what you can control. Three – celebrate micro wins. If you do those three things I’m hoping it will help you to thrive in challenging schools, because your mindset isn’t just about surviving, it’s about recognising that you’re exactly where you’re meant to be. You are learning what you need to learn and you are making, even if you don’t feel like you are, exactly the difference that these kids need.

Is this easy? No, it is not, but you are doing, or at least moving towards doing, the best thing for these kids. You are doing a really important job. So believe in yourself everyone, believe in yourself and believe you are helping. I hope these mindset mastery tips help you to thrive in challenging schools. Bye till next time.

Sign-Off

Thank you for joining me for this podcast. Don’t forget, you’ll find the show notes and transcript and all sorts of information on crescendo.com.au. If you’ve enjoyed the podcast or found it valuable, you might like to rate it on your podcast player and leave a review. I’d really appreciate it if you did. All I can be as the best version of me. All you can do is be the best you. Until next time, bye.

Just for Laughs

As we know, laughter relieves stress, don’t lose sight of the funny side of life.
What did the grape say when it was stepped on? Nothing, it just let out a little wine!

Links Mentioned in the Episode:

📜 Crescendo Music Education Podcast | Episode 155

Where to find me:

• The Stalagmite Effect: How Small, Consistent Actions Build Extraordinary Lives by Debbie O’Shea https://www.balboapress.com/en-AU/bookstore/bookdetails/865572-the-stalagmite-effect
• 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
• X: 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/