Fernando Fernandez Jr. | The Art of Being Needed Less: Servant Leadership and Routine 

October 14, 2026 • 8:00pm ET

How do we create a healthier classroom environment that encourages leadership initiative, fuels positive energy, and celebrates traditions? In this discussion and ideas session, Fernando will share his insight of almost 30 years in the music classroom, backed with research and resources, to help guide new teachers and reinvigorate seasoned teachers with servant leadership tenets, routine creation/evaluation, and an opportunity for discussion on how we can all move forward together to brighter and better teaching days. 

Michael Gutierrez | Sing, Connect, Belong: 5 SEL Strategies for a Stronger Choral Community 

November 18, 2026 • 8:00pm ET

Building connection is an essential part of making music together. Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) offers a natural way to strengthen that connection without taking time away from the rehearsal process. Drawing from my article “Fostering Connection: Fifteen Social-Emotional Learning Strategies for Building Community in the Choral Classroom,” published in ACDA’s Choral Journal in May 2026, this session highlights five practical strategies that can be adapted for musicians of all ages and applied across choral, instrumental, and other ensemble settings. Participants will leave with approachable ideas they can incorporate into their own classrooms and rehearsals.  

Kenrick John | Igniting Creativity: Innovative Approaches to Elementary Music Education Reimagining Music Classrooms through Equity, Identity, and Joy

JANUARY 13, 2027 • 8:00pm ET

This workshop will focus on reimagining how we can foster student voice, identity, and expression through the principles of equity and joy. First, how can general music classrooms be transformed into spaces that nurture creativity, engagement, and growth in our students, while affirming and reflecting their individual identities? Second, how can we navigate barriers that stand in the way of our students’ creativity?

Charissa Duncanson | Create Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors through Children’s Literature 

February 17, 2027 • 8:00pm ET

Learn how to incorporate an inclusive space for literature to teach musical concepts in your classroom. Teachers in this session will be able to encourage social and emotional learning by understanding the differences between creating mirrors, windows, and sliding doors through children’s lit.  Charissa will bring several book recommendations for the music classroom written & illustrated by People of the Global Majority;  Black & Indigenous People/Persons of Color (BIPOC). Be ready to create, play, and add movement to bring new classroom stories to life! 

Dave Saunders | Bring STEM into MUSIC 

March 10, 2027 • 8:00pm ET

In this session we will explore how to bring electronics and robotics into the music classroom with lessons that provide hands-on learning that supports music standards. These popular tools might already be available in your school through the Media Center or Technology/STEM teacher. Attendees will get an opportunity to see demonstrations with Makey Makeys, Arduinos, Ozobots and more! Lessons can be adapted to any grade level and will be provided. 

Natalie Frakes | Tune In: Trauma-Informed Mindfulness in the Music Classroom 

April 14, 2027 • 8:00pm ET

In a world of constant notifications, scrolling, and divided attention, the music classroom offers students something increasingly rare: the opportunity to be fully present with themselves, with others, and with the act of making music. This interactive session explores how trauma-informed mindfulness can help students develop greater awareness, agency, focus, and connection within the creative process. Through practical, student-centered experiences, we’ll explore ways for young musicians to take ownership of their attention, listen more deeply, and notice what is happening within themselves and their ensemble. Ultimately, the music classroom can become a place where students discover what it feels like to slow down, tune in, and be fully engaged in creating something together. 

David Wertz | Creating a Strong Foundation in the First Week of Beginning Band 

MAY 12, 2027 • 8:00pm ET

• Teachers will learn about instrument testing and how to facilitate student agency in their instrument selection.
• Teachers will practice additive rhythms starting with the subdivisions of 16th notes.
• Teachers will be provided with resources to build their own TPO (Teaching Procedure Outline) for the different instruments of the band. 

Calling all new band directors! Looking for practices that build student agency and create buy-in from day one? Want your students to be making music on their first day of beginning band? 

In this session, we will explore strategies for building a strong foundation in your beginning band program through student choice, agency, and purposeful instruction. We will examine approaches to instrument exploration and selection, rhythm instruction, and full-band teaching in classrooms where students remain together rather than participating in pull-out lessons. 

Participants will leave with practical, ready-to-use resources to support instruction across the different instruments of the band, including tools for creating their own Teaching Procedure Outlines (TPOs). Whether you are brand new to beginning band or looking for ways to strengthen your first-week routines, this session will provide strategies you can put to work immediately in your classroom.