What are You Reading?
December 29, 2016
Scott J. Casagrande
Director of Bands
John Hersey High School
Arlington Heights, Illinois
President of the National Band Association
The Collaborative Habit: Life Lessons for Working Together, by Twyla Tharp – Lessons on teamwork from one of the greatest choreography minds of our time.
Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative, by Austin Kleon – Fantastic insights into the creative process - great advice.
The Ultimate Wine Companion, by Kevin Zraly – Beauty, Art and Fun in a bottle - that's wine to me. Zraly is the guru of wine education and he has assembled short articles from the best in the business. There are so many parallels between great wine and great music. "Kevin Zraly's Complete Wine Course" by Kevin Zraly is a must for people just discovering wine.
The Artistry of Teaching and Making Music, by Richard Floyd – Because if we all listened to Richard Floyd, this band world would be a better place. He is one of my heroes.
May 4, 2016
Frank Troyka
Director of Bands (retired)
LV Berkner High School
Richardson, Texas
Educational Consultant, Conn-Selmer, Inc.
Dallas, Texas
Take The Stairs, by Rory Vader – The author advocates an old-fashioned, no-short-cuts approach to success using focus and self-discipline, and by shunning quick fixes.
Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time, by Michael Shermer – This book explores the circumstances that combine to give credence to illogical beliefs, the cult mentality, and prejudices, and why they can be so attractive.
What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures, by Malcolm Gladwell – This is a collection of some of the author’s articles from The New Yorker in which he shares various stories of unlikely connections and fascinating little-known back stories.
August 15, 2015
Russ Teweleit
Coordinator of Music Education at West Texas A&M University
Canyon, Texas
The Little Book of Talent, by Daniel Coyle - This is a manual of scientifically proven methods for improving your skills. It utilizes reporting from experts in various fields and serves as a great guide for anyone wanting to get better at something.
The Complexity of Greatness: Beyond Talent or Practice, by Scott Barry Kaufman - This book utilizes the latest cognitive research to examine and explain the complex origins of greatness.
The Real Book 6th Edition in B-flat, pub. Hal Leonard - The Real Books are the best-selling jazz books of all time. Gigging musicians everywhere used these illegally produced books for decades, but the 6th edition is a legitimate and legal edition. It is incumbent upon the music teacher to remain a student and performer of music. Music reading is essential reading.
November 15, 2014
Joe Clark
Director of Performing and Visual Arts in the Spring Independent School District
Houston, Texas
How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of "Intangibles" in Business (third edition), by Douglas W. Hubbard - This is a good resource to measuring the value of intangibles in business. In short "If it matters, it is observable. If it is observable, it can be detected as an amount. If it can be detected as a range of possible amounts, it can be measured."
Cage-Busting Leadership, by Frederick M. Hess - A book about how to best use our time, tools, and talent to the best of our advantage. Hess helps identify the cages we put around ourselves, and learn what is possible.
HBR'S (Harvard Business Review) 10 Must Reads: On Managing Yourself, by collected authors - 11 articles from leaders in the field on managing your professional life. Articles address soliciting candid feedback, replenish physical and mental energy, decrease distractibility and frenzy, and delegating and developing employees' initiative.
October 1, 2014
Jeremy Earnhart
Director of Fine Arts in the Arlington Independent School District
Arlington, Texas
Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters, by Michael Roth - This book makes the case for the necessity of a robust liberal arts education. Rather than ask what you want to be when you grow up, we should ask what kind of a person do you want to be.
Writing your Doctoral Dissertation, by Rita Brause - While content is self-evident from the title, this book is written from a student-advocate perspective, revealing many hidden rules of the “do to the current scholars what was done to us” culture potentially secreted from vapor clouds of higher-education.
Music Advocacy and Student Leadership, by Tim Lautzenheiser - This should be read because it was penned by Dr. Tim.
September 24, 2014
Peter J. Warshaw
Director of Fine Arts in the Leander Independent School District
Leander, Texas
Start with Why, by Simon Sinek - outlines the necessity of an organization determining and holding to core reasons for why it exists and how that translates to the value of every person in the organization
Brain Rules, by John Medina - discusses 12 ways in which our brains work...an invaluable read to help us begin to understand basic human behavior
Quiet, by Susan Cain - describes how introverts can function in a world of extroverts...perfect for helping someone who is an introvert learn how to take advantage of their strengths and understand how they think
August 15, 2015
Russ Teweleit
Coordinator of Music Education at West Texas A&M University
Canyon, Texas
The Little Book of Talent, by Daniel Coyle - This is a manual of scientifically proven methods for improving your skills. It utilizes reporting from experts in various fields and serves as a great guide for anyone wanting to get better at something.
The Complexity of Greatness: Beyond Talent or Practice, by Scott Barry Kaufman - This book utilizes the latest cognitive research to examine and explain the complex origins of greatness.
The Real Book 6th Edition in B-flat, pub. Hal Leonard - The Real Books are the best-selling jazz books of all time. Gigging musicians everywhere used these illegally produced books for decades, but the 6th edition is a legitimate and legal edition. It is incumbent upon the music teacher to remain a student and performer of music. Music reading is essential reading.