Soundtrap Summit Resources & Reflections

We’ve put a lot of sweat equity into the Soundtrap Summit Resources. When we started to plan for our very first virtual summit during the summer of 2020, we knew we had to get it right for the teachers that had just been through a spring that no one could have imagined. Covid forced us all to learn, adapt, and plan for new digital tools and practices each day. We felt that teachers needed a boost of inspiration and a little bit less instruction. We reached out to our network to find some of the most inspirational thought leaders of student voice. Those thought leaders had their messages amplified by the one and only Matt Miller of Ditch that Textbook – our partner for this new endeavor. This culminated in our Fall 2020 summit highlighting student voice!

Soundtrap Summit Resources

After the feedback and initial success of the first fall summit we knew we had to offer a summit 2.0 that focused more on the practitioner and how to use Soundtrap in the classroom. We launched our first cohort of Soundtrap Producers and gave them the stage for an hour each. Again, Matt Miller proved to be an incredible host. These five teachers made their classroom practices visible to our summit attendees and added to our evergreen content list.

• Andy Edwards – STEAM, Music, and Building a Guitar
• Stevie Frank – Empowering Student Voice through Podcast Creation
• Tyler Swick – Using Popular Music to Teach Music Skills
• Lafouji Alexander – Heroes, Villains, and Epic Beat Battles: Engaging Students with Music
• Sage River Satterfield – Ready Musician One: Learning Music through Competition

Another surprise success from this year was the addition of Heart-to-Heart webinars offered by the five Education Specialists. These virtual events offered a community space for educators to share and showcase the amazing student projects that had been happening in their classrooms.  The first four Heart to Hearts were so successful that we knew we had to use this model to showcase student work for the final summit.  This culminating event (recorded here!) was a remarkable way to share the work of the humans at the center of our work.  It was a celebration of music and podcasting from around the world all using the tool that brought music and podcasting to students during one of the most unusual times.  

The goal for the 2020-2021 school year is to follow a similar format with 3 virtual summits with more Soundtrap practical and pedagogical content embedded throughout.  The first will be inspirational sessions to get the year off to a good start, the second will feature actual teachers and their lessons, and the final event will showcase student creations across grade levels and subject areas from around the world.  Sign up here for updates. We hope you will join us!