TME Tuesday: Updating My TME Database - A Never-Ending Project

There are some things that I am convinced I will never finish up, and one of those things is my therapeutic music experience (TME) database. I think the lack of completion of this project is a good thing since it means that I am constantly finding and developing new TMEs to use with my clients. It also means that there is always more work to be done. Always more work.

I recently updated my TME file to include the TMEs that I had my intern complete as part of the assignments of the internship program. All I have finished, at this point, is the list of the TMEs that the intern wrote up and the intern's name as author. I still have to go through each of the files, change the author (if necessary), update the purpose statement of each TME, and then link it to the correct folder so future me (and future interns) can click the title and find the complete TME.

The other task that I am undergoing this semester is updating the TME database to reflect the files that are in the TME file itself. Here's what typically happens when I am working on my TMEs...

1. I write a TME.
2. I save the TME to the Ideas for Development folder until it is completely finished. Once that happens, I move the idea from the Ideas for Development folder to the appropriate folder in the database (alphabetical by title).
3. I open my TME Database list and go to the bottom of the list.
4. I enter the title, the author, the primary goal areas, and any other pertinent information into the Database.
5. I add a hyperlink from the title box to the file in its new folder.
6. I sort the database by alphabetical order using column A to put the new file in the alphabetical listing.
7. I press Save.

That's it. That's my procedure for saving files. Now, lately, I've been skipping steps 3-7, so I have lots of files in my folders that are not on the database. I am working on changing that so I have the habit of automatically saving the file in the database. Right now, I have started from the back of the alphabet and am working forward as I go through each folder to list all the TMEs and resources that are present. I am at about the M folder, so I have made it halfway through this update. Yay, me!

One of my staff members has made a request for a specific song that intern #34 shared with us, so I am going to learn that one this week for next week's session strategy.

One of the assignments that I make my interns complete is a TME file of their own. I ask them to write 25 original songs with melodies and accompaniment and then add 50 other TMEs to their file. I give them my songs and TMEs in return for theirs, and it is a pretty good trade for me. I freely offer them access to my TME file, but most interns do not take advantage of that resource. I have even gone so far as to print off my database listing for them, but they do not use it. More often than not, they just seem to want to complain about the amount of work without using the resources that I have waiting for their use. Oh well. You can only tell people things so many times before you just give up. It's in their Internship Handbook as well - it says, very clearly, that they can use my TME database for the assignment - all they have to do is ask for it! I only deny access to that for the first five TMEs that I ask them to write - that is how I determine whether they can take dictation of musical information and translate it into a fixed musical setting (competency!). 

After those first five TMEs, though, ASK FOR THE RESOURCES YOU HAVE AVAILABLE TO YOU! No one ever does. I also offer free resources from my TPT store, additional topic information through free webinars, and all the visual aid making materials my interns could ever need, but they don't use them.

I have been making time in my schedule for all sorts of TME development. I have been focusing on making more generic TME templates to use for specific things like sequencing songs, gamification of music education and SEL concepts, songwriting TMEs, you get the idea. This is something that never occurred to me before in my 30+ years of being a music therapist and now I am laughing at myself.

So, I am working on the never-ending process of adding new ideas to my compendium of TMEs. I guess I will always be adding new ideas. I feel that's a good thing.

Happy Tuesday - this is the first Tuesday that we are actually going to school since the New Year started - all of the other ones have been inclement weather days. I have five groups and one individual today. We are talking about jazz band instruments this week. The first session is for learning and the second session is for playing some of those instruments. Today is learning day for all the groups that I will see. We will use the bass guitar, the drum set, and the keyboard this week with all my groups and some other instruments with some of my groups. Time to get ready for the commute. See you tomorrow.