Workshop Description: Drawing upon research and classroom-based experience, Matthew will share strategies for creating a classroom of kindness, structured toward validating and responding to all learners.
Clinician Biography: Matthew Stensrud is an award-winning and internationally acclaimed music educator and currently teaches PK-4 Lower School Music and Movement at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC. Previously, Matthew taught kindergarten through fifth grade music for seven years at Annandale Terrace Elementary School, a highly transient and culturally diverse school in Fairfax County, Virginia and for two years at George Mason Elementary School in Alexandria, VA. He completed his Orff Schulwerk certification at the San Francisco International Orff Course in the summer of 2013, his training in Responsive Classroom in 2011, and is an American Orff Schulwerk Association approved Movement Teacher Educator. Matthew presents frequently on the successful combination of Orff Schulwerk and Responsive Classroom, has published articles on Responsive Classroom in the music
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room and contributed to a book for specialists on the incorporation of Responsive Classroom. He received the Spotlight Award from the American Center for Elemental Music and Movement in Summer 2017 and was recognized by his school as Teacher of the Year for the 2016-2017 school year. He was also recognized by the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce for the "40 Under 40" Award in 2018. Recently, Matthew gave a TEDx talk on non-verbal communication entitled "Our Power Without Words".
Outside the classroom, Matthew is involved in various volunteer roles in the Washington DC Metro area, served as Chair of the Alexandria Commission for the Arts from 2014-2019 and as Vice President of the Middle Atlantic Chapter of the American Orff Schulwerk Association. Matthew currently serves as Region V Representative on the AOSA National Board of Trustees.
Outside the classroom, Matthew is involved in various volunteer roles in the Washington DC Metro area, served as Chair of the Alexandria Commission for the Arts from 2014-2019 and as Vice President of the Middle Atlantic Chapter of the American Orff Schulwerk Association. Matthew currently serves as Region V Representative on the AOSA National Board of Trustees.