Love the Job, Lose the Hours: A Band Director on AI, Burnout and Getting Time Back
S2 E5 with Lesley Moffat, Band Director, Author & Founder, mPowered Music Educator Academy. Oct 13, 50 min.
Lesley Moffat, a band director with nearly four decades in the classroom, explains how AI turned trip booklets that once took 40 hours of labor into something she says she could now do in 40 minutes, and how a critic's comment that she must be a terrible teacher for relying on it sent her back to think harder about AI's environmental impact and who owns the work it learns from.
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She and Mercy also get into Band Director Buddy, the custom GPT she built for band directors that she says thousands of people use, why she says you have to understand your own work before handing it to AI, and her take as a music educator on AI-generated music, including the Berklee students who pushed back on an AI songwriting course. Her advice for women who feel intimidated is to start with something they already do well.
She also shares the four Ms behind her mPowered Music Educator Academy (mindful, meals, movement and music), and the 30-day pushup story she uses to show why starting with tiny steps works, for burnout and for learning AI.
In her words
I knew in my heart of hearts that I was using AI so that I could spend more time on the things that really mattered.
Lesley Moffat, on using AI as a teacher
Key moments
- Trip booklets that took 40 hours of work, and what she says she could do in 40 minutes now
- The critic who said she must be a terrible teacher, and the environmental and ownership questions that followed
- Band Director Buddy, the custom GPT built for band directors
- Her take on AI-generated music and the Berklee students' pushback
- Advice for women who feel intimidated: start with something you already do well
Resources mentioned
- WebsitemPowered Music Educator Academy
Lesley's website, where she says everything she does is connected.
BookI Love My Job But It's Killing Me: The Teacher's Guide to Conquering Chronic Stress and Sickness by Lesley MoffatHer first book, on conquering chronic stress and sickness as a teacher. Lesley says its title captures where she was before she changed how she worked.
BookLove the Job, Lose the Stress: Successful Social and Emotional Learning in the Modern Music Classroom by Lesley MoffatHer second book, on social and emotional learning in the music classroom.
- WebsiteBand Director Boot Camp
Lesley's podcast, with productivity and wellness tips for busy band directors.
- ToolBand Director Buddy GPT
A custom GPT Lesley built for band directors, which she says thousands of educators use.
- WebsiteNAfME (National Association for Music Education)
Lesley served on NAfME's AI task force. She describes its Guiding Principles, Frameworks, and Applications for AI as a living, non-enforceable starting point for music educators.