Mickey Smith Jr. on Clubhouse

Bio

The name Mickey Smith, Jr. has become synonymous with the words "education" & “entertainment” across the country.

One word that describes this GRAMMY Music Educator Award Recipient and 6-time Teacher of the Year is “Educ-tainer” (the combination of Educator + Entertainer).
Mickey is able to see everything related to the education of his students first through identifying the scope of what is important and then putting it into a logical sequence of learning activities.
The entertainer aspect of Mickey comes during the sequence part of his instruction.
That is how he makes the learner “interested” or “entertained” as he works his transformation of them towards the intended outcome. Mickey’s ability to “wordSmith” the components into an interesting delivery, whether by the phrases “See Yourself Beyond Yourself,” or just “adjusting” the language to focus attention using an unexpected or newly constructed word – such as your “Southbest Louisiana” to refer to our geographical area.
Perhaps the most important aspect out of all of this is Mickey’s ability to see the person first and build that relationship so that the aforementioned can be effective and transformational. If anyone wants to see an excellent example of the 2 – 1 Rule (two positives before the corrective comment is delivered to the student) when making corrections, simply visit the classroom of Mickey Smith Jr.

As a dynamic and driven sax man that is passionate about music and education, Mickey has been the band director at Maplewood Middle School since 2005. In addition to playing music and teaching, he also serves educators through his SOUND180 EDUCATORS program and supports organizations that promote music education for children; for example, he is president of the non-profit Musicmakers2U, which gives deserving young people musical instruments at no cost. He is currently the 2020 GRAMMY Music Educator Award national winner. This award recognizes the country's top music instructor and influencer in the nation. Mickey uses a unique motivational mixture of music and message to encourage others to KEEP ON GOING and DISCOVER THEIR SOUND.

Find out more today at MickeySmithJr.com and join the SOUND180 EDUCATORS Facebook community as well.