Elizabeth Steege: Building a Lasting Classroom Culture

Join us on Educational Relevance as we welcome Elizabeth Steege—a dynamic music educator with over 30 years of experience in the Racine Unified School District. Hosts Bryan Wright and Mark McBeth sit down with Elizabeth to explore how she built a lasting classroom culture, led with heart, and used the power of music to impact generations of students. Don’t miss this inspiring conversation with a true educational changemaker!

For more information about the the topics discussed, contact us at
Bryan Wright: brwright44@gmail.com
Mark McBeth: mark@educationalrelevance.org

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Thanks for listening. Until next time, keep leading with heart—and stay educationally relevant.

Transcript

bryan-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 0:00

Welcome to Educational Relevance. A platform created by educators for educators. I am Bryan Wright. I'm currently adjunct professor at Concordia University. Alongside me is my partner, Mark Macbeth. Mark is an acclaimed author and a change agent in education who's been working in education for several years. Today's guest embodies the spirit of teaching and the power of music in education. Elizabeth Steege. Elizabeth is the third generation musician from Racine Wisconsin and has spent over 30 years as a dedicated music educator the Racine Unified School District. Over 28 of those years. She served in Case High School where I had the privilege working alongside. Today we invited Elizabeth to join us, to share her insights and how she built and sustained a strong classroom culture, and then how her leadership extended beyond the classroom positively impacting a generation of students. So Elizabeth, welcome to the show. It's an honor to have you. How you feeling today?

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 1:07

Good. Thank you. Thank you for inviting me.

bryan-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 1:09

Well, I tell you it is, it is great to have you. Mark, I think we got somebody very special. Elizabeth, take us back to the first few years in, in the classroom. What did culture mean to you then, and how did it evolve over time?

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 1:24

Well, I have to say I made my biggest mistakes my first couple years, but it was wonderful because those mistakes, really, set me up for positivity in the future. I, I started at a middle school and I learned how to, be in a classroom and how important time management is, and also having students busy the entire time. When students have any relaxation on anything, that's when their own ideas can be planned out on what they wanna do. And when students are busy throughout the entire class period, that's when they leave the room and they are happy with what they have done. They might not realize that at the time they're busy, they're doing this, they have to keep up. But then they leave and they feel accomplished, and teachers tell me they can't get them to stop humming a tune in their next class, so

squadcaster-364c_1_04-30-2025_115556: 2:31

I find that really interesting that, the, the more engaged, the more you have students doing stuff, the more they seem to like your classroom.

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 2:40

yeah. Because, if, if we just keep on going to the next thing and changing it up is very important too. You can't just be doing the same thing over and over and over again.'cause they lose concentration and again, they start getting other ideas. And that has been especially important the last 10 years with technology. I mean, I. We gotta keep it interesting in the classroom. So they're not even thinking about grabbing their phone. They need an escape from checking what could be said about them on social media or something. And I would say, this is your escape. Be with me. Don't worry about what's going on. This is your escape. And when they're busy, they actually do. They, they, they forget about it for a little bit.

squadcaster-364c_1_04-30-2025_115556: 3:27

I like the idea of mixing things up. It sounds like you're kind of mixing genres, mixing your strategies. Did you have a routine? Was there routines in your classroom that were consistent every week?

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 3:40

Yes.

squadcaster-364c_1_04-30-2025_115556: 3:40

That every day the kids came in, that established that, culture inside your classroom?

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 3:45

five minutes actually three to five minutes there would be up on the screen a prompt of them to write a little bit. So they write the date, they write how they're feeling that day, and that includes feelings and health, anything like that. And when I say they're writing, I mean, I. It doesn't have to be full sentences to me. Just a few words about how they're feeling and and what they're doing. Then there is always a word of the week. They write that out with the definition and then they leave the rest blank. Because then what happens is during our warmups. we start doing those warmups, we are incorporating that word of the week. And it might be have to do with their vocalese or it might have to do with even their health or how something feels. And after those warmups, then they write. A little something on if they are understanding or not understanding or how they feel, and they must use that word. And again, two, three sentences. This takes one to two minutes when they first come in. And this takes one to two minutes after warmups. When they are done with the warmup, it helps them rest. They write a little bit. They take a sip of their coffee or water. I prefer water, but you know, kids in those coffees.

squadcaster-364c_1_04-30-2025_115556: 5:21

Hey, can I ask a question? So I want continue with your routines, prompts and warm. I'm really confused. I have teachers tell me that you know, I don't have desks as a music teacher. I don't have a desk as a PE teacher., How in the heck are these kids writing in your classroom when you don't have that stuff?

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 5:39

They have a folder with music in it, and that's what I suggest to write it. And also at the beginning of the year, I ask them to get a spiral notebook and they keep their daily entries in this notebook. And some kids that I have for four years, they have their four years of notebooks and they love to see their growth and what they have learned and what they are doing and things like that. So they can write in that notebook. They can write on, in on top of their folder, their three ring binder that has their music in there. And if kids forget their, paper or whatever. I'm always out there. I'm walking around and I hand a piece of paper there and at the end of the week, I don't care if we're stapling. Everybody's writing something and it keeps us all doing the same things. There's, there's really no odd of it. But again, they get hooked. They like that. In the long run.

bryan-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 6:42

Mark, let me follow up with a question here.

squadcaster-364c_1_04-30-2025_115556: 6:43

Right.

bryan-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 6:44

you know, Elizabeth. Case is a IB school.

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 6:48

Mm-hmm.

bryan-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 6:48

of the words that you were teaching related to some of the ib curriculum that was there presently, and how, how you get that involved in the classroom?

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 6:56

It is very, it is very easy actually. I always use words that are recommended by the IB program and then also the Wisconsin State Music Association. They also have terms and words that they want to use, and it's so easy to incorporate those things. I, I think almost everyone, if they were aware, and knowledgeable, what those are, they're really quite easy to get in, the weekly words and the sharing.

squadcaster-364c_1_04-30-2025_115556: 7:35

So the students walked in your classroom, they immediately pull out their notebooks. You got stuff on the board ready for'em to go. Warm up. What's your next routine? Where do you go from there? So the next thing

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 7:45

we do is we pull out music and we start working on it. And I love to start on something maybe that we have done a little bit and review. I love then getting into groups. Where a lot of times it's in section, soprano, alto, tenor base, and there's usually a section leader, or I ask different people at different times to lead, but what happens is they get into those groups and then they start working on a certain section. It's so important to say what section, so let's say it's 18 measures. working on it like that. I am sitting at the piano. I can give any pitches that they want. One person is in charge. Doesn't matter if they are knowledgeable or not. They're the ones that say, okay, let's start this. Let's practice this. And then it has to be time sensitive. Okay, everyone get in your groups. You are three minutes to work on these measures. Go, and I always this time afterwards to reflect on what happened in those three minutes. So some groups might be really on it. They're singing and they're trying, and they're pinpointing the exact spot where it is. Some groups go in and, and they're a little lost. Well, we tried it, but we didn't know what they were doing. And that's why it's important to just have a short time because then we share from the groups, what did you do in your group? What was your problem spot? They say what their problem spot is. What did you do in your group to fix it? Did you use hands to help you do this? Did you just do it by singing orally? And what I eventually try to get the kids to do is it's not a talking only time. It's not a singing only time. It's not just an oral time. We're we're using our hands and our feet and our ears and we're trying to involve all those things in those three minutes. And so they start remembering and knowing that, so then after a while we get a month or two into the school year and they're doing all these things, and it is, it is pretty cool.

squadcaster-364c_1_04-30-2025_115556: 10:08

So you do this three, you do this three minutes every single day.

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 10:11

three minutes, that's what we approach on that particular spot every single day. So then, once we do that we might have then after a thumbs up, thumbs down, thumbs in between as far as if it was successful. I also do one hand in two hands in zero hands in. Or it was excellent in the group, meaning we made so much progress on it. But then we sit back down and we run that section again. It's always improved. And in that. I'm gonna say it's six minutes now.'cause the three minutes we're with them working three minutes of sharing and then we getting back and doing everything. Now we're talking about seven minutes, we get back improvement they took on that, process of improvement. It feels good. We go onto another spot. Or another song and we work on that particular section. So we might have two or three different things, but we start together. We separate and take it in on our own things that they're really getting advanced. I can also set up Soprano, soprano, soprano, soprano. Now Alto, Alto. And I make groups that way where I start to get different groups in there. And again, time is so important. If they have too much time, they're not gonna get anything done. They're gonna be asking what they they did that day, or if they're going and doing this. And we do that at the beginning of the year to bond, but not when we have things to get done and do.

bryan-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 11:53

So,

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 11:53

And it works out so good.

bryan-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 11:55

lemme ask you, I, I'm hearing two things. So make, let me make sure we clarify. First thing, you talk about building leadership density amongst your students. You were talking about giving students all chances to, to lead in that regard, but then you were discussing, checking for understanding, so to make sure they knew what was going on. right. How did that help you build the culture in your classroom that was positive and productive?

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 12:18

Well, for one, all students are an important part of the process. So when we're listening to another group and they're saying what they, what help them be successful. Everybody else is thinking, oh yeah, I'll have to try that. I mean, I picked up some of my best ideas from students on what they come up with because they feel these things and that's also why I like different people in charge. If this, if, if there's only one section leader the entire, entire year, again, you're stuck with just one more teacher that you're always listening to. It's so important to have different people take the lead, so, they're ready for that.

squadcaster-364c_1_04-30-2025_115556: 13:05

Yeah, and I also, this also sounds familiar for any of our people listening that might be a sports coach. This sounds like it's kind of a drill practice, like I'm practicing my dribbling, practicing my free throw shot, practicing my, my handoffs as a quarterback, whatever, right?

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 13:26

I think any class English science history, I would have kids do the same thing. I just have had so much success with that. I, I've had so much success with students accepting each other and, being a team, and we all come from different places with knowledge and, and talent and understanding of things, and it gives everybody a chance and a way of appreciation and learning and, and it's, it's a good space. It's a feel good space that you come and you're a part of something positive.

bryan-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 14:04

N Now Liz, me, ask that question then,'cause you built a space where you're talking about making positive connections with kids and building up trust. How did you get to the kids who were hard to reach and how did you make them feel a part of what you were doing?

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 14:20

It is takes a little bit longer. My freshman, my first year, my first year students come in it, it takes a little bit longer. There's a little bit more competition coming from different schools and they think there's a little bit of a hierarchy, which I do not accept in any way when they're in those groups and shorter it amounts of time, again is important. Easier tasks in those groups is important. At the very beginning of the year, we share also we share what is important to us or hobbies, and we remember each other's names, things like that. kids will remember. Their senior year that they'll say, I remember freshman year you said that pink was your favorite color, and you, you know, they, they pick up these things because again, it's just a drill. So whatever the purpose of going in there, I couldn't send freshmen into, especially at the beginning of the year, to go in groups and just Okay, work on these sections. It has to be really clear what they're working on. And it might just be finding, starting pitches. You pull out your phone keyboard, you push that, and then getting together and starting on that pitch together, okay, that didn't go well, this time you play the pitch and then you direct us in, you know, things go on in these little groups for two, three minutes, and they learn that process of being in a group. And then you can make it more and more difficult and end up getting a lot more in. And again, as long as there's a time sensitive amount and a goal in mind They will be able to accomplish it. You know, I can't set'em up for failure. There has to be some accomplishment or close to accomplishment. So if it's not going well, something that, oh gosh, that's what they did. That's what we gotta try. There's gotta be, success in the horizon there. And that's not gonna be just sending kids out and, and hoping for the best

bryan-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 16:44

And Mark, you know, this sounds like something like outta AVID where she was using Socratic Seminars where students would help with basically teaching themselves. Is that what you're talking about, Liz? And one of the strategies relied upon.

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 16:55

Absolutely.

bryan-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 16:57

I wanted to make sure.

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 16:59

And they go home

squadcaster-364c_1_04-30-2025_115556: 17:00

My gosh.

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 17:01

how they learn their own songs and their own things too.

squadcaster-364c_1_04-30-2025_115556: 17:06

So I'm just wondering, when do they actually just sing a song? I mean, all this routines you got going on, what's going on when they sing?

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 17:15

each one of those breaking up to groups and doing things like that at the very end of the classroom, we always end with positivity and something, you know, they feel great at. They love the song. It's probably by memory, it's probably something that. Every section feels good about, and again, they're leaving with excitement about that song, always ending positivity. And I also go till the bell rings, I know a lot of people let them, let kids put away their notebooks and put away things for the last couple minutes. No, we go all the way up to that bell and they go and they need to go to their next thing. I. Every minute is accounted for there.

squadcaster-364c_1_04-30-2025_115556: 18:08

Elizabeth, I would've been bringing other teachers to your classroom just to watch the last two minutes of the classroom.

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 18:14

more like seven, eight minutes. Yeah. More like seven, eight minutes.

squadcaster-364c_1_04-30-2025_115556: 18:19

Yeah. But you know what I mean. But I mean, I'm saying like, I totally agree. You, you have a 50 minute class period. Why do you only want to teach 40?

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 18:29

right.

squadcaster-364c_1_04-30-2025_115556: 18:30

So when you have them coming in, you're actually, and, and I, I, I like what you talked about with the first three minutes, those students know what they're doing when they walk in the door. You're actually getting 51, 52 minutes out of them.

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 18:41

a lot of

squadcaster-364c_1_04-30-2025_115556: 18:42

Right.

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 18:42

they get there two, three minutes early. It's already up. There. So they're, they're filling in all their stuff. So then, you know, we're just waiting a minute or two, and if they're talking quietly while everybody's settled, that's okay. I mean, if you came in right at the bell, then you're hustling to get that. That's stuff written in one or two minutes, but most kids have already been seated, already have their notebook filled out and they're already good. Plus, we cheer big time during these groups or in class when someone uses a vocab word. That is a very exciting.

bryan-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 19:22

So let get this right you, your exit strategy. You have writing throughout the, you had writing at the beginning of the classroom. Did you ever, in your exit strategies use writing at the end as well?

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 19:34

Sometimes it matters again how I'm changing it up, but most of the writing is within the first 10 minutes because students then usually talk about how those exercises went. Now there's different times of the year. After our concerts or after they've been in the groups, they might write something else for different reasons. And again, trying to use those vocab words. And we've just had a concert or some kind of performance of some kind, we are sharing out what went well, what we would like to improve on. How we felt feeling is important. I know people don't like to get into feelings, but their feelings are very important to me because I might think everything's going great and I'll read about someone's feelings. I. And they might feel left out in a group for some reason. They might feel, you know, those things are important to me and the ones that are quiet and hold things in, I'll read those things and it makes me aware more aware of different types of students. So then when they're doing these things, I can keep an eye on that or watch that.

squadcaster-364c_1_04-30-2025_115556: 20:54

Why does anybody need to take music class? What? What are you conveying inside there that makes a connection for that kid?

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 21:02

singing is a re a release for one that is a physical response, a physical action that a lot of classrooms are lacking. And I don't mean that as an insult, that's really. Easy to do. I mean, students have to stand up. They have to sing. They're releasing this energy. There's a high in that I'm not as good with the health words and, and, and knowing, you know, the things that, that releases. But it's, it's a positive thing and it's sometimes the only class that they stand and sit four or five times during the class of 50 minutes. It's one of the only times they're moving to different parts of the room. They're not just sta sitting looking straight ahead or down. They go to different areas of the room to do this work. And there is a high from doing that. There's also when you have loss of oxygen to the brain, it releases a high, a natural high, and students will have that natural high from singing and releasing that, and it's a break from their classes. A lot of kids that are too noisy in classes, it works out great in mine because they'd loved. Start singing and hearing themselves.

bryan-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 22:37

Well, lemme ask this question, Liz. You on this, in this program, we always talk about code and educational philosophy. If you had to sum up your educational philosophy or your code in one sentence, what would it be?

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 22:53

Walk, talk, write, and perform like a musician. That's, that's my goal. I have a, student made a big, not poster, but it's a, a hard painting, huge my room. And we hang it up. And that is up from day one. I've had it for about 15 years. A student made and it says exactly that. Walk, we talk, we write, and we perform like A musician. And that is my goal for every single kid. It is fun to be talented. It is fun to maybe have a bad day and you come in and sing and dang, we sounded really good. It is great to leave and feel talented. It's so positive.

bryan-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 23:44

every student knows your code meant they walk into your room the first day

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 23:48

Everyone.

bryan-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 23:49

consistent throughout.

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 23:52

always,

bryan-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 23:53

that?

squadcaster-364c_1_04-30-2025_115556: 23:54

I love that. And I, and I love that she actually, I. Did Mike mine, which is rigor, relevance, relationships, generates results. That's why I was asking about the relevance piece because I wanted to make sure she caught all of'em. So, yeah. That's awesome. You know, one of, one of the things that some people will say, well, you're, you're music teacher. I think you've already stepped outside of that and said, Hey, I'm a writing teacher. I'm a, I'm a relationship teacher. I'm creating relevance for students. You've told me that already. What is it that you would leave behind if you really just had the message and you said, Hey, young teacher, I don't care if you teach history. I don't care if you teach language arts. I don't care if you just say, I teach kids. What is that message about creating climate? The culture inside that classroom that you find is essential?

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 24:46

having students know how to make themselves happy. Students knowing how to always find positivity in their life and knowing how they can do that, that's why the writing is very important and how they feel, because they start to find out what they do that makes. Happiness. I just to tell you the truth, I just saw someone's Facebook a student from, I think like 25 years ago, and he's, he said, in a really bad place right now. I don't know what to do. Something. And I wrote, are you singing? Go find a place. You can be alone, a car, shut the door and sing for a little while Again, that loss of oxygen, feeling like you're accomplishing something and and focusing on something else besides what's not going on, you gotta find those things for yourself on, on what you can do to make your yourself happy. So that is my wish for students, is that they find ways to enjoy their education and they make it lifelong, not just. In the classroom, but they, they keep on finding things and there's a lot of very interesting people out there. And in a music classroom you get all different types of people. I don't, I don't like when kids will waste their time. I mean, they have their own friends, they can pick their own friends, but we find interesting, awesome things about people that are, are a little more different than usual, and it's exciting, it's fun,

bryan-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 26:41

Mark, I

squadcaster-364c_1_04-30-2025_115556: 26:41

I think the, the essential takeaways from this is that well one of the things I heard over and over again and I think is really interesting is time is the management of your time from the very second that a student's gonna enter your classroom to the second the kid's gonna leave the classroom. And then thinking beyond that in the future, but also is. Is that time has a factor on performance. If you give a student too much time. You, you allow the culture to change. If you limit the time, you can shape the culture. I thought that was really, really fascinating piece that I think teachers should take away. I also liked that leadership den density that you talked about, Brian, a little bit, checking for understanding all these things was going on inside of a classroom. Really trying to determine whether students are learning or not learning, and that's the key takeaways that we got from Elizabeth today. Would that sound about right, Elizabeth?

elizabeth-steege-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 27:41

if that's what you got.

bryan-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 27:43

I tell you what Elizabeth, thank

squadcaster-364c_1_04-30-2025_115556: 27:45

Yeah.

bryan-_1_04-30-2025_115557: 27:45

us today. Mark, my partner. I think we had a, a great speaker today. The conversation was rich. Wonderful. And to all our listeners out there, please understand we always have material for you at the bottom of our podcast. Please join us and until next time, thank you for joining. Educational Relevance Guys. Take care. Bye-bye now. you. Bye.