How should I handle a student who just mouths the words instead of singing?

When a Student Mouths the Words Instead of Singing: The Coach is About Way More Than Sight Singing

After 30 years of teaching middle school chorus, I know one thing for certain: Teaching music is only part of the job.

Picture this.

You're standing in front of your chorus. Most of your students are singing, but you notice one student moving their lips without making a sound.

What do you do?

Do you call them out? Move closer? Ask them to sing individually? Ignore it and hope they'll eventually participate?

And here's an even more important question:

Do you know WHY that student isn't singing?

Maybe they're embarrassed. Maybe they don't know how to match pitch. Maybe their voice is changing. Maybe they're afraid someone will laugh at them. Or maybe they've simply learned that mouthing the words is an easy way to get through chorus without participating.

Each possibility calls for a different response.

And that's exactly why I wanted to make this video.

Watch: What Do You Do When a Student Mouths the Words?

Click here to watch this one minute video.  

In this video, I explore a situation almost every middle school chorus teacher has encountered.

It's a simple classroom moment, but the way we handle it can have lasting consequences.

Sometimes the smallest interactions with our students are the ones that matter most.

S-Cubed Was Always About More Than Teaching Sight Singing

When I created the S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners, I wasn't simply trying to help teachers have a fun way to teach sight singing successfully.  It's always been part method and part philosophy. 

I was trying to help teachers build successful middle school chorus classrooms.

Yes, the program teaches sight singing through a carefully sequenced process. But anyone who has taught middle school knows that even the best lesson plan can fall apart if students aren't engaged, aren't participating, or don't feel comfortable taking musical risks.

That's why classroom management, pacing, student engagement, and building confidence have always been central to my approach.

You cannot separate successful sight singing instruction from successful classroom management.

And that brings me to something I've been working on for quite some time.

My New S-Cubed AI Coach Does More Than Help You Teach Sight Singing

When I began developing my S-Cubed AI Coach on Studio.com, I knew I didn't want to create something that simply told teachers what to do on Lesson 1, Lesson 2, or Lesson 3.  I've already done that in the original program.

I wanted to create something that could help teachers navigate the unexpected things that happen when they're actually standing in front of students.

Things like:

• A student who mouths the words instead of singing.

• A student whose changing voice cracks and classmates begin giggling.

• A class that won't stop talking long enough to begin an activity.

• Students who are afraid to sing because they don't want to make mistakes.

• A lesson that isn't progressing as quickly as expected.

• A class with widely different levels of musical experience.

• A teacher who needs to adjust instruction because a concert is approaching.

These aren't hypothetical problems.

They're the kinds of situations I encountered throughout my teaching career.

And they're the kinds of situations that teachers bring to me when they attend my professional development sessions.

The S-Cubed AI Coach is designed to help teachers think through these challenges, not simply move from one sight singing lesson to the next.

Imagine Having Someone to Talk Through a Classroom Problem With Right there the moment you need it. 

When I was a young teacher, I didn't always have someone available to help me figure out what to do when something unexpected happened.

Sometimes I made the right decision.

Sometimes I didn't.

And sometimes I learned the hard way.

That's part of teaching.

But what if a teacher could describe a classroom situation and receive practical guidance based on the teaching philosophy I've developed over three decades?

That's what I've been working to create.

The S-Cubed AI Coach can help teachers explore classroom management strategies, differentiate instruction, adjust pacing, reflect on their teaching, and work through real-world situations.

It isn't meant to replace teacher judgment.

Quite the opposite.

It's designed to support teachers as they develop their own judgment, confidence, and classroom management skills.

And while it's grounded in my S-Cubed teaching approach, its usefulness goes beyond teaching students to read music.

A Special 20% Discount Through October 16!

To celebrate the launch of my S-Cubed AI Coach, I'm offering 20% off through October 16, 2026.

If you're a beginning middle school chorus teacher, someone using the S-Cubed program, or an experienced educator looking for another resource to help navigate classroom challenges, I hope you'll take a look.

You can explore the AI Coach here:

https://studio.com/daleduncanscubedcoach

The regular subscription options are $89 for three months or $249 annually. The launch discount is available through October 16.

Are You a Creator? There's an Opportunity for You, Too!

One of the exciting things about building this project on Studio.com is the opportunity for other educators, content creators, and entrepreneurs to explore creating their own AI-powered experiences.

If you've developed expertise that helps other people, you might be interested in seeing what Studio.com makes possible.

I also have a creator affiliate link. If you're interested in exploring the platform for your own work, you can use my link here:

https://studio.com/join/daleduncanscubedcoach

Disclosure: This is my affiliate link. I may earn a commission if you sign up through it.

One Final Thought

Let's return to that student who's mouthing the words.

It's tempting to see the behavior and immediately decide how to correct it.

But experienced teachers know that the behavior we see doesn't always tell us the whole story.

Sometimes we need to ask better questions before we can find better solutions.

That's true for sight singing.

It's true for classroom management.

And it's true for teaching in general.

After 30 years in the classroom, I'm still passionate about helping teachers find ways to reach their students.

The technology may be different today, but my purpose hasn't changed.

I want teachers to feel successful, and I want students to experience the joy of making music.

If you've ever dealt with a student who mouths the words instead of singing, I'd love to hear how you handled it.

Leave a comment below. Your experience might be exactly what another teacher needs to hear.

The S-Cubed AI Coach can solve so many issues beyond sight singing.  It is 20% off until October 16th on Studio.com

— Dale Duncan

Creator, S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners

#MiddleSchoolChorus #MusicEducation #SCubedSightSinging #ClassroomManagement #AIinEducation

When a Boy’s Voice Cracks: Helping Middle School Singers Keep Their Confidence

A boy who used to sing confidently suddenly cracks on a note. A few classmates giggle. He looks embarrassed, and the next time you ask the class to sing, he barely opens his mouth.

What do you say? What do you do next?

For a middle school choir teacher, this moment involves much more than finding the right notes. You are navigating a changing voice, a student’s confidence, and the way classmates respond—all while trying to keep rehearsal moving.

During our "live" S-Cubed AI Coach demonstration, David Stauffer brought a situation like this to the app. His question involved a boy whose falsetto was cracking, friends who giggled, girls who became shy, and a classroom that lost its spark.

That is the kind of classroom question I wanted this Coach to help teachers think through.

Watch the short clip below to see the question and the Coach’s response.

Click here to watch the video of this discussion during our "live" test of the app.

Protect the student’s dignity first

One part of the response stood out to me: protect the student’s dignity and quietly reset the emotional temperature of the room.

That matters because a student who is embarrassed may remember how the room felt long after everyone else has forgotten the cracked note.

The Coach suggested language a teacher could use:

“Voices change. That is normal, and it happens to many excellent singers. We do not laugh at someone while they are learning. We support each other here.”

I appreciate the calm, matter-of-fact approach. It acknowledges what happened, establishes an expectation, and gives the teacher a way to move forward without making the student the center of a lengthy discussion.

You would adapt those words to your own voice and your students. The purpose is to make the expectation clear: this classroom is a place where people can learn without being humiliated.

Give the class a way to move forward

Correcting the laughter is only part of the moment. What happens immediately afterward matters, too.  As teachers, we provide the culture of the classroom.  

The response suggested moving into a whole-class activity so attention does not remain fixed on the boy who cracked.

That is a useful question to ask yourself before your next rehearsal: What familiar activity could I use to help everyone rejoin the music?

The goal would be to give students something manageable to do together and give that singer a chance to participate without another spotlight on him.

Offer support privately

The Coach also suggested speaking with the student privately rather than asking him to demonstrate the problem in front of the class.

That conversation gives the teacher a chance to listen. What feels comfortable to him? What feels difficult? Is he worried that everyone will laugh again?

The guidance included finding a comfortable range and avoiding pressure to force the voice. Those suggestions still require a teacher who can hear the student, observe his response, and make appropriate musical decisions.

An app cannot hear what I hear in the room or know that student the way his teacher does. It can help organize possible next steps. The teacher decides how to use them.

Why this belongs in a conversation about the S-Cubed AI Coach

People often know me through the S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners. But sight singing happens inside a classroom filled with relationships, emotions, different abilities, and unexpected interruptions.

A student who is afraid to sing needs more than the next sight-singing exercise. A class that laughs at someone needs an expectation reset. A teacher facing both situations may need help deciding what to prioritize.

I spent 30 years teaching, and I created the S-Cubed AI Coach using my curriculum, procedures, teaching philosophy, videos, and classroom experience. Its initial S-Cubed lesson guidance focuses on Lessons 1–10, but questions like David’s show how the conversation can extend into the classroom challenges surrounding those lessons.  If there is demand for the Coach, I will add more all of Level one of the program.  

This clip is one example of its guidance in a live demonstration. It gives you something specific to examine: What seems useful? What would you adapt? What would you add?

The teacher remains the professional

In the clip, I say something I want teachers to hear clearly: we are still the humans, and we are still the professionals.

You bring the relationships. You hear the voices. You know the class. You decide whether a suggestion fits the student standing in front of you.

My goal is to offer another way to stand beside the teacher—to help you think through a difficult moment and prepare for what comes next.

If you would like to explore the Coach, you can find it here:

Explore the S-Cubed AI Coach

Studio.com is offering 20% off from October 6 through October 16, 2026. The S-Cubed curriculum is purchased separately.

What has helped your boys keep singing confidently through voice changes? Share a phrase you use, a rehearsal adjustment, or a question you are still working through. Your experience could help another teacher tomorrow.

—Dale Duncan

This Morning, I Realized I'm in Very Good Company

Today is launch day.

After months of building, testing, questioning, revising, listening, and occasionally defending what I’m creating, the new Studio coaching apps are officially out in the world.

So this morning, I did something pretty simple.

I went to Studio.com and started looking around.

And then I saw Idina Menzel.

Yes. That Idina Menzel.

Her app is called Mastering the Art of Broadway Performance.

Tony Award winner. Broadway star. Elphaba in Wicked. Elsa in Frozen. One of the most recognizable voices of her generation.

And there she was with her own vocal performance coaching app.

Seeing her there felt validating.

Not because Idina Menzel and I have the same career. We obviously don't.

But because we are both participating in something that I believe is going to become increasingly common: taking the knowledge that an experienced person has accumulated over decades and using new technology to make more of that knowledge available to the people who need it.

And Idina isn't alone.

As I explored Studio this morning, I found accomplished people from music, filmmaking, engineering, cooking, magic, business, and many other fields using this technology to extend their teaching beyond what would ever be possible one person at a time.

This matters to me because sharing my work creating this app hasn't always been comfortable.

If you've followed what I've been sharing over the last several weeks, you know that reactions to my S-Cubed AI Coach have been mixed.

Some people have been fascinated.

Some have been excited.

Some have immediately understood what I'm trying to build.

And some people have very strong feelings about AI.

I understand that.

New technology raises legitimate questions. Educators should ask questions. We should think carefully about what technology does well, where it falls short, and where human judgment absolutely must remain at the center.

But I've spent my entire career adapting.

I started teaching in 1989.

Think about how much the world—and the classroom—has changed since then.

Through every technological shift, I've tried to ask essentially the same question:

How can I use the tools available to me to help teachers and students more effectively?

That is the question behind this project.

S-Cubed AI Coach isn't replacing a teacher.

It is an attempt to make decades of my experience available when I can't physically be sitting beside someone.

A middle school chorus teacher might be wondering:

Am I moving through this lesson too quickly?

What do I do with the boy whose voice changed practically overnight?

How do I handle the student who refuses to sing?

Why is this class struggling when my other class isn't?

Should I move on—or spend another day here?

What would Dale do in this situation?

Should I repeat the curriculum next year or move on to the next level?

For years, teachers have emailed me questions like these.

I've answered as many as I possibly could.

But there is only one of me.

Technology suddenly gives me another possibility.

What if some of the lessons I've learned since walking into my first middle school classroom in 1989 could be available to a teacher at the exact moment that teacher needs them?

That's what interests me.

That's why I built this.

And this morning, something shifted for me.

Seeing Idina Menzel using this technology to extend her expertise in vocal performance made me realize that what I'm doing isn't some strange little experiment happening off in a corner.

Experts across many different fields are exploring the same fundamental idea:

Can technology help us share human expertise in a more personal and accessible way?

I believe the answer is yes.

Not perfectly.

Not without thoughtful questions.

And certainly not without humans.

In fact, the more I've worked on this project, the more convinced I've become that the human experience behind the technology is the most important part of it.

The technology didn't spend 30 years teaching middle school chorus.

I did.

The technology didn't experience the changing male voice in a classroom, learn how to preserve a child's dignity, figure out how to engage reluctant singers, make mistakes, adjust pacing, manage difficult classes, prepare concerts, or discover which tiny choices could completely change the atmosphere in a room.

I did.

The technology simply gives me a new way to share what those experiences taught me.

And today, I feel incredibly good about being willing to explore that possibility.

---

Tonight, I'm Going to Show You

Tonight, I'm demonstrating the S-Cubed AI Coach live.

Not a carefully edited promotional video.

Not just screenshots.

I want people to see it tested.

Ask questions.

Give it classroom situations.

See what it does well.

And see for themselves what I've been building.

Get the Zoom link on my Facebook Event page by clicking here.

If you're skeptical, you're welcome.

If you're curious, you're welcome.

If you're excited about it, you're welcome too.

I'd rather have educators see it working and make up their own minds than simply tell them what they should think about it.

---

Want to See What Idina Menzel Created?

If you're curious about what caught my attention this morning, take a look at Idina Menzel's vocal performance coaching app on Studio.

Click here to see it.

Her application is very different from mine, but the underlying idea fascinates me: using technology to make an experienced artist's knowledge and coaching available in an entirely new way.

---

And If You're an Expert or Creator Reading This…

There's one more reason I'm writing about this publicly.

Maybe you're a teacher.

A conductor.

A coach.

A fitness professional.

A creator.

A musician.

An artist.

Or someone who has spent 20 or 30 years becoming very good at something.

You may be looking at this technology and wondering:

Could I build something around what I know?

That's exactly the question I started asking.

If you're interested in exploring Studio and potentially creating your own coaching app, you can learn more through my creator link here:

https://studio.com/join/daleduncanscubedcoach

Yes, that's an affiliate link. If someone eventually creates through my link and becomes successful on the platform, I may benefit financially from that relationship. I believe in being transparent about that.

But I also wouldn't share it if I didn't think this was something worth exploring.

Because after looking around Studio this morning, one thought kept coming back to me:

I'm in very good company.

And after spending a career trying to keep learning, adapting and finding better ways to reach people, I'm pretty comfortable being here.

A New Way to Partner with S-Cubed: Become an AI Coach Affiliate

For more than a decade, S-Cubed has grown largely because music educators have shared it with other music educators.

A teacher finds something that works in the classroom. They tell a colleague. A choir director shares it in a Facebook group. Someone mentions it during a professional-development session. A podcast host talks about a resource that might help their listeners.

That kind of word-of-mouth has always meant a lot to me because it comes from real people helping other real people.

As I launch the S-Cubed AI Coach, I want to create another way for that to happen.

And this time, I want the people who help spread the word to be able to benefit financially as well.

Introducing the S-Cubed AI Coach Affiliate Opportunity

Teachers, music-education creators, podcasters, bloggers, and others who have an audience of educators can become affiliates for the S-Cubed AI Coach.

When someone purchases the Coach through your unique affiliate link, you can earn a 25% commission on qualifying sales.

That means if you already talk with music educators, share teaching resources, create educational content, host a podcast, run a Facebook community, write a newsletter, or simply have colleagues who trust your recommendations, there may be an opportunity for us to work together.

But I want to be very clear about something:

I don’t want people promoting the S-Cubed AI Coach simply because there is a commission attached to it.

I want partners who have explored what I’ve created and genuinely believe it could help the teachers they serve.

Explore It Before You Share It

One reason I created the onboarding experience for the S-Cubed AI Coach is so that teachers can see what the Coach is about before making a purchasing decision.

I would encourage potential affiliates to do exactly the same thing.

Explore it.  Click here to head to my storefront and see more.

See how it works.

Look at the types of problems it is designed to help teachers solve.

Ask yourself whether the educators in your own community might benefit from it.

If the answer is yes, then I’d love for you to consider partnering with me.

This Is About More Than Sight-Singing

The S-Cubed AI Coach began with a very simple idea:

How could I help an S-Cubed teacher when I couldn’t personally be standing beside them?

That matches the original reason I created S-Cubed the way I did in 2013- how can I help teachers?

But as we tested the Coach, it became clear that teachers were asking questions that went far beyond simply, “What do I do next in the curriculum?”

They were asking about things like:

*pacing instruction when classes meet on different schedules

*classroom-management challenges

*students who are afraid or reluctant to sing

*boys navigating the changing male voice

*differentiation

*keeping students engaged

*determining when a class is ready to move forward

*responding when a lesson doesn’t go the way the teacher expected

Those are the kinds of issues I dealt with throughout my own career in the middle school choir classroom.

So I have spent months working to make the Coach reflect my teaching philosophies, my classroom-management approach, my S-Cubed methodology, and the ideas I’ve shared with music educators for years.

That distinction matters to me.  I wanted to make sure all of my philosophies were reflected in what the coach advises you to do.  

The goal isn’t to replace the teacher.

The goal is to give the teacher another source of support.

Who Might Be a Good Affiliate?

You do not need to have an enormous social-media following.

You might be:

A music teacher who already recommends resources to colleagues.

A choir or music-education podcaster whose listeners are looking for practical teaching tools.

A content creator who speaks to educators on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, or another platform.

A blogger or newsletter writer who regularly shares music-education ideas.

A professional-development presenter or clinician who works with teachers.

Or you may simply be someone who has followed my work, believes in what I’m trying to build, and has a community of educators who trust you.

The size of your audience matters far less to me than the relationship you have with that audience.

Authenticity Matters

One of my biggest goals throughout this project has been to keep the human being at the center of the technology.

I feel the same way about affiliate partnerships.

If you share the S-Cubed AI Coach, I want you to talk about it in your own voice.

Tell people what you like.

Show them how you explored it.

Explain why you think it might help them.

You don’t need to sound like an advertisement.

In fact, I’d rather you didn’t.

The most meaningful recommendations have always been the ones that begin with:

“I found something that I think might help you.”  

I want testimonials just like the ones I've kept on my blog since 2013.   Read them here.

Why Offer an Affiliate Program?

Creators put enormous amounts of time into building communities.

Podcasters spend hours preparing, recording, editing, and sharing episodes.

Teachers answer questions for colleagues, run online groups, write newsletters, and share resources constantly.

If your recommendation helps introduce another educator to the S-Cubed AI Coach and that teacher decides to purchase it, I think it is entirely reasonable for you to share in the revenue generated from that introduction.

It’s another way for educators and creators to support one another.

Interested in Becoming an Affiliate?

If you have an audience of music educators and believe the S-Cubed AI Coach could serve them, I’d love for you to take a look at the affiliate opportunity.

Email me at inthemiddlewithmrd@gmail.com.  In the subject line, write, "I'd like to become an AI S-Cubed Affiliate".  I'll email you back with a special link just for you to send to your followers.  

When qualifying purchases are made through that link, affiliates can earn a 25% commission, subject to the terms of the affiliate program.

And before you share anything, I encourage you to explore the Coach yourself.

I want you to understand what you’re recommending.  You don't have to purchase it to get a taste of how much this Coach can do.  Experiencing the Onboarding session alone will give you an idea of how well-equipped and professional this is.  

One More Way Our Community Can Grow Together

When I first began developing what eventually became S-Cubed back in 2009, I had no idea where it would lead.

By 2013, technology gave me a way to put my work directly into the hands of teachers.

Teachers shared it with other teachers.

That community helped S-Cubed grow.

Now technology is changing again.

And once again, I’m trying to figure out how we can use it in a way that helps teachers rather than distances us from the very human work we do.

This affiliate program is another part of that journey.

If you believe in what I’m building and think the S-Cubed AI Coach could help the music educators you serve, I’d be honored to have you as a partner.

— Dale Duncan

Creator, S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners

Creator, S-Cubed AI Coach

We put the S-Cubed AI Coach to the test- And the possibilities are bigger than I imagined

When I first started building the S-Cubed AI Coach, the obvious goal was pretty simple:

Help teachers successfully teach the S-Cubed Sight Singing Program.  In the original program, I did my best to dot every "i" and cross every "t" by including video links to teaching examples and teaching tips for every lesson.  It was a mammoth project that took two years.  Even so, I still get tons of questions via email that I have answered for years, and I don't mind it, but...what if I were right by your side?  That's what this is like...

We've been testing it for weeks. Click here to see what it can do.

The possibilities with this app are way stronger than I thought when I started this journey in late July 2026.  

This Coach can help teachers navigate far more than the mechanics of teaching sight singing.

As you can see from the video, it can navigate a multitude of problems.

My longtime friend and fellow music educator David Stauffer has been putting the Coach through its paces and sending me screenshots daily.  

He's been asking hard questions.

We wanted to know what would happen when a teacher brought it the kinds of messy, complicated, very human situations that actually happen in a middle school chorus classroom.

Because teaching chorus isn't just about:

“What exercise should I teach tomorrow?”

It’s also about the seventh-grade boy whose voice suddenly doesn’t work the way it did three weeks ago.

It’s about helping that student understand that nothing is wrong with him while his voice is changing.

It’s about finding ways to keep him singing while protecting his confidence and dignity.

It’s about the child who is terrified to sing alone.

The student who is embarrassed because everyone else seems to be getting it faster.

The class that suddenly becomes unusually talkative.

The rehearsal where classroom management begins slipping away from you.

The group that isn't progressing as quickly as you expected.

The class that meets twice a week instead of five times a week.

The teacher wondering whether to slow down, move forward, reteach something, change the activity, or simply give the students another day.

Those are teaching problems, not just S-Cubed problems.

And that distinction is becoming increasingly apparent to me as we do more to make sure it reflects my teaching approach.

I didn't want a generic AI telling teachers what to do

One of my biggest concerns while creating this Coach was that I did not want teachers asking an S-Cubed question and receiving generic teaching advice pulled from somewhere out in the universe.

I wanted the answers to sound like the philosophy I have shared with teachers since I began putting S-Cubed into the world in 2013.

So I've continued feeding the Coach the thinking behind the program.

My syllabus was uploaded so it would show how I handle classroom management issues.

My writings and videos about classroom management that I've used for years were uploaded as well.  

My philosophies about teaching middle school students have been included.

Material from my blog posts and other resources I've created over the years has been incorporated so the Coach understands not only what I teach, but why I teach it that way. 

I didn't want an app with my name attached to it that did anything other than reflect my teaching philosophies.  

S-Cubed has never simply been a collection of sight-singing exercises.

I've always said S-Cubed is part method and part philosophy.

There is a philosophy about pacing.

There is a philosophy about mistakes.

There is a philosophy about adolescent voices.

There is a philosophy about classroom management.

There is a philosophy about creating a room where children feel safe enough to take musical risks.

There is a philosophy about knowing when to push and when to back off.

And there is a philosophy I have believed deeply for years:

Protect the child first.  Respect is circular.

The changing male voice is a perfect example

Anyone who has taught middle school chorus knows how vulnerable this period can be for boys.

A voice that once felt predictable suddenly cracks.

Notes disappear.

Range changes.

A student may feel as though everyone in the room can hear something happening to him that he cannot control.

Handled poorly, that experience can make a boy decide he “can't sing.”

Handled well, it can help him understand that his voice isn't broken.

It is developing.

That requires more than knowing which pitch to give him.

It requires empathy.

It requires language.

It requires knowing how to adjust expectations without making him feel singled out.

It requires maintaining his dignity in front of his peers.

Those ideas are deeply embedded in the way I have taught for decades, and I wanted them embedded in this Coach too.

And then there is classroom management

Middle school teachers know this situation well:

Yesterday's lesson worked beautifully.

Today you try exactly the same structure, and somehow the room has completely changed.

It's middle school after all!

Maybe one child is disrupting the rehearsal.

Maybe several students are feeding off one another.

Maybe the energy level is unusually high.

Maybe students are afraid of an activity, and their anxiety is showing up as talking, joking, or avoidance.

Good classroom management isn't always about finding a consequence.

Sometimes it is about figuring out why the behavior is occurring in the first place.

That is another area where the Coach surprised us during testing.

You can describe what is happening.

You can tell it what you've tried.

You can explain where you are in S-Cubed.

You can talk through the personalities involved.

And the conversation can become much more nuanced than:

“Here is Lesson 7. Teach these measures.”

What about the student who is afraid to sing?

That student has been in virtually every chorus room I have ever taught.

Sometimes they're shy.

Sometimes they're perfectionists.

Sometimes they're afraid their classmates will laugh.

Sometimes they genuinely believe they cannot sing.

Sometimes they have simply never been in an environment where using their singing voice felt safe.

No curriculum guide can predict every one of those situations.

A teacher has to respond to the human being standing in front of them.

That's where I believe a tool like this becomes particularly helpful.

Not because AI replaces the teacher.

Quite the opposite.

The teacher is still making the decision.

The Coach simply gives the teacher another experienced perspective to consider.

Imagine having someone to ask

One of the thoughts that has stayed with me throughout this entire project is how much I would have appreciated something like this when I was a young teacher.  

Someone I could ask:

“My boys' voices are changing, and suddenly this exercise isn't working. What should I do?”

“My students are getting frustrated. Should I move on?”

“I've got one student who refuses to sing. How can I help without embarrassing them?”

“My classroom management has fallen apart during this activity. What would you change?”

“We only meet twice a week. Am I moving too slowly?”

“My concert is coming up. How should I adjust my pacing?”

“What would you do tomorrow?”

For most of my career, teachers had to figure those things out alone.

Maybe you had an experienced colleague down the hallway.

Maybe you had a mentor.

Maybe you could email somebody and hope they had time to respond.

But many music educators—especially young teachers—don't have that person readily available.

That possibility is what excites me most about this project.

This is becoming bigger than I originally envisioned

The more we test the S-Cubed AI Coach, the more possibilities I see.

Yes, it can help you work through S-Cubed.

It can help with pacing.

It can help you think through lessons.

It can help you understand what might come next.

But it can also help you think about:

• the changing adolescent voice

• protecting students' dignity

• reluctant and shy singers

• classroom management

• student engagement

• differentiation

• pacing for different schedules

• responding when a lesson doesn't work

• reflecting on what happened today

• deciding what to change tomorrow

And we are still testing.

We are still asking harder questions.

We are still finding situations that I want the Coach to understand more deeply.

My goal has been to create something that helps teachers make better decisions for the children standing in front of them.

That has always been the heart of S-Cubed.

The technology may be new.

The philosophy behind it isn't.

It's the same philosophy I have been sharing with teachers for more than a decade:

Teach the child.

Protect their dignity.

Keep them singing.

Give them room to make mistakes.

Make learning challenging enough to matter and joyful enough that they want to come back tomorrow.

And now, teachers can have that philosophy available when they need it most.

The possibilities really are enormous.

Go check it out-  It's on Studio.com!

I'm doing a "live" demonstration of it on Tuesday, October 6th at 7 PM EST.

Reserve your spot-  Click here to get reminders.

If you’ve built an audience around your expertise, you may be sitting on an app idea without realizing it. Studio gave me a way to turn years of teaching knowledge, resources, and philosophy into an interactive AI Coach—and creators in many different fields could do the same. If you’ve ever thought, “I wish I could put what I know into something people could use anytime,” take a look at Studio through my affiliate link here: 

https://studio.com/join/daleduncanscubedcoach

Before S-Cubed Was Ever a Product, There was David

Before S-Cubed Was Ever a Product, 

There Was David

Long before S-Cubed became a product, and long before I imagined building an AI Coach around it, there was my friend, fellow musician, and international fitness presenter and future National Champion in Aerobic Gymnastics, David Stauffer.

David and I met at an aerobics workshop in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1992. He had majored in music with a piano focus, and he loved fitness, and so did I.  We connected immediately, and we have been close friends ever since.

Soon after we met in 1992, I won a gold medal in Aerobic Gymnastics, and David moved to Europe for an opportunity to begin presenting about fitness internationally. David, or Dave as I call him, was there the night I won, and he watched it "live".  In 1996, he invited me to Italy to help train him for an aerobics competition. It was my first international trip. While we worked together, he took me all over Italy. I remember the places, of course, but what stays with me most is the friend who brought me there...on my first international trip.  He took incredible care of me, making sure I got on the right trains.  With no experience travelling in a different country with a language I didn't know, I needed every bit of help I could get, and he gave it to me.  

In 2008, my husband's job took us to Lausanne, Switzerland of all places.  I stopped teaching during that time.  I became an International Judge for Aerobic Gymnastics, and I was fortunate to get to travel all over Europe representing the USA as a member of the judges panel.  David lived in Milan, about a 3-and-a-half-hour train ride over the Alps.  He decided he wanted to compete again in Aerobic Gymnastics, and he asked me to train him, so he schlepped across the Alps about twice monthly and stayed at our apartment and stayed overnight.  

During my time there, I was creating S-Cubed.  I've written about it here on my blog.  It is an incredibly special place to me because it was where the ideas flowed.  Joe and I came up with the name S-Cubed on a hill outside of that apartment-  Successful Sight Singing-  S-Cubed! 

Weekly, I would send my manuscripts for what I hoped would be a book.  He would write back-  "Too many exclamation points," and much more.  I was trying to capture the essence of the program in a written form.   He read my stuff religiously and sent feedback.  

That mattered so much to me.  I had no idea if anyone would ever care about what I called S-Cubed, but I was feverishly working on it.    

S-Cubed grew in real classrooms, through mistakes, revisions, conversations, and friends and colleagues who were willing to say, "Um...what about this?"  "What if you said it that way?" 

I sent what I wrote to Greg Gilpin, who was very helpful.  He said he would try to get it into the hands of people who might publish it.  He was super gracious about that.  I wrote to Patrick Freer, who had been super with my students at LGPE in New Jersey in the late 1990's, and he gave me publishing advice.  

I appreciated their support.  By 2012, nothing was happening, and I was about to let it go and move on to other stuff.  

Then, in November 2012, my husband, who is in the business world, brought home a business magazine with an article about Teachers Pay Teachers with a focus on Deanna Jump-  a very successful seller on the platform.  Here is a link to the article.

My husband said-  That's how you'll get it out there if you want to get it out there.  

The rest of that story is well-documented history, filled with a lot of hard work that was and is a game-changer in my life and in the lives of teachers and students all over the world.  

And now David is with me again at this new juncture-

David is one of the people testing the new S-Cubed AI Coach ahead of its October 6 official release on Studio.com. He is bringing it the kinds of questions that teachers actually face, then changing the circumstances to see how useful its guidance is.  He has tested it with all sorts of angles...from classroom management to new students arriving who don't speak English to an administrator giving him his dream schedule after he was only supposed to see his students twice daily.  When the "admin" gave him his students 5 days weekly, the AI Coach adapted immediately.  

These are the moments I was thinking about when I built the Coach. A curriculum can lay out a sequence of lessons, but a teacher still has to respond to the class in front of them. The schedule changes. A student needs a different way in. Yesterday’s lesson does not land. A new teacher needs a practical idea before tomorrow morning.

During my own teaching career, I often wished I had an experienced teacher nearby to ask about those moments. Usually, I did not. I wanted the S-Cubed AI Coach to give teachers a place to talk through a situation, consider options, and make their own informed decisions.

The teacher brings the part that matters most.

Watching David test the Coach has reinforced something for me: its suggestions are only part of the conversation. David knows his students and his school. He notices what the tool has missed. He can push back, add context, and decide whether an idea would work in his classroom.  I kept telling David to give the Coach as much info about what he was experiencing as possible so the Coach can help him the most.  

That is what I hope every teacher will do with it. Ask a question. Change a detail. Tell it when an answer does not fit. Keep your professional judgment at the center.

David also brings a lifetime of experience and a friendship that no software could reproduce. He has shared deeply personal stories in his own writing on Substack. Those stories are his to tell, and I value the trust and humanity behind them.  More on David's personal story later- 

A friendship that has come full circle

In 1992, we met because music and fitness happened to bring us to the same aerobics workshop. 

In 1996, we traveled through Italy while I helped him prepare for a competition. Years later, he helped me test early S-Cubed ideas. Now he is putting the AI Coach through its paces with the unpredictable situations a teacher encounters in a classroom.

I am grateful that he is asking hard questions and changing the variables. That is how I learn what needs to get better. Before I ask other teachers to trust this resource, I wanted people to use it, challenge it, and tell me where it helps and where it falls short.

On October 6, I will demonstrate the S-Cubed AI Coach "live" and share more about how teachers can use it. Before then, I wanted you to meet one of the people helping me make it the best it can be.  Sign up here to get reminders on Facebook.

My friend David. Thirty-four years of friendship, and apparently we are still testing things together.

Here are screenshots from the testing he has sent to me.  

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Here is the one in which he told the Coach that his principal came to him and told him that instead of seeing his students twice weekly, starting the next day, he would see them daily for 50 minutes...his dream schedule...but a nightmare for a new user of S-Cubed.  Thankfully, he had the coach.  

Here is a partial sample of some of the other screenshots from his testing of the app.  

He focused largely on Classroom Management issues in these screenshots, but he has tested it with a variety of questions.  

At the heart of all of this, there are still two human beings who met in 1992 and have spent more than three decades showing up for each other. David was there before anyone knew the name S-Cubed, when it was simply an idea I was trying to make work for real teachers in real classrooms. And now, all these years later, he is here again, helping me test something completely new using new technology. That matters to me because this work has never really been about a product or a piece of technology. It has always been about people. 

David knows something about that in ways far deeper than S-Cubed. He has chosen to write openly on Substack about his struggle with addiction, telling the truth about something that so many people live with quietly—teachers included, or the people they love. I hope some of them find his story and recognize that they are not alone. There is something profoundly human to me about both of us, at this stage of our lives, still trying to take what we have learned and use it to help people. That is also how I am choosing to approach AI. Not recklessly, and not without questions, but moving toward it thoughtfully rather than running from it out of fear. I did something similar in 2013 when I put S-Cubed into the world, long before I knew whether anyone would care. Had I allowed fear to make that decision for me, none of this would exist today. So I am moving toward this new technology the same way I have tried to move through most of my life: cautiously when caution is warranted, but ultimately from a place of love, curiosity, and service. The objective has not changed. I want to help teachers. And behind this new tool are real people, real friendship, real struggle, real history, and a great deal of love.

This is my friend, David Stauffer.  And again, Here is where he is sharing his struggle with addiction.

Thank you, sweetie!  

Love, D

If you’ve built an audience around your expertise, you may be sitting on an app idea without realizing it. Studio gave me a way to turn years of teaching knowledge, resources, and philosophy into an interactive AI Coach—and creators in many different fields could do the same. If you’ve ever thought, “I wish I could put what I know into something people could use anytime,” take a look at Studio through my affiliate link here: 

https://studio.com/join/daleduncanscubedcoach

AI is already a part of the conversation in Music Education

There are two statements I think music educators need to hear right now.

NAfME has embraced the responsible exploration of AI in music education and has published guidance encouraging educators to understand how AI can support—not supplant—music learning.

And:

ACDA is actively engaging with AI rather than treating it as something that has no place in choral music. Choral Journal, ACDA’s official publication, now has a formal policy requiring authors to disclose their use of AI.

Those aren't my interpretations of where our profession might be headed someday.

This conversation is already happening within our national professional organizations.

What NAfME Is Actually Saying

The National Association for Music Education has gone considerably further than simply acknowledging that artificial intelligence exists.

In July 2025, NAfME published Guiding Principles, Frameworks, and Applications for AI in Music Education, developed by its AI Task Force. NAfME says the resource explores ways AI can enhance creativity, support performance, deepen student reflection, assist with assessment and productivity, and help educators think through the ethical responsibilities surrounding AI.

You can read NAfME's resource here:

NAfME: Guiding Principles, Frameworks, and Applications for AI in Music Education

NAfME also maintains an entire Artificial Intelligence and Music Education resource page containing articles, research, webinars, policy information, and practical resources for teachers.

NAfME: Artificial Intelligence and Music Education

One of the most important things NAfME has said about this subject is that AI presents opportunities to enhance creativity and instructional practice, but educators must ensure that these tools are used responsibly. NAfME has explicitly stated its commitment to exploring both the benefits and the appropriate use of generative AI in music education.

That distinction matters.

Support the teacher. Support learning. Preserve human creativity. Use the technology responsibly.

That's a very different conversation from either blindly embracing every new AI tool or declaring that AI has no legitimate place in music education.

NAfME has even published an article called “Make AI Your Personal Music Teaching Assistant,” discussing ways teachers can use AI to brainstorm ideas and support their professional workflow while also warning educators about limitations such as inaccurate AI-generated information.

NAfME: Make AI Your Personal Music Teaching Assistant

That's a remarkably good description of the philosophy behind what I have been building in my S-Cubed AI Coach.

What About ACDA?

The American Choral Directors Association is engaging this issue, too.

Choral Journal, ACDA's official peer-reviewed publication, now specifically requires authors to disclose their use of AI and provides an AI Use Policy for authors.

You can see ACDA's official submission guidelines here:

ACDA Choral Journal Submission Guidelines and AI Use Policy

Think about what that means.

ACDA isn't pretending AI doesn't exist.

It isn't responding to AI by simply saying, "This has no place in our profession."

Instead, it is developing expectations around transparency, authorship, and responsible use.

That's exactly the type of conversation I believe we need to be having.

ACDA's next national conference will take place March 7–10, 2027, in Minneapolis, with educational sessions and research addressing current and emerging issues within the choral profession. As of September 2026, however, ACDA has not yet publicly posted the complete individual session lineup, so I don't want to claim that a particular AI session will be presented until ACDA publishes that program.

You can follow the official conference information here:

ACDA 2027 National Conference

To me, the larger point is already clear.

Our professional organizations are not solving the AI question by pretending the technology will disappear. They are educating, researching, creating guidelines, and talking about responsible use.

And I think music educators should do the same.

That Is Exactly How I Am Approaching the S-Cubed AI Coach

This is also why I want people to understand what I have actually created with the S-Cubed AI Coach before forming an opinion about it.

I did not create an AI app to replace the choir director.

I created one to help the choir director.

There is a huge difference.

For more than a decade, teachers using S-Cubed have emailed me questions:

• What do I do when my students aren't following the hand?

• What happens when they start getting bored?

• How do I handle a difficult classroom-management situation?

• How do I adapt this lesson for students with different needs?

• What if I'm only seeing my students twice a week?

• What if my schedule suddenly changes?

• What should I do next when something isn't working?

• Do I start from the beginning next year?

For years, I have personally answered those questions.

The S-Cubed AI Coach is an attempt to make that guidance available to teachers when they need it.

I've been feeding the Coach the philosophies I've developed and shared since 2013. I've given it my teaching materials, my syllabus, my writing, my videos, my approaches to classroom management, and the principles behind how S-Cubed works.

The goal isn't for a generic AI system to tell a choir director how to teach.

The goal is for a teacher using my program to be able to ask a question about implementing that program and receive guidance grounded as closely as possible in the teaching philosophy behind it...the teaching philosophy that is mine that I still use when I lead choirs as a guest conductor, for example.  

And the teacher still makes the decision.

The teacher remains the professional.

The teacher knows the students.

The teacher knows the classroom.

The teacher listens to the voices.

The teacher builds relationships.

The teacher makes the music.

AI doesn't replace any of that.

Responsible AI Doesn't Mean Unquestioning AI

I also don't believe responsible AI use means believing everything an AI system produces.

It shouldn't.

AI can make mistakes. It requires oversight. It requires human judgment. It requires transparency. And in education especially, privacy and appropriate use have to remain central considerations.

Those are exactly the conversations NAfME is encouraging educators to have.

And they're exactly the conversations I want surrounding the S-Cubed AI Coach.

I'm not asking music educators to abandon everything they know because a new technology has arrived.

Quite the opposite.

I'm asking:

How can we take the knowledge experienced teachers already possess and use technology to make that knowledge more accessible to other teachers?

How can we give a young teacher struggling at 9:30 on a Tuesday morning some of the guidance that previously might have required finding a mentor, sending me an email, and waiting for a response?

How can technology reduce some of the overwhelm of teaching so that educators have more time and energy for the human parts of music education?

The students.

The relationships.

The rehearsal.

The artistry.

The music.

We Don't Have to Choose Between Technology and Humanity

I think sometimes the AI conversation gets framed as though there are only two choices.

Embrace everything AI does.

Or reject all of it.

I don't accept those choices.

I spent 30 years in public-school music classrooms.

S-Cubed came out of my classroom because I moved out of the love of helping teachers and students succeed rather than out of fear of posting my stuff online.  Before S-Cubed, all sight-singing materials were books only.  S-Cubed came from years of figuring out what worked, what failed, what motivated middle-school students, and what helped beginning singers become independent musicians using the technology that was available at the time.  

None of that disappears because we have new technology.  

If anything, I want to use the technology to make those years of experience more accessible to the next teacher who needs them, and that philosophy is in line with my journey sharing S-Cubed from the beginning in 2013.  

That's why I find the direction from organizations like NAfME—and the transparency expectations being established by ACDA—encouraging.

They aren't saying that AI should replace music educators.

Neither am I.

They're recognizing that AI is here and that music educators need to understand it, question it, develop ethical standards around it, and determine where it can genuinely serve teaching and learning.

That's the conversation I want to be part of.

And that's the philosophy behind the S-Cubed AI Coach.

Not AI instead of teachers.

AI in service of teachers.

Because ultimately, the most important technology in a choir room is still the person standing in front of the students.

If you’ve built an audience around your expertise, you may be sitting on an app idea without realizing it. Studio gave me a way to turn years of teaching knowledge, resources, and philosophy into an interactive AI Coach—and creators in many different fields could do the same. If you’ve ever thought, “I wish I could put what I know into something people could use anytime,” take a look at Studio through my affiliate link here: 

https://studio.com/join/daleduncanscubedcoach

The S-Cubed AI Coach is for Teachers- Not Student Data

As I’ve begun sharing the S-Cubed AI Coach, I’ve received some really thoughtful questions from music educators.

And I’m glad people are asking them.

Questions about student privacy, what information needs to be entered, whether teachers have to upload videos, and how AI fits responsibly into a music classroom are legitimate questions.

So I want to make something very clear:

The S-Cubed AI Coach is designed to help you, the teacher, teach S-Cubed more successfully.

**It is not designed to collect information about your students.  It's for you only.  **

You do not need to enter student names.

You do not need to upload rosters.

You do not need to enter grades, IEP information, student records, or other personally identifiable student information.

And you do not need to upload photos, audio recordings, or videos of your students in order to get meaningful help from the Coach.

In fact, I encourage teachers to keep student-identifying information out of their conversations with the Coach.

If you are having a problem with a seventh-grade class, for example, you can simply describe the situation:

“My seventh graders are struggling to stay focused during Forbidden Pattern. What would Dale suggest?”

The Coach does not need to know who those children are.

It needs to understand the teaching problem you are trying to solve.

---

Think of It as a Conversation Between You and a Coach

That may be the easiest way to understand what I have built.

You + the S-Cubed AI Coach.

That’s the relationship.

The purpose of the app is to give an S-Cubed teacher access to guidance when a question comes up:

Am I moving too quickly?

Why are they struggling with this lesson?

Should I repeat this activity tomorrow?

Can I skip lessons and start at lesson five?  (That's a BIG no!)

My students are getting bored. How can I refresh this without abandoning the sequence?

This class is behaving very differently from my other classes. What should I change?

I only see these students twice a week. How should I adjust the pacing?

I’m having classroom-management problems during this part of the lesson. What would Dale do?

Those are the kinds of questions teachers have sent me by email for years.

And I want to emphasize something:

I have never minded answering them.

I have personally answered teacher questions about S-Cubed since I began sharing the program in 2013.

Many of those questions appear again and again because teaching is complicated.

Two teachers can use exactly the same curriculum and encounter completely different situations because their schedules, students, schools, experience levels, rehearsal structures, and classroom cultures are different.

The original S-Cubed curriculum was designed to give you everything you need to successfully teach the program.

The AI Coach does not change that.

You absolutely do not need the Coach in order to use S-Cubed.

But what I have always wished I could provide is something even more personal:

What if I could be standing beside you when the question actually occurred?

That is the problem that this app solves.  After class, you do a reflection, and then the app helps you.  You tell it what went well and what didn't.  

---

When I started building this in July of 2026, I didn't know what it would be able to do...

At that time, I thought primarily about answering the questions I had received repeatedly over the years.

But as I built it, tested it, challenged it, corrected it, and continued feeding it my approach to teaching S-Cubed, I realized it could help teachers in ways I had not originally imagined.

It can help you think through:

Pacing.

Classroom management.

Student engagement.

Differentiation.

Re-teaching.

Refreshing an activity that has gotten stale.

Working around unusual schedules.

Helping a struggling group without holding back a stronger group.

Getting back on track after interruptions.

And, of course, the day-to-day journey through S-Cubed itself.

Sometimes a teacher doesn’t need another curriculum.

Sometimes they need an experienced teacher to say:

“Based on what you just described, here is what I would try tomorrow.”

That is what I want this Coach to do.

---

You Do NOT Have to Upload Video Content

This is another question I want to address clearly.

The Coach can provide feedback based on video in situations where a teacher chooses to use that capability.

But **video is optional.  In fact, before you purchase, you tell the app whether you want to upload video of your teaching (not the students).  It is a function that you can choose to use or not. **

You are not required to record yourself teaching.

You are not required to upload anything from your classroom.

You can use the S-Cubed AI Coach entirely through conversation.

Describe what happened by either typing or talking to the app with the microphone.  

Describe what you tried.

Tell it what your schedule looks like.

Tell it where you are in the program.

Tell it what isn’t working.

Tell it what is working.

Then ask for help.

That alone can produce an incredibly useful conversation.

---

The Original S-Cubed Program Is Still the Program

This distinction matters to me.

The AI Coach is not replacing S-Cubed.

It is not writing a different sight-singing curriculum for you.

It isn't replacing the teacher.

And it certainly isn't replacing the musicians sitting in front of you.

The students still have to sing.

They still have to listen.

They still have to think.

They still have to make mistakes, adjust, practice, develop independence, and become musicians.

And you still teach them.

The Coach is an additional support layer around the curriculum I created.

The same teaching philosophy.

The same sequence.

The same mission.

More support.

---

What About AI and Music Education?

I also think it is important to acknowledge the larger conversation taking place in our profession.

Our national professional organization, NAfME — the National Association for Music Education — is actively addressing artificial intelligence in music education.

In July 2025, NAfME published Guiding Principles, Frameworks, and Applications for AI in Music Education, developed by its AI Task Force. NAfME describes the resource as helping music educators understand ways AI may support areas including instructional practice, creativity, reflection, assessment, productivity, and accessibility while also considering the ethical responsibilities surrounding its use.

Importantly, NAfME's guidance is not simply, “Use AI for everything.”

Nor is it, “AI has no place in music education.”

The conversation is much more thoughtful than that.

NAfME encourages educators to consider AI intentionally and mindfully, with attention to issues including privacy, intellectual property, transparency, ethics, and the irreplaceable importance of human music-making. Its guidance specifically discusses using AI to support rather than supplant music learning.

That philosophy resonates deeply with what I am trying to do.

Human beings are still at the center of this.

The teacher.

The student.

The rehearsal.

The singing.

The relationship between a great teacher and the young musicians standing in front of them.

I have no interest in replacing any of that.

I am interested in using a new tool to help the human teacher become more confident and effective.

---

The Same Mission I Have Had Since 2013

When I first put S-Cubed online in 2013, what I was doing was pretty unusual.

Traditional music publishers had not been interested in what I created.

But I knew the approach was working with my beginners.

So I found another way.

I recorded myself teaching.

I made PowerPoints.

I put videos online.

I wrote teaching tips.

I tried to anticipate the problems another middle school chorus teacher might encounter hundreds or thousands of miles away.

The technology was different.

The mission was exactly the same.

Help teachers.

That is still my mission.

The S-Cubed AI Coach is simply the newest way I have found to do it.

And because this technology is new, I think those of us using it have a responsibility to use it thoughtfully.

That includes protecting student privacy.

That includes respecting school and district policies.

That includes remembering that technology should serve good teaching — not become the reason we are teaching.

And it includes being transparent about what the tool is actually designed to do.

---

So Here Is the Simplest Way I Can Say It

Don't give the S-Cubed AI Coach student-identifying information. It doesn't need it.

You don't have to upload classroom videos.

You don't have to use the Coach to successfully teach S-Cubed.

But if you want help while you're teaching the program…

If you want another set of experienced eyes on a problem…

If you want help figuring out tomorrow's lesson after today didn't go the way you expected…

If you want help with pacing, engagement, classroom management, differentiation, or simply figuring out “What should I do next?”

That is exactly why I built it.

I have tested the Coach extensively, and even though it is already available, **I am still testing it along with other teachers.  I tested it earlier today.  **

I'm still trying new situations.

I'm still looking for weaknesses.

I'm still asking difficult questions.

Because I want this tool to do what I have tried to do since the very beginning of S-Cubed:

Help teachers succeed.

And when teachers succeed, their students have a better chance to succeed too.

S-Cubed stands for Successful Sight Singing-  that means success for the students AND for you, and this tool can help you if you need it.  

Same mission. New tool. More support.

If you’ve built an audience around your expertise, you may be sitting on an app idea without realizing it. Studio gave me a way to turn years of teaching knowledge, resources, and philosophy into an interactive AI Coach—and creators in many different fields could do the same. If you’ve ever thought, “I wish I could put what I know into something people could use anytime,” take a look at Studio through my affiliate link here: 

https://studio.com/join/daleduncanscubedcoach

How to Purchase the S-Cubed AI Coach With School Funds

One of the questions I’m already receiving from teachers about the S-Cubed AI Coach on Studio.com is:

“Can I use school funds to purchase it?”

The answer is yes — absolutely.

I strongly encourage teachers to use school, department, professional development, or other approved instructional funds whenever those funds are available to you.

But purchasing through a school can sometimes involve a few extra questions from bookkeepers, administrators, or purchasing departments. One teacher recently went through this process, and Studio was kind enough to answer the purchasing questions directly.

I’m putting all of that information in one place so you can simply send this article to your administrator or purchasing department if they have questions.

First: Who Is the Vendor?

This is an important distinction.

When you purchase access to the S-Cubed AI Coach, you are purchasing through Studio.com, not directly from me personally.

It is similar to purchasing one of my resources through Teachers Pay Teachers. I created the content, but the company processing the transaction is the vendor.

For Studio purchases, the legal business/vendor name is:

Openmind Learning, Inc.

Studio’s billing address is:

5850 W 3rd St, Ste E #1503
Los Angeles, CA 90036

What About a W-9?

This is one of the most common questions I receive when teachers are using school funds.

Because the purchase is being made through Studio rather than directly from Dale Duncan or S-Cubed, my personal W-9 is not the appropriate W-9 for this purchase.

Studio has told me that they have not historically provided W-9s for these purchases.

If your school specifically requires a W-9 or needs additional vendor documentation, your purchasing department can contact Studio directly using the contact information at the bottom of this article.

That is different from a situation in which a school is hiring me personally — for example, to present professional development, conduct a choir, lead a workshop, or provide another service directly. In those situations, the school may be contracting with me personally and the paperwork would be different.

For the S-Cubed AI Coach, however, Studio/Openmind Learning, Inc. is the company handling the transaction.

Can My School Use a Purchase Order?

Yes.

Studio has confirmed that schools may use their normal purchase-order approval process.

There is one important thing to understand:

The final Studio purchase must still be made by credit card.

In other words, your school may create or approve a purchase order internally, but Studio currently requires the actual order to be placed using a card.

Studio does not currently offer traditional invoicing where the school receives an invoice first and mails payment later.

So a typical process might look something like this:

1. Ask your administrator or purchasing department for approval to purchase the S-Cubed AI Coach.

2. Complete any purchase-order paperwork your district requires.

3. Provide the vendor information in this article.

4. Have the authorized school employee or department complete the Studio purchase using the school's purchasing card or another approved credit card.

5. Save the Studio receipt for your school's records and reimbursement or expense process.

Every district handles purchasing a little differently, so your school's internal process may vary.

What About Tax-Exempt Purchases?

Studio has told me that taxes are automatically calculated based upon the purchaser's billing address.

The purchaser receives a receipt after the transaction and can submit that receipt through the school's normal expense or purchasing process.

If your school has specific questions about tax-exempt purchasing, I recommend having your purchasing department contact Studio directly before completing the transaction.

Is There a Studio Vendor Packet?

At this time, Studio does not have a standard school vendor packet or purchasing-document package that I can distribute to teachers.

That is one of the reasons I created this page.

You can send this article directly to your:

• Principal

• Fine arts administrator

• Bookkeeper

• School secretary

• District purchasing department

• Professional development coordinator

It contains the basic vendor information Studio has provided to me.

What If My Purchasing Department Needs More Information?

Studio has given me a direct contact for school purchasing questions.

Cathy at Studio
Cathy@studio.com

Your administrator or purchasing department is welcome to contact Cathy directly if they need additional information or documentation.

A Quick Purchasing Summary

Here is the information your school may need:

Product: S-Cubed AI Coach
Platform: Studio.com
Vendor/legal business name: Openmind Learning, Inc.
Billing address: 5850 W 3rd St, Ste E #1503, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Purchase orders: Allowed as part of the school's purchasing process
Payment: Final order must be completed by credit card
Traditional invoicing: Not currently available
Receipt: Provided after purchase
Standard vendor packet: Not currently available
School purchasing questions: Cathy@studio.com

Please Use School Funds When You Can

Teachers spend far too much of their own money supporting their classrooms.

If your school or district provides funding for curriculum, instructional technology, professional development, music education resources, or teacher support, I encourage you to ask whether those funds can be used for the S-Cubed AI Coach.

The entire reason I created this tool is to give teachers more support while they are using S-Cubed — whether you are beginning Lesson 1 for the first time, trying to solve a classroom-management problem, refreshing something you've taught before, or simply wishing you had someone available to answer an S-Cubed question when you need it.

And if someone in your purchasing department has a question that this page doesn't answer, please have them contact Studio directly at Cathy@studio.com.

I hope this makes the purchasing process a little easier — and keeps more of those teacher dollars in your own pocket.

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Ready to Explore the S-Cubed AI Coach?  It's available early!

Visit my S-Cubed AI Coach storefront on Studio.com:
https://studio.com/daleduncanscubedcoach

Want to Learn More and See the App Operate Live?

Join me for a live Zoom event on October 6 at 7:00 PM Eastern.

You can mark yourself as Going or Interested on the Facebook event page so you’ll receive reminders:

https://www.facebook.com/share/19nkmyhuSG/

Want to See What Happens Before You Purchase?

I made a short, approximately five-minute video that walks you through the S-Cubed AI Coach onboarding process step-by-step before you actually purchase.

You can see what the app asks you, how the onboarding works, and how it begins building a more personalized coaching experience for you.

Watch the onboarding video here:
https://youtu.be/k2HlPMXqsc0?is=bFd_3c6YsIg4dFQu

If you’ve built an audience around your expertise, you may be sitting on an app idea without realizing it. Studio gave me a way to turn years of teaching knowledge, resources, and philosophy into an interactive AI Coach—and creators in many different fields could do the same. If you’ve ever thought, “I wish I could put what I know into something people could use anytime,” take a look at Studio through my affiliate link here: 

https://studio.com/join/daleduncanscubedcoach

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Dale Duncan
Creator of the S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners
S-Cubed AI Coach Creator

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Are You a Creator Too?

If you are a teacher, TPT seller, content creator, coach, or other creator who has ever thought about building your own AI-powered coaching app, you can learn more about creating one through Studio here:

https://studio.com/join/daleduncanscubedcoach