This idea came to me from an IMEA email I got a few years ago (I used to teach in Indiana).

The idea was to prepare a powerpoint to run before your concert similar to the slides you see at the movie theatre before the show starts. You can put whatever you want, but some of the suggestions were:

music trivia (famous people, etc.)
music quotes
your music standards
pictures of your kids in class
vocabulary

I plan to try to put together something like this over the summer for next year. I think I'll also pipe some "background" type music through the sound system just like at the movies. :o)

That's a great idea! Every little bit helps. It also doesn't hurt when there are school board members at your concerts...better yet when they have kids or grandkids in your classes.

Some of the little things I've found useful:

1. Performing at a school board meeting and explaining your program.
2. Performing at a school-site council meeting and explaining your program.
3. Inviting school board members and administrators to all your concerts.
4. Inviting anyone you can to watch you teach a class.
5. Putting on a series "Informances" for parents, where you teach a lesson while demonstrating and explaining the methods to your madness as you go along. Many parents think classroom music is just playing games and singing songs, and are blown away with what their kids can really do musically!