Teaching music is an act of the heart over the mind. Our hearts are each driven to music in ways we may or may not realize. Some of us are drawn to performing music, some of us are drawn to writing music, and some of us are drawn to simply enjoying music. Taking the time to learn improvisation, composition, and arranging helped me develop and express my identity and culture through music, and my vision as a music educator is for my students to have the opportunity to express themselves authentically in the classroom through these tools. Guiding students toward creating music can play a key role in the development of student authenticity and independent decision-making, no matter where their hearts take them with music. Teaching students for who they are through facilitation and encouragement rather than forcefulness connects students’ hearts to music and creates a teacher-student relationship that will last for years to come.