I’ve always taught “ta” (quarter note) and “ti-ti” (two eighth notes) in Kindergarten, but in the past few years I’ve ended up doing it earlier and earlier, allowing myself to jump to it when the students’ thinking and questioning naturally
Recorders—at school or at home
Despite many jokes about children playing the recorder, music teachers know that the recorder is an accessible first step towards playing other instruments. It can be difficult for a small child to play a melodic instrument. String instruments require left
Cyber Monday (and Tuesday) sale
Just a quick note to check out TeachersPayTeachers for a big sale–up to 25% off, but most stores at least 20%. Whether you are in person or online, it’s a great time to grab printables, posters, and lesson plans as
Flipping INSIDE the classroom
Flipped classrooms have been trending for a while now, but I’ve never really embraced it because I don’t expect my students to use their time at home. But while I’m thinking about how to adapt my teaching for pandemic times,
4 Key End-of-year Reflections for Teachers
Welcome to the end of the weirdest year ever (unless you are a January-December school). Whether you are already on your holiday, or still wrapping up like me, this has definitely been a trying school year. Most schools have had
Fostering a Growth Mindset
There is a lot of talk about growth mindset in educational circles these days. You have probably read about the experiment where a teacher was told she was getting all the brightest students in one class, and when she treated
Up Close and Personal with the Instruments
I stumbled across this and just had to share. The Netherlands Philarmonic played Peter and the Wolf with GoPro cameras on several of the instruments, and put together this fantastic video! The camera on the trombone was my favorite. This
Revisiting Culture
Well, apparently my iceberg post was recently discovered and has been shared around quite a bit, not only in education circles, but also political science, health, and social justice communities. I love that I’ve gotten some great feedback about it
Happy Pi Day!
When I put in my university applications, I applied to major in both mathematics and music education. Music eventually won over, but the math nerd in me never disappeared. So today is just a salute to this magical, irrational constant
It’s Just Around the Corner…
I know we may not be ready to think about it, but none of us can hide from all those Back to School sales. Are you thinking about how to get the year started yet? (Okay, I’ll confess that I’m