While thinking about a plan for online learning, in case the coronavirus continues to spread, one of the things I’ve thought about is how much time I will spend making videos—not just the recording, but setting up, preparing materials, recording
12 EASY Ideas for Distance Learning in Elementary General Music
With schools in harder-hit countries closing due to the new coronavirus, I know I’ll have more colleagues around the world who are forced into online learning or some other kind of remote learning (for students without dependable internet access). So
12 EASY Ideas for Distance Learning in Early Years General Music
The coronavirus situation is still pretty stable, so schools here are open for the foreseeable future. But with schools in harder-hit countries closing, I know I’ll have more colleagues around the world who are forced into online learning or some
Online Learning for Music Teachers
With the novel coronavirus on our shores, there is talk about what might happen now. We are anticipating the possibility of schools closing in order to stop the spread of the virus, in which case we would need to go
How to Respond to *Those* Emails
You don’t need to be in teaching for very long before you get one: the angry parent email. Resist the reaction to send an anger-fuelled message back. Parents come and go, but your reputation will follow you forever. Here’s how to respond.
Easy Classroom Hack for Recording
With this brilliant hack, the students aren’t self-conscious, and their individual voices are captured on the computer, louder than the other voices in the room.
Surviving your first year of teaching: 15 tips
Teaching is hard. Teaching music is both exhausting and exhilarating. Your first year in a school is bound to be challenging, maybe even make you question what on Earth you are doing there. Just breathe: It’s totally normal. You have
Nine Tips for Learning All Those Names
I am not good with names. Really not good. At one session a week, among hundreds of students, I consider myself successful if I know all the students’ names by the November conferences. (As I’ve calculated it, by that time,
The Professional “No”
Planning, parent communication, classroom setup, tutoring, report cards, IEPs, faculty meetings, department meetings, district arts meetings, parent night, concerts, fundraisers, extracurricular activities, professional development, recertification, grading, differentiation, testing, curriculum development, documentation, copies, class blogs, parent-teacher conferences, impromptu parent-teacher conferences, filing
Almost summer: end-of-year reflection questions
I’m seeing all the “last day of school” posts coming through my feed now, and I’m thinking about how to wrap up the year with my team. As teachers, we naturally want to improve our craft all the time, so