Teaching is exhausting: physically, mentally, AND emotionally. And that’s in a normal year! When I’m feeling heavy or stressed emotionally, I sometimes receive unsolicited advice to just “leave work at the office” and “shut off when you go home at
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,
The most important back-to-school reflection
No doubt you finished the last school year completely exhausted. Now you are preparing for a new year (or already in it). You’re thinking about your curriculum, your classroom setup, classroom management procedures, and myriad other things that need your
Are choice boards really that great? (Yes!)
Choice boards have exploded in popularity, especially with the expansion of online learning. They allow for differentiation, creativity, and student agency. You can use them to practice skills and concepts, build inquiry projects from them, or just use them for
Focus on the positive: 18 great things about online learning
I miss my students. I also have concerns about being back at school with hundreds of students in a pandemic. It’s easy to get pulled down right now, so today I am focusing on the positive. If you are disappointed
Music in the Time of Covid-19
If you are on any kind of social media, I’m guessing that you’ve seen dozens of posts about whether or not schools should open. As schools and the rest of society reopen, schools have become the center of a lot
Singing and Online Learning
Singing is central to music classes in primary school. But with many teachers going online, we are facing new challenges that none of us were trained for. In all of my music teacher circles, people are asking for tips on
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
Streamlining your distance learning
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