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Thoughts from a PYP music teacher

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Observing Earth Day with Your Students

Caring for our environment is becoming more and more important every day, and with Earth Day just around the corner, we have a perfect chance to integrate some environmental consciousness into our learning. Today’s students are very aware of environmental

Janine 6. April 20186. April 2018 Inquiry, Song, Whole class activity No Comments Read more

20+ Questions to Guide Inquiry-Based Learning

A teacher new to PYP asked me recently, “How do you do inquiry in a specialist class?” I remember how confused and overwhelmed I was when I first landed in a PYP school. I was the only music teacher there,

Janine 26. February 201827. March 2018 Inquiry, Teacher Tips 1 Comment Read more

4 Easy Tricks for a Quieter Classroom

Music teachers have an amazing tolerance for noise. All primary school teachers deal with the calling out, the obliviously loud voices, and all that, but the music classroom multiplies that. After all, we don’t usually sit at desks—maybe not in

Janine 18. January 201811. March 2018 Teacher Tips No Comments Read more

Exploring Musical Expression using Carnival of the Animals

One of the most important concepts we teach is communication through music, or what we might call musical expression. Music, I emphasize to my students, is not just here to entertain you or fill the silence at the grocery store.

Janine 19. November 201711. March 2018 Assessment, Group activity, Inquiry, Whole class activity No Comments Read more

Metacognition and Student Reporters

These ideas can be used in any class, or any subject, but arose as a solution to a specialist situation. Specialist teachers have such limited time with students—and so many students—that getting an overview of students’ learning becomes a perpetual

Janine 9. March 20179. March 2017 Whole class activity No Comments Read more

Making Mistakes

I recently dedicated some time to closing some of the 86 tabs I had open, and I finally had a chance to read an Edutopia article that I’d opened long ago. As inquiry teachers, and certainly as music teachers as

Janine 23. September 201620. October 2016 Inquiry No Comments Read more

Using Music to Develop Critical Thinking

For many teachers, making the change to PYP can be overwhelming, not only with all the jargon, but the complete shift in thinking. It’s not that the concepts are strange—it’s not even that we weren’t already doing these things. The

Janine 24. May 201624. May 2016 Inquiry No Comments Read more

Responding to “I don’t know”

“I don’t know.” It’s a common response from students, particularly on those days when I make a point of calling on students who are avoiding eye contact and trying to hide behind someone. And I will start by saying this:

Janine 21. April 201621. April 2016 Inquiry, Thoughts 1 Comment Read more

Earth Day

April brings Earth Day, which is observed by people in countries all over the world. For the most part, our students have some awareness about the environment, and they quite naturally feel the need to take care of it. No

Janine 11. April 20166. April 2018 Thoughts No Comments Read more

Instead of “I don’t know”

Okay, the title is a ruse. Children say, “I don’t know.” You can’t stop them. It’s a go-to response, it’s natural, and it’s fine. But what we want is for students to not stop there. “So you don’t know (or

Janine 5. March 201621. April 2016 Inquiry, Thoughts 2 Comments Read more
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