Blog - Page 5 of 17 - Make Moments Matter

A fun way to teach musical form while reinforcing classroom expectations!

April 6, 2016

Link Up! Cumulative Form and Classroom Management

Classroom Ideas

I had to take a minute or two and share this fun little classroom management strategy that I stumbled upon. It all started as I began to look for another way to teach cumulative form. In case you’re not familiar, a cumulative song is just a song with a simple verse structure that gets […]

Send a quick but meaningful thank you note after your concert to the people who helped out!

March 20, 2016

A Little Thank You Goes a Long Way!

Classroom Ideas

I don’t think that other teachers realize just how much works goes into putting together a grade-level music concert. You have to do lots of planning in advance, create props, figure out speaking parts, rehearse music over and over, prepare programs to hand out, work on publicity, send home notes, […]

March 9, 2016

Women of the Week!

Decoration

Did you know? March is Women’s History Month! Some really amazing and important agencies including The Library of Congress, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum joined together to help bring attention to the generations of women who […]

Music Inspires - Ideas for Music In Our Schools Month

March 6, 2016

Music Inspires – Music in our Schools Month (MIOSM)

Classroom Ideas

March is Music in our Schools Month and is a great time to get kids excited about music in all its many forms and styles! In case you don’t know about Music in our Schools Month, here’s a brief synopsis from the NAfME website: What is Music In Our Schools Month […]

Here are three quick and easy tips to save time and space when organizing your classroom!

February 28, 2016

Classroom Organization – Save Space and Sanity

Classroom Ideas

Music teachers who have ever experienced K-5 education (and those of us who have experienced K-8 education) can tell you that a quick switch and easy transition at the end of class is vital to your sanity. This year I start every day with two middle school classes followed by […]

February 21, 2016

Zar the Friendly Alien and His Broken Spaceship

Lesson Ideas

Do you know about Zar, the friendly alien, and his broken spaceship? Zar has been a good friend in my classroom for years and has never failed to entrance Kindergarten, 1st, and even 2nd graders! I love turning to Zar when I have a group of kiddos who really need […]

Make your own guitar picks out of nearly anything! You can also use the pick punch to draw in families on open house nights of conference days.

February 14, 2016

The Pick Punch – Make Your Own Guitar Picks

Classroom Ideas

I’m always looking for fun and exciting ways to get parents into the music room during parent teacher conferences. I want to bring them in with something fun and engaging that will get them excited about music. One of the greatest successes I ever had was when I created an […]

Fishy Fun - Ocean Song Ideas for Kindergarten and 1st Grade

February 7, 2016

Fishy Fun! Ocean Songs and Games for Primary Grades

Lesson Ideas

I like a good theme, I won’t lie. For the past week or so I’ve been teaching ocean songs and underwater games to kindergarten and I wanted to share some of the things that have worked really well. Since it’s kindergarten I try and keep activities pretty short but do […]

January 31, 2016

‘t Smidje – A Dance to Make Your Students Go Wild!

Lesson Ideas

This is a GREAT time of year to be a music teacher. The kids may be bleary-eyed and overwhelmed with state/local/district/whatever tests but you are well on your way to a fantastic new semester. We are in prime workshop season and the ideas are flowing! Many teachers out there are […]

January 25, 2016

Bring Your Dry Erase Markers Back to life

Classroom Ideas

I love and hate dry erase markers. They make it so easy for kids to write something down and quickly fix and retry. Whenever we’re composing or writing out rhythms the dry erase markers make the process so much simpler than if I had to hand out pencils, sharpen pencils, […]

January 14, 2016

Keep Moving Forward – Changes to the Blog

Classroom Ideas

I’ve blogged a few times about my three classroom rules: Make Moments Matter, Treat People Royally, and Keep Moving Forward. That last rule “Keep Moving Forward” has been on my mind a lot lately. It’s been a busy year at school as I now teach middle school along with my K-5 […]

Singing About Animals and enhancing the schema of students!

January 10, 2016

Singing About Animals – Enhancing Schema

Classroom Ideas

I learned early on in my music teaching career that I can’t assume anything about kiddos. I learned not to bank on the idea that kids have done something before or learned information somewhere else before coming to my classroom. For example, you might think: “Itsy Bitsy Spider is a […]