Have you ever had one of those classes that is just straight up squirrely and can’t find a way to sit and pay attention? Has there been a moment when you needed something to calm down a class and teach them to relax and refocus? Do you want to […]
I just had my first day back to school after a nice winter break. The kiddos were a little nuts-o and I was a little tired. I miss my mid-afternoon nap, holiday snacks that are all somehow better when dipped in almond bark, and not having to ask someone ” […]
I will admit, I spend a lot of time on Pinterest browsing ideas, getting inspiration, and seeing how other teachers decorate and plan for teaching. Pinterest can be a really great tool to help you plan for your own classroom and inspire you to try new things. Why not share […]
“I can do this. I can do this! I’ve only got one more week…. ONE MORE WEEK!” Does that mantra sound familiar? I know that many of you are also psyching yourself up for one more week of high-energy kids who are sugared up from holiday parties and are […]
It’s a super, super busy time of the year for all of us. Between concerts, all-school sing alongs, grades, assessments, conferences, potlucks, and every other thing that comes along, who’s got time for a bulletin board!? I’ll admit that I’m a bulletin board person… a bulletin board fanatic maybe? […]
If you’ve read any of my blog so far you know that I love teaching folk songs. Folk songs are great songs with catchy tunes, are excellent for cultural and historical references, and usually have some sort of movement or dance component. What an exciting way to expand vocabulary! What an […]
I won’t lie, when I took my new job I was a little hesitant about having to teach two sections of guitar to middle school students. The tuning, the maintenance, the constant attention they would need…. but enough about the students. The guitars would need lots of help too. Teaching […]
I’ll just start by saying that I don’t think my classroom will ever truly be finished. There’s always something to add, alter, improve, eliminate, decorate, or switch out. This summer I moved from Kansas City to Lansing, Michigan and that means that EVERYTHING I had was boxed up and schlepped […]
I love teaching this fun little folk song, “I’ve been to Harlem” a.k.a. “Turn the Glasses Over,” to my students! I learned the basic version of the song at my Orff Level 1 training a few years ago and have been playing with how to teach the lesson ever since. This year […]
Many of you know that I moved to a new school this year. With a new school comes some reorganizing, rebuilding, and reassessment of what is truly important for instruction. When I opened up the door to my new classroom for the first time I started to take an assessment […]
Teaching the four voices (speaking, shouting, singing, and whisper voices) to my Kinders and 1st graders is something I’ve been doing for years. The four “vocal timbres” are in almost every district curriculum I’ve seen and every textbook I’ve ever looked at. “Why do we teach this concept?” you ask. […]
If you’ve spent any amount of time on my blog you can probably tell that I’m a fan of bulletin boards. I think that they are a wonderful way to get a student’s attention, teach new concepts, reinforce learning, inform the public, draw in other teachers and administration, connect with […]
