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The Music Education Blog Carnival
October 7, 2014

October Music Education Blog Carnival

A music education blog carnival is a monthly post that links to several new music education blog posts across the web.  These blog posts were compiled from the month of September and feature music teachers from around the world.   Thanks to everyone who has contributed blog posts this month! […]
Why should you teach folk songs, what resources to use, and how to go about doing it!
October 4, 2014

Why Teach Folk Songs? – Resources, How-to, and More

I remember when I first started teaching elementary music I spent my first few months teaching fun songs from the written textbooks that I had access to, favorite lessons from local music workshops, and memorable songs from my own childhood music classes.  But then I hit a wall.  When I […]
Firikyiwa - A must-have instrument for the music classroom.
September 30, 2014

Tiny Time Saver – Firikyiwa African Bell Instrument

The Firikyiwa is a percussion instrument from African and is my newest favorite toy/tiny time saver in the music room.  I saw my friend Sarah Lillie use this years ago with her classes and I’ve ALWAYS wanted one.  This year on the requisition cycle I decided that I should spend […]
Use your bulletin board to teach kid about opera and explain good storytelling techniques.
September 26, 2014

What Makes a Good Opera – Character, Plot, and Setting

I feel like my students really get interested in opera once they realize some of the story lines or actually hear some of the music.  It’s just hard at first because kids aren’t used to hearing an opera singer’s voice and don’t understand all the formality.  Kids are used to hearing […]
Bulletin board with pirate-themed I can statement posters.
September 17, 2014

Arrgh! A Pirate-Themed I Can Statement Bulletin Board

What ARRRRGH We Doing in Music Class?  It was a total game-changer when I realized that I could use a pirate-themed I Can Statement bulletin board to explain the National Standards for Music Education to students, parents, and administrators.  Pirates are just the perfect thing for elementary kids, aren’t they? […]
How to turn off all those extra channels so that when you pull up your Apple TV in class your students won't see them!
September 10, 2014

Apple TV Tiny Trick

How-to shut off Apple TV icons and previews. One of my favorite technology toys to use in the classroom is my Apple TV.  I love it because I can mirror the images on you iPad and show an entire class the picture I took, the APP I’m using, or anything […]
Ideas to make your music room comfy, cozy, and a great place to learn!
September 6, 2014

A Little Ambiance – Music Room Elements

In the last couple of weeks I’ve seen lots of posts on Facebook groups about room setup with some pretty amazing pictures of people’s elementary music rooms.   I love looking through those pictures because it’s such a fantastic and simple way to see into someone’s teaching space.  It helps […]
The Master Sticker - Fun Positive Reinforcement Trick
September 1, 2014

The Master Sticker

The “Master Sticker” is a little trick that I happened upon one day when working with my younger kids.  I was pulling the classic “I’m watching and listening and I’m going to give stickers to the kids who I think are really following directions and singing so well!”  We’ve all […]
August 30, 2014

Bring it Home – Make Music Personal!

Well, it has been four years in the making, but I’m finally feeling good about the connections that I’m creating for students when I talk about Charlie Parker.  I’ve always taught them something about Parker or at least tried to bring up his name, but since his birthday comes so […]
Teaching students how to take off and put bars on your percussion instruments.
August 23, 2014

Bars On, Bars Off – Learning How to Set the Instruments Correctly

I love using my barred percussion/Orff instruments and I love when students feel proficient playing accompaniments, tapping out melodic patterns, and especially improvising!  What I love ALMOST as much is when students feel good about the procedures of how to hold mallets, how to stand at the instruments, how to […]
August 21, 2014

Orff to see the Wizard, Kodaly borrow your ruby slippers?

One of the things that I love about being a music educator is that there are a ton of ways to teach music to children.  Some of us dwell on rhythm, drums, percussion instruments, and improvisation.  Some people spend the bulk of their time sitting around a guitar or a […]
Tips and tricks to make your bulletin boards the talk of the teachers's lounge!
August 16, 2014

Bulletin Board Best Practices – #1

It’s the beginning of a new year and time to start thinking about what’s to come and forging ahead.  For me, the beginning of the year bulletin board is always a fun and stressful task.  Some of us want to put up a bulletin board that we can use all year […]
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