New resources

New resources

This past week, I had the awesome opportunity of chairing and presenting at the OAKE conference in Minneapolis. It was such a whirlwind of events, visiting with friends, meetings, workshops, and concerts (which I will write about later), but I did have a little bit of time to go shopping at the exhibits. There aren't many other times when you have so many great music education resources all in one...

Rhythm Intervention 101

Rhythm Intervention 101

A few weeks ago, as I was looking at the results of a dictation for ta and ti-ti with my first graders, I saw that while most students "got it" and did very well, I still had a few in each class who seemed to struggle, who perhaps could dictate simple patterns but nothing beyond that. This always seems to happen--the struggling few--and in the past, I've shrugged and moved on.But this time, as I sat...

Music in our Schools Month

Music in our Schools Month

Since it is March, it is time for Music in our Schools Month!As a music teacher, I feel like the whole year should be devoted to music in our schools, but Music in our Schools Month is a great time to make sure that the importance of music in our schools is recognized. Here are a few ideas to help:#1: "My music performance" bulletin boardMy third graders and fourth graders recently performed their...