10 things they don't tell you about being an elementary music teacher

10 things they don't tell you about being an elementary music teacher

Over the 17 years I have taught elementary music, I have learned so much about my profession, about the students, about music, and about education. Today, I'm blogging about the things I didn't learn from a workshop, from a book, or from a blog post, but instead just from experience!#1: You will lose your voice...and if you're not careful, you can damage it forever.My first year of teaching, I lost...

Guest Post: The Envelope Game for Beginning Band

Guest Post: The Envelope Game for Beginning Band

I'm excited to have a guest blogger today! Tamarie Sayger will be writing about a game to help incorporate the Kodály philosophy into the band classroom. You can read more about her at the end of this post; thanks to Tamarie for sharing her expertise!As someone who has been lucky enough to teach elementary music as well as secondary band, I love finding ways to incorporate Kodály philosophy into...

Composing in the Music Room

Composing in the Music Room

So, you've taught students how to read music, using rhythm, solfa, and letter names, and now you want to have them compose. But where to begin? Just this year, I've really started delving into composition projects with my students, so I thought I'd share some ideas. Up until now, I think I've been so focused on teaching students how to read that I didn't feel like I had time to have them compose....

Fifth Grade Performance {Wangari's Trees of Peace}

Fifth Grade Performance {Wangari's Trees of Peace}

This past fall, my fifth graders performed a program based on the book, "Wangari's Trees of Peace," by Jeanette Winter (click the picture to view the book on Amazon.)The book is a really inspiring true story about a girl from Kenya who plants trees to replenish ones which had been cut down. It's a great story about perseverance and courage!Today, I'm blogging with a summary of songs and dances I used...

Five favorite pins of January

Five favorite pins of January

Hope you have had a wonderful start to your year! Since it is January, I am posting my five favorite pins of this month.If you are a blogger, feel free to join the linky party by following the directions at the end of this post. Here are my five favorite pins this month! You can click on each picture to be taken to the original pin.#1: Snowman melodic activityI love this idea of breaking down a song...