When I scroll through the Music Teachers groups on Facebook, there are always posts about how badly students are behaving in their classes. I have certainly seen it, as well ~ we are definitely in the “Entitlement Age”! We have lost a basic respect for each other, as highlighted in how our leaders speak to […]
There are those days when you just want to deviate from your lesson plan or something unexpected happens and you are required to change it! Here is a lesson to keep in your back pocket for a rainy day and to pull out when you need it! Materials: 1 Rhythm Stick 2 Sets of Note Knacks […]
Today I was teaching a violin lesson and we were working on a George Bornoff exercise where one plays the open string 4 times, then the same string with the first finger 4 times, then 4 times with the second and so on until the 4th finger is added. Then one lifts fingers one at […]
This past week I was in TX for their annual music educators conference (If you haven’t been, you should seriously consider going ~ it is AMAZING!!) and I got into a long discussion about music literacy with a colleague. The question became ~ should music literacy be taught in K-2 when we have so little […]
Parents do not always recognize what we do or realize the impact it has on their child’s learning, so I crafted this article for our parents to let them in on what all of us know ~ we build better brains! I share this with you not only as a bit of inspiration…after all, I […]
Last week I spoke about teaching the kids how to learn new rhythms through the steady beat ~ click HERE to read. This week I want to talk a little about beats and length. We don’t really teach this. On a whole, we don’t single out notes and have kids explore counting the beat to […]
I am so excited about a lesson I did with my students last week! In a piece of music that we are working on, there is a particularly difficult rhythm. It is a sixteenth syncopated rhythm, of course, and I was thinking about how to teach it like a professional musician would break it down […]
I love putting my students into small groups! It benefits them in so many ways and it allows me to step back and observe ~ something that we do not get to do very often! It also allows me to connect with students individually as I ask questions about their work or offer assistance when […]
Good Morning!! We are in the home stretch ~ Wahoo!! Only a few more days…. we can do it!! As concert dates are quickly approaching, I know how stressful things can get! So in this issue, I thought I would give you some ideas on how to involve the audience both before, during and after the […]
I just finished teaching a small group of boys and it is clear that they need to move around and/ or use their hands!! As I researched gender differences in the classroom, it is astonishing to me that we still teach in a manner that requires kids to sit most of the day! We are […]