I read a story in Jack Canfield’s book “The Success Principles” that was very powerful. He recounts a story from 1977 in Tallahassee, FL. A woman who was 63 at the time, picked up the back end of a Buick to get it off her grandson’s arm. Before that time, she had never lifted anything […]
In this job it is amazing how often I am in awe of my students! Yesterday and today I placed my first grade choir members into groups and gave them a set of Note Knacks. We had been singing “La” while dragging our finger across each block as a large group so that they could […]
Ahhhhh ….mistakes! I think I made a big one this morning! I downloaded an application to my computer and it is still scanning……I am praying everything will be ok!! However, it got me thinking! What message do we send our kids when they make a mistake. Hopefully it is “Oh well, no big deal. Let’s […]
When educators think about a well balanced language arts program, writing is always included. Why don’t we think about this in the music classroom? Are we so intimidated by the greats? There is evidence to suggest this. (I wonder what Bach and Mozart would think about teaching composition to all, even if students did not […]
When I taught language arts in a first and second grade split classroom in Cambridge, MA, we paid special attention to how we introduced a book. We read the title and asked students to predict the subject matter. We looked at all of the pictures and modified our thoughts on the story line. The idea […]
Now that introductions have been made and the schedules set….for the most part :-), it is time to think about the meat of the curriculum. What kinds of activities will ensure an enriching music literacy experience for our students? The beginning of the year is a great time for exploration. In “Letting Go!” I spoke […]
I had the most amazing weekend!!! I was in Santa Cruz with Mary Knysh in one of her workshops: “Music, Rhythm, Movement Exploration and Play!” We explored singing, playing instruments and moving our bodies. Our goal was to produce sounds and movements without any or very little planning time. It was a bit scary…I am […]
Tuesday I spoke about “thoughtful “demonstrations” taking place in our classrooms. It is a term I read in Regie Routman’s book Invitations in reference to teaching reading and writing in language arts. She talks about how important it is to model excellent reading and writing skills. This thought fascinates me because I don’t think we […]
Happy first weeks of school everyone! Some of you have already started and others will be starting soon. It is a busy time! I have started teaching the children’s choir, but will really get going on September 8the due to initial assessments and “no school” days. In preparation as the Music Literacy Specialist, I have […]
This morning I came across a funny video from Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show. It was of Chad Smith from The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Will Ferrell having a “Drum Off”. Of course it was funny, as Will Ferrell always is, but more importantly is was showcasing music as something special. Clearly Ferrell couldn’t […]