RESOURCES

Teaching elementary music takes more than great lessons—you need practical ideas for everything that happens in between. Teaching also means having lots of ideas—and knowing what to use when. Our Resources page is your Go-To Toolkit, filled with practical activities, strategies, and teaching tools for the entire year. Explore ideas for running your classroom, creating learning centers, managing transitions and having fun games and activities ready when your students need something to do. This page will be here for making music teaching easier, more engaging, and more fun.

And this is just the beginning! I’ll be adding new ideas, activities, and practical teacher tips regularly, so check back often. My goal is to keep building a collection of resources you can turn to whenever you need a fresh idea, a little inspiration, or a solution to one of those “What am I going to do with them today?” moments.

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Teacher to Teacher

5 Simple Ways To Create More Time In Your Day!

Time. We never have enough and so I am obsessed with time management and productivity! Here are a few ways to make your lives a bit easier once the craziness of the year begins. 1.  Leverage tasks to students Students always want to help and there are plenty of tasks that need to occur in any […]

Process And Assessment

As you would expect, I absolutely love composing with children! The final result is always fantastic, but it is the process that is so fascinating to me. The composition to the right was done by first graders. They chose partners and created a 4/4 measure. We then took their 1 measure composition and decided on […]

5 Ways To Create Good Behavior

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 […]

Beginning of the Year Activities

Classroom Set Up: Part 1

In getting ready for next year, the first thing that comes to mind is how do I want to set up my classroom? I see a lot of photos on Pinterest and Facebook, but I haven’t been dazzled yet. A lot of teachers focus on the “cutesy” ~ a way to decorate so that it […]

6 Ways to Start Your Year Off Right!

Happy New Year!! As our year gets under way, I want to take a moment and share some ideas for making it run a little smoother. We all get ridiculously busy, so I was brainstorming about how to get it all done and still enjoy my life ……and not be caught off guard when I […]

How To Have The Best First Week Ever!

The first day of school for us isn’t like a classroom teacher’s first day of school. Where those teachers are seeing their kids for the first time, we are seeing kids that we have known since kindergarten ~ for the most part ~ AND our first day is actually our first week, as we do […]

Learning Centers

Learning Centers In The Music Classroom!

As the upcoming school year gets under way, I have been thinking about what I want to do to shake things up in my classes. I have decided on centers. I have done them in the past to a certain extent, but this year, I want to go full out!! Why not? I looked for […]

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Small Groups! 2.0

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 […]

How To Facilitate Effective Small Groups

Music class is not the usual place for students to work in small groups. We don’t see them very often or for a long period of time, so we cram in as much as we can in the time we have. Usually, the fewer the transitions, the better! So why bother trying it out? Having […]

Games

Act Out A Rhythm

Virtual Musical Games: Part 2

I was so inspired by last week’s post that I started digging into my stash of games and found a few more that I would like to share with you! A couple you have seen before from way back when, one is a  variation (because you know how much I LOVE to extend a lesson!!) […]

5 Virtual Musical Games For Teachers and Parents!

Games are always a good idea!! ….especially in a time when we all want to have as much fun as possible!! Here are 5 that I have done with both my classes and my little one! The best part about this is that you can make a few changes to accommodate multiple grade levels! How […]