Hi everyone!
I know summer isn't over...but the school year is looming closer. We start on August 10...and of course, there is SO much to do, but I'm trying to not get overwhelmed. Here are three ways to prepare for the new school year:

#1: Create song lists for each grade level

This is the first thing I like to do when beginning to prepare for the new school year. It's a great way to wrap my head around what every grade level will be singing during the upcoming year. I recently created a video about creating a song list, which can be viewed below.

#2: Create a song index

If you don't already have one, this is a great tool to have, especially when you start working on year plans, concept plans, etc. I first created a song index in my Kodaly training, and it's super helpful when looking at which songs  you'll do for which grade level, creating your musical programs, etc. It's like the Holy Names Kodaly American Folk Song Index, but it's with songs from your collection! I created a video about creating a song index for my friends Karla and Amy to use with their classes at Colorado State University; here it is!

If you want to be notified of future videos I do, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel by searching for my name, then clicking "subscribe," as shown below (thanks to Rebecca B Designs for the cute arrows!):

#3: Listen to my podcast :)

So...I took a big step and started my own podcast! My very first podcast is all about preparing for the new school year, and the next few will also be about preparing for the new school year. You can find it by clicking on the button below:

Once you get to the page, make sure to view in Itunes, like shown below:

Then click on "subscribe," as shown below:

...so that you can get all my future podcasts! 

I plan on covering tons of ways to prepare for the new school year in my next few podcasts...and the great thing about podcasts is that you can put them on and do other things, like catch up on Facebook, clean, etc. I'd love to hear your feedback about the podcast; you can do that by going to "ratings and reviews," then clicking "write a review," as shown below.

What are your favorite ways to prepare for the new school year? Feel free to comment below!