Looking ideas for rejuvenating over winter break? In this podcast episode, Emily Karst and I talk about renewing and rejuvenating over winter break. Listen to the podcast here: Links mentioned in the podcast: Emily's blog Reading Grit Mindset The Girl on the Train Unbroken We Were the Lucky Ones One Day in December Woman in the Window Reflecting Lesson planning checklist Spirit Headspace app Emily's 30-day devotional Body Ideas from Emily's blog post What we're consuming Homecoming on Amazon Prime The Great British Baking Show on Netflix Home Alone on Starz Christmas Chronicles on Netflix Christmas w…
Looking for fun activities during the winter holiday season? In this podcast episode, I discuss my favorite ways to celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa in the music room! Listen here: Links mentioned in the podcast episode: When oh When Lots of latkes song notation: Singalong blog post Editable singalong set: Games: Reading with Santa ( download for free here ) Santa's Stuck Rhythmic Bundle Santa's Stuck Melodic Bundle Christmas Carol Bingo Picture books: Feliz Navidad 12 Days of Christmas There was an old lady who swallowed a bell The Sound of Kwanzaa Jingle Bell Dance: Sleigh Ride Cup Routine: Ch…
Looking for strategies to address physical, visual, and aural learning styles? In this podcast episode, Katie and I discuss learning styles, strategies, and more! Listen to the podcast here: Links mentioned in the podcast: Walk and running card freebie Solfege Podcast: Music Teacher Coffee Talk Amy Abbott's body staff: Low Sol: Hands on knee Low La: Hands slightly above knee Low Ti: Hands slightly below waist Do: Hands on waist Re: Arms crossed over chest Mi: Hands on shoulders Fa: Hands on side of head Sol: Hands on top of head La: Hands in air, slightly above head Ti: Fingers in air above head (like …
The term "differentiation" has been used more and more often in education lately. What does it mean? How does it apply to the music room? According to Carol Ann Tomlinson--an expert on differentiation-- differentiated instruction is defined as factoring students’ individual learning styles and levels of readiness first before designing a lesson plan (from this blog post from Concordia University- Portland.) So what does this look like in the music classroom? I've heard many music teachers say that differentiation happens naturally in the music room. I agree...to a degree. There IS…
Looking for ways to give students input for musical programs? In this podcast episode, I discuss a process I used for giving my fifth graders input for their recent musical program, based on the book " To Be a Drum ," by Evelyn Coleman and Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson. Listen to the podcast here: Links to blog posts about musical programs Links to songs Freedom Train ( in this blog post ) Banuwa Obwisana Links to resources World Music Drumming Hand Drumming resource Outline of process: Choose a book Read the book Type up the book into a script for small group input Give students 20-25 minutes to work…
Looking for ways to integrate STEM or STEAM into your music room? In this podcast episode, I talked with my friend and colleague Emily Anderson Karst about ideas for STEAM, coding, and more! Listen to the podcast here: Free resources: Instrument design worksheet Instrument design lessons by Emily Silent film project Links mentioned: Coding Websites: Scratch Music Website Code Combat Blockly games Code Avengers Coding Toys: Code-a-pillar Code and Go Robot Mouse Sphero Mini What we're consuming: Angela Watson's "Truth for Teachers" Podcast David Row's "Make Moments Matter" Podcast …
I've been using centers for several years now, and have really enjoyed the student-centered learning environment and the chance to work with students one-on-one. In today's post, I'm writing about something new I've been trying: giving students choice during centers! So why give students choice during centers? In my experience, students really love the ability to choose what they do, when. In fact, just this week, after I told the students they get to choose, I had a student look at me incredulously and exclaim, "We get to choose?!?! That's COOL!" So how does it wo…
Looking for a fun Halloween activity that gets students composing and practicing quarter rest? In this blog post, I'm writing with a favorite activity for students during the Halloween season...or any time! "See the old witch" is a fun singing game that my first graders really enjoy. Here's the notation: For the game, students sit in a circle, sitting down. One child is chosen to be “it” and has a penny in his/her hand. All other students close their eyes and put their hands behind their back. As they sing, the person who is “it” walks around the circle. At the end of the song…
Lately, I've been blogging about classroom management strategies in the music room. Today's blog post includes a podcast episode with more ideas! Listen to the podcast, called The Music Room, in the iTunes Store , or here: Here are the links mentioned in the podcast episode: IG: www.instagram.com/mrsmiraclesmusicroom Blog posts: Star students in the music room Point system for the music room Transitions in the music room FB group: Mrs. Miracle's Chat Room Strategies for Classroom Management Restorative Justice podcast with Cult of Pedagogy Kindergarten lesson freebie 1st grade lesson freebie &q…
Lately, I've been writing with classroom management strategies in the music room. In this post , I wrote about star students, and in this post , I wrote about a point system for your music classroom. Today, I'm writing about one of my favorite ways to keep students' attention throughout the lesson: transitions! I first learned about transitions when I began my Kodaly training at Capital University. In a music lesson, transitions are how we move from one activity from the next, so that kids stay engaged, and the lesson flows smoothly. Although I've thought of this as more of a les…
Today, I'm continuing my classroom management series to write about a great way to reward the whole class: a point system for the music room! Since I started teaching, I've rewarded individual students for exemplary behavior by choosing star students , but it wasn't until a few years ago that I began rewarding whole class behavior. I read this book, which is great read for any special areas team: In the book, the author outlined a four point system for rewarding whole class behavior. I adapted it a bit from the author's ideas, and have used it since with success. In each music cl…
Looking for a great way to keep students engaged and focused during music class? Today, I'm writing my first blog post in a series about classroom management in the music room. This post will be about one of my favorite strategies: star students in the music room! So why choose a star student? I've used this strategy my entire career, and every year, I've seen students get so excited about the possibility of being chosen. Students also like to cheer each other on! It can be a great way to point out specific behavior too, like "I'm choosing Tyler because he participated so m…
After days of working in my room, I'm really excited to reveal my music room for this year! Here is a view of my room as you walk into it. Here's a panoramic view of my room: I decided on a forest theme this year, and I'm really loving the calm color scheme. Like last year, I really tried to be intentional to not cover every single wall with something, so that kids could learn in an engaging setting but not be overwhelmed. Here's the view of the tree by my door...it's a wall decal from Amazon, and can be purchased here . Here is the sign at my entrance, which I ordered from Et…
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