I am looking forward to have the grooviest year ever!  This year I decided to embrace the cool, retro vibe that is appearing in fashion, home furnishings and more.  I hope you'll enjoy this peek of my classroom. My desk is in the front corner of my room.  It holds every pen or pencil known to man and the mixer box for my classroom speakers.  I play music through my computer but it is set up to quickly play from my phone if I need to. This wall contains my light up treble staff and the board where I'll post my student objectives for the week.  I am in the smallest ..read more

For one reason or another, I often find myself waiting with students in a line.  It can be challenging to keep them quiet because let's face it...standing in line is boring!  Here are a few musical things to do while waiting in line. Steady Beat Follow Me This quiet game is easy and engaging.  Lead students to keep the steady beat with you, but challenge them to stop on exactly the same beat you do.  To be successful, students have to watch closely and remain quiet.  I tap my head, chin, arms, stomach, knees and nose.  I clap with two fingers or snap.  I ..read more

March Music Madness is an event that my school looks forward to during Music in Our Schools Month.  This bracket style tournament has one objective:  crown one song as the champion of music based on student votes.   There are several ways that you can host this event in your music classroom.  Keep reading to learn more. There are three basic steps to take in planning and carrying out March Music Madness:     1.  Song Selection     2.  Experiencing the Music     3.  Voting Song Selection There are several ways to go about se ..read more

I am excited to reveal my classroom this year.  I went with big, bold colors and a refreshing theme-Grow With Music.  Students have really enjoyed it and during Open House there were many compliments.  Best of all is that everything is organized for learning! This is the back of my room.  I put the bulletin board paper up and then divided the board into three sections with borders from Schoolgirl Style.  Grow Your Musical Mindset is my yearly growth mindset focus.  I refer to it before we start any challenging pieces to remind students that just because they ..read more

Back to school feels different this year.  I am starting classes face to face, but I am already putting together plans for the possibility of moving to distance learning this semester.  I want to share some of the resources that I'll be using. Boom Cards Where have they been all of my life?  To students, they feel like a game.  A variety of activities ask students to name notes, identify note values, do musical math, identify and classify instruments and more. When students get an answer right they hear a happy "ding" and when they get it wrong a silly "ooops".  I ..read more

I keep a goody box in my classroom.  I use it to reward exceptionally great behavior, actions that demonstrate kindness and inclusivity and for brave performers that share with the class.  I'm always looking for cool things to put in the box and this year I'm filling it with custom designed crayons!  Read on to learn how to make them and to avoid some of the pitfalls that I fell into. Several years ago, my friend Linda, from Floating Down the River, wrote about how much her students loved these crayons.  Recently David Row, from Make Moments Matter, also wrote about his ..read more

Like many teachers, I love a great bargain.  Dollar stores and discount stores are great ways to decorate and stock your classroom without breaking the bank.  Here are a few dollar store hacks for decorating your room and adding some pizzaz to your bulletin boards. Many dollar stores already carry education supplies like flashcards, letters, charts and border.  They can help put up bulletin boards, class job charts and come in handy when creating folder activities or workstations.  Let's walk a litter farther through the store and see what we can find that may be a lit ..read more

Fridays are for favorites!  I hope you enjoy reading about some of my favorite things this week. Customized Pillows - I use a reading center in almost every one of my center rotations.  I usually have some kind of rug, a few pillows, a funky lamp and books!  This year I made a few customized pillows with Vista Print.  I LOVE the way the turned out and they colors are bright and beautiful.  To create your own just upload a logo, graphic or picture.  You can put the same picture on both sides or mix it up a bit.  Don't purchase anything on Vista Print with ..read more

Let's face it, nothing can replace a classroom full of music making.  Singing, dancing and playing instruments joyfully together must be experienced authentically in person.  When that isn't possible, what should we do?  I'm afraid I don't have a perfect answer, but I'd like to share a few ideas with you and I hope that you can use them or find that they are a springboard for your own creativity. Make Music Incredibox (free on PCs, paid app for tablets and phone) Students can create loops using many different sounds and then share them with you.  Assign THIS free project to have students ..read more

I've rounded up some of my favorite music workstation freebies.  They are from some talented musicians that share their ideas via their blogs and/or Teachers Pay Teachers.  Enjoy! Note and Rest Duration Chart - It's simple.  It's clean.  It's handy.  I have about 10 laminated copies of  it because I use it all the time!  Check out this freebie from Sara Bibee. Eighth Note Dancing Raccoon Game - My kiddos love ALL of Linda McPherson's games.  I use them on tablets and on my Smarboard.  So much fun!  And this one is free! We are Dancing Composition Freebie - Aileen Miracle has so many grea ..read more