Fermata Friday: July 29, 2016

Welcome to this week's installment of my weekly linky party, Fermata Fridays! This is a chance for music education bloggers to share blog posts with readers and bloggers alike, so we can all mingle and learn from each other. Readers, you are going to love all of the awesome blog posts that are out there- I hope you discover some new blogs to follow...

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simple ideas for teaching composition in lower elementary

I've been focusing lately on sharing ideas for addressing the area of the new National Core Arts Standards that seems to be producing the most hand-wringing from music teachers: the "Creating" process standards. Teaching improvisation and composition is nothing new, but it is certainly more heavily emphasized and delineated in the new standards, and...

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an organized art station for preschoolers

After finally getting a proper art station set up in our old apartment, we moved to a new house last November. Ever since then I've been dying to set up a "new and improved" art station for the girls in the basement (which basically is functioning as the playroom now) and just haven't had the time. Well, the project is finally done and I couldn't be...

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Fermata Friday: July 22, 2016

Welcome to this week's installment of my weekly linky party, Fermata Fridays! This is a chance for music education bloggers to share blog posts with readers and bloggers alike, so we can all mingle and learn from each other. Readers, you are going to love all of the awesome blog posts that are out there- I hope you discover some new blogs to follow...

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composition manipulatives for elementary music

I believe strongly in the importance of composition in elementary music, starting at the youngest ages. Although the thought of having kindergarteners create their own music can seem intimidating, it really doesn't have to be! With the added focus on creating in the new national core arts general music standards, I wanted to share some of my favorite...

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spice up your morning coffee!

In case you didn't know this about me, I am a morning person. As in, I get up at 3:30am every morning and I like it. There are a lot of things that I love about waking up early in the morning, but one of my favorite things to do in those early hours is drink a nice cup of coffee. I love coffee. Last summer I shared some of my favorite summer drinks...

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Fermata Friday: July 15, 2016

Welcome to this week's installment of my weekly linky party, Fermata Fridays! This is a chance for music education bloggers to share blog posts with readers and bloggers alike, so we can all mingle and learn from each other. Readers, you are going to love all of the awesome blog posts that are out there- I hope you discover some new blogs to follow...

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Blogiversary: Time Management Tips and a Newsletter!

I published my first blog post 2 years ago. It's hard to believe it has been so long! I have published 295 blog posts: 104 Mommy Monday posts, 105 Teacher Tuesday posts, and a few others thrown in for good measure. I started my blog as a way to keep myself occupied with something creative and productive when my daughters started having overnight visits...

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my favorite pens

As teachers, we spend a lot of time writing. Lesson plans, notes on the whiteboard, nurse passes, IEP's, meeting notes... not to mention all of the things we write at home: grocery lists, birthday cards, bills... There are two things you should know about me before I go any further: 1) I am a stationery lover and always have been and 2) I love lists....

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planner supply storage and organization

I spend a lot of quality time with my planner in the summertime. I first reflect on what pages I used and didn't use in my planner last year, and what pages I wish I had or wish were set up differently to decide what pages I want to include in my planner this year (see a quick tour of my planner for next school year here). Then I print the pages out...

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Fermata Friday: July 8, 2016

Welcome to this week's installment of my weekly linky party, Fermata Fridays! This is a chance for music education bloggers to share blog posts with readers and bloggers alike, so we can all mingle and learn from each other. Readers, you are going to love all of the awesome blog posts that are out there- I hope you discover some new blogs to follow...

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Small Goals: July 2016

I can't believe it's already July- seriously! I'm linking up with Jennifer at The Yellow Brick Road again this month to share my small goals for the month. Make sure you head on over to her post to see all of the others who are sharing their goals for the month- it is always motivating to see what others are planning, and I often learn something new...

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new ideas for upper elementary lessons

It has been really fun to look back on all of the new ideas I tried this past school year and loved- what a great way to celebrate success and get motivated to try more new ideas next year! I hope you all are reflecting on what worked for you this year as well. Today I'm sharing my favorite new ideas for upper elementary lessons, which for my purposes...

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