My Favorite Nutcracker Music Lesson Ideas

For many music teachers, December in the music room means The Nutcracker! Today I want to share some of my favorite lesson ideas using The Nutcracker that I love doing with my elementary students, and I'm also including a link-up at the end of the post for other bloggers to share their favorite Nutcracker lessons, so be sure to check those out as well! 1....

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Leftovers with an Asian Twist

Today I'm sharing some of my favorite ways to give leftovers new life, all in Asian-style food (yes, I know that is a broad category... it's intentionally vague because none of this is exactly "authentic"). If you're looking for some different ways to use up the food in your fridge, you might want to give some of these ideas a try- I always love the...

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November Favorites 2016

The turkey has been eaten, Christmas lights are going up around the neighborhood.... November must be ending! I'm back to chat about some of the things I enjoyed this month, but this month's "favorites" post is special- there's a giveaway involved (and not a lot of time to enter)! Be sure to read to the end for your chance to win some fun stuff, and...

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#WhyITeachMusic : Stories to Motivate and Inspire

Last week I shared the things that motivate and inspire me to teach music and invited you to share your #whyiteachmusic stories as well. I absolutely loved reading the responses! I hope you will take the time to read the other blog posts (linked at the bottom of this post), and the comments, sometime this week. It has been the perfect way to get ready...

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24 Christmas Activities for Preschoolers

A few years ago I made an advent calendar (see my post on how I made in here) with an activity for my daughters and I to do together each day leading up to Christmas. It has been a great way to cross off everything on our holiday bucket list, be intentional about spending time together as a family, and get all of those little tasks (like decorating,...

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#WhyITeachMusic

Today's post is a special one. All week long music education bloggers are sharing their stories of #whyiteachmusic to help us all remember, in the midst of what for many of us is a very stressful time, why we do what we do. I hope you enjoy reading my post, and that you'll help to spread some inspiration, encouragement, and positivity by sharing your...

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Truth or Dare Music Jenga

I've been mulling over some new center ideas since this summer, and I'm excited to share one of those with you today: Truth or Dare Music Jenga! The game has been a hit with my students in every grade, and it has been a great way to throw in some review and practice for important skills, concepts, and vocabulary that we've been working on in class. *this...

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Kids' Hair Accessories Storage Solution

I'm back with one of those simple organization tips that I love, this time for my daughters' hair ties and clips! If you have little girls (or boys) who care about what goes in their hair, you'll know what I mean when I say that those tiny little clips and elastics can create an organizational nightmare in the bathroom. I've had several different storage...

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My Favorite Thanksgiving Music Lessons

November is here and for U.S. Americans that means Thanksgiving is coming! For music teachers this time of year often gets swallowed up with winter holiday music, as we get our students ready for their performances, but sometimes it's nice to throw in a turkey song or two to keep ourselves from losing our minds! Here are a few Thanksgiving-related...

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Favorite Gifts for Preschool / Kindergarten Age Kids

Now that November is here, it's time to start getting ready for the holiday season! One of the tasks I really want to take care of this month is shopping for my daughters. With their birthday falling at the beginning of January, right after Christmas, I need a pretty good list! Today I want to share with you some of the things I am considering for...

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Small Goals: November 2016

I seriously cannot believe it's November already! I'm linking up with Jennifer from The Yellow Brick Road to share my monthly "small goals"- be sure to head on over to her post to read about what she's up to as well, and if you'd like, link up a post of your own or share your goals in the comments! First a look back at last month's goals:  1....

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Organizing Your Teacher Closet On a Budget (part 2: sheet music)

This past summer I was forced to take a long, hard look at my classroom closet because they had to re-do the floors. One of the biggest projects I tackled was re-organizing my choral music collection. Although it doesn't look very pretty or even new and shiny, I am happy with the organizational system I came up with- it has been very functional and...

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