January Favorites 2018

I hope everyone has had a fantastic start to 2018- this month has definitely flown by but it has been full of some fantastic highlights at school and at home! I'm back this month to share some "favorites" of the month, and I hope you'll join me in celebrating the fun and the awesome by sharing your own favorites in the comments- it's a great way to...

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Teaching Recorder: the first lesson

Teaching recorders can be a lot of fun (and so rewarding!) but it can also be pretty overwhelming (and headache-inducing!), especially in the beginning when you're trying to cover the fundamentals. Once you've taken care of the logistics (read all of my tips for getting everything set up in this post), it's time to get those instruments into the students'...

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Fresh Start 2018 Challenge: pick a room

Welcome back to the Fresh Start 2018 Challenge! This is the final installment of my weekly series this month to try to give my home life a bit more of a New Year's kick in the pants while dealing with the reality that school is back in session and I do NOT have the time or energy for a full-on deep clean/purge. I'm making an effort this year to find...

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Teaching Recorder: the basics

I love teaching recorder. I loved learning recorder as a child, and even played with some early music groups in college, and I love passing along one of my favorite instruments to my students. I know not everyone feels that way, and no matter how much you love or hate it, teaching recorder can be quite a headache (literally and figuratively)! Today...

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Fresh Start 2018 Challenge: craft supplies

Welcome back to the Fresh Start 2018 Challenge! This is week #4 of my weekly series this month to try to give my home life a bit more of a New Year's kick in the pants while dealing with the reality that school is back in session and I do NOT have the time or energy for a full-on deep clean/purge. I'm making an effort this year to find small but impactful...

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Current Musicians of Color for Black History Month and Beyond

In the United States, February is Black History Month. Making sure my teaching values the broadest spectrum of music and musicians possible has always been a passion of mine, but this year I feel an even greater sense of responsibility to my students (and to myself) to make more room in my classes for musical role models who are people of color. I...

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Fresh Start 2018 Challenge: car

Welcome back to the Fresh Start 2018 Challenge! This is week #3 of my weekly series this month to try to give my home life a bit more of a New Year's kick in the pants while dealing with the reality that school is back in session and I do NOT have the time or energy for a full-on deep clean/purge. I'm making an effort this year to find small but impactful...

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Elementary Choir: tips for the first rehearsal

So you've got a whole bunch of eager singers signed up for your elementary choir class. You've got a very short amount of time to establish procedures, assign seats, and take care of other logistics to make the rest of the semester runs smoothly, but you also want to get them SINGING because hey, that's why they're here, right? Today I want to share...

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Fresh Start 2018 Challenge: purses and bags

Welcome back to the Fresh Start 2018 Challenge!! This is week #2 of my weekly series to try to give my home life a bit more of a New Year's kick in the pants while dealing with the reality that school is back in session and I do NOT have the time or energy for a full-on deep clean/purge. I'm making an effort this year to find small but impactful ways...

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Balancing Teaching and Home Life

With each new year, whether it's the calendar year or school year, one question that always comes up in my mind and in conversations with other teachers is work/life balance. It is a never-ending struggle and one that needs constant adjustment as responsibilities, perspectives, and priorities change. Obviously there's no magic formula for achieving...

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Fresh Start 2018 Challenge: closets

Happy 2018, everyone! In past years, I've updated and shared my Fresh Start Checklists just before New Year's each year so I can get the important things at home and school in order and get excited for the year ahead. This year, I felt like I needed a bit more of a thorough refresh at home- things are starting to pile up, projects are getting put...

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