June Favorites 2018

Boy, June has certainly been a whirlwind. With 12 makeup days on our calendar our last day of school this year was the 26th, and it seemed like I was in charge of a million end-of-year events this year that kept me busy right up until the end. Now that I can breathe again, it's time to take a look back at some of the highlights from the past month! 1....

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Ace the Interview: philosophy statement

It's job interview season and for a lot of people (myself included), the thought of trying to sell yourself and communicate your passion for the job in a one-page document and (hopefully) a short conversation with strangers is more than a little intimidating! Today I want to focus in on one question that is often presented in both written submissions...

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Meal Planning 101: organizers

Over the last few weeks we've been talking about meal planning, and hopefully convincing anyone who feels like they just aren't organized enough to be a meal planner that is attainable and adaptable (and definitely worthwhile)! Today I want to revisit my favorite meal planning topic: organizers. I think there's something here for everyone, no matter...

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Elementary Music Sub Plan Ideas

Coming up with sub plans may easily be one of the most headache-inducing tasks any teacher has to endure. It's so hard to come up with a plan that is easy enough to explain and simple enough for a substitute to implement while also being engaging and meaningful enough to keep students from checking out entirely (or worse). Over the last couple of years...

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Meal Planning 101: weekly shopping trips

Meal planning can be a game-changer if you set up a system to make it streamlined and effective! One of my favorite things about meal planning is being able to go to the grocery store just once a week and never having to making an extra stop in the middle of the week. Here are my tips for making sure you never run out of groceries mid-week again! There...

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Preparing for Your First Elementary Music Teaching Job

Whether you're fresh out of college and landed your first job, or changing positions to take on elementary music for the first time, there's a lot to do to get ready for your first elementary music teaching job! And I know that the summer before my first year, I spent a lot of time and energy worrying that I was forgetting something important that...

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Meal Planning 101: choosing your menu

After over 5 years of meal planning, I am definitely a big fan. After numerous conversations with people who say they want to try meal planning but just "can't get organized enough", I thought I would share my tips for people who want to give meal planning a shot but don't know how to get started. Today we're talking about how to pick out your meals...

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Teaching Elementary Choir

Elementary choir can be a bit of a puzzle. Often we have very large groups, short and infrequent rehearsal times, and lots of performances to prepare. After writing about a wide range of elementary chorus topics over the past several months, I've decided to compile my top tips in one place to make it easier for you to find all of the information in...

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