Distance Music Lesson Ideas: Singing

If there was ever a time to get our students singing, it's in the midst of a global crisis when everyone is isolated in their homes! With my district starting online classes this week I knew I wanted to start with singing. Whether you're teaching online or sending home distance learning packets with no technology requirements, here are some ways to...

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Distance Learning Music Classroom at Home

Few moments in this school closure situation have been more difficult for me than the short time I had to grab stuff from my deserted classroom at school to take home with me to use for distance learning. This is not how music teaching is "supposed to" look! But I took what I thought I might need and now I've set up a small corner in my basement to...

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Virtual Music Lesson Ideas: Instruments of the Orchestra

We're officially in week 2 of school closure. Last week in our district we weren't doing much direct teaching- we sent home learning packets for students to work on and waited for directions from our district as they figured out a plan for moving forward. Now we're back on the clock with official work hours to be online and we're setting up our online...

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Getting Kids Involved in Housework

Right now most school buildings around the world are closed, and many families are stuck inside their houses for most of the day (either voluntarily or by government order). This is the perfect time to get kids more involved with housework chores! I admit we have gotten out of our cleaning rotation from time to time when life has gotten too busy,...

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In the Music Room During COVID-19

My school district, along with many others in the United States and elsewhere, closed recently as covid-19 (coronavirus) hit the country (if you've found yourself in that situation please read this post). But schools in China and other places that are nearing the tail end of their bout with the virus, as well as some parts of the US and other countries...

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Suddenly Homeschool: parenting through school closures

Like many other families around the world, my 2nd grade daughters and I have found ourselves suddenly home all day for an indefinite amount of time. As I know many parents are trying to wrap their heads around what to do all day with kids who suddenly find themselves stuck at home, I thought I would share my plans- how I plan to structure the day,...

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Music Teacher Resources for School Closures

We are living in unusual times, to be sure. My school district, along with many others around the world, is closed indefinitely in an attempt to slow the spread of covid-19 (known widely as coronavirus). As we go through this time of uncertainty, I know many of us are scrambling to find ways to continue to provide music learning opportunities for...

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5 Ways to Advocate for Your Music Program

Whether we like it or not, advocating for our program is part of our reality as music teachers. While it can be exhausting constantly having to justify our existence, we have to be our own advocates if we want our students to have access to the best possible music education. Here are 5 concrete, practical ways you can advocate for your music program. 1....

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Tips for Music Classroom Social Media Pages

For better or for worse, as music teachers there is always a need to advocate for the importance of our programs. One of the best ways to do that is to share all of the great things that we're doing in our classrooms with the community- most people have no idea that there is so much more that we do beyond our public concerts! In this day and age social...

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February Favorites 2020

Even with the extra day this year, February flew by! It was also a challenging month, in many ways, so I'm honestly a little relieved to be turning the page to a new month. Regardless of how your February has been, I hope you find some fresh inspiration as we look back together on my highlights from last month! 1. Hip-Hop Unit This is my second...

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