2019 Rewind: Top Music Education Posts

Happy New Year! 2019 was a great year- I learned so much from the online conversations and connections I made through this website, and I continue to grow as a teacher through my writing and creating process. I'm so grateful to have this platform that allows me to reflect and explore ideas! Today I'm counting down the top 10 most-read posts of 2019. Did your favorite make the list? Let's find out!

#10: Classroom Tour 2019-2020

This brings back memories... My summer was pretty packed this year. We had 2 new elementary music teachers join our district, so I was focused on helping them get set up, and we went on vacation with my family the week before teacher work days started, so I had to work ahead to get my classroom ready much earlier than I ever have before. I have LOVED the new color-coded storage system I set up!

#9: Allie All Along

I created this new lesson for my Kindergartners because I was looking to replace the lesson I used to teach on communicating emotion through music. My old lesson was based on a book by Dr. Seuss, who I have removed from my classroom, and I wanted to find something featuring characters that represent my black students (the vast majority in my building). This was perfect- the students loved it and the conversations we had about emotions were actually so much better with this book than my previous one because the story is so much more relatable for this age group!

#8: Color Teams

I'm glad this one made the list because it is one of my favorite things to talk about! If there is one organizational system I could recommend to every general music teacher, it's this one. The longer I use it the more I love it, seriously!

#7: My Family Plays Music

I was very focused on improving my representation of marginalized voices in my classroom this year, and this book was one of those finds that left me shocked that I hadn't come across it sooner. There is so much diversity in representation in everything from the musical genres to the characters in the story, and it's a perfect jumping-off point for active lessons with pretty much any age.

#6: Pop Songs for Elementary Choir

I honestly wish I had written about this sooner. So many great conversations with music teachers came out of this post! The sequel to this post (which also made the list- see below!) lists the specific songs I've done over the years, and I have been continuing to update that list each semester.

#5: Dance Playlist 2019

Finding good, clean, fun pop songs to use in the classroom can be hard! It has legitimately been very helpful for my own use to keep track of the songs I find that my students love- this was my 4th year in a row making one (and I've already got a good start on the 2020 edition)! It's a great reference whenever I'm tasked with putting together playlists for school events and such.

#4: Planner Tour

It's fitting that my planner tour would be on this list, because my *very first post* I ever published on this site back in the summer of 2014 (WHAT. I know, right?) was also a planner tour! Some things have changed, but actually a lot has not. The organizational systems I set up back then are still going strong 5 years (and counting) later.

#3: Pop Songs for Elementary Choir (part 2)

This was clearly a hot topic, because both posts in this series made the top 10! I am continuing to update this one as I choose new songs each semester to do with my choirs, and it lists my top resources for finding new music (which is always the hardest part of using modern music in our teaching).

#2: Elementary Music Supplies

I was putting together an instrument order around the time I wrote this post, and I realized that I had actually done quite a bit of ordering over my career with a very broad range of budget amounts and existing supplies. Going through that experience has helped me really narrow my focus to what my true priorities are for supplies, and this lists them in order that way.

#1: 15 Fun Videos for Music Class

I find it kind of funny that this one was my most-read post of the year: it was honestly a spur-of-the-moment decision to put these together because I like to keep these on hand for when classes earn the "prize" of watching a video instead of their usual warm-up. I've actually written a sequel with 15 more videos since then- here's that one if you're looking for more!

Thank you for coming along on this journey with me- I appreciate each and every person who reads, interacts with, and shares my content. It is so validating to know that others are benefiting from all these thoughts and ideas floating around in my head! Have a favorite that didn't make the list? Got a request for a topic you'd like to see this year? Leave a comment below- I love hearing from you!

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December Favorites 2019

The last "favorites" post for 2019- crazy! Of course December is always a fun-filled month so it's hard to choose, but here are some highlights from the past month, told through some of my Instagram photos. Come follow along for some inspiration, and share your own favorites in the comments!

1. Sing Along Updates

I wrote an entire blog post about this but I was so happy with the updates I made to my whole-school holiday sing-along this year. I added in songs for Eid and Lunar New Year, and they were both big hits with the students. This year the sing-along almost didn't happen at all because of snow, but thankfully we were able to reschedule it, and I'm so glad we did in spite of the craziness of running around to make it happen.

2. Advent Activities

Of course the advent activities I do with my daughters each day in December are always one of the highlights of the month for me. I made this little advent calendar back in 2014 when my daughters were almost 3, and we've been doing it every year since then. The best part now is that my girls remember and look forward to it when December is approaching! It was so much fun and so little work, honestly, which is the best part- it just keeps me from spiraling out of control thinking about all the stuff I have to do at work and helps me stay focused on being with my family when I'm at home.

3. Christmas Planner Spreads

I always love playing around with planner decorating- it's my way of keeping my scrapbooking and crafting hobby going- but it's especially fun in December because it's one of the few holidays I really enjoy acknowledging in thematic spreads. A lot of the sticker books I have collected over the years have specifically Christmas- themed stickers in them so I spend the rest of the year basically waiting for the chance to use them! You can read about how I decorate my planner in a way that still keeps my pages super functional in this post (with accompanying video):

4. Music Education Blog Posts

Here are some of my favorite posts I found this month! I share these weekly over on my Facebook page. Click the images to read each post:

I hope you all had a wonderful December as well and are looking forward to a fantastic 2020- can you believe it?!? Here we go to another new year!

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Mid-Year Reflection: Wins and Wishes

Now that I'm on break and have a chance to breathe, I'm taking a little time to reflect on how the school year is going so far. I always find it helpful to reflect on my successes and focus on my future goals and priorities while I have the time and energy to think about it with some proper perspective! So here is my mid-year reflection, if you're inspired to share your own I'd love for you to do so in the comments!

My "wins"

1. maintaining my vocal health

I won't say my voice is in top shape, but I can definitely still sing and speak in my normal range right now and that is HUGE! I am not kidding when I say this was my number one priority going into November / December this year. Last year I lost my voice for over a month (and barely had it for about a month on either end of that) this time of year and I was miserable- as in it was physically painful to do my job. I made sure to be more conscious of not pushing my voice both in and out of school, and I made a few deliberate choices in the interest of saving my voice as well: I said no to church choir, I asked my principal to buy me a megaphone for my outside duties, and I rested my voice as much as possible every weekend in the fall and winter. This is usually the worst time of year for my voice so I am celebrating my success, but I'm going to continue to be mindful through the rest of the school year so I can maintain my vocal health through the rest of the winter too!

2. including Ramadan/ Eid in my holiday sing-along

My whole-school holiday sing-along is definitely still a work in progress (read about that in this post), but I have spent a couple of years trying to find a way to include a recognition of Ramadan in a meaningful way that students would enjoy, and I feel like I did that this year. The students who celebrate Ramadan and their families in our school community were so happy to see themselves reflected in our preparations, and in some of my upper grade classes the students voluntarily started sharing about their fasting and other ways they celebrate and the rest of the class responded with genuine excitement and interest. It was the absolute best outcome I could have hoped for!

3. banner year for choir

I teach pull-out choir classes for 3rd-6th grade, and this semester was by far the best I've ever had with my choir classes at this school. I made a point of going around to individual students that I thought would be interested but hadn't signed up yet when the deadline was approaching this year, and got a tremendous response- my 3rd and 4th grade groups were the largest they have ever been, and my 5th and 6th grade group was double the normal size! Not only that, they were all incredibly motivated and focused- I was so nervous about having these giant groups but there were very few disruptions to rehearsal. In the 5th and 6th grade group in particular, every rehearsal was magical. We did challenging literature, singing in multiple languages, parallel harmony, and with dynamic contrast, and we had fun doing it. I really really really hope the magic continues this spring!!

4. parent communication

I finally got myself set up on ClassDojo by getting grade level teachers to add me to their classes, and it has been a fantastic way to communicate quickly and easily with parents. I've used it to communicate with individual parents when a child had a difficult time in class, but mostly I've used it to send little video clips of things we're doing in class, or send announcements to everyone when our concert got snowed out!

My "wishes"

1. lessons for self-contained classes

I almost put my self-contained special education classes in the "wins" too- I'm actually quite happy with how much I've learned as I'm teaching some self-contained classes that are completely different from any class I've ever taught before this year. But one of my goals for the rest of the year is to continue to learn more about the students in these classes and learn how to teach them more effectively- I know there's still so much more to learn.

2. pushing aside toxicity

This school year has been full of toxic negativity from other adults for some reason. I've had a few very difficult interactions with parents and seen a lot of colleagues treat me (and other "specials" teachers) like a lesser teacher. I'll continue to work to build respect for myself and my program, but the main thing I want to focus on is to not let that toxic negativity get to me so much! When I step back I can see that there are hundreds of parents that have lots of positive things to say about their child's experience in my class, and have had very productive conversations with me when there was a problem we needed to tackle. I also have plenty of colleagues who treat me like the professional equal I am. I want to learn to not let a handful of negative interactions affect my self-image or my mood.

How about you? Whether you choose to share publicly in a comment or not, this is an effective, easy way to take stock of where you are in the school year and get some perspective before heading into January. What are your wins and wishes?

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How to Give Intangible Gifts

Maybe you've heard about the idea of giving experiences instead of things, but you just don't think your children will buy into the idea. Maybe you'd love to do it but have trouble coming up with concrete ideas. If you're looking for "last-minute gift ideas" you don't have to fall victim to all the retailers scrambling to get you to buy more stuff to clutter up your house (and your life)- here are my suggestions for giving intangible gifts that everyone will be excited to give and receive!

There's a lot of gift-giving happening in my life right now. My family celebrates Christmas, and my twin daughters have their birthday the beginning of January. It's a lot to think about all at once! But luckily it's also the time of year when I'm most anxious to purge my house of all the clutter, which means for the last several years I've been focused on making sure I don't add to the clutter by giving my kids a bunch of toys.

I think the key to helping kids get excited about an intangible gift the same way they would about a shiny new toy is 1) making sure they still have something to unwrap, even if it's just a piece of paper that has a note about the gift, and 2) giving them time to adjust to the idea. I wouldn't worry if they are clearly a little disappointed with an intangible gift initially- I find once they actually have a chance to experience those gifts they realize how fun it is!

Another way to help children get used to the idea of giving experiences over things is to suggest that they give intangible gifts themselves! Here is a post I wrote on how I do this with my young children. I find it's perfect because the children can actually give it themselves rather than having to have someone else pay for it because they don't have their own money.

With all of that said, there are so many great ways to give intangible gifts- click each post below to read specific ideas that have been favorites in my family:

I hope this gives you some ideas that will make your next gift-giving opportunity more meaningful! If you have stories of how you've given intangible gifts (to kids or adults!) we'd love to hear them in the comments :)

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