Reflection on 16 Years of Teaching Elementary General Music
On Monday, I will be honored with a 15-year milestone at Far Hills Country Day School (FHCDS), in Far Hills, NJ. For the past 15 years, I have taught PreK-3rd grade general music, 5th grade...
View ArticleSummer Professional Development
Today is the last day of my 2011-2012 school year and I am thrilled to be heading into summer. This was my first full year as a working mother of two and I am very thankful to have gotten through it...
View Article#ISTE12
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is currently holding their annual conference in San Diego, CA, beginning today and lasting until the 27th of June. I was fortunate enough to...
View ArticleAssessment in the Elementary General Music Classroom
How do you assess your elementary general music students? Every school year this question arises more and more for various reasons. Whether you have to show assessment in your classroom to your...
View ArticleHeading to Central Connecticut State University
Next week, I will be heading to Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) to teach two separate courses titled, SMART Board in the Elementary Music Room Levels 1 and 2. I am excited to be returning...
View ArticleReflections on Teaching SMART Board Levels One and Two
Last week, I had the pleasure and honor of teaching two graduate courses at the Summer Music Institute at Central Connecticut State University, the university where I received my Masters of Science in...
View ArticleEngage Your Elementary Music Students with Today’s Technology
I had the pleasure to author an article for the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) August’s issue of Southwestern Musician Online. My article titled Engage Your Music Students with Today’s...
View ArticleIs it possible to “unplug”?
Recently, I took some time off to spend with my family. I set up the auto reply feature on my email accounts stating that I was away with my family and I let those whom I have been doing summer work...
View ArticleDisplaying Elementary Students’ Music Creations
Tomorrow I head back to Far Hills Country Day School to begin my 16th year of teaching at this school. I am excited to head back, to brainstorm new ideas, and to improve on old ideas as I teach general...
View ArticleYou Might Be Teaching the First Week of Elementary General Music if…
This past week, one of my colleagues posted “You Might Be In the First Week of School If…” By Megan Allen on her Facebook status. It is an honest, yet hilarious post about what most teachers experience...
View ArticleOur K-5 Annual Community Sing-Along
At the beginning of each school year, I get to run the first assembly for the students in grades K-5 and it is one of my favorite assemblies. I plan our community sing-along where I make a keynote file...
View ArticleOctober’s Early Childhood and Elementary Music Books of the Month
Last year, I made a goal for myself to have many of the grades I teach to have a featured “Music Book of the Month.” Depending on the book, we would sing, act out, move to, create music to, or...
View ArticleWhat Would You Post on an Early Childhood Music Webpage?
In the era of the digital age and “going green,” more and more schools opt to communicate with parents via eblasts, websites, text messages, and more. Back in 2000, when I was taking a TI:ME 1B course...
View ArticleAn Elementary Music Educator’s Response to “The iPad in the Music Classroom:...
Dr. Jim Frankel recently wrote an interesting and thought-provoking post titled “The iPad in the Music Classroom: Useful Tool or Expensive Toy?” In this post, he poses several questions, some which...
View ArticleWhen Nature Makes Your School Year “Crash and Reboot”
This post is partly therapeutic and partly related to music education. I preface this post by stating a few things: 1) We were lucky when it came to Superstorm Sandy hitting NJ. Even though my family...
View ArticleFirst Performance for My Elementary Instrumentalists
Today will be the first performance for my elementary instrumentalists. We title this performance our Performing Arts Showcase because we showcase the students who are participating in extra-curricular...
View ArticleElementary Music Concerts/Informances
It is that time of year again when my students perform their annual holiday concert. Many music educators of elementary general music are preparing for their annual concerts or classroom informances...
View ArticleNew Year’s Resolutions for My Music Classroom
It is that time of year again. It is New Year’s Eve and we are about to ring in 2013 and most of us will be going back to our classrooms Wednesday or Thursday of this week. As I sit here this morning,...
View ArticleSkyping Spain in Elementary Music/Spanish Class
Last month, the Spanish teacher and I worked together to have our second grade skype another second grade class in Spain. The Spanish teacher set this up with a teacher from Spain. The children in...
View ArticleFebruary in the Elementary Music Classroom
February is just about to begin, which means a variety of themes that can be approached in elementary general music. This month consists of Groundhog’s Day on February 2, the Chinese New Year on...
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