My lessons were a bit of a jumbled mess my first year of teaching. I’ll be the first one to say that I spent the majority of my first year just trying to survive.

But once I started mapping out my curriculum, everything changed.

This week’s episode is all about the process of...

      Anytime I tell someone I teach elementary music, it is almost inevitable that I will get some variation of the question “do you teach recorder?” Which is almost always followed up with “I’m so sorry.” I understand where people are coming from...

There are so many ways to teach a song, so how do we choose the best ways?

In this episode I share five ways to teach a song so you aren’t just using the same methods day in and day out.

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      There are so many reasons to include centers in your music classroom! Besides allowing students lots of different ways to practice skills, centers have a few other benefits too. They are self paced and provide an easy opportunity for teachers to differentiate...

What can we do to combat teacher burnout?

That's what I chatted with James Robinson, II about on this week's episode of That Music Podcast.

Unfortunately, burnout is a very real problem within the teaching profession as a whole. Add on the fact that music teachers are often...

      Transitions can make or break a lesson. By thinking through the ways in which our students (and us as the teachers) move from one activity to the next, we are able to help make our lessons more streamlined and seamless.

      This year I’m...

      If your students are anything like mine, they can’t get enough of instruments! When I first started at my school, the students had not done much singing, but I was able to reach them through the allure of instruments. If you’re finding yourself in a similar...

      Ever wonder what it’s like working with teenagers? When I tell people that I am a middle school teacher, most people have the response along the lines of “Teenagers scare the living **** out of me!” (And no, they are NOT quoting My Chemical Romance)....

      Elementary music teachers have a lot of content and standards to keep track of. Many of us feel more confident teaching some concepts than others. For example, I’ve always been solid with rhythms and feel that I pass that along well to my students. However, a common...

      Ready or not! It is back to school time! Even if you were working hard to avoid looking at the calendar, it is hard to enter any store and not see all those gleaming new school supplies right at the front!  As much as it always seems too early to see school supplies...

      As the beginning of the school year gets closer and closer, I find myself looking for inspiration in all sorts of different places. After a whole summer of not thinking about school, I want to gently ease myself back into the teaching mindset instead of trying to dive in on...

      Picture this: it’s the first day of school. You put on your best teacher outfit and feel refreshed and ready to start the year. Your classroom is *nearly* complete, and you feel set up and ready for the new year. 

      Your students arrive and...