Blog
On my first day in a PreK classroom, I felt completely out of my element. But I quickly realized preschool was one of my favorite ages to teach!
This week’s episode of That Music Podcast is for those of you who felt like me and are trying to figure out where to start when it comes to...
We are used to hearing that January is a fresh start. Many people even make resolutions about what they will do differently as the calendar changes. We are also encouraged to focus on what habits we can change to make those resolutions come true. All of these things are...
What are we doing to make our classrooms as safe a space as they possibly can be?
As teachers, we worry about our students fairly often. Not only do we worry about their grades or how they are understanding a concept, but we worry about them emotionally as well. I know...
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...
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)....
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...
The music room is a magical place. At any given time, someone walking in can hear folk songs being sung, students collaborating, instrumental improvisation, and many other beautiful sounds. But just ask any music teacher and you’ll quickly realize that the magic of the...
I am getting ready to move to a new classroom. This will not be my first time setting up a classroom space however, this time I have a lot more information to consider as I set up my room. Over the last 6 years, I have worked hard to understand how trauma can impact the...
There are a lot of things that were exceptional about my first real teaching experience. First of all, I was so thankful to be hired before I technically finished my degree. This was because my undergraduate school was on quarters rather than semesters so we...
I can’t believe it’s July already! While you’re taking time this summer to relax and get your curriculum ready, you should also take some time to think about things you may need to purchase for your classroom.
Here are some of my personal favorite...
If you search “classroom management” on Pinterest, I promise you will find hundreds upon hundreds of resources and blog posts on how to improve the management of your classroom culture. In fact, that might be how you came across this blog post. To me,...
Like many music teachers out there, I have many students that walk through my door that have experienced more trauma than any child should ever have to experience. These Adverse Childhood Experiences alter the way our students are able to learn, both on physical...