On February 1st, CPS Arts held a city-wide PD day at the Chicago Cultural Center, I was lucky enough to talk about how I use integrated assessment as parts of my lessons. I wanted to share the resources I used during the presentation with anyone who is interested. Assessment shouldn’t be a distraction from how […]
Teaching Tips
Transforming Public Spaces for Education #freethehallways
Flexible learning environments are becoming more and more popular in schools across the country. Teachers and students alike are agreeing that our physical space impacts the way we learn. However, in a school the classroom only represents a portion of the physical space that students spend their time in. Our hallways, stairwells, and lobbies take up […]
Google Expeditions
Google brought the world into our school as part of the Google Expedition AR program. Each class took an augmented reality field trip to an exotic location like the International Space Station, or Ancient Rome. Students were able to learn and interact as they physically walked around experiencing these locations in augmented reality (AR). An amazing […]
A&GC: What is an Action Research Project?
Action Research is something most teachers have done in one form or another, just without the title. A multi-step process that has you as the educator select a focus, develop a theory, implement while gathering research, and then analyse the results. I’ll be undertaking an Action Research Project (ARP) as the capstone project of my […]
Winter Concert: A new approach to old ideas
With another year in the books I wanted to take a look at what I felt was one of the most successful Winter Concert / Holidays Shows I’ve ever put together. A thematic show is something that a lot of music teachers struggle with, since there are only so many options year after year. […]
The Power of Positive Relationships (a personal journey)
“You can catch more flies with honey” a friend used to tell me. How does an old adage like this apply to your classroom? I’ve had a great deal of behavior struggles with my students this year, and I want to share my experience of what worked and what didn’t. I’ve found a few methods […]
Beyond What: The Why & How
I tend to focus on a lot of practice and tangible activities. Functional thoughts and ideas that you can take directly into the classroom and implement immediately. Sometimes as an educator you need to take a step backwards and look at your lesson from a philosophical standpoint thought and think beyond simply ‘what’ you are working on, […]
MCA Creation Lab: A FREE Field Trip!
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) in Chicago offers up to 5 free field trips per school per year. I took my middle school music class to one of their creation labs, where students worked directly with one of the museum’s resident artists to hone their creative skills. Here’s my thoughts on the trip and how […]
Make Routines Sing! : Using Music in Classroom Management
“Music is the tool to express life – and that makes all the difference” said local Chicago-born Herbie Hancock. If music is a tool then how can you use it to help you in the classroom? There are a lot of tips out there about management, but here are some unique ones that let music do […]
5 Ways to get your Students up & Dancing!
Movement in the classroom is almost universally praised these days. It appeals to a wide variety of learning styles, helps kids stay motivated and engaged, and helps them focus on and retain information. The Atlantic even called movement “essential” for young learners. So how soon can you start incorporating it into your classroom? Here are 5 tips to get […]
