| Page 5

Never Let Go: an original song

An original composition written by two of my gifted 8th grade students for their graduation ceremony, inspired by their own final year. It’s now LIVE on Spotify! – Listen now! (Recorded on June 13th, 2019, Performed live June 14th, 2019)

Chrome Music Lab : Boomwhacker Compositions

Combining two of my students’ favorite things: Boomwhackers and Chrome Music Lab this fun activity was a huge hit with my 3rd and 4th grade classes. Students can compose, revise, and listen to their own original song. Once ready students practice and perform their piece for the class. This fun activity checked off so many…

Ingenuity’s Arts Education Conference Resources – 4/5/19

I will be speaking at Ingenuity’s Arts Education Conference on April 5th on the topic of “Personalization in the Arts Classroom.” The session will rely heavily on tech and using apps from the Google Suite (like Google Classroom). I wanted to post a brief overview of the presentation as well as the handouts, links, and…

Student Podcasts are LIVE! (and how I published them)

Our podcasts are now LIVE on Spotify! Listen now to these amazing student created projects. The topics you ask? Anything from Unusual Foods to the Secret Lives of Pets. If you ever wanted to know more about the first-ever male Cover Girl ambassador James Charles we got you covered! Worried about Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse?…

8-bit Music: Original Compositions

We take a look at the history of video game music and how it was made. There is a surprisingly robust history around this topic, spanning from it’s origins to its influence on popular music today. The limitations of the early hardware meant it had to be composed in 3 or 4 tracks making it…

Podcasting: Content & Themes

As part of middle school electives I am currently running a course on podcasting. Beyond the technical proficiency required, the most important part of podcasting would be content. Generating topic, ideas, and themes is essential. We spent the last few periods running through the gamut of brainstorming activities to think of what is important to not just the audience, but…

Art Assessment Materials (2.1.19 PD)

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…

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…

Snow Sounds: A Musical Story Unit

Is it story time? Music time? Why not both! During this fun and engaging seasonal unit, students will enjoy listening to and creating their own winter sounds. With fun activities such as: a Winter Bingo listening game, a read-aloud picture book, and a DIY create your sounds project! An interdisciplinary unit that allows students to…

Why Arts Standards Matter

The National Core Art Standards were released in 2014, yet there are still some art educators are either resistant or not utilizing them to their fullest potential. I want to talk about how those 11 anchor standards and 4 core processes can be a great tool for art educators. Using them as platform for Advocacy, a…