A&GC: Final Project – Art Ambassadors

The final project of our Arts as a Path to Global Citizenship course was a community based one entitled: Art Ambassadors.” The project involved students learning about both an art form from another country or culture as well as the country itself, then presenting and teaching it to another younger grade in the school. Initially met…

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Featured in EducationNext.org : Personalized Learning Pacesetters

Harvard’s “Education Next” journal had a wonderful write-up about the pacesetters in personalized learning. The article talks about Summit schools and the platform they use developed by Facebook’s Zuckerberg. My school was lucky enough to mentioned in the article for the work we do, in particular the personalization that takes place in my ukulele class! 

We LAVA ukulele!

 To get the ukulele basics under our belts, 6th grade learned and performed the easy and adorable tune of  “LAVA” We broke the song (and class) into 4 different parts then used three basic chords, and after a day of “in-formances” put it all back together again as a complete song! 

21st Century Music – Guest Speaker

Grammy Nominated Producer, Bryan Wilson, took some time out of his busy schedule to speak to my class of eager 7th & 8th graders. He talked about what it means to be a producer, all the hats he has to wear, and how important communication and collaboration are to his job every day.

A New Curriculum for a New Century

      Who thinks they are musical and who thinks they could be musical? These are questions that grace the entrance tickets my students take at the start our ten-week 21st Century Music Elective. The results are always the same. Very few consider themselves musical and even fewer think they could develop that ability….

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Native American Heritage Month: Unit Plan

November is Native American Heritage Month and with Thanksgiving, as well as all the news stories about the pipeline protests, it’s more important than ever to include it in your classroom. This unit uses news articles, podcasts, music, and even an MTV broadcast to help discuss issues that are facing the Native American communities, while portraying them in a…

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This is Halloween!

One of the best parts about being a teacher is you never really have to let go of your favorite holidays. Every parent knows how magical this time is for their kid, and every teacher has 30+ kids in their room. There are so many fun ways to work this engaging holiday into your lessons,…

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Memorial Day: Lesson One

Teaching Guide Lesson One: Set-up and teaching techniques for a musical social studies unit on Memorial Day. Focusing on the Vietnam War and how music impacted the war, and vice versa.  

Memorial Day: Lesson Two

Teaching Guide Lesson Two: Set-up and teaching techniques for a musical social studies unit on Memorial Day. Focusing on the Vietnam War and how music impacted the war, and vice versa.  

Memorial Day: Lesson Three

Teaching Guide Lesson Three: Set-up and teaching techniques for a musical social studies unit on Memorial Day. Focusing on the Vietnam War and how music impacted the war, and vice versa.  

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