The Elementary Music Teacher Podcast: Music Education

One day, you might find yourself at a school where you're responsible for building the music program from the ground up.  This was my exact situation, and is also the story of my guest Natassia Perrine.  In this episode, she shares her journey from going from teaching high school music to teaching elementary music at a school that didn't have any resources or a budget for her to work with.  I love this entire conversation and throughout our discussion, she talks about: how you can't give up why it's about trial and error the importance of being you Natassia Perrine is a music educator, content creator and speaker currently serving Prek - 4th grade students in New Orleans. Before making the switch to elementary music 2017, Natassia taught high school choir and theatre in Ireland, Alabama and Rhode Island. In response to the pandemic, Natassia created a YouTube channel - Music with Ms. P - to share lessons with her students and yours, too. Natassia is passionate about creating new music curricula that centers and celebrates her students, provides opportunities for social and emotional growth and uses children's literature to expand her students' musicianship and literacy skills. In addition to her work in the classroom, Natassia is an active professional development facilitator and resource creator, and loves to connect with fellow music educators and pre-service teachers!Links mentioned in this episode: Natassia's YouTube channel  Natassia's blog at https://www.musicwithmsp.com/ Follow Natassia on Instagram @musicwithms_p Find out more about the HARMONY membership here. Get your copy of Make A Note: What You Really Need to Know About Teaching Elementary Music Head to my website to grab your free music teaching resource. I'd love for you to leave a rating and a review of the podcast on I-tunes, be sure to share the podcast with any music teacher friends who would find it helpful and be sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook.

It’s easy to feel stressed and overwhelmed as you’re juggling everything in your teaching and home life.   It’s a lot to handle and might feel like you need to clone yourself somedays to get everything done. I get it, and have been there and done that.  So, I want to share these organization tips for teachers that have worked so well for me.  In this podcast episode, you’ll hear two sections, one for your school life and one for the home side of things.   Here are the blog posts (with links to accompanying podcast episodes included in the post) mentioned in this episode: Organization Tips to Balance your Work and Life blog post Tips on Lesson Planning for Music Teachers blog post 6 Ways to Make Lesson Planning Easy for Music Teachers blog post 5 Tips for Putting on Successful Elementary Music Performances blog post Juggling Teaching and Motherhood as a Music Teacher blog post Elementary Music Teacher Work-Life Balance blog post Find out more about the HARMONY membership here. Get your copy of Make A Note: What You Really Need to Know About Teaching Elementary Music Head to my website to grab your free music teaching resource. I'd love for you to leave a rating and a review of the podcast on I-tunes, be sure to share the podcast with any music teacher friends who would find it helpful and be sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook.

Bringing literacy into the music room is so important.  But, sometimes music teachers can feel stuck in knowing how exactly to do this.  That's the reason I brought Vicky Weber on the podcast.  She's not only a children's book author, with music education focused books in fact, but she's passionate about brining literacy to kids. In this episode, she talks about literature in music education including: why literacy matters in the music room ways to use books in your music lessons what inspired her to begin writing her own books how literacy in the music room helps with cross curricular learning Vicky Weber is a musician and an elementary educator with a love for children's literature. As a Puerto Rican author of Taíno descent, she strives to create picture books that are fun, engaging, and educational. All her current titles are based on her background in music education or her heritage. Links mentioned in this episode: Vicky's website Trunk Up Books  Follow Vicky on Instagram @vickyweberbooks  Find out more about the HARMONY membership here. Get your copy of Make A Note: What You Really Need to Know About Teaching Elementary Music Head to my website to grab your free music teaching resource. I'd love for you to leave a rating and a review of the podcast on I-tunes, be sure to share the podcast with any music teacher friends who would find it helpful and be sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook.

What exactly does it mean to trust your intuition when it comes to teaching music?  It means that a lot of the times, you already know what you need to do when it comes to teaching a lesson, classroom management strategies, assessing your kiddos, planning virtual ideas, putting on performances, and so on and so forth.  But, actually doing these things is tough.  In this episode, we're going to unpack these topics, so you can begin to move forward while you trust your intuition in your music classroom. Read the blog post that goes hand in hand with this episode right here. Find out more about the HARMONY membership here. Get your copy of Make A Note: What You Really Need to Know About Teaching Elementary Music Head to my website to grab your free music teaching resource. I'd love for you to leave a rating and a review of the podcast on I-tunes, be sure to share the podcast with any music teacher friends who would find it helpful and be sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook.

Bringing guest teaching artists into your music classroom might be something you've thought about doing before, but you're just not sure where to start or how to do it.  I brought Allison Russo on the podcast to talk about why bringing in guest artists (both in person and virtually) is so beneficial to you and your students, ways to get the funding you need, and a breakdown in how to prepare your students both before and during the time the guest artist is there.  In this episode, you'll hear so many ideas and ways you can bring a guest artist into your music room.  Allison Russo is an educator, consultant, and writer focused on creating ethical and effective learning spaces in the arts with her consulting company, The Critical Good. Her areas of interest include social-emotional learning, culturally responsive teaching, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Allison has a BM from Ithaca College and an MM from Boston University, both in Music Education. As an elementary band teacher and non-profit arts administrator, Allison has designed and delivered music programming to thousands of students and teachers. She currently serves on the board of Keys 2 Success, a non-profit working to remove systemic barriers to music education for the children of Newark, NJ. Allison envisions a world where arts education is boundless, universally accessible, and joyful for all. You can connect with Allison here: Website: www.thecriticalgood.com Instagram @thecriticalgood Facebook page: Facebook.com/thecriticalgood Twitter: twitter.com/thecriticalgood Find out more about the HARMONY membership here. Get your copy of Make A Note: What You Really Need to Know About Teaching Elementary Music Head to my website to grab your free music teaching resource. I'd love for you to leave a rating and a review of the podcast on I-tunes, be sure to share the podcast with any music teacher friends who would find it helpful and be sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook.

In a 45 minute class period, it's easy to feel stuck when trying to figure out what to do with your students throughout the class time.  Of course, there are a lot of factors to consider including if you see your students more or less than 45 minutes, what your teaching situation is like, and also the unique needs of your different classes.  Whatever the case may be, this breakdown will help give you a guideline to follow as you're thinking through your music time with your students.  Read the blog post that goes right along with this episode. Social media links mentioned: 45 minute break down on TikTok 45 minute break down on Instagram Other episode to listen to: 156- Determining How to Structure Your Class Time in the Music Room 168- What to Know About Students Entering the Music Room 177-Lining Up Students to Leave the Music Room Find out more about the HARMONY membership here. Get your copy of Make A Note: What You Really Need to Know About Teaching Elementary Music Head to my website to grab your free music teaching resource. I'd love for you to leave a rating and a review of the podcast on I-tunes, be sure to share the podcast with any music teacher friends who would find it helpful and be sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook.

Teaching on a cart is something many music teachers find themselves doing at one point in their career.  There are a lot of questions surrounding on a cart teaching and I'm so excited to have Amy Walworth on the podcast to help answer them.  In this episode, she breaks down her experience in teaching on a cart including: why she likes it what's hard about it why teaching in the general classroom isn't necessarily a bad thing tips and strategies for decorating your cart Amy Walworth is the elementary music specialist for Macon County Public schools, in the beautiful hills of Lafayette TN. She is the only music instructor for over 1100 K-5 students and teaches at five different schools during the year. She travels to every class using a cart and is the author of the new book Teaching Music on a Cart which includes encouragement, cart teaching tips, teaching strategies, and lesson plans for music cart teachers. Links mentioned in this episode: Amy's website Teaching on a Cart Teaching on a Cart Facebook page Amy's book Teaching Music on a Cart at F-Flat Books Find out more about the HARMONY membership here. Get your copy of Make A Note: What You Really Need to Know About Teaching Elementary Music Head to my website to grab your free music teaching resource. I'd love for you to leave a rating and a review of the podcast on I-tunes, be sure to share the podcast with any music teacher friends who would find it helpful and be sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook.

Every year, I do a recap episode to reflect back on the episodes recorded and to share some of my favorite moments.  2021 was a fantastic year for the podcast and I'm so excited to keep this show going and to continue bringing on guests and creating solo episodes that meet you where you're at.  Happy New Year and may this be the best year ever! Find out more about and sign up for the HARMONY membership here. Head to my website to grab your free music teaching resource. Join the Elementary Music Teacher Community Facebook group to continue the conversation and you can watch the Thursday Facebook lives on my Facebook page The Domestic Musician. I'd love for you to leave a rating and a review of the podcast on I-tunes, be sure to share the podcast with any music teacher friends who would find it helpful and be sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook.

What is a mission statement and why do you need one as a music teacher?  When you do goal setting and really strive to reach those goals, it’s what keeps you motivated to keep going. Maybe it’s been a while since you’ve thought about goals or you’ve never really done anything like this besides your teaching philosophy you had to think through in college. What I want to help you do in this episode is to think through 4 questions that will help guide you as you create your mission statement.  Then, I want you to hang this statement by your desk, write it on a stick note, frame it, or even put it in the notes app on your phone to refer to it from time to time.  Because, when not if you’re having one of those crazy hard days, this mission statement will remind you of your why. Find out more about the HARMONY membership here. Get your copy of Make A Note: What You Really Need to Know About Teaching Elementary Music Head to my website to grab your free music teaching resource. I'd love for you to leave a rating and a review of the podcast on I-tunes, be sure to share the podcast with any music teacher friends who would find it helpful and be sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook.

In this episode, I want to give you 5 steps that will help you to find renewal before you head back to school after Winter break. Let go of unrealistic expectations put on you by others or yourself Process through the successes and struggles you’ve had so far this school year Think about what you'd like to improve upon going forward Consider how or what will improve your teaching practice or life Think about what ways can you improve on practicing real self care Sign up for the "Reflect and Renew" challenge right here. Find out more about the HARMONY membership here. Get your copy of Make A Note: What You Really Need to Know About Teaching Elementary Music Head to my website to grab your free music teaching resource. I'd love for you to leave a rating and a review of the podcast on I-tunes, be sure to share the podcast with any music teacher friends who would find it helpful and be sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook.