The Elementary Music Teacher Podcast: Music Education

Most of this episode comes from what is written in chapter 4 of my book “Make a Note” and other parts of the episode come from personal experience, different coaching I’ve done, or from conversations I’ve helped foster between music educators. You get your teaching position, and whether it’s your first year or your 25th, there are some things that you kind of had to figure out on your own or that weren’t ever really discussed. I know that was the case for me anyways. So, in this episode, we'll discuss that to help you realize you're not alone in the way you might be feeling.  Check out F-flat Books and the Musicast podcast 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.

You may have never stopped to think about how much the creative process promotes innovative thinking and problem solving skills in the music room. As a music educator, it's important to put on your creative mask first, then you'll have so much more to give to your students. Remember that musical studies are both a science and an art and while students are involved in the creative process, it's about honoring the process over the product or performance. Allowing students time to explore creatively, have input on what they're learning, and giving them a seat at the table is so important to this process. In this episode, we'll explore all of this and so much more.  Initially a visual artist, Kathryn Patricia Cobbler sees the world through shape and line—a vision that has laid the groundwork for many of her musical creative projects. Kathryn’s current explorations of the loop pedal have led to the development of her workshop/concert, Sound In Living Colour, where she draws connection between the technical use of the paint brush and her viola bow, guiding her listeners through a music inspired painting experience. After switching to music as her artistic path, she would receive degrees in viola performance from Western University (B.M.) and the University of Ottawa (M.M.). Ms. Cobbler has also performed as an orchestral musician, appearing within the Toronto Symphony’s Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, and the Ottawa Jazz Orchestra. A native of Windsor, Ontario, she makes her home in Ottawa. She performs on a viola by luthier Sibylle Ruppert and a Boss RC-30 loop pedal.  You can connect with Kathryn here: Her website at kathrynpatricia.com Her music at kathyrnpatricia.bandcamp.com On Instagram @kathrynpatriciaviolist On Facebook @kpviolist 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.

Implementing technology into the music room can be overwhelming. There are so many different technology platforms to use with your students, yet so little time to figure out what to use. In this episode, David Smolover of MatchMySound gives such great advice around how to use technology in your music classroom.  He talks about: easy assessment ways technology can enhance what you're already doing in the music room how students can take ownership and ways you can incorporate student centered learning how students can be incentivized to practice David Smolover is a career musician, music educator, and serial entrepreneur whose lifelong mission has been to find ways to make it easier for more people to bring music into the world. He has founded several innovative and successful businesses in pursuit of that dream, including the National Guitar Workshop, DayJams, Workshop Arts Publications, and WorkshopLive. He is now the CEO of MatchMySound. You can connect with David and MatchMySound here: matchmysound.com MatchMySound on Twitter MatchMySound on Instagram MatchMySound on Facebook 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.

Sometimes, you’ll get a class that has more students in it than normal.  Or, there might be a certain day you’re asked to combine classes since a teacher on your electives team is out for the day. It gets a little overwhelming trying to teach that many students and it’s easy to feel stuck. I’ve been there and done that and know how much it feels like you’re herding cats.  If you’re needing ideas for teaching a larger class size, this episode (and this accompanying blog post with other helpful blog posts included inside) will share the exact strategies that worked for me. Podcast episodes to explore further: 125: 5 Things to Consider if a Lesson Plan Bombs 5: Classroom Management in Elementary Music 214: Why Trial and Error is a Good Thing in Teaching 194: How to Teach Elementary Music Without Enough Instruments 170- How to do Centers in the Elementary 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.

SEAL focuses on art, music, dance, and drama and they integrate with the 5 SEL competencies. The awesome thing is that the possibilities are endless when it comes to incorporating SEAL into the music room. Incorporating SEAL isn’t one more thing to do but it’s understanding what you’re already doing and building upon that, and in this episode Elizabeth Peterson does a great job explaining how exactly to do that. Elizabeth Peterson has devoted her life to education and to reaching out to other teachers who want to remain inspired.  A former music teacher and current elementary general ed teacher, Elizabeth loves to bring artistic and creative experiences into her classroom. An arts integration specialist, she is the host of www.theinspiredclassroom.com providing inspiration to other educators who know the value of arts in learning through informative articles, workshops and professional development opportunities. You can connect with Elizabeth here: www.theinspiredclassroom.com YouTube @theinspiredclassroom Facebook @theinspiredclassroom Instagram @theinspiredclassroom www.teachseal.com  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.

You may want to bring Classical music into the music room, but aren't quite sure where to start. You need engaging activities and want your students to really connect with the music they're learning. If so, this episode (and in this blog post) you'll be provided with some ideas for you to begin bringing Classical music into your music room. Other links mentioned in this episode include: Black Violin Classics for Kids Who Sampled 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.

Sometimes, it can get frustrating not being able to find the songs you're wanting to use in your music room. But, you've probably written some songs and have just stored them away somewhere for safe keeping. I'm so excited for you to listen to this inspiring interview with Dennis Mathew, who not only writes children's songs and books, but created them out of the ideas he had from years before. Throughout our conversation, we talk about YOU can use your own creativity to write songs that your students need. Not only that, you'll hear about Dennis's work and the ways you can use stories in your music room as well. Dennis is an elementary school speech pathologist based out of the Oklahoma City area. He just finished his 15th year in public education. In 2019 Dennis also ventured out into the kid lit space and fortunately has been able to connect with 100's of schools over the last three years. Since 2019, between his three titles, Dennis has been able to distribute around 45,000 books to over 200+ schools nationwide and present his books and music to over 100,000+ students in person and virtually.  Connect with Dennis here: His website free resources Dennis's music Twitter: @storiesbydennis Instagram: @booksbydennis Bello the Cello on YouTube 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.

The word failure is so tough. Nobody wants to mess up or make mistakes and wants to get things right all the time. But, trial and error is actually a good thing. It's an opportunity for you to try new things, mess up, learn as you go, and to grow and continue moving forward. In this episode, we'll talk about how you should get into the habit of practicing trial and error all school year long and why it's a good thing. Read the blog post that goes right along 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.

In this bite sized PD, we'll talk about how you can feel successful moving forward into this coming school year.   The resources mentioned are:  1. https://www.thedomesticmusician.com/first-day-of-school-in-music-class/ 2. https://anchor.fm/thedomesticmusician/episodes/199--4-Ways-to-Reframe-Negative-Thoughts-About-Teaching-e1h3asa 3. The Harmony membership at https://harmonymembership.teachable.com/p/harmonyhub  The doors to Harmony close this week! They’ve been open the entire month of July and I can’t wait to move forward in supporting members in a big way this school year.    On July 29th, we’ll have our welcome party, first monthly planning session, and will have members sharing ideas.   Harmony will help you tremendously in feeling successful this school year because first of all, you’ll be surrounded by other music teachers who can support and encourage you.    You’ll be given the resources and the exact action steps you need to help you move forward based on where YOU’RE at. You will literally start in a Start Here section that will guide you with where to go and what to do, so it takes the guess work out of what to do in a membership site that can get so overwhelming.    To read more about Harmony head to harmonymembership.teachable.com/p/harmonyhub

In this bite sized PD, we'll talk about staying organized both at home and work.    We'll talk about:  ways to stay organized action steps to take the exact systems that work for me   The resources mentioned this week include:   1. https://www.thedomesticmusician.com/organization-tips-to-balance-your-work-and-life/ 2. https://www.thedomesticmusician.com/the-music-teachers-back-to-school-checklist/ 3. The Harmony membership    Harmony helps you tremendously with staying organized at home and at work by providing a success path to follow where you identify what you need whether it’s beating stress, simplifying lesson planning, classroom management and transitions in the music room, or adding in technology into your lessons.   You’ll start in the start here section and will be guided on where to go and what to do next so it’s not a big guessing game.  There are teaching topics where you can identify what you need, like classroom management for example, and be taken to the exact videos, guides, and resources in harmony to help you.   Oh yeah, and the videos have minute markers so you can go directly to the section you need to watch.  To also help you stay organized, each lesson plan pack for the entire school year is editable and contains a section all about organization, so it takes the guess work out of it.   There are planning resources to help you when you sit down to plan, checklists for back to school and for using the harmony resources, and so much more amazingness you will see once you become a member.   Find out more and join us at harmonymembership.teachable.com/p/harmonyhub