When I started this blog a couple years ago, I never realized how much fun I would have writing each post. There’s so much on my heart to share with all of you and I really pour my hear into every post I write. My passion has always been to share my journey, in the hopes that it will help even one other music teacher.
In 2018 I made so many amazing connections with my readers, other bloggers, music teachers, and my incredible students in The Elementary Music Teacher Academy. If you listen to the podcast, I also shared my top 5 favorite podcast episodes from 2018 that you can listen to here. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode in 2019.
I can’t wait for 2019 and truly have so much new content coming your way. But, for now, let’s do a quick recap of my favorite blog posts from 2018.
10. How to Teach Students to Write a Rap
This blog post was one of my favorite ones to write. I’m so passionate about sharing “out of the box” ideas that are not only enjoyable for your students, but for you the teacher as well. I’ve talked about my journey before with having no teaching resources when starting out and needing to be completely creative with my students. That’s why I love this activity so very much.
There are so many great ideas for teaching composing, but rap writing is a lot of fun because it helps students to use their creativity and cooperative learning. Whether you work in an inner city school or not, when giving your students the opportunity to write a rap, you’ll be so impressed with what they come up with.
9. 4 Ways to Teach Music with the Orff Method
If you’ve read any of my blog posts, or listened to any of my podcast episodes, you’ve heard me say I don’t necessarily agree with just using one type of music teaching method. My style of teaching is pretty eclectic and I like to pull from several different methods, things I’ve learned in workshops, from observing other teachers, and my own personality.
But, with that said, once I took Orff Level 1, I was hooked. Once I brought the Orff method approach to teaching into my classroom, and combined it with what I was already doing, my students loved it. If you’ve always wanted to use the Orff method, but just aren’t sure how to start, this blog post is for you.
8. “I just want to teach music!”- Classroom Management Strategies for Elementary Music Teachers
One thing I’ve heard many elementary music teachers say they’re struggling with is classroom management. It’s kind of the white elephant in the room at times, because teachers don’t want to admit this is the area they need help in. I’ve shared my own experience of walking into a classroom that hadn’t had music for 7 years and I knew I had my work cut out for me (to say the least.)
Classroom management is definitely not a one size fits all approach. But, in this blog post I share some strategies that worked for me that will hopefully work for you as well.
7. 6 Fun Elementary Music Center Ideas
Centers are something becoming more popular in the elementary music teaching world. Sometimes, music teachers think centers can only be done in the regular classroom. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
There are so many center ideas for the elementary music classroom and it can be confusing knowing how to get started. In this blog post, I share my favorite ideas and some tips to help you get started implementing centers in your own classroom.
6. 4 Things Every New Music Teacher Should Know
When I started my elementary music teaching journey, I truly wish I had someone to share their teaching wisdom with me. I truly felt like I was on an island by myself, given a classroom and some students, and had to figure it out as I went.
If this sounds like you, or you’re new to teaching and feel like you need some extra support, in this blog post I share 4 things every new music teacher should know.
5. 5 Tips for Putting on Successful Elementary Music Performances
If you teach elementary music, putting on programs and performances is something that comes with the job description. What kind of performances, informances, or programs you put on is decided by several factors.
This post explores ways to put on performances at your school and with your students. Putting on performances can be a little stressful, but once you get the hang of it, it’s truly so much fun to see your hard work pay off.
4. Ideas for Decorating Your Music Classroom
You walk into your new music classroom and see bare walls. What do you put on them? How do you decorate your empty classroom? Is there a right or wrong way to do it?
Decorating your music classroom is truly up to each teacher. You have your own style, your own classroom space (hopefully), and different ways you want your class times to go.
3. Tips on Lesson Planning for Music Teachers
If you’re new to teaching elementary music, you know it’s time to start planning lessons for your students. How do you do it? Where do you start?
That overwhelming feeling is exactly how I felt. I don’t want you to feel that way, so I share some simple tips for lesson planning in this blog post.
2. 5 Strategies for Teaching Movement in Elementary Music
Teaching movement is one of my all time favorite things to teach in the music classroom. But can I let you in on a little secret? When I first started teaching movement to my students, it felt awkward and uncomfortable. Why you ask? Well, because I was way too worried about what my students thought about me instead of truly focusing on letting them explore creatively.
If this sounds a little bit like you, than this blog post will help you learn how to relax and have fun teaching movement to your students.
1. 6 Ways to Make Lesson Planning Easy – for Music Teachers
I wrote this blog post as an encore to the earlier post I wrote with tips for lesson planning. Once you know how to lesson plan, you need to know how to simplify the lesson planning process.
When you’re lesson planning, it’s so easy to over complicate the process. You want to make things perfect and try to cover “all the things.” Guess what? When you simplify the planning, you’ll notice your lessons will go smoother and you’ll feel so much less pressure on yourself to make things perfect.
Well that’s a wrap! What was your favorite blog post from 2018, either listed in this post or not? What are some blog posts you would love to see in 2019? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments below or share your thoughts on social media as you share this post.
Also, I’d love for you to share this post or any of the resources on my website with a friend or colleague who you know NEEDS to see it.
P.S. Are you feeling frustrated or stuck as an elementary music teacher? Check out these free resources to help you teach elementary music with confidence!
