Dollar Store Summer Activities, Part 2
Dollar Store Summer Activities Part 2 Oh dollar store, the store of my dreams… Ha ha, JUST KIDDING. But do you ever feel exhausted when you’ve ordered that big collection of books and new flashcards and TCW games (I love those!)... And then you see the total?...
Dollar Store Summer Music Activities, Part 1
Dollar Store Summer Music Activities, Part 1 We’re teaming up with Heather Nanney at Fun Key Music to bring you a 3-part series of fun summer activities using items you can find at the dollar store! We met Heather at the MTNA National Conference in Baltimore this...
Inspiration from Peter Mack
Texas Music Teachers Association hosted a wonderful convention over Father's Day weekend with Peter Mack as a special guest. If you're not familiar with Dr. Mack you can read a short bio here. Peter Mack gave an opening keynote address, a session on "The Art of the...
Volunteering with the Cliburn
Every four years my city, Cowtown (otherwise known as Fort Worth), becomes Pianotown! The Van Cliburn International Competition is hosted at Bass Hall in our very own downtown. Bass Hall is a beautiful venue and this year they even turned the crosswalks into pianos...
Game Roundup
As recital season rolls around, I've been reorganizing my games and office space. This made me think about all of the games we've shared over the past four years - we have so many neat ones that I use all the time! So today I wanted to do a quick game round up to...
Halloween Rhythm Game
So I've been trying to plan Halloween themed games for our group class Halloween parties coming up. I teach 2nd and 3rd year students (so ages 8 to 11 ish) and I need so many games/activities to keep these kiddos busy! Thus today I'm sharing a simple Halloween rhythm...
Compliment Exchange
Compliments... I agree with this quote completely. My husband laughs but it's so true, my favorite people are those who give sincere compliments and uplift me every time I'm around them. And I try so hard to do the same to those around me each day. So I saw the idea...
A Quick Tip to Slow Down Speedy Students
Have you seen this great Zootopia trailer?! I have not seen the whole movie, but I thought this trailer was hilarious when I saw it before the new Star Wars movie. Do you have students who seem to refuse to play slow even when you give them specific instructions to...
Musical Playing Cards
In the search for something fun to do the last week of lessons before summer, I've created a new printable game for you! The concept is pretty simple, they are just playing cards with note values on them, but I'm excited about all of the possible games I can play...
Composition Wheel
With the limited time in lessons, activities that combine several subjects in a fun way are my favorite. Today I'm sharing a new wheel activity that combines a theory review of diatonic chords with a composition activity and provides some sight reading practice. My...
MTNA Day 3
Finally catching up on MTNA conference recaps - so here's what my Day 3 notes look like! We started the morning early to attend the Piano Safari Showcase. I've been excited to check out their rote teaching music and it was neat to hear about their method from Dr....
MTNA Conference Day 2 – Part 2
We're back resting in our room tonight and discussing our day. MTNA conference is my highlight of the year for teaching and today was a great reminder to me of how important creativity is in every lesson. The performers from yesterday, Time Out For Three, were so...