The Music and Dance

Embracing the Intangibles Teaching Empathy and Engagement By NAfME Member Paul K. Fox This article originally appeared on Paul Fox’s blog here. Admittedly, if we keep piling on more mandates for earning a teaching degree and professional certificate, our music...

  This past year, many items that are usually paid for, became free for us to use, especially during the lockdown. Some of them were Denise Gagne’s Musicplay Online and MusicFirst. As we started back to school in the States in August and September of 2020, many...

It’s a Brand-New Day! How Will You Show It?  By NAfME Member Lori Schwartz Reichl “It’s a brand new day. The sun is shining. It’s a brand new day. For the first time in such a long, long time I know I’ll be OK.” ~ Lyrics from Joshua Radin’s song “Brand New Day” from...

5 Essential Skills for the Next Generation of Music Teachers Sponsored by University of Florida Online Master of Music Education Many music educators are rethinking how to help students acquire skills and experiences that yield lifelong benefits. While most of the...

Creating a Student-Centered Secondary General Music Classroom Environment By NAfME Member Rachael Sanguinetti Rachael Sanguinetti presented on “Creating a Student-Centered Secondary General Classroom” during the NAfME 2021 PreK–12 Learning Collaborative in February...

What a fabulously fun morning we had at piano camp going To Russia with Mussorgsky and His Exhibition! Here are a few highlights: “Fishing” for their two-black-key flashcards with a simple stick-and-magnet pole. Coloring while listening to Promenade from Mussorgsky’s...

  Teaching during a pandemic made many music educators find different ways to assist with their student’s learning and practice. Having students being able to access videos where they can follow a bouncy ball, see ukulele fingerings, or see recorder fingerings as...

It’s hard to believe that it has been 20 years when I first introduced a music Olympic program to my students. At the time, I called it “Piano Olympics”, not knowing any better. (You can read more about why that changed here if you are curious) Fast forward, what was...

The Unspoken Side of Team Creativity What Two Musicians Are Actually Thinking and Feeling as They Write a Song Together By NAfME Members Jody Kerchner and Malcolm Brooks Jody Kerchner and Malcolm Brooks presented on “DocSongs: Composing Their Songs” during the NAfME...

Applicability of Digital Learning Strategies (DLS) in Teaching General Music, Guitar, Ukulele, and Piano By Lauma Kazaka, sponsored by Solfeg.io  Since 2017 the team behind Solfeg.io music education app has been studying student engagement and the advantages of...

As I mentioned in my Summer Cleaning in the Studio post, in an effort to clear out some shelf space in my studio closet, I finally decided to go digital with my binders full of music theory worksheets. This is what my setup has looked like for years and it has served...

  This week’s YouTube episode explored assessing the five voices of young students. In a variety of standards or Grade Level Objectives (GLOs) or Student Learning Objectives (SLOs), many music educators have to prove that the students are learning in music class....

  NEW EDITION 2021/22 Each year I put together a list of free music tech resources – websites, software, and more – that you can use in your music classroom. The latest version of the Ultimate Free Music Technology Resources Guide is out now! So what’s new? There...

Modeling Growth in the Music Classroom By NAfME Member Ian W. Miller Ian W. Miller presented on “Modelling Growth in the Music Classroom” during the NAfME 2021 PreK–12 Learning Collaborative in February 2021. Growth Mindset (Dweck, 1999) is something that music...

Step-By-Step Songbook:  Connecting Students’ Home and School Musical Experiences By NAfME Member Christa Jones Christa Jones presented on “Student Voices: Celebrating Your School’s Music and Culture” during the NAfME 2021 PreK–12 Learning Collaborative in February...