"You don't have to be a princess, it's ok to be a snail." - an improvisational song by a Talkeetna Elementary preschooler.
Teaching Resource Library
Below, you will find a collection of resources regarding music education that have informed my practice.
JWPepper is one of the main distributors of sheet music for educational purposes. They have a vast selection of sheet music in just about every genre of music that you can think of. The prices are fair and they have recently added e-versions of many songs so that if you are running behind purchasing sheet music for a concert, you can have the sheet music the day that you purchase it.
MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) is an online community of music teachers from around the country. MTNA puts on conferences and provides its members with the MTNA e-Journal and the American Music Teacher Journal both containing research articles. It also has resources for parents and students including websites for kids that have games for students to play with their musical instruments. MTNA also provides opportunities to compete with other musicians and become a commissioned composer. The benefits listed above are only
a fraction of what MTNA has to offer. MTNA does require
and annual fee.
This is the Carnegie Hall's Music Educator's Toolbox. This website provides things such as lesson plans, video examples, research on best practice all of which were developed through "Carnegie Hall's 5 year residency at a New York elemenary/middle school." The lesson plans focus on necessary performance and musical skills such as rhythm and meter and pitch. There is also a blog that features videos and music-related events occuring around the world. There are also professional development opportunities available.
This is a teaching tool/online community/social network/app launcher. This teaching tool is very secure for students to use and both parents and students can create accounts that have specific privacy settings to protect the students. Teachers can post assignments, polls, and quizzes that students can complete and submit right there on Edmodo. Teachers can also join groups of other educators to learn and share about the most recent teaching techniques and tools. There are 3rd
party app companies that sell (or give away) apps that can be operated within Edmodo. This is a VERY cool teaching tool. It's my new
favorite.
This online music tool allows people to create their own techno songs. They provide over 700 free loops and sounds and allow you to create a limitless number of songs for free. They also have a number of different kinds of accounts that cost money that allow you to do things such as: record live audio, import music, and various amounts of online storage to house the songs you create.
This site provides a place for people to create accounts and post videos. Anyone - regardless of if they have a YouTube account - may view videos. I use YouTube extensively in my teaching. For example, I link to videos on YouTube from my websites, I create practice videos for my students and post them on YouTube at post them on my website for students to utilize. I am also using YouTube to learn to beatbox in order to connect with and engage one of my classes in music. Other YouTube users have posted beatboxing tutorial vidoes. I probably use YouTube at least 2 or 3 times in every class period.
Voice Thread allows you create slides with text, pictures, or video and then record yourself speaking while clicking through the slides. After the recording, the slides will switch automatically based upon where you were in the sound file when you originally moved on to the next slide. Viewers may add their text comments to the video aiding in collaboration. It is even avaliable to children as young as 5! It is compatible with any computer, device, or internet connection
This website has tools for musicians in all musical careers and roles including students and teachers. I have provided a link to a page withing the Artists House Music website that lists the top 25 music teaching tools. They have provided links to things such as blogs, podcasts, the public domain choral library, online practice tools for students, online music theory, and online ear training,
This website provides teachers with educational raps in various subjects. The sound quality of the recordings is high and students find them engaging. They provide a streaming service that allows teachers and students to access their music easily, anywhere, from any device. I could use such raps in collaborative projects with teacher of other subjects.