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Aileen Miracle
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June 29, 2014
Learning Centers in the Music Classroom
Learning centers · 2 comments
A couple years ago, I wrote this blog post about learning centers in the music room. Since then, I've been asked a few times to write another blog post about learning centers, so here goes! It wasn't until a few years ago that I began to really try to implement centers in my room. Although I was initially nervous, I have had so much fun (as have my students!) My lessons had been admittedly pretty teacher-centered until then, so centers allowed me to provide a more student-centered learning environment. Other benefits of using learning centers include: Promoting student independence and …
June 18, 2014
Audacity Tutorial
Technology · 4 comments
Hi everyone! I recently did a technology workshop for VOKE (Virginia Organization of Kodaly Educators), and we briefly discussed Audacity. which you can download for free here . It's a great program for editing music quickly. Some of the workshop attendees wanted to know if I would do a video tutorial about taking a track from itunes, editing it in Audacity, then exporting it back into itunes so you can burn a CD. I've never made a video tutorial before, but here it is! (And because I'd never made one before, the Irish music is barely audible, so I apologize! The information still ap…
June 16, 2014
Five Favorite Pins of June
Favorite pins · Orff · Technology · No comments
Today was my first day teaching for this summer's Kodaly Level I at DePaul University! It was a fun day; I'm looking forward to the next two weeks. I've been a bit busy preparing for it, so I realized I needed to post about my five favorite pins this month! To see the pin, click each picture. Here goes! #1: Kindergarten Xylophone Introduction I absolutely love this You Tube video about introducing students to Orff instruments. How magical! #2: Steady Beat Swords This idea by Tracy King to use pool noodles as light sabers with the "Imperial March" from "Star Wars" is…
June 11, 2014
Dazzling Discipline
Classroom management · 1 comment
Today, I am very excited to blog about discipline strategies! I received so many great comments and ideas from my 1,200 Followers blog post, and many of you asked for discipline ideas. I'm naming this linky party "Dazzling Discipline"! A couple disclosures before I offer discipline strategies: I work in a school district with very supportive parents and overall, well-behaved kids. However, there are still behavior problems, and I believe that many of the strategies that I will share (and that others will share) could work with a variety of populations. Although I am speaking from…
June 06, 2014
Planning in the Music Room
Planning · 3 comments
Today I'm very excited to participate in Lindsay Jervis' blog hop, about Perfect Poolside Planning! Planning is a passion of mine. Through my Kodaly levels, I learned so much about long and short-range planning, and how to best develop plans that could meet all of my daily, monthly, and yearly goals. It is hard for me to talk about lesson planning specifically without looking at long-range planning. However, I know that others in the blog hop will be blogging about long-range planning, so I will just give a short summary of what my long-range plans look like. When I begin my planning for…
May 28, 2014
End of the Year Organization
End of year · Organization · 3 comments
Today was my last day of school, so I had TONS of organization to do! When I heard Tracy King at Mrs. King's Music Class was hosting a linky party about end of the year organization, I decided I had to link up! My room was a bit of a mess for most of today. I've been inspired by The Clutter-Free Classroom's Guide to Organizing and Managing your Classroom , so I've been throwing out more than I have in the past. After seeing a tip on Pinterest about organizing manipulatives, and then reading this tip again in the Clutter-Free Classroom, I decided I'd try it for next year. So …
May 27, 2014
Tips for composing in the music room
Composition · 3 comments
Recently, I worked with fifth graders to have them compose their own piece based off a haiku they had written in class. It was such a great learning experience....for them AND for me! Here are some thoughts I had after completing the unit: Students need to work at their own pace . Just like anything else, some students will really get it. Some of my students--even though I hadn't told them to--added rhythm and other musical symbols to their compositions (see some examples below.) Many were totally ready to write their own haiku and create another composition. Some of my students pretty much…
May 13, 2014
Twitter Tips for Teachers
Social media · Technology · No comments
I've been on Pinterest and Facebook for quite a while, and have felt very comfortable with both. Twitter, on the other hand, has been a bit of an enigma to me. The functionality of Twitter is a bit different, and in my circle of friends, there just aren't that many people on Twitter. Over the last few months, I've schooled myself in the ways of Twitter. I'm going to blog my suggestions about why and how to use Twitter as a teacher. First of all, why tweet? We are all busy people just dealing with everyday life. If you have time, you may like to sit down and relax by looking at yo…
May 07, 2014
Five Favorite Pins of May
Favorite pins · No comments
Hi everyone! It is time for my five favorite pins of May! Here are my five favorite pins this month. To see the pin, click each picture. #1: Plickers! I recently blogged about this amazing app, which I found out about on Pinterest. Click here to read the blog post! It does take a while to do the first assessment, but after that it gets easier as kids know what to do and how it works! #2: Techie Tip Speaking of technology, here is a pin with a very helpful tip, especially if you have ever accidentally closed a tab on your computer! #3: Reward Jar This is a great way to reward students while giving th…
May 01, 2014
Living Kodaly's Vision
Kodaly · Songs · No comments
Hi everyone! Today, I'm blogging about how we as music educators can live Kodaly's vision. As Kodály-inspired teachers, we have learned much of Zoltan Kodály’s beliefs about music education. Indeed, many of us can quote Kodály’s ideas about folk music, singing, and the importance of early music education. But as we step into our music classrooms and take on the demands of musical programs, grades, and back-to-back classes, how can we endeavor to live Kodály’s vision? Following are many of Kodály’s often-recited quotes, with sample activities which target each quote. “If one were to atte…