The National Association for Music Education has named March “Music in Our Schools Month”. It’s a great time for taking a look at how music can be a powerful force in the classroom – especially the early learning classroom. Aside from being used to teach (songs that share numbers, letters or build memory), music and simple musical instruments can teach kids how to be
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The National Association for Music Education has named March “Music in Our Schools Month”. But those in a preschool classroom know … music is prevalent (and welcome) at anytime!! Yesterday, I shared how children can make a quiet rattle that helps teach kids to practice the art of listening. Today’s instrument is called a “guiro”! BE A GUIRO HERO – MAKE MUSIC WHILE SHARING LATIN-AMERICAN CULTURE
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What can be used to make music? Practically anything! The musical washboard is proof that people have found creative ways to make music from all kinds of interesting objects. You can see, hear, color or find complete directions on making a kid’s size washboard from easy classroom materials at the links below. Once you’ve made your own washboards, you can play along to any
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We asked Bill Corbett to explain his idea of having children create their own “Dream Book” as a way for them to discover their passions and encourage their dreams. Here’s what Bill has to say … With a show of hands, how many of you reading this blog post would like to have a child who lives a happy life as an adult? And
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Thanks to many suggestions from readers and teacher bloggers … we are now up to our 3rd (and final … for now) post on strategies that teachers have used in their classrooms to handle undesirable behaviors. We started this series of posts in response to a question from a reader. You can view the original question, and Bill Corbett’s (Cooperative Kids) response in “Handling
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We had a question from a teacher who is looking for some ideas on how to handle challenging behaviors. Here is her question: “At my school, children seem to be copying the wrong behavior from one another. Let’s just say, it’s not behavior that is desirable. I need to come up with a positive behavioral plan that HAS worked for others. Any suggestions?” A
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One of the reasons we started a blog to go along with our website, was to provide an open forum for teachers and parents to ask questions and share with one another. The other day we had a question from a teacher who is looking for some ideas on how to handle groups of who were copying undesirable behavior from one another. Here is
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Below is a post from Charlie Margolis, who will share his expertise on the topic of parent-teacher conferences. Read below for PART 1 on having a successful parent-teacher conference. A member of Toastmasters once asked me, “What is the single most important thing that an effective speaker has to do?” Whether you are talking to several hundred people or holding a parent/teacher conference, it’s about how
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Here is PART 2 on having a successful parent-teacher conference from professional educator and interview coach, Charlie Margolis. (You can read PART 1 here, if you haven’t already). Below are more tips for teachers … Be a Diplomat I recall a mother who called me to see if her son had turned-in his term project. “I would do it for him, if I could, if I
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I have a pretty cool life. Everyday I get to run around and play soccer with kids anywhere from 3-5 years old. It’s full of laughs, little bumps, and those “kids say the darndest things” moments. Not a day goes by when I don’t sport a huge smile and big laugh. And its even more fun for the kids – and me – when
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