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Each year, I try to improve myself as a teacher and change one thing in my teaching. This year, I changed one BIG thing: I structured all of my lessons with slides. Since taking the plunge, I have found that my teaching has been positively impacted in five different ways.
Now, for some tips and tricks on how I make this all work!
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This year, I returned to my elementary music teaching position after my maternity leave. I live in Canada, so I am fortunate that I got a year off at home with my girlie, but it didn’t come without some good and some not-so-good surprises when I returned to work after a year off.
So, here I am sharing my truth about returning after maternity leave to my full-time elementary music teaching job- between two schools! Not all was bad! First off, I want to share that going back to work was not completely awful. Yes, I did miss hanging out with my kid every day and getting to watch her grow, but I was READY to go back to work. I have come to realize that I am the type of person that thrives on structure, routine, and adult conversations and returning to work checks all of those boxes for me. I was also ready to be rechallenged- not that parenting isn’t challenging- but I was ready for the fast-paced challenge that came with teaching elementary music. If you know, you know! Let’s start with some good news. Here are the pleasant surprises from my return to work. Books are a good and easy way to bring seasonal content into the music room. Plus, you can often find various music concepts you can teach with the books. At the beginning of winter, I like to use Kenard Pak’s book, Goodbye Autumn and Hello Winter.
While this would be a great lesson on the first day of Winter, I am often too busy coordinating the Christmas Concert- or already off on winter break, that I save it and use the book when we return to school in January. So, how do I use this book in my classroom? Check out this FREE lesson pack and try it with your students! Flashcards are a great tool to have in your music room. I frequently use both rhythm and melody flashcards with my students, but simply reading and playing flashcards can get boring after about the first 5 minutes.
To spice it up, I like to play flashcard games. These are a HIT with my students and I am sure they will be with yours too. These games work both with melody and rhythm flashcards. And when you use grade-appropriate flashcards I have played these games with students all the way from grade 1 to grade 8. As we get closer and closer to the holiday season, my classroom gets more and more crazy. Even though I am busy prepping for our holiday concerts my students still need lessons. One of my go-to lesson plans during this crazy season is centers.
Disclaimer- I would not try to do centers for the first time during this time of year. But, I do these centers mainly with grades 3 and up who have all had previous music center experience so they know how the rotation works and the expectation. If you haven’t done centers, fear not! These games and activities would work for the whole group too. |
AuthorMiss Jayna is an elementary music teacher in Dauphin, Manitoba, Canada. In addition to being a public school teacher Miss Jayna also has a private piano studio and teaches a Children's Music Program. Categories
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June 2025
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