My Top 5 Resources for Teachers on a Budget!

Several years ago, I had a truly wonderful opportunity to teach elementary music methods as an adjunct professor. It was a really amazing experience and gave me the opportunity to spend some time thinking very carefully about what I did as a music educator, why I did it, and how. After requiring my students to spend hours making visuals and coming up with original lessons to address all the music-making activities, I thought it might be helpful to give them a list of some of my tried and true resources. Back then, I wasn’t the editor for Activate! or Heritage Music Press, so this is my top five, unbiased list of essential tools for every new music teacher.

Troubleshooting Transition Time

Early in my career I established a very predictable routine for the beginning of every class. I think somewhere in my methods class, someone must have discussed the need to address times of transition. And though it is true that children thrive on routine and attention to transition periods, I truly think that I developed these routines more for my own benefit than for that of my students. As it turns out, I also thrive on routine! My first year of teaching was pretty overwhelming as I was placed in three different buildings, saw over 1100 children per week, and was well over my contractual minute-count. In order to keep my sanity throughout the day, I quickly realized that I had to do something to give me a bit of breathing room as the children cycled in and out of my classroom.