Thinking about how you'd like to decorate your music room this upcoming school year? In this post, I'm showcasing 10 great examples of music classroom decor, to inspire you with your classroom! Here goes! I love Tracy King's letters...and the decorations on the piano! Click here to read more about Tracy's farmhouse-themed classroom. Amy Abbott at Music a la Abbott was so creative with this bulletin board! I love how the genie is rising out of the bulletin board, and how she uses an oddly-shaped space to create a board! This next picture is from my classroom ...I love storing my hand drums like this! 3M hooks are the best! Jena Hudson at Sew Much Music wrote about her classroom decor in this blog post ...LOVE the use of records with the silhouette. Aimee from O For tuna Orff had a similar look in her classroom , with silhouettes. I also love how she stores her Boomwhackers! Lindsay from Lindsay's Kodaly Inspired Cl......

There will always be students who, for one reason or another, might not feel welcome in our classrooms, perhaps because of something happening at home, or because of some of the students in the class, or because of something we as teachers are or are not doing. In our current world, though, there are more reasons for students to not feel welcome. Some students in our classrooms may be worrying about their families, their friends, and their futures. Regardless of political affiliation, it is really important as educators that we make ALL students feel welcome in our classroom. As music teachers, we have the distinct advantage of bringing children together through song, of linking cultures and experiences in a way that is completely different than any other subject. In my own teaching, I've had some interesting conversations with students about other cultures. Once, after teaching the song "Ye Toop Daram" from Afghanistan (found in this blog post ), I had a student exclaim,......

There will always be students who, for one reason or another, might not feel welcome in our classrooms, perhaps because of something happening at home, or because of some of the students in the class, or because of something we as teachers are or are not doing. In our current world, though, there are more reasons for students to not feel welcome. Some students in our classrooms may be worrying about their families, their friends, and their futures. Regardless of political affiliation, it is really important as educators that we make ALL students feel welcome in our classroom. As music teachers, we have the distinct advantage of bringing children together through song, of linking cultures and experiences in a way that is completely different than any other subject. In my own teaching, I've had some interesting conversations with students about other cultures. Once, after teaching the song "Ye Toop Daram" from Afghanistan (found in this blog post ), I had a student exclaim,......

With all of the excitement lately, I've been seeing lots of great activities for music lessons related to the one of the best movie series of ALL TIME, so I thought I'd put together a list of freebies, products, and activities that could work to get the kids excited AND teach them musical concepts! #1: "Imperial March" listening lesson I put together this free listening lesson to help students practice tim-ka, or dotted eighth/sixteenth. I used it with my 5th graders last year and they LOVED listening to the piece, and it was a great connection from what they learned in music class to music they love. Click the picture to download it. #2: Beat swords I saw these on Tracy King's blog, and think the idea is just fabulous. Plus, they'd be great to reinforce steady beat! Click the picture below to see Tracy's blog post! #3: Star Wars Bulletin Board I found this on Pinterest....so cute!! This is the brainchild at the couple at Music Teachers Rock . Such a cute ......

With all of the excitement lately, I've been seeing lots of great activities for music lessons related to the one of the best movie series of ALL TIME, so I thought I'd put together a list of freebies, products, and activities that could work to get the kids excited AND teach them musical concepts! #1: "Imperial March" listening lesson I put together this free listening lesson to help students practice tim-ka, or dotted eighth/sixteenth. I used it with my 5th graders last year and they LOVED listening to the piece, and it was a great connection from what they learned in music class to music they love. Click the picture to download it. #2: Beat swords I saw these on Tracy King's blog, and think the idea is just fabulous. Plus, they'd be great to reinforce steady beat! Click the picture below to see Tracy's blog post! #3: Star Wars Bulletin Board I found this on Pinterest....so cute!! This is the brainchild at the couple at Music Teachers Rock . Such a cute ......

I'm really excited to link up with Tracy King from Mrs. King Rocks to blog about what's on my wall and in my classroom! Here is a view of the first part of my classroom; I chose a jungle theme for my classroom this year! I'm really, really lucky to have a fairly large space in my classroom. I have been in other situations, with itty-bitty rooms, and appreciate the large space I now have! I like to label all of my drawers to I remember what's in them...I have so many that otherwise I'd forget! The bins you see on the left of the picture are used for my grade-level materials; you can read a post about that  here . Here is a close-up of my word wall. I decided this year to try a word wall by grade (suggested by my friend Nyssa Brown, who is a phenomenal educator; check out her blog  here ). I've been putting up the words as we learn them instead of having them listed alphabetically. You can purchase my jungle-themed set, which includes my word wall,  here . The rec......