Recently, I took a class about different web apps to use in the classroom. During that class, I discovered Quizizz, and was immediately excited about the possibilities! In this post, I'll write about how to use Quizizz, how to create a Quizizz, and how to find quizzes I've made on the platform! So what is Quizizz? Quizizz is a website that allows students to take quizzes. It is similar to Kahoot (which I wrote about in this blog post ) but you are allowed to give the quiz as homework, instead of having all students take it live. Additionally, the quiz doesn't have to be timed, and students can move onto the next question at their own pace instead of having to wait for all students to answer. Even better...students see a funny meme after they answer each question, like this one: How do students take Quizizz? I had students use iPads to take the quiz, but they can also use Chromebooks or smart phones. If you have limited technology in your room, you cou......

Are you looking for an app to both assess students AND communicate with parents? Check out SeeSaw ! I heard about SeeSaw a couple years ago and had it installed on my ipads, but it wasn’t until this past spring that I was finally able to check it out. SeeSaw is known for being a great advocacy tool, in that parents can see what’s going on in the music room! Whether you post a snapshot of a student’s completed worksheet, a video of him/her singing, or a video of the entire class performing, it can be a fabulous way to communicate with parents. Last year, at a technology workshop with my friend Andrea Halverson (whose technology blog can be found here ), I had the realization that I assess students through the app too! I tried this out last year and will detail below how I did it.   Please note that I have not yet connected parents to the app, but instead used it for my own assessment purposes. Here goes! I decided to try out composition with my second graders last year. Although the......

I am SUPER excited today to blog about a new piece of technology I have in my music room...a Specdrums ring! I first learned about Specdrums from Katie Wonderly's awesome Instagram page . Then I found out that Amy Abbott had a ring coming, so I reached out to the Specdrums page and was able to get one for my classroom too! So what is a Specdrum ring? It is a ring that you can put on your finger, or students can put on their finger, and they can make music with it by touching different colors. So for example, if you touch red, it might play C, if you touch orange, it might play D, if you touch yellow, it might play E, etc.! You can create different tone sets in your app...the sky really is the limit! Here's a video of me playing "We are dancing" with the ring: So how do you make a tone set? Here's how it works: You can also make a tone set by selecting a color with your ring and then tapping the letter you want. So what might it look like to use it in your classro......

I know it seems crazy to think of the school year in past tense, but with only seven weeks remaining in the school year, I'm already thinking about what worked well this year, and what I'd like to improve for next year. Reflection is, to me, such a huge part of my development as a teacher, so I like to reflect at the end of each school year (before summer, when everything seems so distant!) Here are some thoughts about my year. Teaching: What I loved: I was able to streamline my data tracking and intervention processes even more this year, and was very happy with the results! I was able to use my data tracking binder to track how well students understand rhythmic and melodic concepts, and was able to provide intervention to more students. My first graders had a statistically significant increase in meeting their growth target for rhythmic dictation, and I think it's partly because of this process! For more information about data tracking and downloading the binder for free,......

I know it seems crazy to think of the school year in past tense, but with only seven weeks remaining in the school year, I'm already thinking about what worked well this year, and what I'd like to improve for next year. Reflection is, to me, such a huge part of my development as a teacher, so I like to reflect at the end of each school year (before summer, when everything seems so distant!) Here are some thoughts about my year. Teaching: What I loved: I was able to streamline my data tracking and intervention processes even more this year, and was very happy with the results! I was able to use my data tracking binder to track how well students understand rhythmic and melodic concepts, and was able to provide intervention to more students. My first graders had a statistically significant increase in meeting their growth target for rhythmic dictation, and I think it's partly because of this process! For more information about data tracking and downloading the bi......

The way that social media is used has changed tremendously over the last few years. In the past, I used social media as a way to simply catch up on the lives of friends, follow celebrities, or look at pretty pictures. Although I still do those things, I'm now using social media as a form of professional development. In this blog post, I'll detail how to use social media to learn from other music teachers, gather ideas, and even learn new songs! Pinterest When I first happened upon Pinterest, I found tons of pins about home decor and women's fashion, and I wasn't all that interested. But then I discovered pins about education, and specifically music education, and I was hooked! To search for music education pins, simply start a Pinterest account, then in the search bar, type "music education," "Kodaly," "Orff," etc. for lots of great pins with great ideas! When I typed "music education" into Pinterest today, I saw these pins: See t......

The way that social media is used has changed tremendously over the last few years. In the past, I used social media as a way to simply catch up on the lives of friends, follow celebrities, or look at pretty pictures. Although I still do those things, I'm now using social media as a form of professional development. In this blog post, I'll detail how to use social media to learn from other music teachers, gather ideas, and even learn new songs! Pinterest When I first happened upon Pinterest, I found tons of pins about home decor and women's fashion, and I wasn't all that interested. But then I discovered pins about education, and specifically music education, and I was hooked! To search for music education pins, simply start a Pinterest account, then in the search bar, type "music education," "Kodaly," "Orff," etc. for lots of great pins with great ideas! When I typed "music education" into Pinterest today, I saw these pins: See t......