Here is the debut post for my newest blog feature “Advocacy Thursday” where I will unveil a new article, website, or tidbit about Music or Education advocacy in my district, city, nation, or perhaps the world! This week features a website sponsored by Music K-8 Magazine called SchoolMusicMatters.com. The site contains many helpful resources for [...]

As I was up late tonight formatting all of my students’ Garage Band pieces into mp3′s to look nice and clean for my new inline Yahoo! Media Player, I came across this little gem for those who are looking to use Garage Band for the first time in the classroom or need to brush up [...]

I just added a Fliggo site to my repertoire of Web 2.0 tools. Check out MrsJ’s Musical Oddities at http://urbanmusiceducation.fliggo.com. I will post funny and amazing videos that I find while browsing YouTube and also use the site to post videos from my classroom projects! Enjoy and feel free to leave comments! ~S

Music Education Can Help Children Improve Reading Skills ScienceDaily (2009-03-16) — Children exposed to a multi-year program of music tuition involving training in increasingly complex rhythmic, tonal, and practical skills display superior cognitive performance in reading skills compared with their non-musically trained peers, according to a new study.

Check out this fantastic video about the OMA program in Arizona. (Sorry for the scroll down…!)

So, what we do, what I do anyway, is get the kids all “riled up” according to one classroom teacher who will remain unnamed. We all know that; its the nature of the beast so to speak. And thus begs the question, how do we teach creativity, movement and freedom of expression in the elementary [...]

Ever wondered how many of us there are out there? I’m talking about Music Ed Bloggers! Maybe you came here from J. Pisano’s Top 100 Music Ed Bloggers list, or maybe you are a blogger looking for some inspiration? Take a moment and hop over to Joel’s article from SoYouWantToTeach.com. It’s a great way to [...]

A parody I wrote yesterday after the tragedy. Hope you like it:) (Sing to the tune of “American Pie”) A short, few days ago, I could still remember when my laptop used to make me smile. And I knew if I had the chance, that I could check my FaceBook stats, and maybe I’d be [...]

An NPR Radio Broadcast Series By Korva Coleman Hear Segment 3 in the Series Real Media | Windows Media Performance Today, November 17, 2004 – In the third installment of our music education series, NPR’s Korva Coleman visits an urban at-risk school that was in danger of failing. Baltimore’s Roland Park Elementary is an older [...]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090210110043.htm# ScienceDaily (2009-02-11) — Music participation, defined as music lessons taken in or out of school and parents attending concerts with their children, has a positive effect on reading and mathematics achievement in early childhood and adolescence. But, then again, we all know this already ~S