Today was the day. It seems to get earlier each year. Just got home from the annual “Budget” meeting with the CSC (parent and teacher committee) and the news for next year is bleak….again. This year we will have to “reserve” 3% of our budget into a savings account in case the State of Colorado [...]

We went last night to a special showing of the new documentary Waiting For Superman as a staff after our staff meeting . It was interesting and, I have to admit, a little exciting to be out with my co-workers in the theater, all of us there thinking that we are “great teachers” and yet [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Conference time has come and gone. I’m back in the classroom on a snowy January. Testing pressure is mounting and kids are going crazy already. I am frantic to find time to fit in curriculum and performance material (which should be one in the same, but inevitably end up different somehow).  And I just don’t [...]

Yes, folks, it’s that time of year again. The time when I get a “vacation” from my family life to travel to the Springs and network with people I only see once a year at most at the annual State Music Conference. This year I’m lucky to get to stay at the beautiful Broadmoor resort [...]

I have never had such a hard time dealing with colleagues than I have this year surrounding the change to our school schedule. A little background first. It all started when our school found out we were under enrollment and in debt over $70k. We needed to cut a position in order to “pay back” [...]

Welcome to urbanmusiceducation.org! I am in the process of re-designing the site in a blog format as the former php format was getting stale and unusable. After careful evaluation of the site, I came to the realization that the site needed major overhauling and a vision in order to survive otherwise it needed to get [...]