I try to find joy in every day. Life is often what we choose to make of it. Even when bad things happen, we can choose how we will respond. I choose joy. Being grateful keeps bitterness away. I try to teach kindness over hate, unity over division, contentment over comparison, and encouragement over discouragement. I strive to give clear and fair expectations, while looking for effort and participation from the students.
When I am not at school, I lead the worship at my church and spend time with my family. I enjoy crafting, reading, camping, gardening, watching college basketball, and watching Dodger baseball.
I have part-time hours, and I am easiest to reach on Thursday mornings. I do not work on Fridays.
5th Grade: You can play our uke songs on the bottom four strings of a guitar if you do not have a ukulele. Click on the first five links ending in mp3 to hear the recordings. Click on the links ending in pdf to see the music papers. Feel free to print these pdf pages or to pick them up in the classroom. Use them along with the mp3 recordings. Our concert will be in May during the book fair.
4th Grade: We will order recorders in November. I will send a note home in October containing the ordering information. Students can bring in their own recorder, order a new one, or borrow/check one out for the year. The concert will be in May during the book fair in the music room. Once we get started on the recorders, there are several recorder play along videos on youtube that can make practicing at home more fun. Search "recorder play along" to bring up many options to choose from. Have fun!
Here is a youtube link with several recorder videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gceN_m6SfQ
https://www.kimberly.edu/kes/4th-grade-recorder-music
2nd and 3rd Grade: We will begin using the notes on the treble clef. We do many physical music activities. We use percussion instruments to practice reading rhythms, and we will practice analyzing the basic structures of music. The following songs are a few songs we will be using to have fun in music class.
Kindergarten and 1st Grade: We will memorize the Star Spangled Banner. Click on the links below to listen to and sing some fun songs. We will use percussion instruments to practice playing written rhythms. We play many music games that are used to teach basic music concepts. We want to have fun and enjoy what music brings to our lives.
O say can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight - O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming. The rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?