The Noisy Room Down the Hall

I was tired on Tuesday. It was another in a string of long and busy days that included the weekend and most of the week before. It had been...

A friend once told me a story about working a high school band camp in an area filled with camps that other schools used as well. A hazard o...

Writing goals down for just me is making a to-do list. Writing them out and sharing them here though helps keep me accountable. With a c...

There's still a calendar month left on the school year, but I'm hitting that combination of reflecting/looking ahead that comes with...

Tuesday I had my first two student teachers join my classes. They'll be coming once a week for a few hours at a time and I'm really ...

Like so many other people, 2016 was a particularly...rotten (I'd love to use a more colorful word or two, but I'm trying to keep it ...

Monday was Halloween. Kids were particularly...spirited. I was feeling grouchy due to a night of minimal sleep, feeling overwhelmed finis...

I'm making some headway on my list of new things to try this year.  One of the techy ones was to create an interactive word wall using a...

I'm not anti-social or an introvert. I'm actually a pretty textbook definition of ambivert. But I like quiet. Considering that I...

Just like people post about goals on their social media so that others check in and hold them accountable, I'm going to try the same ide...

Portfolios have come and gone and come again over the years as a way to track student growth. For our non-music colleagues, these were a lit...

I was not always a dog lover. In fact, after being bitten as a child (barely broke the skin but very scary when they're the same size...

While eating lunch waiting until my last presentation of the day at our state music conference, I overheard a group of music education stude...

OK.  I've finally caved.  Instagram it is.  Now that I teach only middle school and many of my students are only allowed on Instagram bu...

There are so many things that education schools do not and honestly cannot prepare you for.  This isn't anything that hasn't been sa...

Dear EdCamp, I know you've seen a lot of people and don't remember who I am, but I wanted to let you know the impact you've ha...

"Take these home for Mom and Dad.  Tell your parents about this later. Dear Parents...  Be sure to remind your parents about Bingo Nigh...

On the way to dinner yesterday, we drove by an electronic billboard advertising a nearby school district looking to encourage people to make...

Dear Rookie Me, Congratulations on your first full time gig!  Yes, I know that you got the offer with less than a week to go before school...