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This is a discussion by New York Times columnist, David Brooks, and Kathy Fletcher, and the director of Turnaround Arts Initiative about the important work that Turnaround Arts does through the strategic use of the arts. The discussion talks about how music facilitates brain development, why certain things in music leave people fascinated, and what magic music brings to emotion. The discussion also unfolds how the arts, and music education in particular opens the student's mind to memorisation. David Brooks says "Students understand better when topics are introduced through music". I agree with that because most students become more alert when a topic is introduced through song and it fosters the interest of students. Therefore we need arts to succeed in education. A lot of artists came from struggling backgrounds so when they talk to children that would like to succeed in the music world but are frightened that they'll never make it, they tell them "I know what you are going through but you can make it". This encourages those children to push on and excel in the arts. Kathy Fletcher says music boosts critical thinking and confidence which is ideal for students and they end up excelling in all other fields. The arts connect us all through music in a way that music created is shared all around the world. Partnerships are created to perform music and people come together to listen to music. This makes us one.

I have found this website useful countless times!  You can search generally or specifically for pre made presentations for SmartNotebook that you can then download and edit as you wish to fit your own classroom needs.  It could be used in any type of music classroom.

For anyone that has a Smart Board available in their classroom this website it great for finding ways to enhance your music teaching. This website gives available programs and ways that you can use your Smart Board to teach lessons.

A Collection of Music SMART programs that have been created and uploaded for all SMART users to share.

Don't have Audacity or your favorite DAW handy to convert an audio file to another file type? What about converting a .pdf file to Word .doc or related file formats? This is a fantastic site that converts practically any file format to other related formats for that file type ONLINE with no need to download software! For example, an audio file to another audio file format; one document format to another document format, etc.

This makes me seriously want to reconsider learning guitar. I'm not gonna lie, as a pianist, I had a horrible time with the guitar in my undergrad methods course. My piano fingers just didn't want to do what the guitar needed them to do. This piece of technology could be a game changer. It just looks fun... thinking about trying again thanks to www.jamstik.com

HotChalk Lesson Plans offer a multitude of online resources in regards to lesson plans. The plans can be modified to fit a specific grade level and it shows what other subject area the lesson plan overlaps with. The lesson plans list materials needed to complete the activity and provides related lesson plans at the bottom of the page. Teachers can also share their own lesson plans on the page. There is also a tab for news and tips that teachers can look at to aid in different types of learning.

This interview makes an excellent argument for choosing iPads over Chromebooks, as well as addressing other district one-to-one directives. It also touches on some practical uses of technology in the choral classroom.

When integrating technology in the music classroom, teachers need to know exactly what having technology in music looks like. A representative from Choral Director Magazine conducts an interview describing how a teacher has integrated technology in his choir. He provides two examples such as SmartMusic to aid in sight-reading skills and Attendance 2 allowing students to take roll through QR codes as they walk in.

Getting students to improvise is sometimes a very tricky task--lending itself as one of the most difficult challenges we face as teachers; however, author Steve Treseler provides a concise list of 10 steps, or strategies, for approaching the aforementioned topic with students, which includes but is not limited to building community through improvised games, choosing a piece that remains in one key center, and teaching all students the melody. By following these 10 easy steps, Treseler is convinced that students will receive the support they need to perform with confidence.

This website offers a wide variety of music titles to be used in a choral, general music, or individual lessons classroom. Although many of the scores need to be paid for, there are many free ones available as well.

This website is very helpful when teaching students to play guitar chords. Students are able to search for the song they would like to play and see what chords are needed to play. When the mouse moves over the chords, a chart pops up to show the student how to play the chord.

A great website for step-by-step theory instruction, exercises, and quizzes. This website would be great to offering out-of-class instruction or assistance to students who may need extra help. The instruction is organized by concepts (ex. key signatures, chords, etc) and gives helpful tips and tricks to understand the concept being taught.

The Singing Classroom is a paid subscription that provides video lesson plans and digital resources for elementary music teachers PK3-5th Grade. Each song displays the musical content and focus of the lesson. The website allows you to search with a variety of options ranging from grade level, musical content, and even theme. The video tutorials expertly guide teachers (or substitutes) on how to teach the lesson.

Music teacher website, can search to find repertoire that suits needs.

This article discusses many things but directly makes the point that the quality of music in schools has decreased. It disuses the fact that marching band is a key component of a musicians life. It also discusses the 'nuts and blots" of being a band director and the preparation that needs to take place.

Home of Apple's digital audio workstation: Logic Pro X. (also known as GarageBand's older sibling). The site has numerous videos, reviews, links, and demos of the software. The digital audio workstation has become a mainstay for music production because of both the software's accessible, yet ultra-powerful interface, which can be used by both novices, all the way to studio professionals.

This software is a big production, and is something that i use a lot personally. This software will give you the ability to do anything you may need to do. The purpose of this resource would be to show more advanced student more features on how to create, record, mix, and master. This is a more in depth software for more professional users. This would be a software that i would use to implement with more advanced students, who have used other software's.

This website provides a multitude of tools for music teachers, among other subjects. The website contains lesson plans and teaching strategies for grades K-12. There are lessons on world music, on instruments (such as building instruments), as well as the history of musical genres. The free version is limited, but the premium version is fairly inexpensive.

Resource for UF Masters of Music Education. This site is helpful in planning lessons for application of new ideas. I love that it has something to offer every teacher from grades K-12.

I use this website sometimes to help out with some of my lesson plans if I'm in need of worksheets to help back up the topic that is chosen for that particular week. This is good for any teacher because it provides a variety of different worksheets for many topics.

A database that helps band directors find pieces that fit their individual ensembles needs based on strengths and weaknesses. Very interactive and a potent tool for a young director!

Drum Corps International is the premier organization for outdoor performing ensembles. Innovation every year.

This site is the home to everything drum corps. The site includes media, schedules, scores, and audition information for all current and historic Drum Corps International groups.

This is the website for all things DCI. Students may find this website useful to follow their favorite corps, get scores, or find information on local shows. This is especially helpful for marching band students

This is a great resource for making sure that you have assigned all of your percussion parts out to the percussionist. Plus, you can have the chart attached to the back wall of the band room and they will never have any excuse to not know what they are playing!

This is a great website for randomly assigning drum parts to a concert band or symphonic orchestra. It will determine parts, generate lists of what each student needs, and keep percussion sections organized.

I know this isn't a "website", per se, but I need to share Dudamel conducting the fourth movement of Dvorak's "New World Symphony" since I just bookmarked the listening map. This is such a wonderful performance, and it demonstrates how crucial the conductor is in coercing a certain sound from the performers!

DonorsChoose is a great place to start looking for additional aid for your classroom. You can pose a project that you need funding for, if its more instruments, books, materials, and/or other resources that you may need, but can't get your district to obtain. It is very easy to use and you create a project where people can find or search and donate their own money to fund. You can have several people donate and you can share your proposal on various forms of social media to help spread the word. The choral teacher and I did a few projects and we were able to get Orff Instruments, Drums, and even Ipods for the kids. You have to follow up with DonorsChoose and send photos and thank you letters from the students to show how you are using the materials in the classroom. It is a perfect way to receive that additional funding for your program.

DonorsChoose is a miracle for programs with little to no budget. You can create an account as an educator and create projects that go towards your classroom. You can ask for anything from Chromebooks to instruments and sheet music. Donors from all over the world can donate and support your classroom. This is the resource that helped me build my band program.

This blog is written by Lindsay Jervis, a Kodaly trained elementary music teacher. She shares her classroom ideas, successes and failures, and so much more. Each blog post is also linked to her TeachersPayTeachers website so that you can purchase the resources needed for a very affordable price.

Blog and resources focused around teaching through the Kodaly methodology. The author also has substantial resources available for purchase through teachers pay teachers.

A series of annotations on the home page of a Kodaly inspired blog. Features 2 articles.