Digital Musicking

This is the professional organization that represents and advocates for the use of Kodaly concepts in music classrooms. Typically General Music and choir but may include instrumental pedagogy.

This website is a must use for any general music or choral teacher. It contains information regarding conferences and certification courses, as well as resources. Kodaly is a wonderful method with an emphasis on singing, music literacy, and folk songs. In the Kodaly method, teachers learn to prepare, present and practice concepts with students. Teachers also discover the importance of developing their own musicianship

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 has information on Orff-Schulwerk workshops, certification courses, as well as access to resources and video demonstrations with a membership. This is a great website for general music teachers, as well as any secondary teacher wishing to incorporate movement and improvisation into their classroom. I highly recommend all general music teachers get involved in their local Orff chapter.

Quaver has a large amount of lessons available for teaching from PreK-8th grade. It is probably the most complete music teaching software resource I have found. This could be used in any general music class as well as ensembles. It is much more interactive than a textbook and the interface changes as the grade level increases so that it remains engaging for the age group.

Resource for the University of Florida Masters Program. This interactive program allows teachers to more effectively reach students through games, movement, song, and dance.

This website is awesome! I call it "Quaver the Saver." When you can't figure out how to explain a concept clearly, show a Quaver DVD. The DVDs are You can purchase the DVDs and access a multitude of resources with a subscription. Great for Elementary General Music.

Classics For Kids is a great website with fun activities and music resources for use in the classroom. Each month, they feature a different composer and provide activities, handouts, and listening maps that help students learn about various topics in classical music history. There are also online games for kids and lesson plans for teachers.

Classics for Kids is a website that is full of information about classical music for kids/students. It includes links to learn about various composers, listening examples, activities, games and quizzes about music. There are lesson plans also available for teachers, and a parent information link is also available. This is a great site for introducing students to the genre of classical music.

Site for a plethora of music information, games, activities, downloads, broadcasts, listening, all relating to music education.

Resource for finding technology tools in music education and more.

Bucket drumming is a favorite activity during rhythm units in just about any grade. Coach K makes this whole process easy and encourages us to share our experiences.

This is a blog post for music educators in search of quality PD podcasts. This article provides a list of many different podcasts that focus on specifically music education, technology integration, and general educational topics.

List of great podcasts for music educators

List of great TED talks for music educators.

A great list of resources for exploring different music altering apps.

This video discusses sound and vibration using music as a source. I use this with my first graders when we start discussing sound.

I use Music K8 videos to help enhance learning of several music concepts. They are fun to watch too!

I use this video to teach tempo with my 1st graders. It also helps them work on prepositions and classroom teachers will appreciate the help!

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.

This article describes the difference between active and passive listening, and how to incorporate the elements of music to be used in active listening exercises.

This article provides several ways to integrate technology in the music classroom. To aid in administrating, the article suggests Google Drive using Google Docs and Google Forms. I personally am a huge fan of Google Classroom. The article also provides software such as SmartMusic for instructional use.

Rhythm Syllable Systems - What to use and why! is a blog in which David Row takes a look at the various rhythm syllable counting systems in use today. He gives a thorough explanation of each one as well as providing links for further information about a particular system. He also discusses that none of these systems give instruction or guidance about what to do with rests. Overall, he states that the choice is yours for which system to use with your students.

This is an online music curriculum that can be supplemental or can span the entire year using only Quaver. $$$