a million dreams

As we all know, music can be loud.

At times, we found ourselves wondering, ‘Are they really making music? Why does it just sound like some sort of warzone?’

To be perfectly fair, sometimes it does sound like you’ve been transported into some sort of zoo. However, there are ways to make sure that it doesn’t sound like a complete ruckus by making sure that they understand that music has expression.

I’ve already shown you a video about using hands as an instrument, but this time I’d like to show you a way to use instruments with your students.

Rhythm Sticks.

They’re pretty easy to use. In fact, they’re pretty cheap to get too! As I’m living in Hong Kong at the moment, I get them off Taobao, which is a chinese version of Ebay. Down below is an example of a video you can play with your students.

Rhythm sticks teach you that there isn’t just one way to pound the sticks together. In fact, there are many ways to make music. By incorporating different techniques into the music lesson, this helps students learn more about how they can use their musical instruments.

Happy Music Making!

~ Andrea

This video is perfect for students at a young age to practice rhythm. Another way to incorporate this video into you class would be using your hands to clap instead of using your typical rhythm sticks. It’s a great way to get your students into math as well, as it practices counting as well.

All in all, I hope this video helps you in your classroom!

Musically yours,

• Andrea

What is your educational “why” and how will you leverage your growing digital footprint to enrich student learning?

My educational why at the moment has to do with supporting other teachers in learning from other teachers. I personally love learning new things and knowing that there are resources out there really does help alot of new teachers out. As a teacher, I want to be able talk about my own experiences and to be able to show my own work to students to read and learn from.

Not only does this help students, but it is also information to parents about certain subjects. I definitely think it’s really helpful for families to know that the blog that I’ve created is there for them. By placing in videos, pictures, and even voice recordings, this helps families and other teachers learn about what I’m talking about within that post.

In my own classroom, I’d promote my own website/blog in order to help students learn more about music within the class and outside the class. Not only would I promote my own blog, but I’d want students to learn how to do it themselves and to practice writing about something that they like to talk about that would happen to be educational, as it will help with their writing styles/techniques.

Welcome to my blog!

I’m Andrea, the owner of this blog and I’d like to dedicate this educational blog to music. Music has always been a passion of mine, as I love making music in general. Growing up in a very musical environment, I was very in tune with certain tunes. For example, my alarm clock was normally some sort of Symphony in D Minor by Beethoven rather than a normal blaring alarm.

I grew up learning how to play the three main instruments. Piano, Violin, and Flute. My mother believed in learning how to play different instruments to better my knowledge in music. Much to her surprise, I did enjoy playing all the instruments as they taught me alot about articulation, fingering, and structure.

So, in this blog, I’d like to share with you some of my experiences (and mistakes) that I’ve learnt through the years.

Edit: I’m also trying to expand the blog to more areas, such as ESL and also Technology within the classroom. Let me know if you have any questions you have about my posts! c:

Happy reading!

~ Andrea