VIPMusicRoom Podcast: Recent Episodes
Melissa Stouffer
A place where K-8 Music Teachers are the VIPs. Talking about everything from general music to middle school band and choir, and tips for music teachers.
The Elementary Music Concert. You know it’s one of the biggest moments in your class (whether you like it or not), and definitely something your students will remember. Especially if their adults took 100+ pictures to mark the occasion. But planning a concert for elementary students is not as simple as picking out some songs and teaching the repertoire. Even more goes into it if you do a musical or have to do your own arranging/script writing/etc. No matter what you do, concert planning is not for the weak, and can be difficult if you’ve never done one before. (Hello new teachers who missed student teaching concerts!) No matter what your experience with performances, I hope The Elementary Music Concert Guide helps you get some great ideas, create a prep list, and make performance planning less stressful!
https://mrsstouffersmusicroom.com/the-elementary-music-concert-guide/
It’s no secret I love books. If you’ve ever checked out The Ultimate Music Ed Book List, you know that I have spent hours cataloguing books for the music classroom. But what to do with all these books? It’s more than just “music story time”, especially when the book isn’t music themed. Here’s some great things to do with books for the music class.
Singing in parts is always a big deal. The first time your students do it, they feel super accomplished! But in reality, part work is something you can do with even your Kindergarten students. Canons and partner songs seem like the obvious answers, but there are ways you can start students before you approach those! Starting partwork activities with young students can make those harmony parts seem a lot less daunting. Here are some ways to prep your students for part singing.
Building a classroom library doesn't need to be a huge financial commitment. This week we take a look at ways to build your library, and get books into your classroom.
Building community is one of the key elements of building a classroom that is in control, and where students feel they can try new things. Learn some ways to bulid community in the music room.
Go over some of the things you hear about often in curriculum planning. Find out what they do, and how they can impact your classroom.
This week, we talk about setting professional goasl as a music teacher, some options, and why these might be the goal for you.
If you are looking for ideas for Tuesday, February 22, 2022, then this episode is for you! Get some quick ideas how to include a little bit of fun for the day, or adapt your already made plans to have a little extra fun.
This week we take a look at some activities to do if you end uphaving multiple classes at the same time.
This week is MMC (Michigan Music Conference) and I started thinking about post conference hand outs. What do you do with all those papers you get so that you actually use the information? Check out this week's episode to see how I make sure I stopped leaving handouts in a folder at the bottom of a pile.
This week's episode takes a look at some of the things that every music teacher should have in a sub tub. From ways to entice your sub to come back to making it easier to keep track of what you've done, this is an episode for new and seasoned teachers.
This week's episode features Beth Duhon talking about self care, stepping back, and finding balance in your life.
Read my three take aways or get the transcript here. https://mrsstouffersmusicroom.com/self-care-for-music-educators-an-interview-with-beth-duhon/(opens in a new tab)
Hey and welcome to 2022! I hope this year holds more healing, more self-care, and good things for all of you. To start out the year, I thought a look at power language for music teacherswould be a great place to start. Too many times, specials teachers get put on the back burner, treated like second class teachers, or have our impact minimized. In this week's episode, learn 6 tips to take back your power and advocate for yourself and your program.
Welcome to season 3 of the VIP Music Room! This week, we chat about some of the things not in the course description that you will want to know if you are planning on taking a levels course.
This episode looks at some easy questions we can ask ourselves at the end of the year to start planning for the following school year. No heavy work required!
This week's episode looks at some of the things we do at the end the school year to make our lives easier and to end the year with all our ducks at least in the same pond.
This week we talk about some of the consumables and materials that you can make sure you spend your budget to the fullest!
Book list I talked about during the show. www.theultimatemusicedbooklist.com
This week we look at some of the basic things we can do as traveling teachers to make our lives easier.
This episode deals with something important. The non-negotiable rules. I feel like we get really into the nitty gritty details of rules with the students but for students, it's a lot to remember, especially when all their teachers have different rules. With all the in and outs we've had lately, these 2 non-negotiable rules are the way to get across the big ideas we need to communicate to students.
In this episode, we go over some of the burning questions about getting started with Kodaly teaching.
In this episode, Melissa talks about procedures, tips and lesson ideas for using instruments with young students.
https://mrsstouffersmusicroom.com/instrumentsforpreschoolkindergarten/
Tech has ruled supreme and since the onset of COVID teaching, it has gotten even worse. Read how you can declutter, save space and get a handle on your digital life.
Establish boundaries between your professional and private lives. Things you can do to help create the boundaries we deserve as professionals.
Take back your time and make resolutions that really work for you. No crash diets and closet purging involved.
I go over the three things that would have made a huge difference in how I taught solfege when I first started teaching.
Talking about preventing teacher burnout in what is sure to be an interesting school year.
I go over my 5 tips to make your sub's life easier, staying home less stressful and ensure you can get great subs to come back.
This episode talks about teaching procedures and some of the ones you may want to incorporate. Check out the accompanying blog post for a free checklist: www.mrsstouffersmusicroom.com/13
17 way to engage your kids with vocal explorations. Fun tools, activities and takes on old favs.
A back to school list for music teachers to make your year go smoothly.
Check out the blog post:
https://mrsstouffersmusicroom.com/back-to-school-to-do-list
I go over my 5 best back to school tips that are not COVID related.
Check out the blog post here: https://mrsstouffersmusicroom.com/five-tips-back-school/
Prepping for Back To School seems to be every teacher’s favorite time. New music, new decor, new pencils, new possibilities. This year is so different. New stresses, concerns, budget issues across the board. How do we even prep for this? Here's how I'm approaching this year.
Yeah...geee...thanks. We can't do a lot of the things we normally do in a music class this year. So what DO we do? Here's a huge list of ideas to help you get started planning for this year.
I've taught with no budget before (while on a cart). I thought sharing my ideas and how I made it work might help you out.
Head here for all the links: https://mrsstouffersmusicroom.com/no-budget-music-class/
If we can't play this school year, our beginning instrumentalists will definitely face some challenges. I've put together lots of thoughts on how we can teach our kids this year. If we can play, these will definitely shake up our learning and help give the kids a well-rounded approach to learning instruments.
After teaching in every space imaginable, I thought I would share my best tools, tips, tricks and more for teaching on a cart.
Chatting about Virtual/Digital classrooms with those cute animated versions of you and how we can use them in a truly educational way during distance learning.