Sweet Sounds

I've been teaching music for almost 20 years! I started out as a K-12 band director and elementary music teacher at a small school in central Texas. I moved to the Austin area and taught K-5 elementary music for 10 years, and then I taught another 2 years in Kentucky. Most recently I taught elementary music in Indiana, teaching K-4 Music. I have a private French horn studio and give online and in-person Kodály-based workshops throughout Texas, Indiana, and across the nation.

I teach using the Houlahan-Tacka branch of the Kodály method. I took 3 Levels of Kodály at Texas State University with Philip Tacka, Michael Houlahan, Lamar Robertson and Gabby Montoya-Stier. Besides music, my favorite thing to share is my love of books! I love incorporating good books with musical concepts. I want to inspire the kids to search out really good music and really good books for the rest of their lives.

I received an Elgin Educator Foundation Innovative Teaching Grant for a world instrument project. I was able to purchase a full set of world drums (djembes, doumbeks, bongos, congas) and ukuleles for my music class. I also received an Elgin Educator Foundation Innovative Teaching Grant for a SMART board! This by far is my favorite thing in my class room! It has completely changed how I teach music. I have also received a Target Field Trip Grant, many Donor's Choose grants, and a Public Schools Foundation of Tippecanoe County Award.

I received my Bachelors in Music Education from Abilene Christian University. I'm working on my Master's Degree in Education from Midway University. I attended the Kodály Certification Program at Texas State University, where I earned Level 3 certification. I have presented several workshops across Texas, including, "Get with the Program!" (using folk songs from your classroom to create performances), "It's Just Hand-Signs and Singing, Right?" (including "Kodály In Kindergarten... Yeah right!" and "Applying the Kodály Method in Real Classrooms" and "4th and 5th grade Fever: Engaging the Older Grades"), "Engaging the Brain: Kinesthetic, Aural and Visual" (conquering the cognitive phase of learning) and "Warming Up!" (variety in your daily warm-ups).

Check out my blog: sweetsoundsfromthemusicroom.blogspot.com Come see what's going on in my crazy classroom & be the first to know what products are coming to my store! Flash freebies are announced only to Facebook followers! www.facebook.com/sweetsoundsfromthemusicroom Follow Me on Pinterest! www.pinterest.com/sweetmusicroom