Introduction

This is my sixteenth year teaching in District 204. I currently teach general music to elementary students in Kindergarten through fifth grade. I have taught elementary, middle, and high school grade levels of students, but I truly love teaching elementary. I love being able to explore lots of different styles of music, at many different age levels.

I have always loved music, but it wasn't until I had been out of the music field that I learned to appreciate it. I started out in music at the University of Illinois, but struggled to find its place in my education. So I decided to step back from it for a bit, and earned my degree in Health Administration. I worked in the health insurance industry for a few years and realized that something was missing. I eventually discovered it was music. So I went back to study music education, and earned my Bachelors and Masters of Music Education from DePaul University. Since then I have continued to pursue professional development opportunities, but was NOT very excited to pursue another certification, especially one in technology. I asked myself "how could I use this in music?"

After earning my degrees, I decided to pursue my Orff certification from Vandercook College of Music and DePaul University. I discovered World Music Drumming through Will Schmid's World Music Drumming workshops, where I have met some of the most wonderful people on the planet! The World Music Drumming philosophy uses drumming and multicultural music to teach social & emotional skills such as RESPECT, COMMUNITY, LISTENING, and TEAMWORK. I have used it at the elementary, middle, and high school levels and absolutely LOVE it!

With these hands-on music-making background experiences, I didn't really see a place for technology in my music classroom; however, as I have grown through my technology journey I have discovered more ways to integrate technology in my teaching than I ever imagined! I am continuing to learn many new ways to incorporate technology in music in the Ed Tech classes that I have taken through USF. So much so that I have decided to finish pursuing my Ed Tech endorsement (YAY)! I really love how technology has helped my teaching, especially now as we move towards more online and technology-based learning.

Of course I have to address that remote learning thing.....While I had been feeling pretty comfortable with my ability to integrate technology, remote learning has taught me how much I DIDN'T know. Remote learning has challenged me to discover new ways of keeping kids engaged in music without having many of the music tools they are used to. In my own exploration of resources for students, I discovered the district-purchased materials for students that I could use for music, such as BookFlix, PebbleGo, and Chrome Music Lab (not exactly ideal but engaging). Now that we have switched to remote learning, one of my favorite new tools that I have had the chance to use is WeVideo. Without the ability to use YouTube with students remotely, I have had to find a way to provide visual and auditory instruction for reinforcement (Zoom was not a possibility with 600 students). While I had been introduced to WeVideo in a professional development training, remote learning has given me the opportunity to really explore this resource and create materials that I could use with students, which I am very thankful for! I have been able to create some videos for students that I am proud of and that I can probably still use when we return to face-to-face instruction. I am hoping to continue to explore new ways of engaging students through technology, and how to more easily use it for assessment.







I live in Aurora with my husband, three kids, and black lab mix, who we just adopted. My daughter just graduated from Oswego East (remotely of course). My son will be a sophomore, and my six year old will start first grade (hopefully not remotely) next year.