Erin Emery-Dumas

Last school year was THE BEST, and I think it was all thanks to a journal practice that was recommended by Monica Genta. She was the keynote speaker at one of our opening PD events, and her story completely changed my perspective on teaching. She talked about how she kept a journal and wrote at…

In college, it was highly recommended that we create a website to house a virtual portfolio. I followed this advice very thoroughly throughout my university career, just to be locked out of my original website a year after being hired at my first job. (Forgot the password and none of my emails match an account…

As a music educator, your resume is likely to be MUCH longer than what most job sites recommend. Whenever I hear people say that your resume should only be one page, I wonder HOW? After discussing this with several people who have much more experience than I do, I’ve come to the conclusion that it…

As it becomes warmer, I love taking my students outside to play. One of our favorite games is music kickball. It works just like regular kickball, except students must identify something music related before having a chance to kick the ball. I’ve done this with all sorts of things — note and rest values, dynamics,…

Something that I didn’t utilize during my first year of teaching, but have found IMMENSELY useful this year is a classroom management plan/handbook. Of course I had routines and procedures during my first year, but having it written down has given it a sort of validity that I didn’t find right away. I have attached…

I’m sure we ALL know about Kahoot by now, but have you heard of Gimkit or Blooket? I hadn’t prior to my internship, but now they are a staple in my teaching toolbox. Both of these sites have advantages over Kahoot, specifically the fact that questions continuously come back, almost like virtual flash cards. You…

Ukuleles are one of my favorite instruments, so I have LOVED having a full set in my classroom over the past two years. Last year I taught them to fourth and fifth grade students, but this year I’ve added it to my third grade lesson plans as well. I even had a fourth grade elective…

It’s almost that time of year again — schools begin interviewing teachers for next school year! I wanted to share the list of questions my mentor gave me before my first interview, and how I would answer each of them now that I’ve had two years of teaching experience. 1. Tell us about yourself. You…

Writing sub plans as a music teacher can be really tough, especially when the guest teacher isn’t familiar with music! Here are some easy sub plan ideas for teachers without a lot of musical experience. Book Reflections: I can make connections between music and ELA. I love using Epic! Books to have students read about…

Today I presented at our district professional development day, and I taught people about songwriting to assess concept comprehension. Check out my slideshow below!