What is your Alma Mater?
Middle Tennessee State University and Trevecca Nazarene University
Where do you currently teach?
East Ridge Elementary Chattanooga, Tennessee Hamilton County
How long have you been teaching?
This is my 35th year of teaching.
Why do you choose to be a member of TMEA?
I began my membership while in college, it was "just what you did". I continued my membership after becoming a band director because that was the only way my students would be able to participate in things like All-State and Concert Festival. I have since come to realize the learning opportunities TnMEA and NAfME provide for ME...Webinars, conferences, publications...
What do you love about teaching?
Watching the reactions of my students when they KNOW they "get it" and watching as they react to music they would never have heard without music class.
If you could choose another job for one day, what would it be?
Teaching Social Studies / History.... I had 2 years when I worked in the "real world" of business....I hated it.
Tell us one thing about you that people would be surprised to know or something you are passionate about besides teaching.
Thanks to Facebook it won't surprise many folks that I very much enjoy piecing quilt tops.... I learned how to sew when I was in 4th grade so I could participate in 4-H activities. I carry around a ziploc bag with a hand-sewing project that has been in progress for 10 years...I can even sew when riding in the passenger seat. While a band director I always traveled with cross-stitching....
Share a fun and unique idea that you use in your classroom!
I do a rhythm activity based on the battles of the Revolutionary War the 4th graders must know. Lexington and, Concord, Bunker, Hill, Trenton Princeton, Saratoga, Valley Forge, King's Mountain, Yorktown, We Win! (did that from memory... means I've learned them too!) We analyze the rhythm of each battle, place them in order, play them on tubanos, woodblocks and triangles. This came up during a conversation at the copier when I asked how I might help the 4th grade teachers with their Revolutionary War unit. .. The answer: Is there any way you can help them learn the names of the battles they have to know.....? I've done this for 2 years.... report is very few of the kids fail to correctly answer this question. You can hear it in the hallway as they walk from place to place.
Middle Tennessee State University and Trevecca Nazarene University
Where do you currently teach?
East Ridge Elementary Chattanooga, Tennessee Hamilton County
How long have you been teaching?
This is my 35th year of teaching.
Why do you choose to be a member of TMEA?
I began my membership while in college, it was "just what you did". I continued my membership after becoming a band director because that was the only way my students would be able to participate in things like All-State and Concert Festival. I have since come to realize the learning opportunities TnMEA and NAfME provide for ME...Webinars, conferences, publications...
What do you love about teaching?
Watching the reactions of my students when they KNOW they "get it" and watching as they react to music they would never have heard without music class.
If you could choose another job for one day, what would it be?
Teaching Social Studies / History.... I had 2 years when I worked in the "real world" of business....I hated it.
Tell us one thing about you that people would be surprised to know or something you are passionate about besides teaching.
Thanks to Facebook it won't surprise many folks that I very much enjoy piecing quilt tops.... I learned how to sew when I was in 4th grade so I could participate in 4-H activities. I carry around a ziploc bag with a hand-sewing project that has been in progress for 10 years...I can even sew when riding in the passenger seat. While a band director I always traveled with cross-stitching....
Share a fun and unique idea that you use in your classroom!
I do a rhythm activity based on the battles of the Revolutionary War the 4th graders must know. Lexington and, Concord, Bunker, Hill, Trenton Princeton, Saratoga, Valley Forge, King's Mountain, Yorktown, We Win! (did that from memory... means I've learned them too!) We analyze the rhythm of each battle, place them in order, play them on tubanos, woodblocks and triangles. This came up during a conversation at the copier when I asked how I might help the 4th grade teachers with their Revolutionary War unit. .. The answer: Is there any way you can help them learn the names of the battles they have to know.....? I've done this for 2 years.... report is very few of the kids fail to correctly answer this question. You can hear it in the hallway as they walk from place to place.