Songs for Winter Fun!

Hello!  My name is Ms. Stephanie.  When I was in college, a local family asked me to try teaching their daughter to play the piano.  This was one of the best experiences of my life!  Each week we gathered at the piano where she learned how to play songs and express herself using the piano.  Soon she told her friends, and they became students, too.  Through almost 10 years of teaching piano to many children in that community, I watched these kids blossom and grow.  And I found that my heart flourished from being able to bring the joy of music to their homes.  I went on to become an elementary school music teacher, and taught 18 years in the classroom.  I also homeschooled my own children for 5 years and taught in many other venues.  Now that the pandemic has changed life for so many people, I want to help by bringing the joy of music back into the lives of children.  

I have both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music Education, and am currently a doctoral student in Curriculum and Instruction.  In my many years of teaching music I have noticed that students think in so many different ways, and each of these ways holds great value.  If I have a superpower, I think it is finding the beauty in each person's way of thinking.  I believe that we will be a better society when we value diversity in thinking.  In my doctoral research, I am looking for ways to support and celebrate neurodiversity and creativity in education, which I hope will transfer out to our communities.  

Music holds amazing potential to provide a great climate for nurturing neurodiversity.  Each person can come to a musical experience with their own way of thinking and processing, engage in the music in their own way, and walk away with a positive gain.  The positive effects of engaging with music has been well-documented.  I really like the explanation from Anita Collins in her TED-Ed, How Playing an Instrument Benefits Your Brain ( https://www.ted.com/talks/anita_collins_how_playing_an_instrument_benefits_your_brain?language=en).  I explain to my students that singing uses an instrument, too - the voice.  And the voice is an instrument that not only is easy to access and portable, but it is also used in many other areas of life... like presentations.  It's well worth studying!  In my classroom, I took time to help students learn songs line by line, and watched them gain so much confidence.  I see the most gains when the curriculum centers on songs, rather than exercises.  So I've been experimenting with a song-based approach, and I'm very excited to bring it to Outschool.  In each class, we will engage in high quality music written just for kids, and learn music concepts within the context of the songs.  It's similar to learning a language by immersion.  And one of the sweetest rewards of this approach is to see students "own" the song, humming and singing it as they go about their days.

I am very thankful for families who partner with me.  I am a mom and a graduate student, and every time you take a class with me, your support benefits my family and my learning.  With your support, I can work from home and support my children's learning and growth.  From the bottom of my heart... thank you.