Friday Finds #31: Halloween Activities and Creative Rote Teaching

Hello to all the Piano Pantry readers from a local group of teachers in Terre Haute, Indiana I had the privilege of sharing with this week. What a delightful bunch!

Margy, one of my colleagues pictured above told everyone that they would make it onto my blog. Boy, does she know me or what?!

This week you’re going to want to check out…

1

Some of my favorite Halloween-themed activities:

Candy Corn Note Names and Trick-or-Treat Pumpkin Rhythm Cards from Layton Music.

Jennifer Fink’s Build-A-Skeleton Interval Challenge and 12 Days of Halloween dictation cards.

True Bat Facts note name worksheet and Bats and Cats Rhythm Game from Susan Paradis.

Joy Morin’s Halloween Rhythm Dictation Slides and Classical Music to Attract or Scare your Trick-or-Treater’s.

Halloween Improv from Teach Piano Today.

 

2

An incredibly full and organized list of The Apps I Just Can’t Live Without.

 

3

For all you Piano Safari users…

Thanks to a creative and generous teacher on the Piano Safari Facebook page, one of my students and I had a fun time learning the rote piece Rainbow Colors in a much more “colorful” way. This printable visual aid is PERFECT! It worked beautifully. This couldn’t have come at a better time as the student had forgotten her book at home the same day I was planning on teaching her this piece. Teaching rote pieces always seem to take longer to teach so the extra time this day couldn’t have been more perfect.

Teaching the rote piece African Safari using story-telling. Absolutely brilliant.

 

4

Sheet pan suppers are all the rage. Last night I made Sausage, Potato, and Green Bean Foil Packets, except I spread all the ingredients out over two half sheet pans. I didn’t start dinner until 7:45 when I got home from teaching and we were eating by 8:30. Fast, easy, and delicious.

*Note: This one is a tiny bit spicy but you could easily adapt by substituting the andouille sausage for any kind of sausage like a simple Eckrich smoked sausage or Kielbasa and changing out the seasoning or simply just using salt and pepper. Also, I diced the potatoes really small so they would cook faster and roasted at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

 

5

Set a goal to spend 15 minutes a day over the next week sprucing up your studio. Some ideas to get you started 10 Presentation Strategies for a Professional Studio and Icing Your Studio.

Tiny habits add up. Do you have a goal that seems impossible to accomplish? Commit yourself to just 15 minutes a day and be prepared to be amazed at where you’re at 3 months from now!