by Rachel | Uncategorized
You’d think that by this point in April, I’d have already enjoyed quite a few sunny days here in central Illinois…but unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case. Although we’ve been spared the terrible storms and tornadoes that have devastated many other states, this spring will NOT go down in my book as a pleasant one, weather-wise.
But I’m hopeful that will change as we approach May, and this morning’s sunny sky is a good sign. It comes at an especially good time, because my family is weathering some cloudy skies as we prepare to say goodbye to my husband’s grandmother, who suffered a stroke last week and is now in hospice. But we’re thankful for her long, happy life (she’s 92) and all that she did for her family — especially my husband, to whom she was especially close.
Sunny days are a nice reminder of all the good things to come, like summer vacation, my birthday, weddings, and lazy days by the pool (though I don’t get as many of those as I used to). Just a little over a month until I get to enjoy all four!
Sunny days also give my students and I an opportunity to sing the “Sunny Day” weather song! Since it hasn’t happened often so far this year, we make the most out of every chance we get to do so. Today is one of those days:
Sun-sun-sunny day, lalalalala,
Sun-sun-sunny day, yes sir!
Look outside and what do you see?
The sun is shining down on me.
Sun-sun-sunny day, lalalalala,
Sun-sun-sunny day!
The air is warm, and the sky is blue.
A beautiful day for me and you.
Sun-sun-sunny day, lalalalala,
Sun-sun-sunny day, yes sir!
Look outside and what do you see?
The sun is shining down on me.
Sun-sun-sunny day, lalalalala,
Sun-sun-sunny day!
I hope your Friday is shaping up to be as beautiful as mine promises to be. Thank you so much for sharing part of it with me!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
To tell you the truth, I’m a little bummed that Earth Day falls over Spring Break this year, because I always enjoy singing earth-related songs with my students and watching them go outside and plant trees on this day. But it’s currently raining cats and dogs, so I doubt there would be much planting going on anyway.
So Sadie and I are having our own little Earth Day celebration at home right now, as I’ve been going through some fun YouTube videos to share while she watches over my shoulder :) Here are a few worth checking out on this day.
- Heal The World: I know this Michael Jackson song is a little cheesy, but I still love it. When I was in elementary school, we put on a musical called Gonna Have an Earth Day, and this was the closing song. It gives me the warm and fuzzies when I listen to it, exactly 20 years later.
- The Three R’s: Jack Johnson reminds us to “reduce, reuse, recycle” in this great song, which is one that I love to sing with my students.
- Good Green Earth: This is one of my highest-viewed YouTube videos, and it features the song “Good Green Earth” by James K. I think this is my #1 favorite Earth Day tune.
- Recycle With Me: The list would NOT be complete without a song from Bobs & LoLo, one of my favorite children’s singer/songwriter duos. “Recycle With Me” is not only fun to sing, but also very educational.
Oh, and here’s a cool fact about Earth Day for you. One of my wonderful sponsors, Susan Seale of Make Me Musical, recently wrote a blog post in which she shares that her husband, Nigel Seale, is actually the founder of Earth Day Canada. He also served as the global chairman of Earth Day in 1991 and 1992. How cool is that?!
Happy Earth Day to each and every one of you. How will you celebrate and do your part to make the Earth a better place?
by Rachel | Uncategorized
I’m a list person, but quite equally a digital junkie. That’s why I’m always searching for new ways to keep track of my to-dos, as much as I love the good old pen and paper route.
Last fall, I stumbled upon and fell in love with Lino It. I used it for a long time, but recently got the itch to try something new. I remembered reading about Evernote a while back, so I downloaded it to the desktops of both my Macbook Pro at home and my Macbook at school, in addition to the app for my iPhone.
So far, I’m totally digging it! Evernote works similarly to Dropbox (another Friday Fave), in that whatever you save to it on one device will be synced to every device on which you have Evernote installed. So if I write a to-do list on my school computer, I can access it later on my iPhone or at home.
Not only can you make lists, but you can also clip links, pictures, and even full screenshots to Evernote. This is super convenient when I come across a blog post or a tutorial that I want to have readily available in the future. You can search your Evernote account for the item that you’re looking for, and organize items into different folders depending on topic.
I think I’ll stick with Evernote for a while…at least, until I discover the next coolest app for staying on top of my crazy-busy life. Have you tried it, or do you favor another method?
by Rachel | Uncategorized
There are a few people on the internet who I look up to immensely. Chris Guillebeau is one of them, which I’ve mentioned here before. All of my music therapy blogger friends fall into that category, as well. But before I discovered Chris, or met any of those music therapists, there was Hugh MacLeod.
Back in 2008, just prior to starting Listen & Learn, I came across an article on the internet called How To Be Creative. It inspired me so much that I printed it out, and then read it over and over again. I didn’t pay much attention to who wrote it, or where it came from, until I stumbled upon a book called Ignore Everybody at Barnes & Noble a year and a half later.
The best-selling book was based on that article, and the author was Hugh MacLeod, whose blog contains tons of other great articles and cartoons about marketing, social media, and being creative. Needless to say, I subscribed to his daily cartoon newsletter and added his blog to my Google Reader immediately.
Hugh’s latest book is called Evil Plans, a term which he defines as “a crazy, out-there idea that allows you to ACTUALLY start doing something you love, doing something that matters.” This is a book you open at 11 pm, tell yourself you’ll read one chapter before bed, and then before you know it, you’ve read five and don’t want to put it down. It’s inspiring, funny, and brutally honest.
Hugh says that everyone should have an evil plan. What’s yours?
(And yes…I have one. A few, actually. I promise I’ll spill the beans soon!)
by Rachel | Uncategorized
I had the pleasure of spending Wednesday morning with a great group of middle school students (I’m the non-student wearing stripes in the middle) from Lincoln Magnet School. They contacted me last month about interviewing me for a project in their video journalism class, and of course I said yes!
These kids were pros, let me tell you. I had reserved the board room at The Hope Institute for our interview, and as soon as we walked into the room, they began discussing the best placement for their video camera and me as the interview subject. They had already sent me a list of questions, so I looked over those as they finished setting up.
This was just page one of the excellent questions they had for me. It was interesting to listen to their reactions as I explained what music therapy is all about, and how my students benefit from it. They came up with some fabulous on-the-spot questions, as well.
After the interview was over, I took the students and their guidance counselor (who I had as a teacher when I was in middle school!) on a tour of the building. They had the chance to meet some of my students, chat with my principal, see lots of cool aspects of our facility, and get an idea of all the kinds of services an organization like Hope has to offer.
The students will be editing their video into a short piece that will be shown at their class’s end-of-the-year movie screening, and I can’t wait to see the final product. Not only was this a fun opportunity for me, but it’s one more way to get the word out about music therapy in my community.
