Singable Stories for Snowy Days

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frosty-snowman-bookFrosty is a popular guy around this time of year, having his own holiday-related song and all.  But did you know that there are several children’s books based on the familiar tune?  I own this one, and it is a staple throughout December.  In fact, I’ve discovered quite a few singable stories that are perfect for the winter months; here are some of my favorites.

snowmen-at-christmas-bookSnowmen at Christmas tells the story of how snowmen spend Christmas (while the people who built them are sleeping, of course).  It’s actually a spin-off of this wintery favorite…

snowmen-at-night-bookSnowmen at Night was introduced to me a few years back by my friend Lisa Casciola (who has pointed me to countless wonderful resources!) and I have included it in my rotation ever since.

cold-lady-swallowed-snow-bookThere was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow falls into the most-requested series of my personal collection (my other favorite “old lady” stories can be found here and here).

If there is one thing I can’t resist buying, it’s a great new children’s book to add to my collection.  My husband can always tell when I’ve gone on an Amazon shopping spree…the big brown box and guilty look on my face are tell-tale signs.  But I always stand by my purchases, because I know how much my students will enjoy them!

Now it’s time for you to chime in: what are your (and your little ones’) favorite singable stories for this time of year?

8 Christmas Albums I Think You’ll Dig

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8-great-christmas-albumsThere are few things I enjoy more than a good Christmas album during the holidays.  I’m one of those people that feels it is completely appropriate to break them out at the beginning of November, and I’m always reluctant to remove my Christmas playlist from my iPod come January.

When it comes to holiday music, I don’t discriminate: I’m happy just to listen to the Christmas radio station.  But of course I do have my favorites, which I’m so excited to share with you today.

So on this December 8th, here are my 8 favorite Christmas albums…which I hope you’ll like just as much as I do.  I’ve ordered them according to how long I’ve been listening to them (starting just as recently as last month) and linked each to the Amazon mp3 album download.

  1. Glee: The Christmas Album I’m a total Gleek, so when I got wind of this album in November, I immediately pre-ordered it.  The songs are super-fun, especially since all of these familiar tunes have been given the unique Glee treatment.  My favorite is “Deck the Rooftop” — a mash-up of “Deck the Halls” and “Up on a Housetop”.
  2. Wilson Phillips: Christmas in Harmony If you grew up listening to this female trio back in the early 90s like I did, you should immediately download this album.  Their sound is still gorgeous 20 years later, especially on Christmas songs like “Little Drummer Boy”.
  3. Martina McBride: White Christmas Even if you aren’t a fan of country music, it’s hard not to be enamored with Martina’s voice.  Out of the 16 traditional tunes on this albums, I could listen to her versions of “White Christmas” and “O Holy Night” all day long.
  4. James Taylor: At Christmas There’s not a James Taylor song I don’t love.  But this is by far my favorite album of his, and it still would be even if his poignant rendition of “In the Bleak Midwinter” was the only song on it.
  5. Kristen Chenoweth: A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas Kristen’s voice definitely ranks up their amongst my favorite ever — it’s incredibly versatile.  A couple of the songs are originals, while others (like “Sing”) are familiar and happy surprises.
  6. Bette Midler: Cool Yule For me, this is the quintessential “fun” Christmas album.  I started to list a few of my favorite tracks just now, but then I realized I would be listing nearly all of them.  So just take my word for it and check this one out, starting with the title song.
  7. Christmas With the Rat Pack I grew up listening to the Rat Pack, thanks to my dad.  Does it get any better than Frank, Dean and Sammy singing holiday songs like “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” and “Marshmallow World” in their usual charming ways?  The best part about this album is that there are 21 tracks (and not a bad one in the bunch).
  8. The Carpenters: Christmas Portrait It’s not Christmas for me until I’ve heard Karen Carpenter sing “The Christmas Waltz” and “Merry Christmas, Darling”.  This has been a staple in my CD player (and iPod now, of course) since I was a child, and is still the most-played Christmas album I own.

There are many more Christmas albums in my rotation, but if I was stranded on the North Pole (or maybe just at the airport) and could only take 8 with me, these would be it.  I hope I’ve introduced you to some potential new favorites!  Oh, and let’s keep this list going…which Christmas albums do YOU dig?

Conference Week is Here!

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Music Therapy Presentation Download

Before I go to Cleveland for the AMTA national conference, I’m headed to the suburbs of Chicago where I’ll be presenting at the 2010 Conference on Best Practices for Nonpublic Special Education Programs.  Now say that 10 times fast :)

This will be my second year in a row attending and presenting at this conference, and I’m very excited to be returning.  Last year, I had a full room of educators and administrators who were more than happy to participate and ask questions; I’m hoping for a similar experience this afternoon.

Interested in what I’ll be talking about in my presentation?  Click below for a PDF version of my PowerPoint.

Download: Music Therapy for Learning & Achieving

I’ll also be posting materials from my presentation at the AMTA conference, so be sure to come back again for those. It’s going to be an exciting, challenging, exhausting, and wonderful week of music therapy — here we go!

Music Therapy Across the Globe

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I’ve been practicing music therapy for almost four years now, yet I still consider myself to be a relatively new professional.  That’s why I get a little caught off-guard when I receive emails asking for advice and guidance…not that I don’t feel qualified to answer most of them :)  It’s just that there are so many music therapists out there who have accomplished SO many amazing things and remind me just how much I have left to accomplish.

One such individual is Dr. Petra Kern, who is currently serving as President of the World Federation of Music Therapy.  I’ve had the good fortune to become acquainted with Petra through Imagine, the first early childhood online magazine sponsored by the American Music Therapy Association.  Petra is the editor and invited me to submit materials for the inaugural issue, which came out back in September.  Since then, I’ve become more familiar with Petra’s work as a clinician, researcher, and educator.

Petra offers mentoring, playground consulting, project guidance, music therapy courses, and clinical jewels on her newly updated website, Music Therapy Consulting.  The coolest part is that thanks to various modes of technology, Petra is able to offer her consulting services across the globe.

I can’t wait to meet this amazing woman in person at AMTA Conference next week.  Get the full scoop on Petra’s work on her website.

Friday Fave: Sticky Productivity

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online-sticky-notes

My favorite method of staying organized and on top of my life is making lists.  But sometimes it’s just so much more convenient to scribble a note on a sticky pad and stick it somewhere I know I’ll see it later…like on my computer.  I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that my computer screen at work looked nearly identical to the one pictured above, with just a little more visible screen space, until I discovered the online resource I’m going to share with you today.

Lino It provides a virtual blank canvas to which you stick post-it type notes — simple as that.  You can color code the notes, like I do for different areas of my life:

online sticky notes 2

That’s a snapshot of part of my current to-do canvas.  When I complete a task, I simply click the little checkmark and the sticky is “peeled” off.  It’s much more satisfying to see a sticky disappear than it is to cross an item off of a paper list :)  I set Lino It as my homepage so that each time I open my browser, the first thing I see is my to-do canvas.  Let me tell you…it is quite effective!

Another cool thing about Lino It?  Not only can you post sticky notes, but you can also post pictures, videos, and documents right to your canvas.  I have another canvas that I use as an inspiration board; I post my goals, pictures that motivate me, and anything else that boosts my happiness level just by glancing at it.  I look at my inspiration board throughout the day and add new items all the time.

This “Friday Fave” isn’t music-related, but hey, everyone needs to stay organized!  Have you tried Lino It or another online tool to boost your productivity?