Getting to Know You Blog Hop

If you and I were in the same room, we could talk for hours about music, education, families, kids, and lots more.  It happens to me regularly...I'm late to something because I was talking to someone for too long!  BUT.  There always seems to be a catch.  I seem to have more trouble being chatty in print.  While I have lots to share, this blog has been a challenge for me.  Perhaps if we get to know each other a little better, and create conversations rather than one-sided posts, it will feel more like a personal conversation than a writing assignment!  

In an effort to create more of a community feel, several music blogger friends and I have joined together for a blog hop. We've teamed together in order to collaborate as bloggers and bring you music education ideas using a variety of methodologies and approaches. However, before diving into music education topics, we thought it would be fun to get to know each other and our audiences through a blog hop!

How will this blog hop benefit you?

#1.  Getting to Know You
We want a chance to get to know you! Understanding our current and past experiences helps us to form stronger professional learning communities, and we'd love for you to be a part of it!


Now, it's question time!  I'll go first.

What state/region are you in?  

I am living in South Carolina, in the largest town that I have ever lived in!  I grew up in the small town, Mustang, Oklahoma, so I am an Okie at heart.  Each time my family moved, the towns got bigger and bigger.  Now, Columbia is still much smaller than Oklahoma City or Atlanta or LA,  but I have to drive on the interstate to get to work each day, and there is TRAFFIC!


What is your background education/experience?

I was a band kid growing up. I played flute, then switched to French horn my junior year in high school. That year was full of changes for me. My family had just moved halfway across the country and I was now a part of a state champion band.  I caught the serious music bug! My family moved again my senior year, back to Oklahoma. A college band director came to work with our high school band. That was when I first considered the possibility of majoring in music. I was definitely a late bloomer!

I completed my undergrad at Oklahoma State University with some great professors. Prof Montemurro (that band director I had met in high school), Mr. Henry, and Dr. Carter to name a few. I always felt that I had been very prepared for teaching.  I still had beginning teacher struggles, but I knew what to expect. I am very thankful that OSU accepted me into their program and helped me to grow.

Over the years I have taught middle school and high school band, elementary band and strings, children's and adult church choir and handbell choirs. I finally settled in to elementary general music when my own children were in elementary, loved it and stayed. 

The cool thing about music is that you can study for years and still have more to learn. In this quest for more knowledge, better skills and just plain music fun, have completed Orff level 1, GIML Elementary General level 1, GIML Early Childhood level 1, and GIML Instrumental level 1. FINALLY, in May I earned my masters degree in music education from the University of South Carolina, studying with the awesome Dr. Wendy Valerio.

Name something quirky about yourself or one interesting fact.

I like to read and make crafty things, but I am a techy at heart.  My daughter once told me, "Mom, you know you are a geek when you have a technology section in your purse."  While I have taken a few classes, I am mostly self-taught.  My motto is "Just keep clicking until something happens!" Because I have been doing that for a long time, I have skills in a variety of areas and always love learning a new techy trick.  Even with all of those techy skills, I just traded in my flip phone for my first smartphone in April.  

It's time for the next stop, but before you leave, please join in the conversation!  The next question is for you.  Be sure to answer in the comments section! 

Name something quirky about yourself or one interesting fact.

After you've commented with your answer, simply click on the image below to go to the next stop in the blog hop!

#2.  Giveaway






After you're finished with the hop, you can enter a giveaway for your chance to win tons of teacher goodies that are sure to make you smile! Simply leave a comment on this post with an answer to the highlighted question at the bottom of this post. Then, do the same at each blog hop stop. When you reach the end of the blog hop, you'll be able to enter the giveaway for your chance to win!







The winner will receive some paper goodies to stay organized, an inspirational quote block for your desk along with a book that is sure to keep you laughing till your spring concerts; complete with very sweet, but very wrong test answers from students, and some practical items such as hand sanitizer and a glass jar to store your pencils.

So, don't forget to answer the highlighted question at the bottom of this post before hopping to the next blog!

*This giveaway has ended.*