Erzsie Music Ed Research & Advocacy

Honoring the rhythm children bring to the classroom. Bridging research to best practices

  • The Impact of Music Education on Cultural Awareness

    Music serves as a powerful medium to connect with emotions. On Thursday, I snuck into another music classroom as they were finishing their last ten minutes. The teacher asked the children to sit down and then pushed play on a YouTube video called “No Mirrors in My Nana’s House”, written by Ysaye Maria Barnwell, illustrated… Read.

  • Two Music Classes

    I was fortunate to observe two separate music classes in my capacity as a para-educator. One music teacher, I had observed before; the other, I had not. The students taught by the familiar music teacher practiced playing drums. The music teacher wasn’t specific about the types of drums the children played. He simply referred to… Read.

  • Blooket in Blended Learning

    As a para-educator, I’m constantly introduced to new teaching methods. One such method involves the software, Blooket. I won’t give an incredibly detailed explanation of the software as Luke Edwards does quite a qualitative job in his tech learning article. I will add that the software works for multiple subjects including math, ELA, science, and… Read.

  • SmartMusic: A Review of the Research

    In one of my current assignments, I am looking at different learning analytics platforms that can be used in English Language Arts or Music. This is one promising music learning analytics software that I found. And, here is the research I discovered! Many music teachers in the United States use SmartMusic, or Make Music Cloud.… Read.

  • Lexia Core5 Reading: A review of the research

    I stumbled upon this Lexia program in my work as a para-educator. The students love it. It’s a simple learning analytics platform that introduces students to various concepts in reading – phonological awareness, Rapid Automatized Naming, and reading comprehension to name a few. And it works with blended learning where the students receive instruction from… Read.

  • Educational Software

    In my next several blogs, I will be discussing the various educational software programs available for the K12 classroom. The majority of this software is designed for ELA or music, but some incorporate other subjects. I look forward to engaging with my readers on their thoughts of these programs, and I am happy to answer… Read.

  • Working as a Para-Reserve

    Last week, I began work as a para-reserve. Some may be familiar with the term, para-educator. In my case, I’m a permanent sub, working as a contractor and on-call every day in the Lake Washington School District. While I won’t be sharing all the time about this job, I thought it would be important to… Read.

  • Learning Analytics Projects

    I have started a new class at National University this week, and it’s the start of a development of a learning analytics project. Week one is the beginning where I look at three potential projects: Read.

  • Blessed with Wonderful Music Instructors: Dr. Doreen Ketchens

    It was a by-chance viewing of Doreen’s busking “House of the Rising Sun” that first caught my attention, and I needed to learn more! While she asserts she typically doesn’t do many interviews, Doreen, aka Lady Louis, was excited to answer my questions about early childhood music education, and I’m glad she did! Doreen grew… Read.

  • Queer with an Ear for Music: Matt Dela Cruz

    How common is it to see a queer actor or musician? Some might say very common. Others have no idea. And, there are those who complain it is too common of an occurrence. The fact is that queer artists are emerging as a solid force in the music industry. Queer musicians, actors, and educators are… Read.