Erzsie MERA

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

Category: Uncategorized

  • PTSD and cPTSD

    I know I usually post about the latest and greatest in music and ELA education, but I came across this article, and it was too important not to share. I was diagnosed with complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (cPTSD) many years ago, and it’s often misunderstood. People talk about triggers, but they don’t understand that these… Read.

  • Music Education Is good for Verbal Skills, Too!

    I’ve often talked about how music affects literacy skills. Today, I want to mention briefly how music can help verbal skills. I work as a para-educator, and daily, I work with students who are autistic or who have ADHD. So many times, I watch them dance and spin around to their own music in their… Read.

  • 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.