Culturally Responsive Music classroom

Actualmente estamos viviendo tiempos de muchas tensiones raciales. Durante estos tiempos la humanidad tiende a prestar atención a algunos aspectos de la sociedad que requieren atención. Se requiere que exista un cambio en la sociedad para que las comunidades puedan seguir creciendo.  Es importante crear un lugar para que sucedan todos los tipos de conversación necesarias. Yo tiendo a usar las redes sociales para ventilar y espacios como este para contribuir productivamente a la conversación. La idea principal detrás de este espacio es documentar mis experiencias como educadora musical de escuela primaria, a medida que exploro y me perfecciono en prácticas culturalmente receptivas e inclusivas, con la esperanza de crear un ambiente para mis estudiantes donde todos puedan sentirse representados, reconocidos y valorados. Como reacción a la narrativa actual, muchos colegas están hablando de compartir literatura con nuestros estudiantes que representen a las comunidad de color de manera...

We are currently living very stressful times. I find that during these times humanity tends to pay attention to some aspects of society needing intervention. Societal change is necessary before communities can continue to grow. There needs to be a place for all types of conversations to happen. I tend to use social media for venting and spaces like this to contribute productively to the conversation. The main idea behind this space is to document my journey as an elementary music teacher, as I explore and better myself in culturally responsive practices, in hopes to create an environment for my students where they can all feel represented, acknowledged, and valued. As a reaction to the current narrative, many colleagues are talking about sharing literature with our students that represent black and brown people in a positive light. Some started documents to add their title suggestions and that reminded me of one that I started a couple of years ago. I LOVE LISTS! It is important for ou...

Hace un tiempo que vengo pensando en escribir un blog sobre educación musical, pero no podía decidir sobre qué escribir. Ya existen muchas opciones excelentes donde educadores musicales pueden encontrar buenas ideas para avivar su práctica como educadores musicales. Así que, lo que yo espero con este blog es crear un espacio donde podamos hablar sobre prácticas culturalmente receptivas en el salón musical y compartir ideas de lecciones musicales y repertorio coral infantil que promuevan una visión cultural inclusiva. Me encantaría comenzar con una historia de cómo yo llegué a este espacio en mi carrera educativa. Quizás es el sentimiento de extranjera que cargo conmigo, mientras navego mi tan hospitalario país huésped, que aumenta mi habilidad para apreciar toda la diversidad que existe a mi alrededor o quizás a mi siempre me ha atraído la idea de aprender sobre culturas diferentes a la mía. Una de las experiencias que más disfruto es el caminar por las calles de una ciudad populosa y ...

I’ve been wanting to start a music education blog for a long time now. I just couldn’t decide what I wanted to say. There are many excellent options out there, where teachers can find really great ideas to infuse their music teaching practices. So my hope for this space is to start a conversation about culturally responsive practices in the music classroom and to share music lessons and children choir repertoire ideas that are culturally inclusive. I would like to start with a little background into what brought me here. Perhaps the foreign sentiment that I carry with me, as I navigate my welcoming host country, heightens my senses to all the diversity around me; or maybe I have always been drawn to learn about different cultures. One of my favorite things to experience is to walk through a highly populated, diverse city and listen to all of the different languages spoken around me all at once. All of these and my passion for music education has led me to believe that music is one of t...

I'm a general music educator, choir director/singer, and clinician. A native of the Dominican Republic currently living in Colorado, I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, the first University in the American Continent, and a Master's Degree in Music Education with an emphasis on choral music from the University of Northern Colorado. Currently, I am the general music teacher at the Escuela Bilingüe Pioneer in Lafayette, Colorado, and the children and youth choir director at First Congregational Church of Greeley, Colorado. As a K-5 music educator, she believes music is a very effective way to learn about cultures. She is passionate about the importance of increasing diversity and representation in music education, in ways that are culturally responsive, fun, meaningful, and inclusive in order to embrace each other with respect, tolerance, and a sense of belonging. I have presented clinics and reading sessions...