Songbird Studio

Today I'm sharing a quick and easy idea using this foam puzzle from Dollar Tree. Just glancing at it, I see at least 3 of the most obvious ways we can use this in a session: 1) Identifying transportation icons 2) Identifying colors 3) Fine motor manipulation With a little more thinking, I can also see 2 additional ways to use this puzzle: 4) Counting the pieces 5) Requesting And of course, practically anything can be... 6) A fun choice activity! I'm going to focus on the first idea from the above list, identifying transportation icons. It's true, this puzzle isn't going to win any awards for detail, but the general shape of each icon is recognizable.  Especially for students who have complex voice devices with lots of submenus, this puzzle will provide a fun way to practice accessing menus specific to transportation and/or vehicles. If you'd like, you could use a black sharpie to add some general details, like windows and wheels. (If you make a mistake, no worries, ...

 Today I'm just sharing a quick little Dollar Tree haul--I like to take a spin through once a semester or so and see if anything catches my eye, and this is what caught my eye last week! I'll share specific interventions in the future, but in general, here is what went through my brain with each of these... *bubbles-sensory calm down tool *Elmo rattle/teether toy-shaker instrument *scrunchie-adapted movement prop *foam puzzle-language identification *foam die-counting *not pictured, a pool noodle-cut 'em up for drumsticks What about you, got anything good lately at the DT?

 Hi! It's me again, two weeks in a row (kinda) that's good, right? Today I'm sharing a visual schedule I use. I use this in two ways.        1) On Google Slides, set up with each icon as its own individual icon, and then move each icon to the "Done" section after we complete it.       2) I have another set printed, laminated, and velcro-ed, and I move each icon from the "To Do" to the "Done" section in a similar, but more concrete, fashion, for the students that benefit from that.   Do you do anything similar? I'll talk about what my general session schedule is in more detail later.  If you are interested in downloading your own copy, click here !

 Hi, there. It's been awhile! My job has changed--a lot--and everywhere I go, trying to find ideas or inspiration to re-energize my practice as a school-based music therapist...I'm not finding it!  So I thought I'd share what I do, because that usually motivates me, too, and maybe it will spark something for someone else.  I think sometimes there is a true dearth of resources for music therapists--we tend to feel we have to monetize them--but truly, none of us are rolling in the dough.  So--I just want to share.  Here we go! What is your first big to-do for your school year? For me, there's a few things: *create a schedule *complete assigned trainings *attend start-up meetings *update data sheets *complete transfer reports *prep August cart So far, I've gotten my meetings and trainings all scheduled, updated my data sheets, and have put a couple of feelers out for scheduling, but the rest of the nitty gritty will kick in soon!  What are you doing this time ...

At my previous placement, I never got to teach summer school, but I would prepare a few "substitute" music sessions that teachers could easily do in their classrooms so students still got some music time!  I created PowerPoints, using YouTube videos and self-recorded videos, as well.  Then I boxed up all their needed supplies and sent them the PowerPoints on Google drive.  It worked so well!  Here is one, simple, very straightforward example. :)  (BTW, I've never had luck viewing the videos in Google Slides, you will probably have to download, then watch.  LMK!) Click here to check it out!

My littlest kiddos came in after a rambunctious round of PE outside that had been punctuated by a lot of larger students also outside--who were out of control and interfering with their group.  As a result, my littles were escalated and upset and out of sorts when they came to me.  So my emergency calming protocol kicked in. Every class includes our hello song, a movement activity, an instrumental play activity, and a boo k , capped by a goodbye song.  Today we still included all those components, but changed them up a little. First we dimmed the lights.  I have 3 rows of lights, and I turned off 2. Next, I began fingerpicking on guitar, using the chords for our hello song. Once everyone was seated and settled, we began our hello song intervention, but I shortened our greeting practice, decreasing demands but increasing support in order to improve emotional regulation. We did some gentle movement imitation, using scarves to this relaxing AniMusic video ....