Guitars and Ukes In The Classroom

10/05/2026

There are just 1 spot left for our free music leadership in workshop on October 24th at the San Diego County Office of Education. If you've been waiting for something to change in your calendar, please sign up while you can! Returning teachers, you get the first 90 minutes to align music with the Teaching Pyramid model, establishing a welcoming environment, building nurturing relationships, guiding children through routines and transitions without stress, and instilling positive self esteem and agency with help from the power of song and the benefits of making music. We're looking forward to seeing you!

MAAC Head Start California Head Start City of San Diego San Diego ART Matters Arts + Culture: San Diego California Teachers Association San Diego Foundation First 5 San Diego NAMM Foundation

10/04/2026

This weekend, the California Teachers Association 's Special Education Conference has brought educators from across the state together to learn. Julia Capper and I offered the GITC workshop, "Teaching Inclusively with Music So All Learners Shine."

Half of the attendees were special educators wanting to incorporate music for their students who do not have equitable access to music at school. The other half were general classroom teachers wanting to learn more inclusive strategies, and to make music. Three quarters of the people in our circle had no prior experience making music.

Within 15 minutes, everybody was on beat, playing body percussion, adaptive shaker eggs, and kazoos. FUN! A half hour in, everyone was singing and strumming ukuleles and sounding incredible. 🎶 We focused on songs for social emotional learning, Using auditory cues to help students focus and make transitions, and songwriting to give students positive, memorable cues and instructions for getting through transitions smoothly.

Group participation in discussions was outstanding.👏👏👏 We're excited to see where these teachers take the music next! Thank you, CTA For making musical learning a part of this conference every year!
~Jess

10/02/2026

Local friends, going to see Bonnie Raitt at The Rady Shell on Saturday, 10/17? Come by our table to say hello and catch up! We are grateful to Bonnie for her support of local nonprofits wherever she is on tour. She and her team have often invited us to table (meet the public and share our mission and work in the community) when she is in San Diego, and her fans are the warmest, most authentic, enthusiastic, music lovers! Lots of teachers are Bonnie fans. Thank you, Bonnie and your Aria Foundation for encouraging and supporting musical access for San Diego students and educators!

Guitar Player Magazine Bonnie Raitt Vintage Guitars

Bonnie Raitt is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist whose unique style blends blues, R&B, rock and pop. After 20 years as a cult favorite, she broke through to the top in the early 90s with her Grammy Award-winning albums, Nick of Time and Luck of the Draw, which featured hits “Something to Talk A...

10/01/2026

Teachers, how is your ukulele wall coming together? TK educator Michelle Hamand at North Terrace Elementary in Oceanside raised funds to get an uke for every child, and her dream came true! Now her littles can learn to strum and " sing a rainbow, too." Congratulations, Michelle, and thanks for sharing!

Listenn:
https://youtu.be/mXtpjBzPMeY?feature=shared

Michelle Hamand San Diego ART Matters Ukulele Lovers NAMM Foundation San Diego Foundation

09/29/2026

Suzie Collier has expressed so delicately and definitely, here, the true understanding that underlies tranformational teaching. She understands the art of teaching as an act of humility, humanity, genuine caring, and curiosity delivered through gentle attention, and responsive sopport. We couldn't agree more. Thank you, Suzie.

09/28/2026

https://www.youtube.com/live/nKhDPGhsEgU?is=j9lQQEisCFfbImwC

New EP's The Light Within (Acoustic) and Shadows on the Soul (Elect...

09/28/2026

Hey Friends, please watch this fantastic, uplifting video, Just eeleased from the Dr. Seuss Foundation and you'll feel like you were there at Talk, Read, Sing! Some of you WERE. It definitely felt like Dolly Parton was definitely there in spirit. 💗📖🎶🥳🌈.