Upcoming Events and Learning New Things

I am going to be gone from my computer most of this and next week, so do not be alarmed if blog posts become a bit less regular. My life now includes a memorial service for a cousin who died in July as well as time with her family and with my mother's family. We all decided to sacrifice our paid time off to head back to their homes to see them. We will be living in hotels and masking as much as necessary, so it should be a strange visit, but also it will be a good one.

I have not taken this much time away from work without being sick in all the time I have worked at my facility. (At least, I don't think so...) For the first time ever, I have the tools that I need to provide digital resources to my clients while I am gone, so I am working on using my resources to provide alternative session options to just using the sub plan materials that I always have available for kids to use. I hope that my students will enjoy the information that I put together on different jobs and that teachers will use the digital files to take up some of their time in the music therapy room.

I enjoy the process of putting together these sorts of resources. I always have found music-enhanced education to be a passion of mine, and it is nice to finally have an opportunity to have the technology and time to develop these sorts of semi-interactive files. I am making this type of interaction my focus for this year, - developing digital resources that supplement music therapy concepts and ideas - and I am learning more than I thought I would ever need to know.

The best thing about making these sorts of digital files is that they are meant only for use with my clients - not for distribution or sale. This means that I have the ability to coordinate resources from other creators for my students to enjoy without having to worry as much about copyrights. I am using original sources for all of the music and the activities are covered under educational use policies. Everything is a link. There are links to songs, to games, to instructional videos, and I have made copies of worksheets and games and crossword puzzles and word searches. There should be plenty of things for my students to do while I am gone. 

The one thing that I have to worry about is whether my co-workers are going to do what needs to be done for my intern. Interns tend to get used in ways that they are not supposed to be used when I am absent - particularly, as substitutes for me. I will send out the expectations for folks, but I cannot force them to read the expectations. That is not something I can worry about though. I have given her all the information that she needs, and that is all I can do. The rest is up to my co-workers and how they work with my students.

I am finishing up the last things that I have to do here at home before heading out into the world of driving a different path than I have ever been before. I thought it would take longer to get to the east coast than it does. I am looking forward to the drive on the interstate system going through many different states. Hotels are confirmed, timings are working out well, and there should be very little ruffles on this trip. Keep your fingers crossed, okay??

All of this just to say that I will not be posting as regularly as I strive to do usually due to other circumstances.