I am going to be completely open and honest with you. I’ve been feeling a little anxious lately. Okay, a lot… My head seems to be constantly spinning. I told my husband the other day that I want to help teachers get through this, but my head “noise” won’t stop and I’m having a real hard time focusing on just one thing at time. When that happens, it is really easy for me to completely shut down because where am I to begin? I am trying my best to keep up in replying to all the messages that I’m getting but it has been overwhelming so the focus had to be done and here we are. 

Yesterday I shared some free resources. If you missed that post, I hope you go back and grab all those resources. And most of all, I hope it helps you and your students during this time. Before that, I shared a post and video where I show you behind the scenes of a few video lessons. Sometimes internet is not available or good enough for online, so video lessons is the next best option. 

I’m hoping this post will end up being “old” news one day, soon. But for now I’ve been anxious to get it out and in the hands of all teachers who are needing to transition all the sudden to online teaching because of COVID-19. In this music teacher tip I share my easy online lesson set up. I also share one of my biggest yet so simple and VERY effective tip when it comes to using Zoom. I hope that tip alone, helps ease some of your head spinning.

This time in our lives have been very interesting. I tend to be a people watcher, and I’ve seen a lot of verydisappointingg things in people who are mostly acting out of fear. But I have also seen a lot of good. Thankfully, with teachers in particular, I’ve seen A LOT of good. I hope we can focus on the good and be a part of that good. Breathe. (I have to remind myself of this all the time) Let’s all be kind to one another! 

***It is important to note, the share camera feature that I show you will not work mobile device to mobile device. It has to be laptop (or desktop) to mobile device. The work around is to log in as a separate user on your mobile device inside the same meeting. If you do this, keep in mind that your “meeting” will now be a group meeting and will be limited to 40 min on the free plan.

Equipment you will see in this video:

• Boom Mic Stand (If you don’t already have one, like I did I would recommend just getting a goose neck stand like this one for your phone)
• MacBook
• iPads
• Long lightning cable
• Manos Mount– This is the iPad mount that I have. It can attach to mic stand.
• USB Condenser Mic– This is the USB mic that I have but I don’t think they sell it anymore. They do sell a “candy apple” version of it here. Regardless you can at least see what it is so you know what you are looking for.
• USB-C to USB connector (this is what I have) You will only need it if you have a MacBook that doesn’t have a USB port.
• Mobile Laptop Desk– I love this because I can raise it to the highest setting. I stand when I teach so it works perfectly for that and for online lessons. 
• Platform I prefer to use is Zoom.com 

*Affiliate links included

*UPDATE! Tonara is no longer available. I now use PracticeSpace which is very similar to Tonara but has even more features you will enjoy! Save 50% your first two months after the free trial when you use the code: foxx50. Check out PracticeSpace here. (affiliate link)

I recently opened up my online and video lesson checklist for everyone to download for free. You can acccess it below. When you get to the course information, scroll down to course curriculum. Under resources you will find a free checklist download.