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Our MissionGuitars in the Classroom is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing musical access for all children and expanding the role of music in public education. We offer professional development for music, special education and general classroom teachers with additional classroom coaching, and teaching artist residencies for Pk-6 educators and their students. Our work in Title 1 schools trains, inspires, supplies and empowers educators to teach literacy and all subjects through the power of song and the joy of making music everyday.
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Our Services: Teacher Education, Classroom Artistry & Instruments Galore!
WE TRAIN TEACHERS TO SING, PLAY, WRITE, TEACH & LEAD STUDENTS IN SONGS FOR LITERACY & LEARNING!
Guitars and Ukes in the Classroom trains teachers to make, lead and create music that supports academic, social and emotional learning throughout the school day. We supply them with leadership instruments and tools. Together, they develop effective and creative ways to integrate music into lessons for literacy and all subjects across the elementary curriculum. This includes adapting music instruction for students with mild to severe special needs as well as students with every learning style.
By training the teachers to sing, write songs for learning and begin playing ukulele or guitar, we prepare them to infuse lessons with music across the curriculum. Over time, they pass these skills on to their students! The children begin strumming, singing and writing their own songs together on academic topics and this boosts their communication and literacy skills as well as cross-curricular learning. Before long the students are working together to compose lyrics about their lesson content using rich vocabulary and important musical concepts and dynamics. The GITC approach also helps students express their feelings and build emotional awareness and social skills, too. GITC's formula for success blends listening, speaking, moving, singing, strumming, writing and performing so all students become completely engaged in a vibrant learning process.
IT'S NOT ENOUGH TO OFFER TRAINING...TEACHERS NEED TOOLS, TOO!
With help from contributors and sponsors, GITC endeavors to place instruments in their hands along with resources to acquire more so that each student can learn to strum and sing at school. Teachers are not asked to pay this, ever. Through this free, inclusive approach, every student in participating classrooms learns to make music with their teacher.
By training the teachers to sing, write songs for learning and begin playing ukulele or guitar, we prepare them to infuse lessons with music across the curriculum. Over time, they pass these skills on to their students! The children begin strumming, singing and writing their own songs together on academic topics and this boosts their communication and literacy skills as well as cross-curricular learning. Before long the students are working together to compose lyrics about their lesson content using rich vocabulary and important musical concepts and dynamics. The GITC approach also helps students express their feelings and build emotional awareness and social skills, too. GITC's formula for success blends listening, speaking, moving, singing, strumming, writing and performing so all students become completely engaged in a vibrant learning process.
IT'S NOT ENOUGH TO OFFER TRAINING...TEACHERS NEED TOOLS, TOO!
With help from contributors and sponsors, GITC endeavors to place instruments in their hands along with resources to acquire more so that each student can learn to strum and sing at school. Teachers are not asked to pay this, ever. Through this free, inclusive approach, every student in participating classrooms learns to make music with their teacher.
GITC is unique in it's long term approach to training teachers. We know musicality doesn't happen overnight. We welcome teachers to participate in two levels of training each school year and we welcome them back for more levels of training each year for a total of seven in all. They can also repeat any level if they wish. The learning never ends.
MUSICAL PRODUCTS SPONSORS MAKE THE MUSIC POSSIBLE!
Our charity is also unusual because in addition to offering ongoing instruction, we give each teacher their training instruments for free plus special purchase pathways from our sponsors for student instruments and accessories. The curriculum, music resources and coaching come gratis as well. GITC is a comprehensive, supportive system. If you check around, you will find that many non-profits only donate instruments. This can be helpful for a time, but unless a stable program with an inclusive curriculum is in place, instruments may wind up gathering dust. By supporting GITC, you empower us to train and help to supply music educators and regular classroom teachers so the music can thrive!
Some organizations offer teachers a weekend workshop or week-long class once a year and they charge teachers for their services. We choose to take a road less traveled by maintaining free services for educators and specialists. We've learned that almost 60% of GITC teachers can participate because the classes are free for them. Many training organizations require a professional affiliation or credential to enroll. We believe music is for everyone and we train people with no musical experience.
FOUNDATIONS ARE THE WIND BENEATH OUR WINGS
Thanks to charitable donations and grants from education minded and music-centered charities, GITC is able to welcome specialists, classroom aides, classified staff and community volunteers to GITC trainings, too. We have seen how involving everyone makes schools into happier, more creative and successful learning environments. By providing teachers and staff with wonderful tools, free training and responsive curriculum, GITC is transforming school culture. Teachers feel empowered to exercise their expertise and natural creativity in the classroom, the library, on the playground, in the counselor's office, and even in the gym or on the field! It's only because of a caring and generous community that this charity exists. It takes a village to train a village!
Thanks to charitable donations and grants from education minded and music-centered charities, GITC is able to welcome specialists, classroom aides, classified staff and community volunteers to GITC trainings, too. We have seen how involving everyone makes schools into happier, more creative and successful learning environments. By providing teachers and staff with wonderful tools, free training and responsive curriculum, GITC is transforming school culture. Teachers feel empowered to exercise their expertise and natural creativity in the classroom, the library, on the playground, in the counselor's office, and even in the gym or on the field! It's only because of a caring and generous community that this charity exists. It takes a village to train a village!
GITC TEACHES LEADERSHIP
Students in GITC classrooms become enthusiastic music makers when their music educator trains and supports their regular classroom teachers to make singing and strumming a part of daily learning. These teachers who may never have played a note in their lives become fearless music leaders for learning given expert instruction, time, care and encouragement. Students are their biggest fans and tell them everyday that they are rock stars! Through this honest relationship, students discover their own potential to lead the way for friends and family members beyond the classroom.
What is most important is that the kids witness their teachers trying hard and taking creatives risk. Their teachers are demonstrating what it takes to learn and grow, mistakes and all! The teachers admit they are beginners and need some encouragement. The kids step right up.
Students in GITC classrooms become enthusiastic music makers when their music educator trains and supports their regular classroom teachers to make singing and strumming a part of daily learning. These teachers who may never have played a note in their lives become fearless music leaders for learning given expert instruction, time, care and encouragement. Students are their biggest fans and tell them everyday that they are rock stars! Through this honest relationship, students discover their own potential to lead the way for friends and family members beyond the classroom.
What is most important is that the kids witness their teachers trying hard and taking creatives risk. Their teachers are demonstrating what it takes to learn and grow, mistakes and all! The teachers admit they are beginners and need some encouragement. The kids step right up.
TEACHERS MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN SPECIAL EDUCATION, TOO!
These special educators and learning specialists work with students with a wide array of different abilities- from dyslexia and ADHD to congitive impairment, cerbral palsy and autism, their students are experiencing learning through music regularly thanks to their dedication. On summer break, they learned to play and lead the way, adapting music for Sped at our first Adaptive Music for Special Education Conference!
These special educators and learning specialists work with students with a wide array of different abilities- from dyslexia and ADHD to congitive impairment, cerbral palsy and autism, their students are experiencing learning through music regularly thanks to their dedication. On summer break, they learned to play and lead the way, adapting music for Sped at our first Adaptive Music for Special Education Conference!
TEACHERS WITH BIG HEARTS AND EXCEPTIONAL VISION ARE MAKING THE CHANGE!
When teachers agree to be brave beginners with music, this shift tends to change the power dynamic in a profound way. Students realize they have something important to offer. They want very much to matter to their teachers and here, they really do. Students witness their teachers turning stumbling blocks into stepping stones and failing forward with joy to find success. They find they can help by cheering their teachers along and focusing on the positive. Thet absolutely LOVE learning through music and ask for it daily.
With this ongoing teamwork, the teachers model real learning, the grit, the determination, and the joy of achieving hard-earned goals. With such courage, compassion and enthusiasm for making music, GITC helps to instill in the students a lifelong love of learning and music.
Teaching music really boils down to love in action. And you know what we believe... "What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It's the only thing that there's just too little of." Please join us in spreading the goodness and DONATE or VOLUNTEER today!
When teachers agree to be brave beginners with music, this shift tends to change the power dynamic in a profound way. Students realize they have something important to offer. They want very much to matter to their teachers and here, they really do. Students witness their teachers turning stumbling blocks into stepping stones and failing forward with joy to find success. They find they can help by cheering their teachers along and focusing on the positive. Thet absolutely LOVE learning through music and ask for it daily.
With this ongoing teamwork, the teachers model real learning, the grit, the determination, and the joy of achieving hard-earned goals. With such courage, compassion and enthusiasm for making music, GITC helps to instill in the students a lifelong love of learning and music.
Teaching music really boils down to love in action. And you know what we believe... "What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It's the only thing that there's just too little of." Please join us in spreading the goodness and DONATE or VOLUNTEER today!
STUDENTS IN GITC CLASSROOMS DEVELOP STRONGER ACADEMIC SKILLS!
How does GITC impact academic performance? Music is a fine messenger for cognitive skills and academic concepts, processes and facts. First off, singing and songwriting build strong literacy skills. Speaking and listening skills are inherent in writing and singing songs in a group. GITC has trained hundreds of teachers in primary grades to teach Phonological Awareness through Music through specialized workshops. From vocabulary building to effective writing and analytic reasoning, students in 35 states are strumming and singing to learn English Language Arts with GITC! And of course, deeper understanding and rote memorization of any idea tucked into a song lyrics boosts student success on tests. The power of a song to impart ideas is undeniable. Think back to the songs you learned as a child to learn everything from counting and the alphabet to American history!
Songs also bring social studies to life. Songs about history and social movements help students make an more personal, emotional connection to the past rather than just memorizing dates and events.
STEAM EDUCATION THROUGH MUSIC
Science also offers chances to make strong musical connections. STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) education prepares students for jobs that will be available when they graduate from school. Playing guitar or ukukele can make basic math "click" in students' minds as they count beats and learn to compose, notate and play patterns, rhythms and strums.
The physics of sound, the deep math and science of instrument design and construction, the anatomy of hearing, and the applied math of making music are all powerful subjects that GITC teachers can explore. And through songwriting, students are writing lyrics about the scientific process, the life cycle, the water cycle, geology, biology and so much more! This innovative approach using music as a medium for STEAM learning is capturing imaginations from coast to coast.
How does GITC impact academic performance? Music is a fine messenger for cognitive skills and academic concepts, processes and facts. First off, singing and songwriting build strong literacy skills. Speaking and listening skills are inherent in writing and singing songs in a group. GITC has trained hundreds of teachers in primary grades to teach Phonological Awareness through Music through specialized workshops. From vocabulary building to effective writing and analytic reasoning, students in 35 states are strumming and singing to learn English Language Arts with GITC! And of course, deeper understanding and rote memorization of any idea tucked into a song lyrics boosts student success on tests. The power of a song to impart ideas is undeniable. Think back to the songs you learned as a child to learn everything from counting and the alphabet to American history!
Songs also bring social studies to life. Songs about history and social movements help students make an more personal, emotional connection to the past rather than just memorizing dates and events.
STEAM EDUCATION THROUGH MUSIC
Science also offers chances to make strong musical connections. STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) education prepares students for jobs that will be available when they graduate from school. Playing guitar or ukukele can make basic math "click" in students' minds as they count beats and learn to compose, notate and play patterns, rhythms and strums.
The physics of sound, the deep math and science of instrument design and construction, the anatomy of hearing, and the applied math of making music are all powerful subjects that GITC teachers can explore. And through songwriting, students are writing lyrics about the scientific process, the life cycle, the water cycle, geology, biology and so much more! This innovative approach using music as a medium for STEAM learning is capturing imaginations from coast to coast.
HOW DO INTERESTED PEOPLE BRING GITC TO THEIR DISTRICT?
How do GITC programs get started? Foundation grants, charitable donations and sponsorships make new programs possible. With help from you and organizations such as the NAMM Foundation, D'Addario Music Foundation, Martin Guitar Charitable Foundation and the Guitar Center Foundation among others, we can start new programs in regions where they are requested. We search for and secure musical resources and we identify potential trainers to take the reigns of leadership. Then a program can be cultivated.
How do GITC programs get started? Foundation grants, charitable donations and sponsorships make new programs possible. With help from you and organizations such as the NAMM Foundation, D'Addario Music Foundation, Martin Guitar Charitable Foundation and the Guitar Center Foundation among others, we can start new programs in regions where they are requested. We search for and secure musical resources and we identify potential trainers to take the reigns of leadership. Then a program can be cultivated.
When a school district or individual public school asks to host GITC, then interested teachers are invited to voluntarily sign up for a workshop or to enroll in a class that meets each week after school. No musical experience is required. Our methods are quite easy for beginners to learn. Each teacher receives a ukulele to keep and a guitar they can borrow long term. We teach them to sing, play, write and lead songs for learning, and how to facilitate making music with their students. While the teachers gain music and leadership skills, they co-write songs that correspond to their current curriculum and they create musically infused lesson plans.
WHAT DOES A GITC CLASSROOM LOOK LIKE?
When teachers feel able and empowered, their students begin singing with them, playing ukuleles or guitars, writing lyrics for learning, and performing songs together in class. Partner and small group songwriting gives students opportunities to employ verbal and writing skills! They listen to each other, communicate together more effectively, cooperate and collaborate on brainstorming. Then they practice together and refine their song lyrics for learning until the team all agrees the song is ready to share. Finally, students create musical arrangements together, deciding who will play instruments, who will dance and who will sing. Then they perform the songs for each other or other classes, even family members on Back to School nights, arts nights and Family Fridays. These activities and performances help them develop "21st Century Learning Skills" which in turn prepare students to do well as they progress to higher grades and eventually into jobs and careers. Music shapes their lives.
When teachers feel able and empowered, their students begin singing with them, playing ukuleles or guitars, writing lyrics for learning, and performing songs together in class. Partner and small group songwriting gives students opportunities to employ verbal and writing skills! They listen to each other, communicate together more effectively, cooperate and collaborate on brainstorming. Then they practice together and refine their song lyrics for learning until the team all agrees the song is ready to share. Finally, students create musical arrangements together, deciding who will play instruments, who will dance and who will sing. Then they perform the songs for each other or other classes, even family members on Back to School nights, arts nights and Family Fridays. These activities and performances help them develop "21st Century Learning Skills" which in turn prepare students to do well as they progress to higher grades and eventually into jobs and careers. Music shapes their lives.
When teachers feel able and empowered, their students begin singing with them, playing ukuleles or guitars, writing lyrics for learning, and performing songs together in class. The team songwriting gives them to use their oral and written language skills! They communicate, cooperate and collaborate on lyrics and musical arrangements together. These activities build "21st Century Learning Skills" to help prepare them to do well in higher grades and eventually in careers.
SPECIAL EDUCATION MATTERS!
Music reaches every kind of learner and leaves no child out. GITC includes and serves ALL students from the most gifted to the most challenged. Learning through music when taught with student needs in mind can help any child succeed. Kinesthetic learners who think best when they can move around and learn by "doing." Visual spatial thinkers do well reading lyrics, writing symbolic notation and following chord charts. Auditory/verbal learners thrive by chanting and singing. Students with short attention spans find music compelling enough to sustain their focus. Students with autism are motivated by music to express more verbally. Shy students draw confidence through playing and singing with their classmates and begin to step up on their own.
Music reaches every kind of learner and leaves no child out. GITC includes and serves ALL students from the most gifted to the most challenged. Learning through music when taught with student needs in mind can help any child succeed. Kinesthetic learners who think best when they can move around and learn by "doing." Visual spatial thinkers do well reading lyrics, writing symbolic notation and following chord charts. Auditory/verbal learners thrive by chanting and singing. Students with short attention spans find music compelling enough to sustain their focus. Students with autism are motivated by music to express more verbally. Shy students draw confidence through playing and singing with their classmates and begin to step up on their own.
Making music gives every student an exciting way to express and connect, as well as incentive to improve. Students exercise their strengths while strengthening their other learning styles. We are most grateful to the Nordson Foundation for having supported our first conference in July, 2018.
EXCELLENCE THROUGH MUSIC!
From rote memorization to deep understanding, songs make learning sticky and drive test scores UP. Singing before tests helps students center, calm their heart rates and sends oxygen to their busy brains. Test anxiety decreases which means they are free to think without worry. Then students easily remember what they've learned because songs come to mind easily, bringing ideas big and small along with them. Many teachers report hearing their students singing quietly during quizzes and tests!
Learn even more about how GITC is making a difference for teachers and students by visiting our PROGRAMS page. You can also adopt a GITC classroom or fund a special educational initiative if you check our our fundraising campaigns on the DONATE page.
From rote memorization to deep understanding, songs make learning sticky and drive test scores UP. Singing before tests helps students center, calm their heart rates and sends oxygen to their busy brains. Test anxiety decreases which means they are free to think without worry. Then students easily remember what they've learned because songs come to mind easily, bringing ideas big and small along with them. Many teachers report hearing their students singing quietly during quizzes and tests!
Learn even more about how GITC is making a difference for teachers and students by visiting our PROGRAMS page. You can also adopt a GITC classroom or fund a special educational initiative if you check our our fundraising campaigns on the DONATE page.
Many folks ask how our work is funded. GITC services are supported through charitable donations, grants, in-kind musical gifts, corporate giving, and PTOs and schools when possible. Please check our our SPONSORS page to see the companies that have been helping our efforts along! As a non-profit we are committed to offering our training, instruments and supplies free to the teachers. They need and deserve our support and cooperating companies get this.
Almost 60% of GITC teachers feel they can participate because it's offered gratis. 73% have never played an instrument or studied music before and they are unsure of their singing voices. By removing the financial barrier to participation, teachers find they can invest their time and effort without fear of failure. The musical gifts they receive from our donors and business sponsors instill hope and spark their determination to practice and succeed. GITC's unconditional support, easy approach, practical use of music, and our seven sequential levels instruction provide a safe learning community, a sense of purpose and endless resources! Since 2000, over 13,000 teachers have become music makers and song leaders with Guitars in the Classroom. We thank this whole community of passionate individuals and forward thinking organizations for making these accomplishments possible!
SUPPORTING DISTRICTS TO MAKE MORE MUSIC!
Creating Educational Reform is a daunting task. We begin where learning takes place- by meeting with Visual and Performing Arts department leaders, bringing artists and teaching artists into the mix, and working together to serve students and teachers in public school classrooms from coast to coast. Students need and deserve a great public education and everyone truly wants to deliver what our young people need to succeed. GITC provides a practical, positive and trustworthy approach to uniting like-minded decision makers and creators for the good of children, and it works. With that kind of willingness to lift together, our efforts are not diminished by shrinking budgets, large class sizes, complex student needs and ever-changing district policies. Together we can bring the music safely as arts partners, supporting music departments reach more students in innovative ways while making excellent teaching easier to achieve. When everyone is on board, it's possible to improve both teaching and learning outcomes.
Creating Educational Reform is a daunting task. We begin where learning takes place- by meeting with Visual and Performing Arts department leaders, bringing artists and teaching artists into the mix, and working together to serve students and teachers in public school classrooms from coast to coast. Students need and deserve a great public education and everyone truly wants to deliver what our young people need to succeed. GITC provides a practical, positive and trustworthy approach to uniting like-minded decision makers and creators for the good of children, and it works. With that kind of willingness to lift together, our efforts are not diminished by shrinking budgets, large class sizes, complex student needs and ever-changing district policies. Together we can bring the music safely as arts partners, supporting music departments reach more students in innovative ways while making excellent teaching easier to achieve. When everyone is on board, it's possible to improve both teaching and learning outcomes.
We believe that educational changes need to happen right now so we don't lose kids to slow moving federal, state and district politics, budgets and policy discussions. Education will only get better when folks at the top can witness a working solution taking place in the schools. That's where you will find us - inviting principals, superintendents and community leaders to visit GITC classes to experience the energy, excitement and progress! By training highly motivated teachers in groups of 18-24, musical learning reaches about 2000 students at a time. We stand by these teachers over time to help them grow, create and lead.If you multiply this approach over the past 18 years through 34 states and hundreds of schools, you get a snapshot of our impact.
How can GITC services be offered at no charge to teachers? Your gifts make a crucial difference in this regard. GITC is funded by charitable donations, grants, in-kind musical gifts, corporate giving, and schools when possible. As a non-profit we are committed to offering our training, instruments and supplies free to the teachers. They don't get paid enough, many are heads of families too, so in order to learn to make music, they need our support. Almost 60% feel they can participate because there is no charge. 73% have never played an instrument or studied music before and they are unsure of their singing voices. Removing the financial barrier to participation means teachers can invest their time and effort without fear of failure. The musical gifts they receive from our donors and business sponsors instill hope and spark a fierce determination to practice and succeed. We offer seven sequential levels of instruction.
Please "Be the Change" and Donate Today!
When you give a tax-deductible gift to our 501(c)3 public charity, you can request that we utilize your gift in a particular region, or to meet a specific need. We offer special trainings for teachers of students with disabilities; for young students needing support in early literacy skills; for students acquiring English as a second language, and of course for ALL students in the elementary grades. We donate instruments into every program, too. Whether you donate here at our website, or send along an instrument, your effort will be felt in a classroom within days. Please visit our DONATE page to learn more about how you can make a meaningful and lasting difference for students and teachers.
Volunteer!
Each person volunteering with GITC helps make things better in schools right away- in their own way! We have "Angel" jobs for whatever you are good at or into trying. Tuning angels, research angels, video and photography angels, classroom angels, community angels...everyone is welcome. To learn more, please email us and tell us about yourself at serve@guitarsintheclassroom.org!
Know someone who might want to learn to train teachers with GITC? Please refer them to our website made just for Guitars in the Classroom program participants and GITC faculty members here: https://gitcteachers.org. We'll welcome their inquiry!
Please "Be the Change" and Donate Today!
When you give a tax-deductible gift to our 501(c)3 public charity, you can request that we utilize your gift in a particular region, or to meet a specific need. We offer special trainings for teachers of students with disabilities; for young students needing support in early literacy skills; for students acquiring English as a second language, and of course for ALL students in the elementary grades. We donate instruments into every program, too. Whether you donate here at our website, or send along an instrument, your effort will be felt in a classroom within days. Please visit our DONATE page to learn more about how you can make a meaningful and lasting difference for students and teachers.
Volunteer!
Each person volunteering with GITC helps make things better in schools right away- in their own way! We have "Angel" jobs for whatever you are good at or into trying. Tuning angels, research angels, video and photography angels, classroom angels, community angels...everyone is welcome. To learn more, please email us and tell us about yourself at serve@guitarsintheclassroom.org!
Know someone who might want to learn to train teachers with GITC? Please refer them to our website made just for Guitars in the Classroom program participants and GITC faculty members here: https://gitcteachers.org. We'll welcome their inquiry!
Music Education with Music Integration - An Interdependent Vision
GITC believes that every student deserves a well rounded elementary education including weekly instruction in music taught by a credentialed music teacher. Learning to make music for music's sake can matter a great deal in a child's development and future. We invite you to read up on the multitude of benefits in our blogs and visit the NAMM Foundation website for music advocacy. GITC stands with districts dedicated to strengthening their music education programs. We offer music faculties free training in our approach and select from among the participating music specialists, compassionate and patient instructors to teach music integration with GITC to their Pk-6 classroom colleagues. When music specialists and classroom teachers team up, they can build a culture of music together where hearts, minds, hands and hallways are filled with song.
At GITC, we envision a future when every student can develop their musicality as part of a complete arts, academic & social-emotional education! Your participation can help us get there. Want to learn more, donate or volunteer? Please write to us.
At GITC, we envision a future when every student can develop their musicality as part of a complete arts, academic & social-emotional education! Your participation can help us get there. Want to learn more, donate or volunteer? Please write to us.
Contact Us
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Guitars in the Classroom
National Headquarters 1761 Hotel Circle S Suite 210 San Diego, CA 92108 Office Line: (619) 578-2326 Email: info@guitarsintheclassroom.org |
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