Linda Johnson
Linda Johnson is a Music Educator, Arts Integration Specialist, and Entrepreneur near Dallas, TX. She began her career in education over 25 years ago as an elementary music teacher in Dallas ISD and taught secondary choirs in other districts for several years before returning to teach elementary where she explored songwriting, music technology, and arts integration.
Ms. Johnson has been a writer and creative for as long as she can remember, and while in the 5th grade, she wrote and directed her first skit and TV commercial using 3 of her classmates for a social studies project. Gathering from this experience years later as a new teacher, she was eager to find a way to incorporate music and arts into her lesson plan. But instead of the elementary classroom, her first job was in the music room where she had the freedom to design cross curricular lessons that made learning exciting and new for her students. Teaching in low socioeconomic and majority minority schools made culturally relevant instruction an integral part of keeping students engaged in learning. Looking for a way to teach more efficiently, she became a certified Arts Integration Specialist in 2018. This move enabled her to create content and develop PD courses that centered around equity and culturally responsive teaching through the arts.
Before leaving the classroom in 2019, Ms. Johnson took on leadership roles in various districts as a lead music teacher and elementary honor choir clinician. Currently, she teaches piano at Music Lover’s Learning Center, supports her two adult children who are also music educators, and serves as educational consultant for music, strategic planning and program design for out of school time programming, as well as a choir clinician locally, and throughout the state of Texas.
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Musicast Episode 19: Franklin Willis – The Power of Living Your Teacher Truth
Franklin Willis is taking the Music Education world by storm! From his new book, Edward's Rhythm Sticks, to the amazing work he does with children and teachers everyday, he is an inspiration to listen to and learn from. You don't want to miss this episode! [...]
Research to Practice: Inclusion Means Everyone
For the past few years, the field of music education has talked about an increased need for diversity and equity in classrooms. However, as I’ve listened to these calls for change, I frequently see that for many people, diversity and inclusion encompasses only race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, orientation, and socioeconomic status. And while these are all aspects of music education that certainly need to change, I hold firm to the belief that we cannot have truly diverse or inclusive classrooms until we also include people with disabilities. [...]
Musicast Episode 18: Kat Reinhert – Popular Music on Stage and in Class
F-flat author, teacher, professor, and singer-songwriter Kat Reinhart sits down to discuss her journey as a musician. She discusses what it took to get where she is now, where she's headed, and lends a ton of advice to those looking to forge their own path in education or the music industry. Take a listen! [...]
The Asterisk: Representation and Diversifying Visual Aids
Welcome to The Asterisk*, a new regular column where we’ll [...]
Musicast Episode 16: Margaret Harrigan- The Importance of Music Play
Elementary music teacher and research Maggie Harrigan sits down with Marissa and Kevin to discuss this importance of music play in the elementary music classroom. She gives advice for where to start, resources to to turn to, and how to incorporate it into your classroom! [...]
Research to Practice: Informal Music Teaching
Action research is a great way to break into thinking about ways to improve what you teach, how you teach, and how students learn. I would even go as far as to suggest that most teachers are already doing this in their classrooms. Action research doesn’t have to be formal or fancy. It just starts with a spark of wonder or an idea. [...]