Back to School: Teacher's In Sign

I was looking at some other music blogs recently and I came across a brilliant idea on Miscellaneous Me.  Cara created a "Teacher's In" sign for her door.  I love this!

From my desk, I cannot see the main entrance to my room.  This can be kind of a pain since I eat lunch in my room.  There are times when I am up and down several times to answer the door.  This sign, I hope, will relieve some of that.  It's also going to be great for planning time or when I'm not in my room.

I started with this purple foam sign from the dollar store.  They also had them in pink.  It did have a flimsy ribbon handle to hang the sign with but I cut that off.

I decided that I wanted a border and some cute flowers like Cara's, so I used some ribbon I had around the house.  I cut the ribbon to about the length of each side.  There are many tutorials out there on how to make flowers out of fabric and ribbon, mine was a bit of luck.  If you could see the mess of thread on the back of it you would laugh!  Since I am no expert, Google it, you will most certainly have better luck.  :)

Using double sided tape, I attached the ribbon to the edge of the sign.

I trimmed the corners to match the rounded edge of the sign.

Used double sided tape to attach the flower.

Then added my name using some silver glitter adhesive letters from Michaels ($5.99 before a coupon).

The letters stick okay to the foam.  Any suggestions on how to keep them on?

I'm not completely done yet, I still have to create signs for in/out/busy to stick on during the day.  I'll take pictures of it during my classroom tour!

Back to School: Stickers

Look what I bought at Target this week!

Aren't they cute?  They were around $3.00 (a bit pricey for the number of stickers).  You can find them with the school supplies.  There were other packs with peace signs, so you may need to dig through the rack to find these.  You may even be able to wait a few weeks and get them on clearance!

Back to School: Strategy for Getting Ready

Here is where I'm starting from...

Isn't it depressing looking?  And a bit overwhelming?  Do you feel the anxiety building?  I feel this way every year for about the first hour of being back in my classroom.  It usually goes a bit like this.

Move the desk.  Oh, I should get posters out.  Move the desk some more.  Do I have tape?  Move the desk again.  Let's hang this poster up.  Move the desk.  Stand in the middle of the room not knowing what to do.  Look through posters.  Move the desk.

By the end of that first hour I'm soooooo annoyed with myself.  This year I'm hoping to avoid this problem and I'm going in with a plan.

Back to School Strategy:

1.  Move furniture into place.  

Our custodians clean the carpet during summer break, so all of my furniture ends up pushed to one side of the room.  Moving the furniture into place has to happen before anything else can.  Once the furniture placement is right I can fill shelves, hang posters, and get materials out that I need for the first week.  Plus, if I get anything else out before I move the furniture, it ends up in the way!

2.  My space

This seems a bit self centered but it's hard to get things done or make lists when I don't have access to my supplies.  So the first area to organize is my desk.

3.  Sort Posters

Pull out posters and decide what/what not to hang and where they are going.

4.  Hang Posters

Starting from one corner of the room hang posters.  Most years I skip around the room hanging one thing here and one thing there.  It drives me nuts.  I'm going to try my best to work one section at a time until everything is hung.

5.  Fill in Shelves

This is second to last because if some instruments or supplies don't make it out for the first day it's okay!  I probably won't need Jingle Bells the first week!  :)

6.  Hallway

Not sure if this will be step 5 or 6 yet.  If I'm in my room for Meet the Teacher then this will be my last concern but if I'm not going to be in my room, then it will move up to step 5.  I want to make sure there is a musical presence during Meet the Teacher, so I'll have to wait and see on this part.

My goal is to remember that not EVERYTHING has to get done before the first day.  Last year I had my Recorder Karate graphs up knowing that I wasn't probably going to need them until October!

How do you try and stay organized while you set your classroom?

Performing Groups: Getting Started Each Year

Getting my after school performing groups started for the year can be a big task.  For the past four years I have had two after school groups; Chorus and Orff.  Like everything else, planning for these groups starts right at the beginning of the year.  It's a bit crazy but once I'm past the first month of school (recorder sales are done, chorus and orff registration are complete) I can settle into a more normal routine.

Below are some of the things I do to get my groups started:

1.  Create Interest
Post flyers, hand out reminder cards, talk it up with your kids.  I send out an email to the full staff at my school so that they have all of the details regarding my groups.  If you have a morning/afternoon news crew, create a blurb for them to include in the announcements leading up to the interest or first meeting.

I've added both of these documents to the Freebies section.

2.  Interest Meeting
I always host interest meetings for performing groups about a week before I want to have our first rehearsal.  There are a few reasons for this.
    A:  While I do promote these groups during my first rotation, I don't want to take up all of my class       time and not make any music during those lessons. Plus not everyone needs all of the details!

    B:  I want to go over our contract in person so that I can answer any and all questions about how           to make sure you get to be a part of the group.

    C:  Most importantly, I want to give the kids more information about what it means to be a part of           these groups and my expectations for them.

3.  Contracts
My kiddos have to fill out a contract in order to participate in my groups.  This contract ensures that they and their parents understand the importance of attending rehearsals and concerts.  This year I'm trying out something new.

My groups have become so large that I can no longer just accept everyone who is interested.  This year I will accept on a first come, first serve basis.  The first 50 students to sign up for chorus will be my initial group.  However, if a student does not fulfill the requirements (too many absences/tardies, behavior concerns), they will be replaced with an alternate.  I don't believe in auditioning to be in these after school groups but that is always another option if you are having trouble with large numbers.

These are just some the things I do to get my groups started.  More on Chorus/Orff later.  What are some of the things you do to get your groups going every year?

Back to School: Sneak Peek

I did most of my Back to School shopping last week and I have just about everything.  There are a couple more things on my list but here is a sneak peek at what I've picked up so far.

I can't wait to show you how some of these items get incorporated into my room this year!  Check back soon for posts on these items and this years Classroom Tour.  

Recorders: How I Organize my Sale

The beginning of every year is very hectic for any teacher because of all of the paperwork that is being returned by students.  I find myself a bit overwhelmed by all of this paperwork, especially when it comes to recorder sales.  This is the system I use to make sure thatI keep all of my orders organized.

Since I sell my recorders as pre-orders, I spend some time during the first lesson with 4/5 on how to fill out and return their order form.  I find this time well spent.  I know there are others out there who feel that getting started on making music right away is important.  While I don't disagree with this thought, I find that not taking time to go over things like recorder letters during the first rotation results in wasted class time later because students have questions and concerns.  With around 300 kids potentially completing these orders, I need to make sure everyone is on the same page.

This is the letter I send home with students.  I posted it last year but I realized I never put it up as a Freebie.  I have added an editable version; you can request it here.

Students can start returning their recorder pre-orders as soon as they have the money.  I usually collect orders for about a month before calling West.  Once orders start rolling in, I have found that collecting the slips and depositing the money with my secretary wasn't enough organization for me.  To help make sure that I didn't lose any slips, I started keeping a spreadsheet of all received orders.  

My students have the option of ordering the blue, green or pink Yamaha recorders.  So, to keep track of how many of each color, I use separate books.  If you click on the image above you can see the tabs labeled by color.  I also color code each book so that I will know which order I'm looking at.  This has helped me tremendously when it comes to orders.  I can quickly find an order or let a kid know whether or not they have turned one in without digging through a stack of papers.  It also helps me make sure that I do not lose any.

http://www.ustoy.com/neon-shoe-laces

In addition to ordering a recorder, my students have the option of ordering a lanyard for their recorder. The lanyards I sell are shoelaces from U.S. Toy.  They are a great deal and work wonderfully as a way for recorders to be hands free.  In my spreadsheet, I have a column for lanyards.  I'm able to order so many of these at once that I don't worry about color selection until they arrive.  As you can see below, if this was an order I had received, the student would be ordering 1 pink recorder with a lanyard.

In addition to the color coded books, I also have books for orders with multiple colors and for lanyards only.  In the multi tab, I list any orders that have multiple colors, ex:  2 blue/1 green.

When my recorder deadline arrives, I total up my orders and call West and U.S. Toy.  I charge a bit over the cost of the recorders and lanyards so that I can order a few extras for students in need.  When they arrive, my orders are easy to distribute thanks to my spreadsheet.

I have uploaded a Recorder Spreadsheet Template to my Freebies section.  It may seem like extra work but it definitely helps keep me sane.  Do you have any tricks for making recorder sales go smoothly?  

Lesson Plan: Back to School

I've seen many posts and questions about back to school, lesson planning and classroom management around the web.  Below is what I typically do for my first rotation of lessons with grades 2-5.  I call it "The Boring Stuff"(not my original idea, came from my supervising teacher).

I explain to the kids that we are going to do a lot of talking during this lesson and while it may seem boring, it's important because everything we talk about will help us work towards our goal of becoming Great Musicians.  The kids are usually okay with it, plus when I mention that I have a game for them at the end, they work hard and pay attention to the beginning of the lesson.

1. Welcome
Introduce myself, outline of what music is all about, quick tour of the room (bathroom, water fountain, etc.).

2. Rules
My rules are posted on the wall by my desk.  We echo clap through them.  After clapping them the first time, we go one rule at a time and discuss what each looks like in the music room.  We echo them again.  During the next rotation we will play a rhythm game with the rules as a review.  These rules were something Sandy Lantz shared during my Orff Level I.

3. Rewards/Consequences
I keep these two posters on my board throughout the year but during the first rotation they are front and center on my board.  We talk about the positive/negative behaviors that could result in rewards/consequences and what the results of our actions are.

4. Seats

I typically fill in my seating charts before the first rotation; usually while watching TV the weekend before school starts.  I'm pretty good at being able to separate my talkers and personalities that clash. Although it has worked, I found some problems with my system. We have had a more mobile community in the last year and my seating charts ended up being a sloppy mess because there were so many changes to class rosters and students who never returned to our school.  (Post on Seating Charts here.)

This year I'm going to assign seats during their first music class.  Upon entering the room I will hand each child a colored card (red, green, blue or black).  When it is time to assign seats, I will ask the kids with green to sit on the floor in front of the green riser.  Same goes for red and blue.  The kids with black cards may select any seat on any riser except the section leader seats (see post here on seat numbers).

After the kids with black paper have chosen their seats, I will place the rest of my students by the color paper they have received.  What I like about this system is I'm still able to seat students in a way that will be productive without making them feel like I'm completely dictating the arrangement.  It will feel more like chance to them.  I'll try and take pictures of the system during the first rotation.

5. Recorders (4 and 5 Only)
I always hand out recorder information during this lesson.  Since I advertise, collect money, place and sort the order, I want to start ASAP so that kids can have recorders in hand as early in the year as possible.  More on this soon.

6. Chorus (3, 4, 5 Only)
This is time for me to drum up interest in after school performing groups.  This year I'm only going to have chorus (more on that another time), so during the first lesson I will hand out Interest Meeting Flyers to any child who thinks they may want to be a part of this group.  Sorry to say this again, but more on this soon! :)

7. Grade Level Specific Activity
I plan some sort of name game for every grade during this first rotation.  It's important to get a musical activity going on after all this talking.  I want kids excited about coming back to my room for the next lesson and it's a refresher for me.  I always feel so badly about being rusty with names for the first month of school and these games definitely help me get back into the swing of things.

8. Lining Up
I'm changing my line up procedures, so I will make sure to save a good 5 minutes to go over this at the end of my lesson.  I'm planning on incorporating this resource I found through Pinterest.  I may not use them every time but it's always good to mix things up a bit.

I've created some homework for myself with this post and I will do my best to get more information about Chorus, Recorders, K/1 Back to School Lessons and much more up ASAP.  Hope this helps with your back to school planning.

Back to School: Popsicle Sticks

I was at the Dollar Tree this evening doing a bit of my Back to School shopping and I happened across these:

What a great deal!  100 Popsicle sticks for $1.00.  I think my box was $7 or $8 when I bought it at one of the craft stores.  There are about 16 of each color which is great for Popsicle Stick Rhythms.  You only need 12 sticks per students, so I would purchase 3 or 4 packages.  Four may be a bit much but you would always have spares just in case.

Here is the post I wrote in January about Popsicle Stick Rhythms.  

I'm thinking the variety of colors would lend themselves well for small group work.  I'll have to think about that and how I could use a variety of colors for other rhythmic activities this year.

Classroom Management: Seat Numbers Revisited

I've posted ALOT about seating in the last year but with good reason.  There is such high accountability as a teacher that I want to ensure that whether I'm leading a lesson, a colleague is covering my room or a sub is in for the day that students are organized and everyone is accounted for.  I also want to make sure that my room is arranged in a way that is best suited for student learning.

I've spent a bit of time thinking about how I want to tweak my seating arrangement for grades 1-5 and I think I've come up with a good solution.

Here are my seat numbers from last year.

All of my first thru fifth graders sit in an assigned seat on one of my flip form risers.  To make sure that everyone has a spot and isn't squished I added Seat Numbers.  It worked very well and was an easy way to quickly get everyone where they needed to be with the exception of one problem.

Last year I had section leaders on each riser that served as my helpers (you can read the post about it here).  I didn't have special seats for my section leaders, so what I noticed happening was section leaders crawling over classmates to get to the materials behind them.  It slowed down the process and caused arguments, so instead of having to stop and remind students about rules/procedures, I think I've created a simpler solution.

This year I'm remedying the problem by keeping seats 9 and 10 as section leader spots.  These two seats are where the two sections of riser meet.  So in the picture above, 9 and 10 are the two seats on top where the risers meet.  They will now have a star instead so that others can quickly see the difference.  When a student is a section leader, they will sit in this spot.  Each 9 weeks I will select a new leader for each team and they will then sit in these spots.  I will indicate this change on my seating charts so that any other adult can quickly find each child.  

One other slight change I'm going to make this year is how I attach my numbers to the risers.  Instead of using contact paper, I'm going to use velcro dots.  Thank you to Robin for suggesting it!  :)

Here are links to both the old and new seat numbers:

Old Green                New Green

Old Red                   New Red

Old Blue                  New Blue

Here are other posts on seating:

Kindergarten Seating

Kindergarten Visuals

Seat Numbers

Storing Seating Charts

In My Desk

I'm just starting to think about, wait who am I kidding?  I've been thinking about things I will need for this year since school ended.  My shopping trip for back to school items will be this week sometime and I can't wait to share all of my ideas with you.  Tonight I'm focusing on my desk.

I try to keep my desk stocked with things I know I will need throughout the year to keep me healthy and happy.  Below are some of the things I keep in my desk and why.

1.  Band-Aids:  My husband says I'm as graceful as a newborn giraffe (well without the height).  I'm constantly bumping into things or bashing my finger in something, so I like to keep some good quality band-aids in my drawer.

2.  Excedrin and Tums:  Ever try to teach recorders with a pounding headache or dance around with kindergartners on an upset stomach?  Enough said?

3.  Vitamins and Allergy Medication:  Usually my breakfast happens while I skim through my email before morning duty.  I always keep vitamins with me so that I can stay healthy with all of those germy kids roaming around.  :)  It's not easy to teach if your sneezing up a storm, so I keep some allergy medicine with me as well.

4.  Plates, Napkins and Plastic Utensils:  This Girl has gotta eat!  If I don't eat I get kinda mean, so I always make sure to keep these things around just in case.  Nothing is more annoying than having a cup of yogurt but no spoon to eat it with.

5.  Body Spray:  Some of those back to school days in August are HOT!!!  Florida humidity is no joke and when I come in from morning arrival I need a bit of freshening up.  It's also nice to have to spritz on before an after school event.  Makes me feel a bit better.

6.  Hair Products:  Frizz-Ease to combat the Florida heat and hair ties when I just need to pull it all back.  It's especially great to have an extra hair tie when I forget to pull it back on a movement day or when I'm setting the stage after school.

7.  Lint Roller - I don't know what it is but sometimes I look down at my slacks at lunch and it's like I rolled through a ball of lint.  

8.  Feminine Items - Keep some in a nice little bag just in case.

9.  Mouthwash (not pictured here):  I don't want to kill my kids after lunch, so it's good to rinse quickly before afternoon classes.

10.  Lotion (not pictured here):  For after washing recorders for the millionth time that week.  :)

11.  Chapstick:  I can not live without some sort of lip balm, so I always make sure to have one in my desk.

12.  Note Cards - My cousin gave me these cute personalized gift cards.  I always keep a bunch in my desk.  You never know when you will need one for a parent, colleague or student.  

What do you have in your classroom to keep you happy and healthy?

Gettin' Back to School

I still have a few weeks off but I know that many of you are already preparing to get back to school. With that in mind, this post is a link to some of the ideas I posted last summer.  I hope this list helps you as you prepare.

If you see something you like check out the Freebies section.  I have uploaded many of these ideas over the past year.

Don't forget to stop by my blog over the next couple of weeks as I will be posting new back to school and lesson ideas!  Hope you are enjoying the last bit of your summer.  :)

Display - Common Board Configuration
Display - Performer's Corner
Display - Word Wall
Display - Rhythm Building Blocks
Display - Time to Pause

Bulletin Board - Great Musicians Always...
Bulletin Board - Look Who's In The Spotlight

Advice - New Teacher
Advice - Meet the Teacher

Organization - Seat Numbers
Organization - Seating Charts
Organization - Schedule
Organization - Kindergarten Visuals
Organization - Storing Seating Charts
Organization - Hooks for Rhythm Cards

Classroom Tour 2012-2013

2012-2013 Classroom Tour

I finally had a moment today to take pictures of my classroom set up.  I was hoping to have more done before I took these pics but honestly this year seems to have been more hectic than others.  As you will probably notice, I haven't even had a minute to put my word wall cards back in the pocket charts.

I have finally come to grips with the fact that it will just have to wait for another day.  I have a few more days of my beginning of the year lesson before we start really getting into things, so that is a bit comforting.  Hopefully be the end of week 2 all wall decor/unpacking will be done.  Fingers crossed!  :)

This is the entrance to my classroom.  Not pictured here but to the left of the door is the Performer's Corner, a display where I post information to keep my performing groups organized.  To the right is my Pluck-a-Note display.

I got this idea from my best buddy, the art teacher at my school.  She always posts Art Advocacy materials on or outside her door.  It's so great to have this information posted when administration is giving a new family a tour of the school or for classroom teachers as they wait to pick up their kids.

The view from the door.

Inside the door I have my bookcases and rocking chair.  I love having this space to sit and play line games with my students while we wait for their teachers.  (Looking at it now, I realize how much more is still boxed up!  Those bottom shelves are bare.)  I also keep my recorder karate belts and recorder karate music next to my chair.  Check out this related post:  Recorder Karate .

On my cabinets are my Word Wall and Fingering Charts.  If you notice I have trapezoid tables behind my risers.  Instead of having the barred instruments on the floor in an instrumentarium, I have my students rotate around the tables.  In Kindergarten, we sit in rows and play instruments.  I will take another picture later in the year but normally my BX/BM/CBB are in the corner between the red and blue risers but for now they are still in the cabinets.

Behind the green and blue risers and next to the back door, I have a cabinet with drums, found sounds and my white boards.  I also house my tubanos along this wall.  And down at the end is my thinking spot.  I will post more on this later.

I moved this book case up front this year.  It was back where the tubanos are now and it was such a pain to get to these instruments.  Much easier!!!  On the bathroom door is my Common Board Configuration .

Under my bulletin board I have storage units that I bought at Target.  In the green and blue bins are the instruments I use most frequently with Kindergarten.  These containers are easy for them to move in and out and are close to where they sit.  Below are close ups of the labels and contents of the bins.  I use these instrument labels throughout my room.  

My white board and glockenspiel storage.

 Doc cam and more storage.  In this unit I have all of my movement resources (scarves, ribbons, balls, etc.) extra mallets, and rewards.  Behind the cabinet is my desk and on the wall are my rules.  I got my rules from Sandy Lantz at my Level I.

 Earlier in the summer I posted this: Summer Project  I ended up finding the Laiva desk at Ikea.  It was cheaper, sturdier and the color blended with my cabinets.

And it has a nice little space for pen storage.

 It has taken me 3 years to figure out that I could move the piano!  Not really.  I just didn't figure out that I had the space to move the piano away from my desk in order to have a path for me to walk through.  I spent 3 years walking from the front of my classroom all the way around to where the doc cam was behind my desk!  Sometimes I wonder about myself.  :)

 My space.

Behind the piano is a sink area.  This is where I keep extra copies of newsletters and recorder karate packets.