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

Look Behind As Well As Before

Our spring musical came from Randy and Jeff's Gettin' Outta Town Publication.  There are 3 short stories to be performed with orchestration.  My original plan was to perform all 3 stories at our spring concert but after some extra performances were added to our schedule at the last minute, we ran out of time.

My art teacher buddy helped me create this display outside the cafeteria!

I have several posts related to our spring concert, so look for more to come soon!

Look Who's in the Spotlight

I have mentioned before how much a feel like I am playing catch up this year and I still feel that way but this afternoon I made a bit of progress.  One of the projects I  have been wanting to get done is my hall bulletin board.  Open House is coming up and it's time to show off what we have been doing.  So, this afternoon that's what I worked on!

I was inspired by this pin:

http://www.izzyshare.com/ideabulletinboard

But I wanted my board to feature our school colors, so I added a bit of blue fabric and some cute frames from Lakeshore Learning!  Soon I will have pictures of my Maestro of the Month and Spotlight Performers in those frames.

Mrs. P, our PE teacher was helping me hang everything and she taught me a cool trick.  The staples were pretty obvious on the letters, so we took Sharpies and colored over them and now they are barely visible.

Hand Made Decor

I know I've mentioned this before but I work with an amazing art teacher!  She has inspired me to make my own classroom decor and I hope you will try making your own too.  I can hear the hecklers now.  Really, trust me, I'm not an amazing artist but it  is easy and therapeutic to spend time creating something.

These are the newest additions...I still have to have them laminated and they need to go up in my room but here they are.  (Check back to see where they end up.)

Most of these were hand drawn with a bit of help from my husband (hands always get me).  The only one that I didn't draw by hand was the chair.  For those of you who aren't particularly artistic, here is a great tip.  Use your classroom projector.  I have a ceiling mounted projector that is connected to my computer.  All I had to do was find a picture of a chair I liked and project it on my board.  I traced the outline of the chair and then colored it in later.

Black outline is your friend.  Any little blunders around the edges of the picture can be fixed with a little sharpie, plus it makes all of the colors pop!

Bare Walls No More

I hate nothing more than going into a classroom and seeing bare walls or posters that are too small or illegible.  It's a missed opportunity!  Your walls are another chance to provide information to your students, make good use of them.

Here are some of the things I try to remember as I decorate my room.

1.  Choose text that children can read.
There are so many times that I see visuals that have beautiful text but it takes me a minute to decode.  I don't want children to have to guess at what I'm trying to tell them, so I make sure to use large easy to read fonts.

2. Background
White and Black are my go to's for bulletin board paper.  I love the light blues and purples my school provides but they aren't the most practical or versatile.  A nice white or black background lets the images you put on top stand out.

3. Simple
Putting too much together or in random patterns is visually distracting.  Keep it simple and clean so that everything is easy on the eye.  Less is more!

4. Useful
I'm just as guilty as the next teacher of buying pre-made bulletin board decor because it's cute.  I have this wonderful Toucan music visual that is cute and informational but you can't see it across the room.  If you aren't going to reference it ever in your teaching, then is it really necessary?  Does another picture of a composer really need to be up if you aren't teaching about that composer?  I have nothing against these resources, they're things that I have but before I put them up I want to think how they are going to impact my students.

Look Who's a Shining Star!

This was my student recognition bulletin board last year.  Each month the Maestro of the Month (see post Maestro of the Month ) and the Spotlight Performer's (a select class that was doing an outstanding job) were recognized with a star on the bulletin board.  Wish I had a better picture, I thought I did.  Still, thought this was an idea worth sharing.

I also added stars for students who were selected for our All County Honors Music Festival and students who had completed every belt in the 4th and 5th grade recorder karate books.  Students got to decide where their star went on the board.

Beginning of the Year before the owl.  I was waiting for it to be laminated.

End of the Year:  Unfortunately, little fingers got to the "a and h" but I'm sure you get the overall idea.  :)

Stop back soon to see how my 2012-2013 student recognition board will look!

The Princeless Princess

This Spring my after school groups (Chorus, Orff and Recorders) performed the musical "The Princeless Princess".  This is a Randy and Jeff publication and the 2nd of their musicals I have performed with my kids.  Last winter we did "Five Golden Rings" and it was just as adorable as this musical.

Randy and Jeff's Website

West Music - The Princeless Princess

I love these musicals because they come with everything; orchestration, text, staging, movement and costume suggestions.  The price is very reasonable ($20.00 + shipping) and the best part is that everything is kid done.  This is something the art teacher and I have been striving towards since opening our school a few years ago.  Up until this performance even the back drop and props were made by our art club (my art teacher was 8 1/2 months pregnant by the time this performance came around).

I love musicals and they have become a spring tradition at our school. Some of the things I like to do are:

-Put every child in costume.
I know, this sounds impossible but it can be done. The costume does not have to be extravagant. For some of the characters in this musical all I provided was a beret and handkerchief. I think that putting everyone in costume (even instrumentalists) makes the performance special for everyone and it helps set the scene for the audience.

-Involve kids in the whole process.
Duh! I know this is probably a give in but sometimes I get so wrapped up in getting everything rehearsed and done for the performance that I forget to slow down and get the kids in put. Have the kids help make decisions about entering, exiting the stage, movement, props, etc. It's their performance and they will take so much more pride in a production they helped create. Although I love the fact that Randy and Jeff give you everything, I use it as a jumping off point. What can we do to make it our own?

-Find Hidden Talents
Use your kids talents to make it a special production. This year I found out that one of my 4th grade chorus boys loves to sew! He made the robes for the King and Princes. What a great memory! It was so cute to hear the kids brag to their friends about the boy in chorus that "made" the costumes. :)

-Promote Your Program
Giving a performance that demonstrates the gamut of the Orff process is a great way to show parents what kids are doing not only after school but in your classroom. It also shows younger students what they can be a part of when they are in 3rd, 4th, 5th grade.

Some suggestions for getting resources:

-Teacher Wishlist
At Meet Your Teacher and Open House I make sure to put out a list of items that I could use in my classroom. These don't have to be items families have to spend money on. I include old Halloween costumes, fabric remnants, stuffed animals/puppets, etc. to my list. You'll be surprised at what shows up in your mailbox or at your door. Some of the fabric I used for this musical was donated by a parent who had a bunch of scrap fabric laying around her house.

-Donorschoose.org
I recently did my first project on donorschoose.org. I wasn't really sure how the whole process worked, so I kept it simple. I asked for a variety of materials and I was truly surprised at how quickly the project was funded and easy the process was. Don't just look at Woodwind and Brasswind. I was able to request fabric by the yard from one of the art supply companies. The fabric I received helped costume some of the children this year and will make more costumes for next year.

-Couponing
Ask parents, teachers, family members for coupons. When I was looking for fabric this year JoAnn's had an amazing ad with twenty coupons in it. I saved myself $300 on fabric because I had the coupons!

-Volunteers
Parents are a wonderful resource. Create an email distribution list for your performing groups. This is a great way to keep parents informed about upcoming events and to enlist their help. Parents helped me this year by volunteering their time to make costumes/props, shop for items we needed, serve ice cream at our end of the year party, etc. These parents not only help with what the kids need but they are usually the parents who come to be your greatest advocates.

-Older Siblings
Many of my students have brothers and sisters in middle and high school. These students can be a great resource to take advantage of. One of these older siblings of a student at my school happens to be a truly talented artist. She makes beautiful posters and props for our productions and in exchange she can use this time as part of her volunteer hours.

This is the display case in the lobby of our school. It's a great place to advertise music events.

Great Musicians Always....

I am so blessed to have an amazing art teacher at my school.  She truly inspires everyone around her to connect with their inner artist.  I have not been immune to her artistic inspiration.  Last summer I spent time drawing images that I thought would remind students of some of the things Great Musicians Always Do.  This board is at the front of my room and is a great way to redirect students when they are acting a bit silly.

I can tell it has made an impact because during Teacher Appreciation Week I received the sweetest little note from a student.  In the message she said "Thank you for believing we can all be Great Musicians".  It's one of those notes that brought a tear to my eye!