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?

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?  

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?

Recorder Karate Belts

While my kids were doing centers during the last rotation, I kept my hands busy cutting Recorder Karate belts for next year.  I normally don't do this for the kids, I usually have them cut them, but after seeing Lauren's post on Rhythm and Glues, I decided it was time for a change.  I'm excited about how this will simplify getting belts next year!

More Recorder Karate

I had some empty ice cream containers from an end of the year celebration and I divided them up using pieces of cardboard.  Each belt is 7 inches long, which I think will be a good length for little fingers trying to double knot them around a recorder.

This would be a great project to work on during pre-planning meetings.  I  know that your supposed to go ready to focus and direct all of your attention to the meetings but that makes me antsy.  I can't just sit in a meeting, I lose focus.  A project like this keeps my fingers busy and helps my mind focus.  Yeah, I was one of those kids!  :)

Freebie: Barred Instrument Labels

I find the more I label instruments the better my students get at naming them.  Each of my barred instruments has one of these labels, which not only help students with the name, but understanding the differences in timbre. You can request this file in the Freebies section of my blog.

When I printed the labels for my instruments I didn't have access to a color printer, so I printed them on colored card stock.    The labels are small enough to fit between the mallets on the bass instruments and the box of the smaller.  I placed my glockenspiel labels on the stands I use in my classroom (check them out here).  I'll make sure to get some pictures during Pre-Planning.

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Where can I put my recorder?

My orff group each had the opportunity to play recorder in one of the songs for our Spring Musical.  All of them have shoestring lanyards so their recorder is hands free but that doesn't mean that they don't get in the way.  They were asking me what they could do with their recorder so that it didn't get in their way when moving from instrument to instrument.  So, I came up with this solution.

There were a couple of microphone stands I didn't need for the performance.  Some kids hung their recorders here or on the music stand they were using.  This was a great way to keep them out of the way when they had to move quickly.  We made sure they didn't get mixed up by using different lanyard colors.

WARNING:  If not introduced properly, you will end up with a mega knot.  I learned this during our first rehearsal.

Organizing Costumes

A couple of years ago, I did a huge production with a million costumes.  I needed a way to keep everything organized for my performers without taking up a lot of space in my room.  I found these rolling garment racks at Ikea.  I love them!!!  Here is the link to the product.  They were only $13.00 each, a great buy!

I have two and I use them every year to roll out into the hallway by my classroom.  Students get dressed in the hall and then come in for warm-up.  (My costumes always slip over their clothes.)  This keeps some of the chaos in my room to a minimum.

My first year teaching, the art teacher was getting rid of these clear plastic bags.  They are similar to bags that a media specialist would use for books.  They slip over hangers and have a little pocket to put each students name.  This helps students locate their hanger and clean up after the performance.  Since we give multiple performances during a concert series, it keeps me from having to reorganize after each event.

The only thing I don't like about this set up are the wheels on the rolling racks.  They aren't permanently attached, so they have a tendency to come out.  I used a bit of hot glue but it doesn't permanently resolve the problem.

Glockenspiel Stands

I have had many people ask me where I found the glockenspiel stands for my classroom.

I've tried and tried to remember what they were called but couldn't.  Well, this weekend my husband and I were working around our house and made a trip to Lowe's for a few supplies.  I happened across the stands and actually bought one for some home organization.

Great news, they have them at both my local Home Depot and Lowe's and they are priced at $5.98 each.

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Chorus Roster

Wow!  It's a hectic time of year.  Testing, spring performance in less than 3 weeks, Art show performance in a month, MIOSM, my evaluation, Aah!  I don't remember February/March being this crazy in past years.  I have a few lessons I'm planning to post about but I'm afraid they will have to wait until I have a bit more time to organize all my pictures, materials and thoughts.  For now, another Freebie!

This is my chorus roster.  I use it to help keep me sane.  I can see which kids are in which grade and which teacher they have.  (That was a lot of whiches!)  It's a great way to take attendance, sign-in/sing-out kids for events, and much more.  It's also a great document for me to use to help keep my classroom teacher's informed.  At the beginning of the year I send out the list of students who have completed a contract and submitted their fees and I repeat this process every few months.  My teachers appreciate this because it helps them keep track of where their students go at the end of the day.  I don't lose too many kids throughout the year but there are always a handfull, usually due to 5th gradeitis.

I have uploaded this document and you can request the file in the Freebies section of my blog.

Caroling in the Classroom

One of the traditions I started the first year our school was open was Caroling in the Classroom.  On the morning of the last day of school before winter break I take the 5th grade members of chorus around the school and we sing one carol in each classroom.  Our students, teachers and parents love this.  This year we sang Rudolph and I had a very expressive soloist add her own movements to go along with her part. 

We don't go to every classroom, that would be hard to do because we have around 7 classes per grade level, plus VPK and ESE rooms.  So, I put a sign up sheet in the mailroom about a week before we go caroling and allow teachers to sign up for a time.  I know that most classrooms have a packed schedule of holiday activites, so this gives teachers the option.

Here is the sign-up sheet I use:

Some years I have had a majority of teachers sign-up.  When that happens I ask for chorus parents to volunteer to guide a group around the school.  I then split the 5th graders into two groups and we divide and conquer.

If you would like this form, you can request it in the Freebie section of my blog.

Seat Numbers Part 3

I posted this beautiful picture of my risers with their seat numbers back in August.

They looked beautiful, all evenly placed but I don't know what I was thinking.  I cut these tiny, cute, little, petite squares of contact paper that just overlapped each seat number by a bit.  Ha!  They lasted like that for all of 3 days.  After they started falling off left and right, I cut bigger squares and I must say they lasted a long time but over the last two weeks they all started biting the dust.  

You can see there aren't many left!

I have them piled on my desk, new contact paper ready but they have been laying there unattended for the last few days because I can't figure out how I want to proceed.  Do I re-contact paper them to the risers or is there a better way?  Any suggestions out there?  I must admit the contact paper works well  but at this rate I would have to redo them at least once a quarter and I know there has to be something that is more practical than that.  While I know that I probably don't need them at this point, my kids know where their seats are, I want something permanent that I don't have to redesign next year.  So, until I come up with a solution, they will sit on my desk!  

Newsletters

I may email/send home more newsletters than most, but I think it is sooooo important to keep parents informed of what is going on.  In addition to emailing parents reminders and updates about after school performing events, I also help organize our quarterly special areas newsletter and send e-news to specific grade levels throughout the year.  Below are some of the templates I use to help keep my parents informed.

Clef Notes News is the newsletter for my performing groups. 

 This is just the view of the 1st page of the document.

Specials All Around goes out quarterly to help inform parents about what is happening in special areas.  

This is just the 1st page of the document.

If you are interested in these templates, you can request them in the Freebies section of my blog.

Recorders: Hallelujah, the counter is clean!

I finally got rid of this recorder mess!  It seems that my counter and desk have been over run with recorders and other materials for the last 3 weeks and I am happy to be rid of it.

I finally handed out the last recorder order!  I do this a bit differently than many of the teachers I know but it seems to work well with my kids.  After collecting all of the orders at the beginning of the year (you can see my order form here) I place an order with West Music and my school cuts a check using the money that is in my account.  

Once the order arrives, I sort them and attach each students order form to the recorder and write their name on the plastic sleeve.  I don't waste my time trying to put their name or initials on the actual instrument because it tends to rub off.  After everything is sorted I hand them out when their class comes to music.  This gives me a chance to go over caring for the instrument and rules about when to play their recorders (i.e. not on the bus!).

It has taken me awhile to get this process down to a science and it works for me.  What are some of your recorder ordering tricks?  Is there something you do that makes it easier to distribute to your students?  

Video and Photos

I had a conversation recently with a younger teacher about using photos/video of students, so I thought it might be something good to post about.

Before taking, posting, or using pictures/video of your students make sure:

• Each child pictured has filled out the photo/video release form for your school.  I know each child at our school is given one of these forms at the beginning of the year and our registrar keeps track of who has/has not completed one.  Be mindful of this because there are some families who do not take pictures because of cultural/religious beliefs.
• If you have an after school group, make sure to get separate authorization.  While I'm pretty sure my district form covers using photo/video of these students, I like to have something at my fingers tips.
• Think before you post a picture/video.  Do I need to reveal the identities of my students?  Is this a safe site to post something? 

I may be a bit extreme when it comes to posting pictures of kids but there are so many people out there who aren't respectful of young people.  I do have all of my after school groups fill out a release but I use this for showing videos on the morning announcements and for pictures I occasionally hang in the hall way.  It is very rare for me to reveal the identities of my kids.  I prefer to take pictures showing them from the neck down or to blur their faces using Photoshop.  This is what makes me most comfortable.

Sub Plans

Recently there was a question posted regarding how I handle sub plans.  To be honest, if I know I can catch up during the next rotation and I'm not sure who will be coming into my room to sub, I leave a video.  Although I don't like to do this, it is sometimes the best option not knowing a subs musical background.  

I am known for leaving ridiculously detailed sub plans.  I want to make sure that I am very specific because I know that going into a music room without a musical background can be intimidating, so I try to give as much information about activities as I can.  Two years ago, I was out on an extended leave because I was getting married.  I had to come up with lessons for 6 grade levels and make it sub friendly.  It can be a taxing job but I did it and since then some of the ideas I included in those lessons are some of my go to's.  I really should create a sub tub but I haven't had a minute yet!

A few of my go to activities are:

1.  The Sound House
This was one of my earliest posts and it is something I do year to year with my students.  It can be done without a house.  You could have a student sit behind the piano or another object in your classroom and play an instrument.  This is something that subs have done with my students before and have been successful with.  Plus, if they give each child a turn in the sound house it can take up time.  Subs come to the music room with a different perspective and sometimes can better explain the sound of an instrument better than I can.  Sometimes I think well it's a triangle it has a triangle sound!  Which, is definitely no help to little ears and at times some of the ideas my subs have shared with the kids have been great explanations.  This is one of the only instrument activities I will leave and for a sub I'm familiar with.

2.  Beat Leader
I'm sure you have done this with your little ones before.  Play a piece of music with a strong steady beat.  Teacher keeps the beat on their body, students keep beat in same place.  Change where you keep the beat every 8 to 16 beats.

3.  Drum Game
Teacher plays the steady beat on the drum.  Students move feet to the beat, freeze when drum stops.

4.  Sing-a-Longs
You can find sing-a-long cd/videos that have a variety of children's songs but occasionally I make my own.  I have a little microphone that plugs into my ipod.  I record the process that I would use to teach the song, so that students can echo.  The sub just has to hit play.  Once learned, they can sing it along with a storybook.

5.  Rhythm Caterpillar
This only works if you have already done this with students before hand.  I originally found this idea on Mrs. King's Music Blog.  Check it out: Mrs. King's Music Class.  I have created different sets for each grade level.  2nd grades have half notes, 3rd grades have sixteenths, etc.

6.  Story Books
Have a sub read a book that you will be using soon for an activity.  They could also read a book about a composer and then students could divide up into centers to experience more about that composer.

7.  Name that Note
This game can be played with a sub in a variety of formats.

8.  Compositions
Using the rhythm building blocks, students could compose rhythm patterns.  I would assign each rhythm a word so that the sub can easily play the game.  You could add an extension for older kids where they need to create a melody for recorder.  Once they have their rhythm, they assign each note a pitch.  They could even transfer the rhythm to the 5 lined staff.

9.  Worksheets
I created these for a recent absence.  Due to budget constraints, our copies are being limited this year.  I wanted to use these worksheets but didn't want to waste my copies.  So, Pinterest to the rescue.  I put them inside of sheet protectors and students were to use dry erase markers to complete the sheet.

I made these so that I would have an easy way to practice notation on the staff.  The front is a treble clef staff and the back a 3 lined staff for my little ones.  You could use poker chips or bingo chips to notate if you didn't have enough dry erase markers for a full class.

I found this worksheet on The Plucky Pianista.  We have not learned bass clef, so I crossed that part out so that my 5th graders could focus on the treble clef.

For my 4th graders, tracing treble clefs and practicing line and space notes.  Now line and space notes is not a new concept but reading the line and space notes from bottom to top is always a challenge when it comes to recorder and this worksheet addresses that.  I found these two at  http://www.musicfun.com.au/download.htm.  There are tons of worksheets on this site.

Some things that I would avoid.....

1.  NO Instruments
I always indicate that students should NOT touch instruments in my absence.  I had one sub who decided to use instruments anyways and it resulted in a couple of mallets being broken.  Now, I know that I have taught my children the right way to handle instruments but there are always a few students who, given the opportunity, will beat the living daylights out of an instrument.  I'm sure you can picture those boogers in your mind!  :)

2.  New Concepts
I would not allow a sub to introduce a new concept.  They are not familiar with your curriculum and often times music concepts at all.  Enough said?  :)

Bandaids

Best thing I've ever done...

Store bandaids at the front of the room!

I can't tell you how many times kids will say "I'm bleeding".  They seem to find any little scab to scratch away at and before you know it blood everywhere!  Last year I had to walk all the way around my piano to the cabinets above my sink and get a bandaid out of the box.  How ridiculous is that!

These are stored next to my doc cam right at the front of my room.  Easy access!  It doesn't slow my lesson down at all, which makes me a happy teacher.  :)