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?  

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!  :)

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.

Recorder Karate Question

This question was posted the other day and I thought it may be something that others were interested in:

I am starting Recorder Karate for the first time and looking for an idea pertaining to the belts that is more cost effective. I see you have yarn. Can you explain how you utilize the yarn as belts and what holds it into place?

I hear you on cost effectiveness. My school started out at just under 600 total population and now we are at around 900. I have always used yarn for belts and honestly, I have not had to buy new yarn in the 6 years I have been doing recorder karate.  When I first purchased the yarn, I stocked up (2 packages per color).

Since I only use this with my 4/5 graders, it takes a while to go through. If you want to go the yarn route, I would buy the larger packages of yarn. JoAnn's/Michaels/Hobby Lobby coupons are great. I took several trips in order to get all the yarn I needed. You can also ask parents for donations. Since this isn't one of the more expensive items, I have had parents donate a package here or there. 

As far as tying the belts on, the kids just double knot them onto the end of their recorder. If they don't have their own, we staple them to their recorder karate packets. Another way that I save on yarn is by being very stern about not replacing lost belts. If they lost their string, they don't have to start back at that belt, they can continue on but I don't just hand out replacement belts. Instead they have to replay the belt for me and time for this is very limited because I always listen to students trying to earn new belts first. This policy seems to cut down on wasted yarn. 

My kids are in charge of cutting the belts but I have to be specific about the process. When we first start RK in 4th grade, I teach them all how to cut them to the right length. I use a bucket in my RK box as a measuring tool. Otherwise, you'll have to listen to "my belts too short"! :)  Another way of doing this is by cutting the yarn ahead of time but I don't have the patience to sit and do that, so having the kids cut the belts works for me.

Do you have any questions about recorder karate?  I'm happy to share how I have made this work at my school.

The Countdowns Begun

Yippee!!!  I made it through the holiday concert.  My kids did an amazing job tonight.  We performed at our local Barnes and Noble, which was a nice change of pace.  They cleared a nice space for us and our parents crammed in around the bookshelves and it ended up being a nice intimate setting.  I think I will definitely do another concert like this but maybe with less instruments.  I tried to limit it but then it felt like I took everything but the kitchen sink.  I'm not good at packing light.

This morning we had our dress rehearsal at school and I snapped these photos of our set up.  Typically I like to use my FlipForm risers for our orff set up but after being sick this week I didn't feel up to any extra movement.  Instead, I used my stash of carpet squares for comfier seating, as well as boomwhackers.

For one of the musical selections we were using boomwhackers with octivators.  I like how they sound when struck vertically against the floor, so the carpet squares were great for this.  When you strike them against tile floor you get an awful plastic sound, not ideal.

Now the that our performance is over, the countdown to winter break is on. 10 days to go!  :)

Hula Hoops for Recorder

I'd like to say I haven't posted because I've been caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season but, unfortunately, it's because I have been sick.  Usually I get my first cold from the kids in September as I'm adjusting to all of the germs surrounding me but this year my body waited until the week of my concert!  What a great time?!?!  Oh, well.  It is working it's way out of my system and I can't wait for it to be gone.  :)

A few years ago I saw a teacher in my district present a lesson on using hula hoops to reinforce BAG on Soprano Recorder.  (I feel awful, I can't remember who gave the presentation, I'd love to give her credit.)

Basically, you need 3 hula hoops laid out in a column on the floor.  Each one represents one of the pitches; B, A and G.  The hoop that is farthest from the students is B.  My hoops are different sizes because I found them at the dollar store.  I don't really care about the size difference but I do like to use different colors when I do this.  I find that the dollar store hoops are good for this because they are smaller and easier to jump if you want to do a skip from B-G.

I start the warm-up as the conductor.  If I am standing in a hoop, students respond by playing the appropriate pitch.  If I am not standing in any of the hoops, then it's a rest.  After my turn, I select at least 2 students to take turns as conductors.

This is an easy little warm-up and a good way to review fingerings for BAG.

More Recorder...

I wanted a recorder fingering chart that combined the staff, note name and an image of how to play the pitch but I couldn't find anything online that I liked or was large enough to be seen across the room.  I created these posters for my classroom and the kids reference them all the time.  I only have these up but I made an entire set with flats and sharps included.

Silver Belt

During my 1st year of teaching I complained to my mentor that I was having a hard time getting students to complete written work geared towards recorders.  She shared some of her written assignments with me and suggested requiring students to complete the worksheet in addition to playing the belt song.  I tried this out the following year and it became difficult for me to keep on top of all of this.  Below is one of the ways I solved this dilemma.

In order to earn their silver belt, students have to write and perform an original composition.  In their recorder packets is a copy of this worksheet.  Once they have completed their silver belt, I hang it on the "Featured Composers" wall outside my classroom.

I have found that by completing this one assignment a lot of musical concepts click a bit more for my students.  They seem to be more aware of meter, not value, etc.

Something I found that I didn't like about this format was the worksheet itself.  I think next year I will revamp it so that there is a brainstorming area where students can first create their rhythm before worrying about the melody.

Graphing Recorder Belts

Recorder Karate is a big deal at my school.  The kids love earning new belts and seeing the progress they and their classmates make throughout the year.  The program has become a highlight of my 4th and 5th grade classes.  It's amazing to watch the kids cheer each other on, especially when its a classmate who has struggled with covering the wholes or reading the staff.

This idea originally came from a presentation at my Level I.  The teacher that presented had a poster per class.  I liked the idea but I would have had to hang a lot more posters in my hallway.  This is what I came up with to fit my situation.

There is a poster for each belt (except rainbow I have to create that poster for next year) and each class is listed at the bottom of the graph.  This is a nice way for kids to see how many belts their class has earned.

I used poster board, a graph easel pad, a glue stick and markers to create my posters.  The easel pad paper had to be cut a bit to fit on the poster board.  I used our large paper cutter so that I would get a straight edge.  I had the posters laminated at Office Max so that they would be sturdier.

Graphing Easel Pad on Quill

I keep track of belts earned during our lessons on a sheet of paper inside the class folder (I will post an image of my class folders later.).  After the lesson, I use Vis-aVis markers to chart new belts so that I can easily wipe the graphs off at the end of the year.

The only problem I encountered was little fingers erasing the bars on the graphs.  I have heard that you can use permanent marker on laminated materials and erase it later using a little more ink but I was afraid to try it.  Maybe I will test a spot on the back before starting next year.

At the end of the year the top earning class in 4th grade and the top in 5th grade each get an ice cream party.  It's great motivation and a nice way to recognize a class that may not have earned a group award earlier in the year.

Recorder Karate

This idea came from Mrs. Maddy, a teacher in my county.  By my door I have a stand with a binder of all the Recorder Karate songs.  Each song is copied onto a piece of cardstock that reflects the belt color.  At the end of our lesson students line up and I listen to students play for belts until their teacher arrives.

In a box next to the door I have all of the yarn and beads that I use for recorder karate.  I select a responsible student to cut belts so that I can focus on listening to students perform.