Make Your Own: "Ribbon Wands"

There are terrific products out there for teaching music...but who can afford them all?  Sometimes I devise ways to make my own for much less money.


Some time ago I bought rainbow ribbon wands at musicinmotion.com.  My students and I love using them for performances, showing phrases in music, creative movement, and many other activities.  But $26.00 (plus shipping) for only 6 makes the cost too prohibitive to have enough wands to involve an entire class of students in an activity.

Introducing...This Year's Chorus Shirt!

In "Spotlight on Music: Ways to Promote Your Music Program", I mentioned t-shirts as a great way to promote your music program.  While it is an extra effort in a busy teacher's schedule to collect money and orders for t-shirts, I feel it is well worth the effort.  The students love the colorful shirts they chose this year and wear them often.

Here is the process I use to obtain t-shirts for the chorus:

1. Contact the t-shirt business and ask them to develop three samples of designs for the students to choose from.
2. The students vote on their favorite shirt design and also vote on a color.  (This year multi-color tie dye won the vote!)
3. Distribute order forms listing choice of sizes and cost of the shirt, and also listing a deadline for the return of the order forms and money.
4. Collect order forms and money.
5. When orders are complete, and money is collected, submit order and payment to the t-shirt business.
6. When shirts arrive, distribute to the excited students!
7. Enjoy spotting our chorus t-shirts in class, in the halls of the school, and out in the community...and, of course, don't forget wearing them for performances!

Be ready for these issues:

1. Many students will miss the deadline, lose their order forms and need multiple copies of the order form, and will need many reminders about turning in their order forms and money.
2. Learn the return/remake policy of the t-shirt business, in case of shirts not fitting properly, or if students order the wrong size.
3. Some student's families may be in financial crisis and cannot afford the cost of the shirt.
   Ask your parent-teacher group if they will assist in covering the cost of the t-shirt for students in need.  If they cannot do this, ask permission of your principal to have a small easy fund raiser, such as a jean day for the staff to raise money to cover these shirts.

Spaghetti Conducting

As an elementary music student, and truthfully all the way up to about 10th grade, I felt that conducting patterns were pretty mysterious.   No music teacher covered learning or practicing conducting patterns, and when I played flute in elementary and junior high school band, I always wondered what the director was waving around up there.

In my music classes, I introduce conducting patterns for 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time signatures beginning in fourth grade and continuing review until sixth grade.  Students this age like taking the part of the leader of a group, and we practice conducting as a class to recorded music for each time signature.

Hot, hot, hot...Hot Chocolate!

On Monday, I wrote about our caroling plans for school...and what Christmas caroling experience is complete without the hot chocolate?  My students bring the cookies, but I provide hot chocolate, with the help of many crock pots!

Both of these recipes are from the Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook by Phyllis Pellman Good.  I've adapted them to fit into a busy teacher's schedule.

Caroling (in the school setting)

The Christmas season is in full swing, and it's no longer "too early" to be hearing the old familiar Christmas tunes everywhere!

One of my "fun activities" for my chorus students is caroling.  Many schools may not have the budget available for busing to go caroling at a nursing home, but that doesn't have to keep you from spreading holiday cheer through caroling right in your school.

The Journey to the Concert Destination

Focus on the journey, not the destination.

Joy is found not in finishing an activity, but in doing it.

-Greg Anderson

It is better to travel well than to arrive.

-Buddha

To a music educator at this time of year, these quotes take on a new meaning in the context of CONCERT SEASON!! Many music teachers are either expected to, or contractually obligated to produce both a holiday concert and spring concert.  For many the past months have been the "journey" portion of the music process; the practicing done alone, in small groups, and in large group situations.  The "destination" portion of the music process begins now in the holiday season, with the holiday concert.

The Responsive Classroom

This past week's mentoring meeting focused on The Responsive Classroom.  While the focus is on use in the classroom teaching realm, I find so many elements that can be reinforced or adopted into the music class every time I learn more about Responsive Classroom.  So much of the material is very applicable to music education.

"Responsive Classroom is a widely used, research-backed approach to elementary education that increases academic achievement, decreases problem behaviors, improves social skills, and leads to more high-quality instruction."

What are we doing today?

My students ask me this question often, and these magnets I made help me keep it all organized:

I used heavy cardboard, large die-cut numbers, smaller die-cut letters, glued, laminated, cut out, and added magnets on the back.  Very durable, and well worth the time investment...these still look great in their seventh year of use (just a little dusty from chalk, that's all!)

Seasonal Bulletin Boards

I'm trying something new this year: student-created Seasonal Bulletin Boards.  In the past, I found that it was very time consuming to devise bulletin boards for each month, by the time I completed one, it was time to start over on the next month!  Next, I switched to bulletin boards that could stay up months at a time, but I really missed the changes and was tired of looking at the same things all the time. 

For November's bulletin board, I took a Thanksgiving song that we learned, and added some turkeys to color.  I gave copies to my kindergarten students to color if they chose to during their indoor recess time, and the ones that they returned to me were stapled on my fabric-covered bulletin board.  Easy and fast!

Spotlight on Special Subjects

Our school district hosted "Parent's Visitation Day" as a part of American Education Week last week, and my classes were involved in a news broadcast of the school's TV station on that special day. It was a fun time, and this activity really helped put a focus on the special subjects in a positive light.

The broadcast started with our physical education teacher leading his class in the gym (and parents, teachers, and students in classrooms all over the building via TV) in an afternoon stretch workout. Immediately after the stretches, the cameras came into music class to catch the lesson for first graders on "There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly".

Holiday "Flip" books

Incorporating visual aids is very important for our young students success, and sometimes students need a hands-on visual aid. For this reason, I developed the "Flip Book".  These simple creations help more students follow the sequence of a song, assist in developing reading skills, and lead to more excitement and interest in the activity.

Differentiated Instruction in Music Education



Differentiate!!

 "Effective teachers have been differentiating instruction for as long as teaching has been a profession. It has to do with being sensitive to the needs of your students and finding ways to help students make the necessary connections for learning to occur in the best possible way." teach-nology.com

"Differentiated Instruction makes it possible to maximize learning for ALL students. It is a professional and responsive mind-set where the teacher is proactively planning for the needs of diverse learners.
Most teachers naturally differentiate to some degree. The more differentiated a classroom, the more its students feel successful and motivated, resulting in higher student achievement." differentiatedinstruction.com

How are my grades? (Update 5)

I am continuing to allow my new students to Grade the Teacher. At the beginning of the class, I give one student the job of tallying my mistakes (and I've been making plenty!) and writing my score on the board. This generates a lot of interest on the part of the students! Here are my grades:

How are my grades? (Update 4)

In my new school, I am continuing to allow my students to Grade the Teacher.

At the beginning of the class, I give one student the job of tallying my mistakes (if any) and writing my score on the board. This generates a lot of interest on the part of the students! Here are my grades:

Quiet!

Every teacher needs to develop a "quiet signal" for those times (and they happen often...) when their students are too loud. Elementary students of all ages can get carried away by an activity, excited for any reason, and sometimes just want to visit with their friends.  For these times,  a quiet signal is necessary.

How are my grades? (Update 3)

I am continuing to allow my new students to Grade the Teacher.

At the beginning of the class, I give one student the job of tallying my mistakes (if any) and writing my score on the board. This generates a lot of interest on the part of the students! Here are my grades:

How are my grades? (Update 2)

Even though my current student teacher has now taken over the day-to-day lesson planning and instruction, I still allow my students in my new school to Grade the Teacher (me, that is) on how well I am learning their names.

At the beginning of the class, I give one student the job of tallying my mistakes (if any) and writing my score on the board. This generates a lot of interest on the part of the students! It also helps me to review, and assists my student teacher in learning the student's names as well.  Here are my grades so far:

Great Expectations

As a student, I always hated "THE RULES". Of course, without rules life would be chaos, but there was always a part of me that resented being told what to do! Even as a teacher, I resist saying "Follow the rules". Instead, I ask my students to "Fulfill my expectations".

How are my grades? (Update 1)

This year, I am teaching in a new school, along with another school I've had for some time.  In order to learn the students' names, I allow the students to Grade the Teacher.

At the beginning of the class, I give one student the job of tallying my mistakes (if any) and writing my score on the board.  This generates a lot of interest on the part of the students!  Here are my grades so far:

September Education Buzz

Ahhh...the weekend! It's here after our first five-day week of the year, and it's a great time do check out the Meet the Teacher Edition of the Education Buzz–Life's a Carnival, hosted by Richie at Bellringers! I'll be taking some of my busy weekend time (between going to a workshop for cooperating teachers at SRU on Saturday and hosting my youngest child's third birthday party on Sunday, with soccer, dance, and church thrown in the middle!) to read all of these terrific entries!



...and here's the birthday girl!