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:

Children's Literature for Music Ed: "Five Little Bats Flying in the Night"

Here is another re-write of "Six Little Ducks" just in time for Halloween! Steve Metzger is the author and Laura Bryant is the illustrator of "Five Little Bats Flying in the Night", a cute book to sing with your early childhood students. In the story,  "rambunctious bats get into all sorts of trouble as their mother tries to protect them from one mishap after another. An inventive approach to counting and rhymes, Metzger and Bryant show that, despite life's risks, mother has to "let those little bats fly, fly, fly!"

Here are my ideas for use in music class:

October Music Education Blog Carnival!!

Dr. Joseph Pisano of MusTech.net is hosting the Music Education Blog Carnival for the month of October... and one of my more "mysterious" posts is included!!!

Dr. Pisano presents a variety of terrific resources for music education, private music teachers, Recreational Music Making (RMM), music technology, music advocacy, professional music networks, and music composition.  Please check out the carnival!

Children's Literature for Music Ed: "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat"

That little old lady sure does like to eat, doesn't she?  If you are a fan, you may want to introduce the original song "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" before delving into the many seasonal "old lady" books.

For the spooky season, Lucille Colandro has written "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat!" This is a good reinforcement of sequence and cumulative songs. Most kids just love Halloween and everything associated with the holiday, so this song and book will make them very excited!

Here are my ideas for using this book in your music class:

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:

Worthy Websites for Music Ed: "Metronome Online"

Every music teacher, whether they teach privately or in a school setting, knows the importance of a metronome to help their students keep a steady beat and tempo. A metronome is a practice tool that produces a steady pulse (or beat) to help musicians play rhythms accurately. The pulses are measured in beats-per-minute (BPM). Most metronomes are capable of playing beats from 35 to 250 BPM. Common uses of the metronome are helping you to maintain an established tempo while practicing, and learning difficult passages.

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:

Children's Literature for Music Ed: "The Runaway Pumpkin"

'Round and 'round
across the ground
makin' a thumpin'
bumpin' sound
came that
thumpety
bumpety
thumpin'
bumpin'
round and roll-y
RUNAWAY PUMPKIN!

You can tell by this rhythmic recurring theme in "The Runaway Pumpkin" by Kevin Lewis that this is a story very well-suited for music!