I'm excited to be linking up with several fellow bloggers to post what my music room looks like this year. First.. drum roll, please.. I got NEW carpet! Whoo hoo!!! BIG excitement here, I tell ya! It forced me to do something I haven't done in a long time and was WAAAAAY overdue.. PURGE!!!! I had to box everything in my room up for the carpet guys to install the new carpet. This helped me to go through and really evaluate what to keep, what to throw, and what to store in the storage closet which I share with my chorus teacher. One thing you won't see that I know a LOT of people have is posters and word walls. I believe they can overwhelm students and put these up as needed. I do have a small area with the families of instruments displayed, but I think putting word walls up should only happen as you teach that concept/skill/vocabulary. If the students don't relate to it, why is it there?? Folks, let me tell ya, when floor space is a premium, you find ways to store stuff! My room is large, but I leave my Orff instruments (except glocks) out and set up so I can always say, "Let's go to the instruments". I love the ease of leaving them out, except when they take up too much of the floor! Ha! I had so many old things (I've been teaching at my school for 18 years!!) and even had overhead projector film.. remember those!! I purged BIG TIME! Feel like I almost have a new room. This is what my kiddos did on their first day.. in addition to singing and making music... each child was given a post it note to draw "something musical". They added their name and made them as colorful as possible. We put them outside the music room door and it grew into a heart. The "M" on the top right is part of a pennant (Team theme this year) that spells out "MUSIC". We heart music! This gives you an idea of the pennants.. they are all over the room and say, Create/Move/Sing/Listen/Play I also have several instruments around the room.. drums are back on a shelf after having fallen off my hooks the first week of school.. still investigating other ways to hang them! The ukuleles are up this year- last year they were still in boxes on the floor. I LOVE these adjustable hangers! And of course, final picture below has the recorder karate board which helps me to evaluat what students are on what belt. I have a flipped recorder karate program and students are required to pass green belt ( which is not It's Raining!!!) and can then go beyond (one of our school's core values) to purple, blue, etc. They loved the flipped classroom and I feel like I spend much more time teaching music and not jut recorder! I really LOVE LOVE LOVE the boomwhackers on the wall and the kids and I both love how easy it is for them to get them out and put them away! A final look at the room! Enjoy!