It has taken me a while to put together a classroom tour but I am thrilled to have a week of school under my belt and my classroom set up and humming along! The most exciting part of my classroom setup this year is being able to get back to many of the things I haven't been able to do during the pandemic, but I have also added a few new tweaks to my room from my pre-pandemic setup too, so I'm excited to share those as well. First to give you a lay of the land, here's a quick video around the entire space: Now let's talk about this year's updates! First of all the biggest change is going back to pre-pandemic seating arrangements. Oh how I have missed my circle! This year I used these carpet spots, which have a darker green color than the ones I used last year (my old ones were hard to distinguish between yellow and green), and so far they're holding up well. I've also got my chairs back in rows by color team instead of having each chair spread out: Last year because I had to set up the chairs spaced out 3 feet each, I wasn't able to use my normal job of line leader (I had a job for hand sanitizer instead). This year my line leaders are back! One of those, "Why didn't I think of this sooner?" tiny upgrades this year was on that same magnetic board where I have the color team jobs- the magnets for each class going up the piano keys are now horizontal and much easier to read: A procedural change I made this year was to designate my own hand signals for students to use in music class when they need to use the bathroom or a tissue- I made posters showing those hand signals next to the board. I also made new letters for my "MUSIC" letter system, which you can see in the same photo (those were long overdue for an upgrade!): The final update is one that I'm probably more excited about than I should be... I got new clipboards! I added these to my Amazon wishlist this summer and was thrilled to get them. The clips are much smaller, and they are plastic and of course in my 6 rainbow colors. So much to love about these compared to my old ones! I also decided this year to give students the choice between regular pencils, which I wrapped in a small piece of duct tape, or mechanical pencils. It has been a great start to the year to far and I do have a couple more updates to the classroom I'm hoping to get to throughout the year... we'll see! But for now I'm very happy with our space. Rather than rehashing all of the details on where I got things or why I have things set up the way I do, I'll direct you to my classroom tour post from 2018 where I have a lot more details on most of what you see here. And of course please leave a comment with any questions!
Music education ideas, activities, games, and songs | Technology tips for the music classroom | Resources for the elementary music room.
10 great examples of music classroom decor: Includes ideas for organization, instrument storage, and more!
It is that time of year again. Time when teachers try to savor the last few days of summer by dreaming about how they will set up the most beautiful, functional and perfect classroom that Pinterest h
I am one of those people who cannot work in silence. I have always incorporated music into my classroom whether it be just for background noise, or to enhance our lesson plan. A few years ago I sub…
Looking for ideas for storage or standards based classroom examples in elementary music? Look no further! Here are lots of practical (and cheap) ideas!
My Portable Recording Setup for Student Use When Recording in the Classroom
A Musical Chairs variation that's suitable for use in a classroom space and with large numbers of students.
A blog for Preschool, Special Education and Autism for Behavior Management, Classroom ideas and Resources
Teaching Improvisation. Organized Chaos. Lesson ideas and strategies for elementary general music teachers to teach improv and meet the creating standard.
So far we've looked at two main principals of Whole Brain Teaching: Class? Yes! and Mirror! The basic premise is that interaction with students should be direct, to the point, and interactive. (Don't forget fun! It's fun because students get to DO something; they aren't asked to simply sit still and listen) Most of the next few implementations of Whole Brain Teaching are extensions of Class? Yes! and Mirror. Teach! Ok! takes the students out of speaking in unison to repeat the teacher and now gives them a chance to speak and motion in their own setting. After mirroring a new concept 4 or 5 times, students are then asked to teach each other! This is not new; teachers have been saying for years to "turn to a partner and tell them something you learned" or some other variation of the same. Two differences: whole brain teaching is a more direct command and also puts the right words into each students mouths and hands. While there is definitely merit in students synthesizing and extrapolating to their own words, that can come after mastering the basics and with a differentiation purpose. I already have my kids divided into 1s and 2s for partner games, concentric circles, etc. Especially for my big chatty classes, I have loved being able to say "1s take a step into the blue circle and face your partner." I even go so far as boy/girl partners in my toughest class. So now I say "Teach!" Students respond with "Ok!" and they turn to their partners immediately. I've seen some teachers say "1s teach 2s" and then there is a "Switch!" instruction where the 2s teach the 1s. A quick reminder here or there never hurts that a group of 3 is always ok if someone is absent. I am all about experiencing music and moving to feel the beat and exploring musical concepts but eventually the concepts need to be put into words. That's what I use these strategies for. We glide half notes, we've sung half notes, we've felt two heartbeats during half notes, we've explored which instruments can sound for a half note, and now we need to put into words that a half note gets two beats. So when showing my students what a half note looks like, we MIRROR half notes with our hands and proclaim "a half note gets two beats." Imitation is important anytime something is new. They imitate me 4, 5, 6 times then I can say TEACH! and they say OK! then turn to their partner and teach that a half note gets two beats. Now students are saying it at different times and hearing/seeing it from peers. It's also a great time for me to scan the room and check that students are able to say and perform on their own. Most of them can after all the imitation, but there are always a few that need some guidance and that's my time to step it! (Did we talk about differentiation yet?? Seeing the needs and meeting them) Implementing any new strategy into your teaching can be tricky for you the teacher, but also the students. I started small with only Class Yes, then added Mirror, now Teach Ok!. I had them teaching each other after mirror before I used the command Teach and the response Ok. It was a small step then to introduce the call and response approach. Did you notice WBT is all about call and response?? Much more conversational style of directions than commands. It helps students stay focused and gives them an outlet to talk! I love to use Teach Ok! at the end of teaching a new concept or at the beginning of a class to review or when lining up to leave as an exit activity. It gives my students a chance to talk and I like it! Don't miss a post! Follow me on Facebook or subscribe to my blog via email!
This colorful set includes stunning visuals and vocabulary to help add creative movement and dance to your classroom. Create your own movement word wall or use the image cards to inspire your students and get them out of their seats! This set includes: Over 90 term only cards for creative movement inspiration (see below for list of terms) The same 90+ terms paired with images of children moving Over 40 image only cards Printing possibilities in color and black & white A few suggestions for use PLEASE DOWNLOAD THE PREVIEW by clicking the green preview button above, to see detailed images of this amazing product. Terms included: Locomotor Movements: Walk, Run, Gallop, Hop, Slide, Skip, Leap, Sashay, Crawl, Prance, Roll, Slither, Creep, Skate, Glide, Tip-toe, March, Scoot, Bounce, Dart, Stride, Strut, Limp, Scurry Non-Locomotor Movements Bend, Clap, Snap, Cross, Pat, Tap, Swat, Kick, Poke, Flick, Punch, Mold, Paint, Swirl, Shatter, Stretch, Melt, Dodge, Sway, Wiggle, Burst, Break, Sink, Rise, Shake, Wring, Press, Float, Turn, Dab, Slash, Lunge, Curl, Carve, Lift, Spin, Fall, Push, Pull, Swing, Twist, Suspend, Collapse, Swivel, Vibrate, Reach, Expand, Lean Levels High, Middle, Low, Floor Directions Forward, Backward, Sideways, Up, Down, Diagonal PathwaysStraight, Curvy, Zig-zag Weight Heavy, Medium, Light ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This product is part of a Spanish & English Music Classroom Decor Set! More Creative Movement Activities: Let's Move! Bingo Let's Move! Roll & Move Let's Move! Bundle Let's Move! Christmas Bingo Let's Move! Christmas Roll & Move Let's Move! Christmas Bundle FREE Let's Move! Christmas Roll & Move Sample ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Follow my Rhythm and Bloom Facebook Page for updates and freebies!
Traffic Cop is a game I've created for reading rhythms - in a new way! Setup: Write 4 different (known) rhythmic symbols on an index card...
Best Strategies for Teaching Tempo. Organized Chaos. Elementary general music lesson ideas and tips for teaching tempo, speed, fast and slow effectively.
We need to be able to enforce boundaries and standards of behavior, but it can be hard to come up with consequences that we can use as elementary music teachers when our class times are so short and there are often several days between the times we see them. But there are some common practices I hear teachers recommending to others regularly that I think do more harm than good- here are my top 3 consequences I wish elementary music teachers would stop using, and what I do instead. 1. Give a class intentionally boring worksheets as a consequence for expressing or demonstrating negative attitudes towards regular lesson activities As logical as it may sound to think that students will appreciate the fun and exciting lesson activities more if they experience what a boring lesson is like, if there is toxic, negative energy going around for whatever reason about your class, making it more boring is not going to help- it's going to make it worse. There is always a ringleader or two that is the root of the negative energy, even if it feels like the whole class is against you. Start by explaining at the end of the lesson that the negative energy is ruining the vibes and preventing the class from having fun and from learning- not every activity or class has to be their favorite, but everyone needs to do their best and have a positive attitude: "don't yuck someone else's yum". Tell them that starting next lesson, you are not going to allow anyone to ruin the positive energy. If possible, make someone- the principal, the social worker, etc- aware of the situation and that you are trying to turn around the negative energy in a class. Warn them ahead of time that you may need backup during a particular class period while you handle the situation, and work out a plan, either for someone to push in or be prepared to take students, if you need it. I know sometimes teachers don't have adequate support staff or their administrator is unsupportive- in that case I would get a colleague on board who is willing to have a student or two come in their room. But I would encourage you to try to advocate for someone to be available to come in if needed- I've found administrators and support staff appreciate when you explain all the things you've already tried and that you are wanting to do this as a short-term strategy to keep everyone in class instead of having to throw them out or stop your lessons in the long run. Once you've established that you expect everyone to keep negative energy to themselves, start the next lesson overflowing with positive energy, grinning as soon as you see them to show you're excited about having a good time that day. Don't plan anything different than what you normally would have, but be super excited about everything. Give positive reinforcement for all the students who are engaged, whether that's points or whatever other positive reward you have in place in your school or classroom (if you don't have one, start one and explain what it is to everyone!). As soon as the first person starts to make a negative comment/ face (even if it's right as they enter the room), try to quickly catch them and remind them to keep it positive. If they don't, ask them to sit away from the rest of the class and take their negative energy elsewhere and go back to having fun with the others. If they are still disrupting the lesson, offer to let them write down their negative thoughts instead of saying them out loud and spreading their negativity. If that doesn't work, put the backup plan into action: ideally I think it works best if there is someone that can be on call to come and sit with the negative student(s) while you proceed with the others, but if not, get them to leave the room, whether it's the principal's office, another classroom, or somewhere else. The goal is to turn the tide so that the majority of the class that was getting sucked into the negativity before, gets sucked into your positive energy instead. If you have to have a student (or several students) leave the room, it will be important to follow up with that student after class. Often they will be happy that they got to leave the class they were complaining about (which is why it's best to find a way for someone to come in if at all possible)! So there needs to be a consequence for that specific student, whether that's giving makeup work, calling/ writing home, or something else to make sure that student doesn't want this to keep happening. Having that positive reward for the students who were engaged will help here too, since obviously the ones who left will not get whatever the others did. It will get easier and easier to get those students to at least tone down their negativity to a manageable level once the attitude of the rest of the class is positive- it has never taken me more than 4 class periods of this to turn the class around. 2. Put away instruments and ban their use from the entire class because of chaotic behavior while using them or damaging an instrument(s) If students don't know how to use instruments properly, giving them less opportunity to learn how is not going to help long-term. It's also never helpful to punish an entire class for something that most likely wasn't something everyone did. First of all, I have a strict rule in place of, "if you play before I say you'll make the instrument go away". I tell them every single time we get out instruments, and I also remind them often that I'm not here to judge if it was intentional or accidental- if you touch/ make sound with something when you're not supposed to, you will miss a turn with that instrument. The key is to make sure the time they lose the instrument is short and then they quickly get a chance to try again and do it right. If as a group a class is too chaotic while using/ getting out instruments, slow it way down to whatever point you need to be able to monitor each student more closely. Sometimes that means only half the class plays at a time instead of everyone at once, having one student at a time go and get out their instrument while the rest of the class waits and watches and you narrate the correct way of doing it every step of the way, or having a few students designated to get out an instrument for others, etc. 3. Having a class practice coming into class silently/ calmly over and over until they are all coming in the way you expect I used to do this ALL THE TIME at the beginning of my career. Having students practice a behavior or procedure the right way when they do it wrong is obviously a good thing. But again, punishing an entire class for something that is probably not something everyone is doing is only going to make students feel frustrated and agitated, not calm and focused like you want them to be. If the vast majority of a class comes into my room too rambunctiously, I will definitely stop and have them go back and try again. But 1) I only do it one time and I make sure to give positive reinforcement to the ones that do it right, and 2) I do not have them go back in the hallway- I have them line up as close to the door as possible but still inside my room, and then walk to their spots from there. I find going back in the hallway is counterproductive because I never know who else is going to walk by making noise and/or distracting my students, and usually sound carries a lot more in the hallway so every little noise is amplified. I keep them in my controlled environment to practice instead. If it's just a few students, obviously I just ask those few students to do it again. If the class has practiced once there will only be a few students, if any, who still aren't doing it right- in that case I will have those few students try it again by themselves. But again, only once- after that it just turns into a power struggle and it's not effective. If I still have students who are running/ talking loudly etc after that, I tell them we will practice another time and move on. I talk to the homeroom teachers and/or principal and figure out a time when I can take them by themselves and practice walking appropriately (some years I've been lucky enough to be available to do it during their recess, other times I take them first thing in the morning when everyone else has circle time, or immediately after class). As a sidenote, one thing that has helped tremendously with this problem specifically is I've stopped needing my students to walk in silently. Yes, they should not be yelling, running, or touching other people or things, but the thing that has helped me get everyone focused right away without requiring them to be silent is to immediately start student-led warmups. It took away so many power struggles to start class this way! Check out this post on how I do that, and this post for a whole bunch of activity ideas for warmups. I know this may ruffle some feathers but I hope this gives teachers some new ideas to try that will help turn the tide in a positive direction! I would love to hear your thoughts on these common consequences, and any other strategies you have used effectively in these situations, in the comments below.
I love the beginning of the year! Meaning August, because that is really how teacher's think of a year.. when summer is winding down and we're getting ready to start a new year. We have new ideas new things to try and one of the best parts is getting into our classrooms and getting them ready. There comes a point of summer when I get anxious to get my room ready. I love having it ready with plenty of time so I can tweak it, write lesson plans, and focus on other things those few inservice days we have before kids come. Here is a tour of my room this year. I have wanted a big rug since I started and my dream finally came true! I can't wait to fill it with little children! I also switched from chairs to risers this year. I could never get the chairs into a formation I felt didn't take up too much room and was functional. This allows more room for movement and risers promote better singing posture. I plan to only have the older kids on them until we are practicing for the Winter Program. The view from my "in classroom desk" I have those nice cabinets for storage. The fireplace is from my winter program- We did "There's Someone in the Chimney" from K-8- I'd highly recommend it- it was a student and audience favorite! The fireplace turned out so cute I had to save it! I have the kids line up along these cabinets- it needs some sprucing up so I plan to put a word wall here. I also store pencils, paper for little notes and wet wipes by the door! View from the risers: My learning targets are posted behind the piano. I have a hand-sign chart. I sit in the rocking chair to start class with the younger grades. There are also white boards in nice little caddies- I put other materials in there throughout the year each kid is assigned a caddy to get their materials from. I also have clipboards since I got rid of desks. My cluster of Orff instruments. A collection that was started before me and I continue to grow. I try to buy one a year. The mismatched collection is growing and the kids love them! The filing cabinets in the back is where I store portfolios for grades 4-6. The bulletin board say "Learning Music is a Hoot!" My "In Classroom Desk" or better- table. I used fabric to cover the cords. I run powerpoints, mimio presentations, or document camera things from here- I also have my CD player and VHS/DVD player here. My reward system: I got this from Pinterest. I wanted to try something new- My kids and myself were bored with the 3 star system. I have alphabet magnets on my white board that say "MUSIC" I plan to take one down if they aren't trying their best, aren't following directions, ect. At the end of class their clothespin moves one if they have 1-4 letters left and two if they have all 5 left. At the end they have a reward activity- Dance parties, 4 corners- ect. I only usually reserve 5 minutes for the reward. I talk about my "In Classroom Desk" This is my office- I am fortunate to have my very own space that I share with no one- My room is used for band as well so this is my space while that is being taught. I do all my planning in here as well as working with students one-on-one before or after school.
We need to be able to enforce boundaries and standards of behavior, but it can be hard to come up with consequences that we can use as elementary music teachers when our class times are so short and there are often several days between the times we see them. But there are some common practices I hear teachers recommending to others regularly that I think do more harm than good- here are my top 3 consequences I wish elementary music teachers would stop using, and what I do instead. 1. Give a class intentionally boring worksheets as a consequence for expressing or demonstrating negative attitudes towards regular lesson activities As logical as it may sound to think that students will appreciate the fun and exciting lesson activities more if they experience what a boring lesson is like, if there is toxic, negative energy going around for whatever reason about your class, making it more boring is not going to help- it's going to make it worse. There is always a ringleader or two that is the root of the negative energy, even if it feels like the whole class is against you. Start by explaining at the end of the lesson that the negative energy is ruining the vibes and preventing the class from having fun and from learning- not every activity or class has to be their favorite, but everyone needs to do their best and have a positive attitude: "don't yuck someone else's yum". Tell them that starting next lesson, you are not going to allow anyone to ruin the positive energy. If possible, make someone- the principal, the social worker, etc- aware of the situation and that you are trying to turn around the negative energy in a class. Warn them ahead of time that you may need backup during a particular class period while you handle the situation, and work out a plan, either for someone to push in or be prepared to take students, if you need it. I know sometimes teachers don't have adequate support staff or their administrator is unsupportive- in that case I would get a colleague on board who is willing to have a student or two come in their room. But I would encourage you to try to advocate for someone to be available to come in if needed- I've found administrators and support staff appreciate when you explain all the things you've already tried and that you are wanting to do this as a short-term strategy to keep everyone in class instead of having to throw them out or stop your lessons in the long run. Once you've established that you expect everyone to keep negative energy to themselves, start the next lesson overflowing with positive energy, grinning as soon as you see them to show you're excited about having a good time that day. Don't plan anything different than what you normally would have, but be super excited about everything. Give positive reinforcement for all the students who are engaged, whether that's points or whatever other positive reward you have in place in your school or classroom (if you don't have one, start one and explain what it is to everyone!). As soon as the first person starts to make a negative comment/ face (even if it's right as they enter the room), try to quickly catch them and remind them to keep it positive. If they don't, ask them to sit away from the rest of the class and take their negative energy elsewhere and go back to having fun with the others. If they are still disrupting the lesson, offer to let them write down their negative thoughts instead of saying them out loud and spreading their negativity. If that doesn't work, put the backup plan into action: ideally I think it works best if there is someone that can be on call to come and sit with the negative student(s) while you proceed with the others, but if not, get them to leave the room, whether it's the principal's office, another classroom, or somewhere else. The goal is to turn the tide so that the majority of the class that was getting sucked into the negativity before, gets sucked into your positive energy instead. If you have to have a student (or several students) leave the room, it will be important to follow up with that student after class. Often they will be happy that they got to leave the class they were complaining about (which is why it's best to find a way for someone to come in if at all possible)! So there needs to be a consequence for that specific student, whether that's giving makeup work, calling/ writing home, or something else to make sure that student doesn't want this to keep happening. Having that positive reward for the students who were engaged will help here too, since obviously the ones who left will not get whatever the others did. It will get easier and easier to get those students to at least tone down their negativity to a manageable level once the attitude of the rest of the class is positive- it has never taken me more than 4 class periods of this to turn the class around. 2. Put away instruments and ban their use from the entire class because of chaotic behavior while using them or damaging an instrument(s) If students don't know how to use instruments properly, giving them less opportunity to learn how is not going to help long-term. It's also never helpful to punish an entire class for something that most likely wasn't something everyone did. First of all, I have a strict rule in place of, "if you play before I say you'll make the instrument go away". I tell them every single time we get out instruments, and I also remind them often that I'm not here to judge if it was intentional or accidental- if you touch/ make sound with something when you're not supposed to, you will miss a turn with that instrument. The key is to make sure the time they lose the instrument is short and then they quickly get a chance to try again and do it right. If as a group a class is too chaotic while using/ getting out instruments, slow it way down to whatever point you need to be able to monitor each student more closely. Sometimes that means only half the class plays at a time instead of everyone at once, having one student at a time go and get out their instrument while the rest of the class waits and watches and you narrate the correct way of doing it every step of the way, or having a few students designated to get out an instrument for others, etc. 3. Having a class practice coming into class silently/ calmly over and over until they are all coming in the way you expect I used to do this ALL THE TIME at the beginning of my career. Having students practice a behavior or procedure the right way when they do it wrong is obviously a good thing. But again, punishing an entire class for something that is probably not something everyone is doing is only going to make students feel frustrated and agitated, not calm and focused like you want them to be. If the vast majority of a class comes into my room too rambunctiously, I will definitely stop and have them go back and try again. But 1) I only do it one time and I make sure to give positive reinforcement to the ones that do it right, and 2) I do not have them go back in the hallway- I have them line up as close to the door as possible but still inside my room, and then walk to their spots from there. I find going back in the hallway is counterproductive because I never know who else is going to walk by making noise and/or distracting my students, and usually sound carries a lot more in the hallway so every little noise is amplified. I keep them in my controlled environment to practice instead. If it's just a few students, obviously I just ask those few students to do it again. If the class has practiced once there will only be a few students, if any, who still aren't doing it right- in that case I will have those few students try it again by themselves. But again, only once- after that it just turns into a power struggle and it's not effective. If I still have students who are running/ talking loudly etc after that, I tell them we will practice another time and move on. I talk to the homeroom teachers and/or principal and figure out a time when I can take them by themselves and practice walking appropriately (some years I've been lucky enough to be available to do it during their recess, other times I take them first thing in the morning when everyone else has circle time, or immediately after class). As a sidenote, one thing that has helped tremendously with this problem specifically is I've stopped needing my students to walk in silently. Yes, they should not be yelling, running, or touching other people or things, but the thing that has helped me get everyone focused right away without requiring them to be silent is to immediately start student-led warmups. It took away so many power struggles to start class this way! Check out this post on how I do that, and this post for a whole bunch of activity ideas for warmups. I know this may ruffle some feathers but I hope this gives teachers some new ideas to try that will help turn the tide in a positive direction! I would love to hear your thoughts on these common consequences, and any other strategies you have used effectively in these situations, in the comments below.
Let’s keep this blog hop party going! Kyle from Kinder SPED Adventures organized this awesome blog hop. This week we’re talking about classroom setup. The most important thing I think about when setting up my classroom is what activity areas do we need to set up? Based on the schedule I made, I know I ... Read More about SPED Summer Bloghop! Week 2: Classroom Setup
My music room needed a makeover! See how I arranged the space, content I added to the walls, and everything else that took this room from drab to fab!
Music education ideas, activities, games, and songs | Technology tips for the music classroom | Resources for the elementary music room.
