Happy Thanksgiving!

I know,  it's been a long time since my last post.  Things have been a bit crazy here in South Texas.  We are now living with my husband's parents, still trying to sell our home in North Texas.  Now before you start to feel sorry for me, let me clarify:  My in-laws are wonderful.  They have a large 4 bedroom home with space for all of us to have our own rooms and bathrooms, they are happy to help out with the kids while we are at work, they have a housekeeper who comes once a week (score!), and they are incredibly generous.  I know not everyone could stand to live with family, and we are blessed to be a part of this loving, supportive one.

That said, I am ready to have my own space.  It's still weird living in someone else's house, cooking in someone else's kitchen, doing laundry in someone else's laundry room (especially when you hate laundry like I do), and trying to keep kids and school stuff organized and together. (So NOT mastering this mayhem!)  So if you know someone looking for a home in the Keller area, I have a great one for them!!

In honor of the holiday, I would like to share some Thanksgivings of my own:

I am thankful for....
.....My MIL and FIL, who have been so generous and supportive during this transition.
.....My own parents, who are supporting us in this move even though it takes us farther from them.
.....Our new church home, where we have been welcomed with open hearts and arms.
.....Our church youth group, a safe haven for the boys to build new friendships and grow in spirit.
.....The staff family at my new school, who make starting over a little easier.
.....My husband's new job, which has given him a confidence and fulfillment that he truly needed.
.....A God who loves me and is providing for our needs every day.

Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the chaos of life and focus on the things we don't have.  I know I have been guilty of that many times in the last few months.  But really, I am so blessed.  I have a job, a stable family, a home (two if you count the one we own and the one where we stay!), plenty of clothes to wear, food to eat, and cars to get us where we need to go.  God provides for all of our needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus (Philipians 4:19).

May God bless you and your family with peace, joy, and love this Thanksgiving.

New School Jitters

Inservice is over, and the kids are coming Monday!  I haven't finished going through the storage room and library yet, but my office is no longer a hot mess--progress!  The room is set for students, even if the walls are a little bare.  I think the hardest thing for me is that I have to be okay with things not being "perfect" for the first day.  I keep thinking of things that I want to get out of my school boxes (we may need to rent a truck to get it all here next weekend!), and it's killing me to not have it all ready right now.  I don't have all the great technology and instruments that I had in my last school, so I'm having to remember how to teach without them--who knew it would be so hard?

I've gotten some great ideas from the amazing teachers on the Music K-8 list.  If you are not a subscriber, I HIGHLY recommend it.  It is a network of music teachers all across the country who share ideas, ask questions, and support each other in what can be a lonely job.  You can subscribe at musick8.com by clicking on the "Mailing List" tab at the top of the page.  I would suggest creating a separate email account just for this, though.  There can be 100 or more posts every day, so you may not want it clogging another inbox. 

Now that my stuff is organized, I need to write out my lesson plans.  Have a great first week, everyone! 

Let the Mayhem Begin!

WOW!  I knew I was tackling a lot of big changes all at once, but the details are starting to sink in.  This last week I went to my new school for the first time.  I found a large room (good!) that shares a wall with the band hall (not so good), with an office, music library, and two storage rooms (good) that were all FULL of stuff (not good!).  It looked like no one had cleaned out or taken joy in their teaching there in several years. It was overwhelmingly depressing.  I'll admit it, I cried more than once this week over the mountain of stuff ahead of me.

BUT....I spent yesterday cleaning out the office and arranging the room with the young man who will be teaching the other sections of 5th grade music while I am teaching choir.  Bless his heart, he is so excited to start his new job (he's a first year teacher), but he's kind of all over the place.  I've been asked to mentor him this year, which any other year I would be thrilled to do, but right now I feel like need to get myself in order before I can help anyone else.  If you are a praying person, please pray for me in this area!  I want to be a good leader and helper to him, as well as to my students.  I need a clear head and a calm spirit to make this work.

MEANWHILE, all of my school stuff from my old classroom is still in North Texas.  I came down with ONE crate to start the year, and I am wishing I had more here.  We will be going back to get more of our belongings Labor Day weekend, so I only have to get through the first week.  So it's my turn to ask you for ideas!  What activities can I do with 5th-7th graders that require little or no props/equipment?  I found rhythm sticks and egg shakers, and I bought 30 cups last night for cup games.  I'm going to try to borrow some beanbags or balls from the PE teacher (fingers crosssed they have some!). 

I need help to master this amount of mayhem!  Thank you in advance! 

A New Adventure!

This has been a crazy summer at our house. In July, my wonderful husband got a job in Lake Jackson, six hours away.  It is also where his parents live, which is helpful right now.  Hubby started his job last week, and the boys and I stayed home, planning to spend the school year apart since I still have my current (wonderful) job.  But wait!  God has another plan.  The district that hired my husband has found a position for me!

That is wonderful, because: now we can keep our family together.  Since our oldest son is starting high school, I am SO glad to be with Dad this year (even if said 14yo is grumbling about moving). The town we are moving to is a great place, with great cultural opportunities for kids and community members.  We already have a church there that we love, so we can jump right in there, too.

That is scary, because:  I have five days to pack up my classroom, my boys, my dog, and get us to south Texas. I will be teaching 5th grade general music and 6th-8th grade choir, something I have not taught before. New teacher inservice starts next week, I have to set up a new classroom, learn the curriculum, select music, and be ready for kids on August 27th. Yikes!

As much as I love elementary music, I am excited about working with "big" kids.  It's like I'm just moving up with my fourth graders from last year (except a completely new bunch of kids).  I have been a choir director before, so I know what to do. It's just that....in case you didn't know....I'm a planner.  I like to think, plan, make lists, and THEN get started.  This timeline does not leave me much room for that!  But you know what?  It's an adventure, and it's going to be a fun ride!

Guess I better redo my teacher binder.....

Google Docs for the Classroom

This is the time of year when most teachers are organizing, with a capital "O".  We plan, design, arrange, rearrange, redesign, and do everything we can to make the new year start strong.  One of my favorite tools to use is Google Docs.

If you have not seen or heard about Google Docs, it is high time you learned! It is a great way to store and share documents with others, collaborate on projects, and create forms for your programs.  Best of all, it's FREE!  All you have to do is create a Google ID for yourself. 

My favorite features are:

1. SHARING - I can share documents with anyone, anywhere I want.  If I want to share something I made with music teachers across the state, they can access it here.  No more multiple emails to send large files or pictures. Many of the bloggers I follow share their work as a Google document, so I can download them easily.  Also, if you open a shared document from someone else, it will be automatically added to your own Googledocs library.

2.  FORMS - OMGoodness, this is the BEST!  I use this to have kids sign up for choir auditions every year.  You set up the form and share the link with whomever you wish.  They fill in the form, and you have a spreadsheet with everyone's information already entered. I also use it to collect student information, take orders for t-shirts, and anything else I can think of.  No more worrying about whether I wrote down the correct size, or trying to read messy handwriting!

(You could also use the forms to create a quiz that students can take on the computer.  Their answers will be put into the spreadsheet for easy grading. I haven't done it, but I think it could be useful.)

3.  ACCESSIBILITY - You can access your Google docs from any computer, any time.  Left your laptop at home?  That's okay.  If you have an internet connection, you can access your stuff and work on it.  You can even share it with a colleague and work on it together. 

As you can see, I am a bit of a fan of the GoogleDocs.  I encourage you to check it out.  Get a Google ID for yourself, if only to be able to check out other people's stuff!

For more information about using Google Docs in the classroom, check out THIS LINK.

Here's to a well-planned, well-organized school year!

Goodbye Rhythms and FREE download!

Picture this:  It's the end of class and your students are lining up.  You look up at the clock and....DOH! There are still a few minutes until time to go! What do you do?  I've done several things to fill this time, depending on the class. 

1.  MAKE RAIN - this is a popular sound activity.  The students have to watch the person in front of them and copy what they do.  The teacher stands at the front of the line and starts a movement.  When it gets to the end of the line, start the next one.  The idea is for the sounds to overlap and morph into each other. *Remind them to NEVER STOP A MOVEMENT until the very end.

A. Rub palms together
B. Snap fingers
C. Pat knees
D. Stomp feet
E.  Pat knees
F.  Snap fingers
G.  Rub palms together
H. Softly blow out and return hands to your side.  It sounds like a rainstorm!

2.  SING - Of course, we can always sing the new song we just learned, or a class favorite. (If the door is open, we practice singing pianissimo)

3.  GOODBYE RHYTHMS - I got this idea from the girls at What the Teacher Wants.  They shared a list of fun rhymes to read/say together in line.  I copied the rhymes and added the rhythm under each.  Have the students clap the rhythm and say the rhyme together.  I'm going to start them as echoes, then have them read them after they become familiar.  This is a great way to reinforce the connection between words and rhythm.  I can't wait to use it next year!

*Note: The images are not mine, all I did was add the notes below each one.  Thank you Rachelle and Natalie for sharing!--Go show them some love at What the Teacher Wants!

For a FREE GoogleDocs download of these rhythms, click HERE. (If you don't have a Google ID, it's worth creating one to use Google Docs.  It's free, and you can access more freebies online, too!)

Do You Prezi?

For the past few years I have been using more and more powerpoint shows to introduce and review concepts in my class. I'm always amazed at how focused the kids are on a big screen!  My projector is my most used classroom tool, so I'm always looking for new ways to use it.  Enter Prezi.  Have you seen this?  It's like powerpoint on steroids!  It adds movement to still slides.  I can't wait to use it more and create some introductions to composers for my classes.  AND, you can import your existing powerpoint so you don't have to completely start over!  Woohoo!

I'm just a novice right now, but here is a small portion of my first week presentation:

Keys to Musical Success   (BTW, I can't figure out how to embed the actual vid. Any experts out there? Leave me a note if you can help me figure it out!)

By the way, I totally stole borrowed the Keys from Cara at Miscellaneous Me.  I may change them a little to fit my school this year, but you still get the idea. 

A Musical Rollercoaster

Check out this amazing video on Vimeo!

Visualization of the 1st violin of the 2nd symphony, 4th movement by Ferdinand Ries in the shape of a rollercoaster. The camera starts by showing a close-up of the score, then focuses on the notes of the first violin turning the staves into the winding rail tracks of the rollercoaster. The notes and bars were exactly synchronised with the progression in the animation so that the typical movements of a rollercoaster ride match the dramatic composition of the music.

http://vimeo.com/20462506#

Beth's Music Notes: Sixteenth Note Game

Today on Pinterest, I ran across this board game for practicing sixteenth notes.  She explains clearly how she plays the game with the whole class. I love this!  I'm thinking this would be a good review for fourth grade at the beginning of the year, then I can make a smaller version of the game for center games later on.  Thanks Beth!

Beth's Music Notes: Sixteenth Note Game

My Organizing Binder

Hello friends!  I hope you are having a wonderful summer break and are taking some time to relax and rest!  This is the time in the summer when I start organizing my brain for next year.  My room is not ready yet--my hall is always the last one to get cleaned and polished--so I'm not even going to think about it until the end of July.  Meanwhile, though, I can get my School Notebook ready. 

I have been using a notebook to keep my school life together for several years.  It's the only way I keep it together some months, especially when I am on several committees and projects.  *Let me say here, that I love technology, and I keep everything I possibly can on my computer, but sometimes, you just need a pen and paper, or a place to put handouts, etc.*  I've seen blog posts about classroom teachers' binders, but not music teachers, so I thought I'd share my version with you.

First, I got a 1-1/2 inch binder.  One inch is not enough for me, and 2" is too big to carry around, so this works for me.  I have to make it cute so I enjoy looking at it every day. :)  I found this subway art on Pinterest (don't you LOVE Pinterest?) and matted it with some cute scrapbook paper.

I've divided my notebook into eight sections:

1.  IMPORTANT INFORMATION:  This includes the district instructional calendar, class schedule, duty schedules, and probably a monthly calendar as well.  I use my Outlook calendar for everything, but sometimes it's easier and faster to look at a paper calendar. I'll either hole punch the freebie we usually get in August, or  print out my Outook calendar to put here.

2. CURRICULUM:  This includes TEKS, our District Specific Objectives, and instructional calendars as needed. That stuff you need to refer to when lesson planning. :)

3. LESSON PLAN IDEAS:  My formal lesson plan is done online, but this is where I sketch out the six weeks plans.  I made a planning sheet so I can see the whole six weeks on one page, just to know where I'm headed with each grade level.  This is also where I write down those brainstorms for future lessons.  I keep blank paper here for those ideas so I don't lose them forever (because if I don't write them down. that's what would happen!).

4. MEETING NOTES:  I started out with a different tab for each section of meeting notes (team meetings, committee meetings, faculty meetings, district music meetings), but I decided that was just too many tabs.  I put them all in one section, but with a piece of cardstock separating each.  You could do it either way.

5.  BUDGET PLANNING:   I don't have a huge budget, but I do have enough to get to make some purchases for my classroom each year.  I use this section to write down things as I think of them, so when it's time to spend my budget money I can remember what all I wanted to buy.  Because seriously, I cannot keep that stuff in my brain!

6. COMPUTER & SOFTWARE:  First, I have a spreadsheet of all of the (many) programs we use in the district, with username/password listed.  Plus all those teacher sites I've joined so I can get great ideas, my choir site account, etc.  Again, I will not remember how to log in to my stuff after a month, so this is important!  After that, my notes about new software, how to do things I only use twice a year, etc.

7. CLASSROOM STUFF: This is the catchall for things that don't fit in the other categories, like bulletin board ideas, games I want to make, music advocacy stuff, etc.

8. And finally, PROJECTS:  As the music teacher, we get asked to do other things outside of our classroom curriculum.  Like programs, contests, and campus celebrations.  Last year I wanted to start a Veteran's Day celebration on our campus, so this is where I kept those notes.  They don't really fit into any other category, but I needed a place to keep them straight.

And that's it! My beautiful little organized piece of the world!  It looks so pretty now, I almost hate to mess it up....Ha!  No really, I can't wait to start filling it up with the joys and challenges this year will bring.  I take this notebook with me everywhere--and when my computer dies (like it did last April), I am not completely lost! 

This post is linked to this awesome linky party--if you love organization, you must check out Delightful Order!