What are we doing in Music class now?

Kindergarten-Introducing Steady Beat and Rhythm

1st grade-creating our own Phrase Rhythm picture cards and studying Melodic Contour

2nd grade-learning about Gregorian Chants and composing our own in pairs

3rd grade - Learning about Theme and Variation form & Ballads; T&V Project

4th grade - conducting and the history of our National Anthem

5th grade - History of Ballet and the Nutcracker

Look for work and papers going home!

Let the fall/holiday season begin!

WINNER!

At Asa we have a winner: Mr. Roger's class. At James Buchanan Mrs. Werkheiser's class is in the lead. WAY TO GO ALL WHO HAVE COMPLETED THIS TASK!!!

the 50 Nifty competition!

So your child in 5th or 4th grade has come home with a lyric sheet and is saying they have to memorize the states and be able to sing them alone in class so their class can win the 50 nifty party. WHAT? HUH? I don't understand?

I can assure you everything is ok so please don't panic or get upset in the slightest. This is a competition I have done with the students since I began teaching elementary music in Sept. 2000.

On the first day of class I talk about this competition with the students. I will tell you what I tell them.

"You and your class are trying to see if you can beat the other classes in a competition to sing the 50 states in alphabetical order from memory. I have given you a lyric sheet that has the states in ABC order. (We listen to and sing the song 3 times on the first day) Every time we meet in class we will see if anyone is willing to try to sing the states from memory. If they do it they do not have to so it solo again. We will keep adding students who can sing the states in ABC order until we have a class that has had all students do it successfully. In 4th grade I will help you three times when you are attempting to sing and in 5th grade I will not help you at all if you were here last year."

In my nine years of doing this activity I have found that it does promote teamwork among the classes. Students are always cheering each other on to get the states memorized. In class we talk about helping our classmates in a good way, not a bossy way. It is normal for students to feel nervous about this but it will be something they will remember forever and I think its pretty cool that there will be a bunch of adults out there who actually know all 50 states. (how many adults can do that?)

My music class is all about community and working together. It is a safe place where students can take chances without being belittled. I try to keep it as positive as possible.

If you are looking for places to practice look up the fifty nifty on you tube and there are a bunch of videos that you can sing along with.

ALSO...there are various lyric sites that have the words and Limewire has it legally to download if you want to practice at home.

Welcome Parents, Teachers, and Friends

So here we are another school year has begun. It's been a whirlwind but things are going remarkably well. I finally got my new cart to my new school and I am VERY happy about that because my "makeshift" cart was getting to me. The Big Beauty on wheels has arrived and I am very excited to use it Wednesday. Some of the students got to see it arrive yesterday and were shocked to see how big it was. Hopefully they will come to love and appreciate the cart like I do. Hopefully the classroom teachers will come to love "the Beast" like I do.

I will try to keep current on my blog about what's going on in class and how the cart is fareing. I know...I MUST PUT PICTURES ON HERE...I will, I will...perhaps this weekend, but I make no promises.

Let the Chaos begin!

So, I didn't finish my carts in time for the start of the new school year but they are almost done. Probably will drop them off by next week which is ok because that is when the real teaching begins (The first week is just reintroducing them to me and the routine.) I decided to not have the whole outside of the cart be a chalk board because i do not use the whole outside like that. This year I decided to try magnet paint on the frint underneath the chalkboard paint. I'll let you know how it goes!

hopefully well!

forget the pencil sharpener

After teaching for ten years I have come to realize that wood pencils are just a plain pain in the rear when you are on a cart or are in a classroom with a sharpener here are my reasons:

1. The kids are always forever breaking the point and have to go back to the sharpener TOO MANY TIMES!

2.  The sharpeners are just dirty not matter what kind you have...electric or manual...yuck!

3.  The students insist on working with a little "nub" even if they have another pencil.

MY solution...dixon sensmatic pencils...they are great...they take o7 led and are refillable and the students love using them.  They think you are the coolest teacher for letting them use the "magical pencils."  I store them on my cart with a jumbo pack of led from staples or the office depot.  When do you fill them you may ask? EASY...I fill them when we are watching a video or when they are doing group work  (don't let them fill them or you will have problems).  It is also helpful if you have like 20 extra in the box...that way if you haven't had the chance to check the pencils there will be enough of them in case one runs dry.   

The need for a long cord

In thinking about what I would like to include on your "gotta get" list, might i suggest a vert long extension cord.  It will be very helpful for those classrooms that are very full.  It happens to me a lot and sometimes I was unlucky and had to move their stuff which they were not too happy about.  

I would be better at thinking about this but I have "summer brain" and am taking 5 classes this summer.  I know...crazy you say...but when I do a double pay jump in the fall who will be crazy them eh?  eh?

By the way

I have remained silent on my feelings about Michael Jackson's passing.  Well, I'm ready to speak.  The guy was a weirdo, no doubt.  He may or may not have done weird things with children (I don't know....I wasn't in the room, or even next door for that matter).  The man had a horrific childhood and experienced some very bad verbal and physical abuse.  This is not to justify the man's choices in life but it makes me understand why he was never happy with himself....his father, who many boys look up to, was never proud of him.

Despite the man's personal life he was a great artist, sure he had a pet monkey called bubbles, hung his baby out a window, and likes to climb trees.  BUT the man could dance...and dance well.  He did do some good in the world (before he turned into a doll man).  He was just a great artist and many people of my generation feel a bit sad.  A bit of our childhood has just evaporated. 

There....enough said....back to the cart.

A suggestion...

If you are indeed going to be on a cart, might I suggest covering it in chalk board paint?  Some of the time you are in another teacher's room they are funny about you using "their" chalk board.  It is really not a problem at all to make the sides of your cart a chalkboard with all of the paints available.  But I must suggest the green ping-pong paint.  It lasts long and is not a harsh as black.   

Something I will be toying with this year when I make my two new carts is a MAGNETIC chalk board.  (Feel free to OOOHHHH and AAAAAHHH)  I may even try a magnetic WHITE BOARD, as they have that kind of paint now too.  I know, I know, I'm a real risk taker.  I'll have to let you all now how that goes...I haven't had the nerve to even do a test.  BOK, BOK, BAGOOCK (As my imaginary chicken would say!)

You're gonna be on a cart next year...SURPRISE!!!!

Yeah...well at least you were told directly...I wasn't.  It was assumed that I knew (well I did but it still would have been nice to have been told fact to face).  But enough from me...Regardless of what subject you teach it can be a scary thing to be told that.  After being upset about it, stomping your feet, screaming, or even crying/whining to colleagues here's what you do.  PLAN, PLAN, PLAN.  Not that you have to spend your entire summer revamping your class routine, you just have to think a lot...think about what your class is like without the walls.  How can you make it portable?  How do you want to take your show on the road?  For me it involved making a cart that contained things I regularly use in class (photo copier, TV, DVD/VCR player, over head projector, instruments....).

If your district is nice enough to give your funds for a cart GREAT FOR YOU!  Really!  But those of use who were not given anything but a crappy janitor cart (that really wouldn't have worked) had to fend for ourselves, as only teachers can.  Thankfully my husband is a real craftsman. (Pictures to come I SWEAR!)  

Some other things you want to think about if your show will go on the "Rhode"...unless you want to haul around two carts, be ready to make lots of photo copies.  And I have found that an I-pod is a great way for me to carry lots of music in a teeny space (and the kids think you're really neat for doing it too.)  As you go through your first year you will learn more than your ever expected.  But remember....as miserable as you are and as angry as you are about being put in such a crappy situation, don't take it out on the kids because most of them really like music class.  The last thing you need is them being miserable too!

Newb to the Blogger world

So here I sit, writing what is to be my first of many notes to anyone who is interested about what it is like to teach a general music class on a cart.  To give you a little bit of information about myself I have been a music teacher for ten years (HOLY COW!) out of those ten I have been teaching music from a cart of a back pack for 6 and a half years.  In that time I have learned to cope with the fact that my district just does not deem music class (or most of the arts for that matter) worthy of having my own classroom.  So to make up for this fact my husband and I have designed a classroom on a cart.  Now this is not just any cart...it is the Mac Daddy of carts if you will.  It has anything and everything you could ever want.  I will have to see if I can post a picture of it for you all to see.  Other teachers in my district have "heard about this huge cart that is used by a music teacher" but most of them don't know it's me and am a bit shocked when I tell them I'm the owner of the infamous cart.  Soon my cart will have a brother and sister as the old gal is getting a bit worn after 4 years of service.  My husband and I will be building my new music carts this summer.  

In conclusion I open my self and my knowledge to you...the teacher who just found out you will be without a place to call home.  Fear not!  It's not the best situation but it's workable.  Take it from someone who was completely and utterly devastated.  YOU WILL SURVIVE.  And in most cases be a better teacher for it!