SQUILT Form- This is the graphic organizer I created for 3-6 grades to experience daily listening lessons. The S.Q.U.I.L.T. activity is described in more detail in the archives of Musick8.com.

Circle Seating Chart – I created this with Word to coordinate with my new Noteworthy Music Rug (which I love!!) There are spaces for 24 students on the outer ring and I put extra students in the middle on the staff lines (I have no more than 27 in a class this year since we are under-enrolled- good for class size, bad for budgets…but that’s another blog post!) The center darkened ring is for recording assessment data in a “fishbowl” style. Before photocopying each chart, I used a pencil to draw the music symbols from the rug on each square so they would lightly show up underneath each student’s name.

Charlie Over the Ocean PPT- a graphic powerpoint to show the S-M pitches of Charlie Over The Ocean from Gameplan 2. by Kriske and DeLelles.

Knuffle Bunny PPT- a quick powerpoint of the song adaptation of the book “Knuffle Bunny” (Sung to the tune of John the Rabbit). Thanks to Thom Borden for this lesson idea!

Orff Curriculum Planning Resources Excel Workbook- AKA my BIBLE for planning using Orff pedagogy and concepts aligned with our district goals! It is a multi-sheet workbook in Excel that includes our old and new state and district standards, planning guides for other subject areas, calendar, Orff sequences from Jane Frazee and Barbara Grenoble, a Music and Movement scope and sequence for K-6, some psychological development stages to consider(Piaget, Vygotsky, Gardner), DPS Content Standards, Comparison of National/State/District standards, a basic kid-friendly rubric for standards self-assessment, Movement Sequence modeled after Phyllis Weikert’s language and rhythmic levels, Basic Breakdown of Lessons (Lesson Plan template), Year Long Plans for grades 1-6 developed from the GamePlan curriculum goals, and finally, a SQUILT scope and sequence for grades 3-6. A BIG thank you and SHOUT OUT to my friend and colleague Zachary Rupp for creating parts of this document!

That worked like a charm and instead of washing it off and re-doing it this year, I left it up. Movement this year will be incorporated into my music classes in the true Orff fashion, so I moved the big posters (The Elements and Concepts of  Dance) I had in the gym last year to the wall in the music room and that set off my adventures in creating the movement words to add to the wall too.

Dillemmas: Not using so much adhesive (velcro has been my tool of choice in the past, but takes the paint off!), legibility (I wasn’t too happy with the handwriting I hastily did on the posters), and of course time and energy to make all this and put it up. I decided to print the cards using an online flashcard maker. Printed the 245 words and categories (Locomotor, Non-Locomotor, Face, Hands, Arms, Feet and Legs) on bright cardstock, then stapled them on long strips of ribbon. Some words I decided did not fit in a category so I left them separate and randomly stuck them on the wall. Decided against laminating because the light would reflect off each one creating a glare. Also, I would have to sneak in to use the laminator since we are forbidden to use it this year due to rising costs of film and the time it would take to cut all those out would double my workload. (I had about 4 hours today) Most of the words fit on the ribbon I had leftover from scrapbooking supplies and the rest of the words I used sticky-tac to put near the strips. I’m pleased with the resulting wall and hope the kids and I can use it this year! Looking specifically for activities now that I can QUICKLY incorporate the wall into my daily lessons. Feel free to leave a comment with your suggestions if you have any!

Speaking of whole-heartedness, I came to the realization, with the help of David and some dear friends, that I need to let go of some strongholds that I have had in my teaching. One: this idea of avoidance when it comes to trying things that “fail” in my classroom. I tend to stay away from conflict and when my urban kids dish out plenty of it in situations that make them uncomfortable, my reaction is to never go there again. This has affected the overall singing instruction in the past five years, and definitely has an impact on movement activities with older children. I simply reject activities where I “know” the kids will push back on me with defiance. I need to work on keeping my nose to the grindstone and doing what is best for kids, not what they will react best to all the time. I think we, as urban educators, tend to overlook the fact that kids who push us to the limit are not in control. We cater to their high needs and try EVERYTHING to get them to succeed, putting our emotions and personalities on the line for them. Mine has been held captive for too long. I was told in this class that I need to get out from under the raincloud that I seem to be under all the time. This will be hard for me, but in the end I think it will benefit me, even if it means that this school and I need to part ways.Physically, if this can’t happen, I know outside of school I can make this happen by letting go of the fact that I can only be musical or an artist at work. I need to make plans to continue my work to scrapbook weekly, to join a dance class, or to do some other creative outlet experiences as much as my family will allow.

True artistry is what I was reminded of in this class this summer. I need to understand that it CAN happen with kids and that I need to model it all the time so that they will see it. Strangely, Victoria taught me (subliminally) that it may just be possible to do with a change in wardrobe. I went out and bought some more “movement friendly” pieces that I am hoping will increase my confidence as a movement teacher and also display a no nonsense approach to my teaching style. If I dress the part, they will come, or something like that. I am really looking forward to being comfortable at least, which I am hoping will making my mood more relaxed as I enter into another year chalk full of rough bunches of kids.

I was surprisingly challenged by two friends that I made while in Level III. One lost a job that sounded very similar to mine and she was a tremendous help when I had a rough practicum experience. She said she knew exactly how I felt when I expressed my frustrations with teaching in and urban environment vs. teaching a room full of music educators. The other friend had such a calmness about her that I want to emulate. Her routine professionalism and kindness, yet subtle high expectations, matched my personality and we got along well. Both women challenged my recorder playing which was a treat. Finally (after about 15 years!) I was not at the head of the class, bored with lack of good competition! Some advice given to me was to go to a Level 4 class at George Mason University, or to take a Master class to feel this way again. Maybe…. but I think it would also benefit me to take a level 1 again just to have fresh eyes and to experience a different instructor.

So there you have it… Overall, I think a lot of things “synced” with me taking this class. I’m not sure if the timing was right, but who’s to question God’s timing! I think that He surely spoke to me and told me truths I had needed to hear for a long time on a personal level. I thankfully got a chance to reflect upon my urban teaching experience and receive advice from a well respected mentor.  I will truly be glad that this class will be fully reimbursed by the district and that I will get to spend that money towards our debt-repayment. That will be a great feeling to pair with the huge accomplishment of becoming certified in all three levels of Orff Schulwerk- something I never dreamed possible when I started this journey into elementary music teaching. I think this will be an interesting year!

So as I ventured into the end of the school year, we had fun playing some of the games on MusicTechTeacher.com as well as some of the interactive games at TheMusicInteractive. It was a great review and kept the kids active and engaged! As a bonus treat, my new Noteworthy music rug came in just at the last week of school so we set it up, pushed the risers back and watched my favorite music related YouTube vids for our last day celebration. Overall, the wiimote whiteboard has been a good addition ot my room. I even turned down a Mimeo for next year because I don’t want to have to flip my room around again to utlize the regular whiteboard!

Here are a few considerations for next year that I am thinking about with this system:

*Purchase the longer wand from penteractive to allow younger kids to access the board- $40

*Purchase the telescoping ceiling mount for the wiimote so I don’t have to have it in the middle of the room on a stand where kid bump into it and mess up the calibration. Will still have to remember to put it on the charge every night, but it will be out of the way.-$30

*Purchase rechargeable batteries! -$20

* Considering using budget to buy installation of a ceiling mount for projector. – $100 + $600 district required installation I know this is expensive, but it would allow me more room for movement in the classroom since I wouldn’t need a cart and my docucam could be off to the side.

Here is arrangement #2, the one I am currently using. I completely flipped the room around and got rid of the music symbols wall in the back so I could have a blank surface. (Side note: Upon removal of sticky back velcro used to attach said symbols I damaged the drywall and it had to be spackled, sanded and repainted before I could project on it..oops!) I moved in the flipform risers and now have the kids sitting arena style facing the back wall.

Pros: Projecting on hard surface wall allows for better pen use, kids can go right up to the wall (some are still too short to reach the top, but I’m not having small kids use it anyway), more intimate setting, everyone can see the screen without looking sideways. Cons: Projector cart and wiimote must be right in the center of the room, otherwise the screen is too large for the wall surface, most of my kids can’t handle being on the flipform risers and they don’t all fit, so there are inevitably fights and arguments over who sits where (so I have had to start all over with rules and routines for sitting in music class and have given out twice as many discipline referrals for misbehavior due to the risers), not enough space for movement.

MarchComesIn- 3rd grade Class 3B,  Performance Asessment March 2010

I realized this week that I do not post regularly enough on the front of the blog when my students do neat things. Here are a few things we’ve been working on this month that are pretty cool! K/1 learned accompaniment to the popular children’s book, Cookies Week by Cindy Ward. (Thanks to Thom Borden for the Ready-to-use-on-Monday workshop idea!!) 3rd grade learned a melody to the poem “March Comes In Like a Lion” and we learned about Rondo form using student composed rhythm patterns for the B and C sections. Tomorrow will be my last day with these classes until next year! I will miss them, but I’m excited to see what the next group will accomplish from now until after spring break!

Blessings,

~MrsJ