Why does that child have a teddy bear in school?
Please don't put your fingers in your mouth/nose/ears.
Why can't you follow directions?
This meeting has nothing to do with me, can I please leave?
I'd rather be practicing.
Six years of college, two teaching degrees, ten years of experience, and I have to justify my program's existence why?
No really, this meeting could have been an email.
Why am I out of coffee?
I'm out of coffee, someone might die today.
Will I get fired for the faces I make when I haven't had enough coffee?
Please don't put that in your mouth.
Why is that in your mouth?
No, you cannot go to the principal's office to tell her something really important.
Why would you need to leave my class?
Because I said so, that's why.
Will I get fired for telling students my job is harder than their parents' jobs?
No really, reply all is not a good choice.
A place for music education related ideas, philosophies, thoughts, and TpT items!
Showing posts with label General Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label General Music. Show all posts
Friday, September 22, 2017
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
The Only Y Chromosome.....
This year is different. In some ways better, in some ways worse, but different nonetheless.
I am the only male teacher in my building.
Let that sink in for a moment -
the only one.
Does it effect my teaching?
Nope.
Should it?
Don't think so.
Do people think it has some kind of significance?
Strangely, yes.
I don't know why, but people seem stuck on that. Being the only male teacher in an elementary school is apparently newsworthy to some folks. And I suppose at first that makes sense. You're the only one of your kind, that is enough to be a big deal in some ways.
But let's back up.
What else am I that makes me the only one?
Music teacher.
I am the only music teacher in my building, and have been the entire time I've been at this school.
I am one of three teachers in my district who have this particular feature. The interesting thing is that nobody seems to notice or care most of the time. And let's be honest, this is a WAY bigger challenge than gender. I'm the only man? So what? I can talk to my colleagues about all kinds of things, some school related and some not.
Want to talk music? No way. I am the only musician in my building with credentials beyond "I used to play..." And in discussing things with other teachers, it's easy to spot the look of incomprehensible fear that I'm going to start talking about things they don't know anything about.
Kind of like me sitting in a staff meeting, really.
The biggest challenge as part of this?
I am the only one to fight for my program.
I've been spoiled, most of the time I've had a principal who was a musician herself, so she would go to bat for all kinds of things that I never had to deal with directly. It was great - I didn't have to explain or justify or beg or demand or deflect. She took care of me.
Now, I have a principal with absolutely zero arts background, and it's a bit more difficult. I find myself fighting battles over things that she doesn't readily understand due largely to a lack of awareness. I'm taking it upon myself to educate and explain and garner support every chance that I get.
The interesting thing? I think it's possible to bring my non-arts principal around to seeing a lot of things from my perspective.
Try doing that with seeing things from my perspective as the only male teacher at my school.
(And yes, I managed to make this entire entry without a joke about leaving the toilet seat up. Except that one. Darn.)
I am the only male teacher in my building.
Let that sink in for a moment -
the only one.
Does it effect my teaching?
Nope.
Should it?
Don't think so.
Do people think it has some kind of significance?
Strangely, yes.
I don't know why, but people seem stuck on that. Being the only male teacher in an elementary school is apparently newsworthy to some folks. And I suppose at first that makes sense. You're the only one of your kind, that is enough to be a big deal in some ways.
But let's back up.
What else am I that makes me the only one?
Music teacher.
I am the only music teacher in my building, and have been the entire time I've been at this school.
I am one of three teachers in my district who have this particular feature. The interesting thing is that nobody seems to notice or care most of the time. And let's be honest, this is a WAY bigger challenge than gender. I'm the only man? So what? I can talk to my colleagues about all kinds of things, some school related and some not.
Want to talk music? No way. I am the only musician in my building with credentials beyond "I used to play..." And in discussing things with other teachers, it's easy to spot the look of incomprehensible fear that I'm going to start talking about things they don't know anything about.
Kind of like me sitting in a staff meeting, really.
The biggest challenge as part of this?
I am the only one to fight for my program.
I've been spoiled, most of the time I've had a principal who was a musician herself, so she would go to bat for all kinds of things that I never had to deal with directly. It was great - I didn't have to explain or justify or beg or demand or deflect. She took care of me.
Now, I have a principal with absolutely zero arts background, and it's a bit more difficult. I find myself fighting battles over things that she doesn't readily understand due largely to a lack of awareness. I'm taking it upon myself to educate and explain and garner support every chance that I get.
The interesting thing? I think it's possible to bring my non-arts principal around to seeing a lot of things from my perspective.
Try doing that with seeing things from my perspective as the only male teacher at my school.
(And yes, I managed to make this entire entry without a joke about leaving the toilet seat up. Except that one. Darn.)
Sunday, June 25, 2017
Don't die on me, d*mmit!
So this past school year (and the second half of the year before) I decided that blogging wasn't really going to be my thing anymore. Clearly I couldn't keep up with it, and clearly I was lagging in making updates and writing interesting and witty things.
Fast forward to today.
It occurs to me that if nothing else I need a space to explain some things that are available for the greater good. My Teachers Pay Teachers store needs to be expounded upon, as does some of the ideas I have for my classroom, and if nothing else I'd like to have some sort of space to think out loud and see my ideas from another perspective. So that's what I'm going to be doing.
In many ways, this is nothing new - I've been somewhat using this blog for those purposes all along. In other ways, I'll be curious to see what (if any) sparks of inspiration can be gained from what seems to be a blog without readership.
If there's anyone out there, care to leave a comment?
Bueller?
Also, look back here soon to see an explanation of my brand spanking new 2107-2018 Planner of Awesome!
Fast forward to today.
It occurs to me that if nothing else I need a space to explain some things that are available for the greater good. My Teachers Pay Teachers store needs to be expounded upon, as does some of the ideas I have for my classroom, and if nothing else I'd like to have some sort of space to think out loud and see my ideas from another perspective. So that's what I'm going to be doing.
In many ways, this is nothing new - I've been somewhat using this blog for those purposes all along. In other ways, I'll be curious to see what (if any) sparks of inspiration can be gained from what seems to be a blog without readership.
If there's anyone out there, care to leave a comment?
Bueller?
Also, look back here soon to see an explanation of my brand spanking new 2107-2018 Planner of Awesome!
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Midyear check in!
Oh, you sad, neglected blog.
At the beginning of this year, I posted my professional goals. I intended to use that as a springboard to document the various things I did this year to meet those goals. This implies that I would be posting more frequently. Sadly, this has not been the case. Something about working 4 jobs and always having to be somewhere does not lend itself to writing blog posts. Such is life.
Back to those professional goals, though. I've actually done some things with them.
First of all, I tackled my file cabinet as intended. I now have my one functional file drawer organized in a useful manner. The first section is for emergency sub plans and procedures, with a laminated set of class lists, just in case. The great thing about this is that if something comes up and I am not able to be at school unexpectedly (which means something along the lines of... a bear attack, I suppose?), there are enough plans and activities in that drawer (and in the office) to keep my classes busy for several days (while my limbs are reattached, I suppose). I also tossed the old paperwork that was serving no purpose. Honestly, I don't know why it took 5 years to scrap the fundraising paperwork from 2009, but apparently it did. I also organized my IEP/504/Medical Alert folders so they were clear and consistent and easier to access, put my copy masters together, and rearranged a few other categories as well.
Essentially, I feel like I started using a file cabinet like a grown-up. Now if only I had a hanging frame for more than one drawer....
The two middle drawers still have my pool noodle rhythm pieces, I need to find a time to use those again soon.
The bottom drawer is mostly sound-related stuff - microphones, cables, microphone boxes, etc. Some day I will go back through this and make sure everything in that drawer is organized, too. But not today.
Second goal - organization of my table/desk space and mailboxes!
I am not going to show a picture of these. They're currently a big jumbled mess. This is partly due to just having a concert last night, and partly due to me being a mess when it comes to organization. In some ways the switch to a smaller table has helped. It frees up a little space in the room, and limits the surface area that is able to be cluttered. In other ways, it didn't make a difference. I still find myself with piles, I still end up perching things precariously next to my laptop, and sometimes that is a recipe for disaster. However, thanks to the laws of physics, those piles are a bit smaller than they had been.
The mailboxes have worked great so far, especially since I have not done my usual routine with student folders. I need to get on those folders, since my mailboxes are pretty much filled with student work. I also have some things stacked on top of those boxes, but not as badly as it has been in the past. Baby steps, I suppose.
Also, I ended up taking a large shipping label, measuring and marking out the small pieces I needed, and cutting them out and attaching them to the small binder clips to make labels for each class. I think it looks pretty darn good, especially since my handwriting is a bit suspect at times.
Third - the hot rod music cart! So having a PVC tube with drum sticks in it has been useful. The problem I have run into is that zip ties and smooth PVC aren't exactly the most secure means of attachment. What has happened is that one zip tie has slid off, which caused the whole thing to tilt. The good news is that makes the opening point toward me when I stand at the cart. The bad news is it also flops around and sticks out kind of awkwardly. What I think I will do is drill a couple small holes in the side of the pipe, then lag bolt it to the cart to hold it in position at a slight angle. Every now and then when I (or a student) move the cart those sticks will catch on something. Not a huge problem, but fairly annoying. Also, I don't like my slick cart looking kind of ghetto.
Fourth - greater student independence. This is definitely a work in progress, but I have in many ways increased the things I have students do on their own exponentially. Sometimes I still have to spell things out in ridiculously literal terms, but most of the time I can give a direction and set the kids to it. It usually works out as planned, but not always. One of the most helpful things in this area is definitely the use of band and strings students as helpers in general music. These are the kids who spend the most time in my room, so they are the most familiar with things. They're also less likely to do silly things that they shouldn't, so I am able to trust them with more responsibility. One more reason parents should encourage their kids to learn an instrument.
I have a confession to make. It's terrible, yet funny all at the same time.
One of my ongoing goals is to become more organized, to keep ahead of messes, to avoid creating piles, etc.
I had a student a few days ago ask why my room was so messy.
I kind of hung my head and mumbled "...I know..."
The good news is that I had it mostly sorted out with a couple days. The bad news is that the struggle is very real and continues. However, for my two remaining professional development credits I plan on taking a course on practical classroom organization strategies. Hopefully if the course is structured like I understand it to be it will be a better resource than looking at music ed blogs and Pinterest. If not, I'll at least have two credits out of it and my room won't be any worse organizationally.
If you have a great organization system, would you be so kind as to share it? I feel that all teachers can benefit from the ideas of others, especially in our own personal area of weakness.
Until next time, keep up that good work, folks!
At the beginning of this year, I posted my professional goals. I intended to use that as a springboard to document the various things I did this year to meet those goals. This implies that I would be posting more frequently. Sadly, this has not been the case. Something about working 4 jobs and always having to be somewhere does not lend itself to writing blog posts. Such is life.
Back to those professional goals, though. I've actually done some things with them.
First of all, I tackled my file cabinet as intended. I now have my one functional file drawer organized in a useful manner. The first section is for emergency sub plans and procedures, with a laminated set of class lists, just in case. The great thing about this is that if something comes up and I am not able to be at school unexpectedly (which means something along the lines of... a bear attack, I suppose?), there are enough plans and activities in that drawer (and in the office) to keep my classes busy for several days (while my limbs are reattached, I suppose). I also tossed the old paperwork that was serving no purpose. Honestly, I don't know why it took 5 years to scrap the fundraising paperwork from 2009, but apparently it did. I also organized my IEP/504/Medical Alert folders so they were clear and consistent and easier to access, put my copy masters together, and rearranged a few other categories as well.
Essentially, I feel like I started using a file cabinet like a grown-up. Now if only I had a hanging frame for more than one drawer....
 |
| What you can't see is the frustration caused by trying to file things that have no place to be filed. Argh. |
The bottom drawer is mostly sound-related stuff - microphones, cables, microphone boxes, etc. Some day I will go back through this and make sure everything in that drawer is organized, too. But not today.
Second goal - organization of my table/desk space and mailboxes!
I am not going to show a picture of these. They're currently a big jumbled mess. This is partly due to just having a concert last night, and partly due to me being a mess when it comes to organization. In some ways the switch to a smaller table has helped. It frees up a little space in the room, and limits the surface area that is able to be cluttered. In other ways, it didn't make a difference. I still find myself with piles, I still end up perching things precariously next to my laptop, and sometimes that is a recipe for disaster. However, thanks to the laws of physics, those piles are a bit smaller than they had been.
 |
| Yes, please. But not the chair. It looks uncomfortable. |
Also, I ended up taking a large shipping label, measuring and marking out the small pieces I needed, and cutting them out and attaching them to the small binder clips to make labels for each class. I think it looks pretty darn good, especially since my handwriting is a bit suspect at times.
Third - the hot rod music cart! So having a PVC tube with drum sticks in it has been useful. The problem I have run into is that zip ties and smooth PVC aren't exactly the most secure means of attachment. What has happened is that one zip tie has slid off, which caused the whole thing to tilt. The good news is that makes the opening point toward me when I stand at the cart. The bad news is it also flops around and sticks out kind of awkwardly. What I think I will do is drill a couple small holes in the side of the pipe, then lag bolt it to the cart to hold it in position at a slight angle. Every now and then when I (or a student) move the cart those sticks will catch on something. Not a huge problem, but fairly annoying. Also, I don't like my slick cart looking kind of ghetto.
Fourth - greater student independence. This is definitely a work in progress, but I have in many ways increased the things I have students do on their own exponentially. Sometimes I still have to spell things out in ridiculously literal terms, but most of the time I can give a direction and set the kids to it. It usually works out as planned, but not always. One of the most helpful things in this area is definitely the use of band and strings students as helpers in general music. These are the kids who spend the most time in my room, so they are the most familiar with things. They're also less likely to do silly things that they shouldn't, so I am able to trust them with more responsibility. One more reason parents should encourage their kids to learn an instrument.
I have a confession to make. It's terrible, yet funny all at the same time.
 |
| Thankfully, this is not my confession. Funny. But not mine. |
I had a student a few days ago ask why my room was so messy.
I kind of hung my head and mumbled "...I know..."
The good news is that I had it mostly sorted out with a couple days. The bad news is that the struggle is very real and continues. However, for my two remaining professional development credits I plan on taking a course on practical classroom organization strategies. Hopefully if the course is structured like I understand it to be it will be a better resource than looking at music ed blogs and Pinterest. If not, I'll at least have two credits out of it and my room won't be any worse organizationally.
If you have a great organization system, would you be so kind as to share it? I feel that all teachers can benefit from the ideas of others, especially in our own personal area of weakness.
Until next time, keep up that good work, folks!
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Professional Goals For This Year
Happy New School Year!
I am currently waiting to begin our open house in a few hours. We will get to meet new families, see new faces, and see families and students that we have known for years. I am excited to get a new, fresh start to the year, and there are a lot of things I will try to improve from previous years.
First and foremost, my main goal for this year is to finally be organized for more than the first few weeks of the year. Sometime this week I will tackle my file cabinet. I am dreading that, as it hasn't been cleaned out since I started at this school.
Last year I switched from my teacher desk to a round table in the hopes that I could keep that better organized. That ended up proving to be hopeless. This year I have switched from the round table to a trapezoid table that is about half the size. Less surface area means less clutter, right? I plan on using my mailbox organizer to better effect throughout the school year, using it to stage copies for each class rather than hold random sets of papers that may or may not ever be needed again. I've even added binder clips to the front of each slot to use for labels. Now I just have to find tiny labels that will fit the tiny binder clips.
My hot rod music cart is still in service, and continues to evolve. This year's evolution involves zip-tying my PVC drumstick caddy on one leg. I am hopeful that keeping those sticks close will encourage my percussionists to stop losing them.
I have rearranged my word wall, though it still needs some tweaking. Now everything is visible from anywhere in the room, and I hope to be able to use the various word wall categories to greater effect. It's bugging me that a couple of them are a little crooked, so I know what I'll be doing shortly.
Another of my professional goals for the year is to foster greater student independence. I have pencils and other writing items set where students can easily get them. I have placed my classroom rhythm instruments in open bins at the front of the room to make them easier to get to. I plan on assigning students to be passer-outers for these items to help free me up and foster smoother transitions. I am hopeful that anything I can do to encourage students to be more procedurally independent will lend itself to them being more independent in other areas as well. Which as a music teacher really means I'm trying one more sneaky way to encourage kids to practice at home.
We all have our cross to bear.
My third goal for the year is to be more open to spontaneous performance opportunities and to schedule more opportunities for students to perform for each other and for me. My girlfriend gave me a small lectern and folding chair, so I have them set up in the corner to use as a performance spot. I'm thinking that I will give students the chance at least once a month to perform something for their classmates, whether it is singing, playing an instrument, or some other kind of performance. I think I may finally be getting past my feeling of not having enough time for that or not wanting kids to get up in front of their classmates and waste our time with a "performance" that is really just a chance to be in the spotlight doing nothing. I'm still working out the logistics on this, so I would love to hear ideas and suggestions.
So that's it for now! I am entering my 8th year of teaching this year, and feel like every year gets easier in some ways and more difficult in others. I plan to be the best music teacher I can be this year, and do the best I can for all of my students. That's really all we as educators can do, so here we go!
I am currently waiting to begin our open house in a few hours. We will get to meet new families, see new faces, and see families and students that we have known for years. I am excited to get a new, fresh start to the year, and there are a lot of things I will try to improve from previous years.
First and foremost, my main goal for this year is to finally be organized for more than the first few weeks of the year. Sometime this week I will tackle my file cabinet. I am dreading that, as it hasn't been cleaned out since I started at this school.
 |
| Looks so peaceful and inoffensive from the outside.... |
 |
| EEEEEEEEK! So... much... unnecessary.... junk.......... |
My hot rod music cart is still in service, and continues to evolve. This year's evolution involves zip-tying my PVC drumstick caddy on one leg. I am hopeful that keeping those sticks close will encourage my percussionists to stop losing them.
I have rearranged my word wall, though it still needs some tweaking. Now everything is visible from anywhere in the room, and I hope to be able to use the various word wall categories to greater effect. It's bugging me that a couple of them are a little crooked, so I know what I'll be doing shortly.
 |
| So here it is. My classroom in all its almost-organized glory. You can see where my girlfriend made her mark on the chalkboards, and the old piano waiting to be taken away, you might even be able to see the leak stains on the ceiling if you look closely. |
Another of my professional goals for the year is to foster greater student independence. I have pencils and other writing items set where students can easily get them. I have placed my classroom rhythm instruments in open bins at the front of the room to make them easier to get to. I plan on assigning students to be passer-outers for these items to help free me up and foster smoother transitions. I am hopeful that anything I can do to encourage students to be more procedurally independent will lend itself to them being more independent in other areas as well. Which as a music teacher really means I'm trying one more sneaky way to encourage kids to practice at home.
We all have our cross to bear.
My third goal for the year is to be more open to spontaneous performance opportunities and to schedule more opportunities for students to perform for each other and for me. My girlfriend gave me a small lectern and folding chair, so I have them set up in the corner to use as a performance spot. I'm thinking that I will give students the chance at least once a month to perform something for their classmates, whether it is singing, playing an instrument, or some other kind of performance. I think I may finally be getting past my feeling of not having enough time for that or not wanting kids to get up in front of their classmates and waste our time with a "performance" that is really just a chance to be in the spotlight doing nothing. I'm still working out the logistics on this, so I would love to hear ideas and suggestions.
So that's it for now! I am entering my 8th year of teaching this year, and feel like every year gets easier in some ways and more difficult in others. I plan to be the best music teacher I can be this year, and do the best I can for all of my students. That's really all we as educators can do, so here we go!
Friday, May 1, 2015
Teacher Appreciation Week and Teachers Pay Teachers Sale!
Today marks the beginning of May. For some, that means that Spring is in full swing, the birds and bees are out doing their thing, the weather is nice, plants are starting to peek their leaves out, and the pollen is in full force. For me, it means that I am coming ever closer to the end of the school year and all of the work that brings with it. I have grades to enter, assessments to give, paperwork to file, certificates to create, 5th grade promotion to run, one more concert to put on, etc. etc. etc. The end of the school year always becomes a mad dash to the finish to try and squeeze everything in.
One of the best parts, though, is that the beginning of May also brings Teacher Appreciation Week. This is a fantastic time around my school, as the PTA comes up with a lot of very thoughtful ways to show how much they appreciate the teachers in our building. Usually we have lunch provided (and sometimes breakfast) most of the week, a few odds and ends that show up in our mailboxes, and the occasional note from a student or several. These are all fantastic ways to re-energize to the end of the school year.
It's always good to feel appreciated. Especially at the end of state-mandated testing (which may prove to be the death of me).
On top of the Teacher Appreciation activities at individual schools around the country, TeachersPayTeachers is offering a site-wide sale! This is always a good thing. On top of their discount, I will be offering every item in my store at a 20% discount. That means you can get anything in my store for a combined total of 28% off!
What could be better than that?
Well, in celebration of a milestone for me (I just checked, and I have 40 products available!), I am going to offer an extra day of sale immediately following the TpT sale. The official site-wide sale will run May 5-6. My sale will by May 7, and will be a 20% off sale on the entire store.
I highly recommend if you've been looking for Boomwhacker activities that you check out my Boomwhacker Bundle, this will be a fantastic chance to get it at a great price. Also, if you purchase it now and I update it to include more in the future, you'll get all of the new material for FREE!
I don't know about you, but I like free.
Ok, that's enough of the sales pitch. I hope you have a fantastic conclusion to your school year, and I'll be back with actual educational writing soon!
One of the best parts, though, is that the beginning of May also brings Teacher Appreciation Week. This is a fantastic time around my school, as the PTA comes up with a lot of very thoughtful ways to show how much they appreciate the teachers in our building. Usually we have lunch provided (and sometimes breakfast) most of the week, a few odds and ends that show up in our mailboxes, and the occasional note from a student or several. These are all fantastic ways to re-energize to the end of the school year.
It's always good to feel appreciated. Especially at the end of state-mandated testing (which may prove to be the death of me).
On top of the Teacher Appreciation activities at individual schools around the country, TeachersPayTeachers is offering a site-wide sale! This is always a good thing. On top of their discount, I will be offering every item in my store at a 20% discount. That means you can get anything in my store for a combined total of 28% off!
What could be better than that?
Well, in celebration of a milestone for me (I just checked, and I have 40 products available!), I am going to offer an extra day of sale immediately following the TpT sale. The official site-wide sale will run May 5-6. My sale will by May 7, and will be a 20% off sale on the entire store.
I highly recommend if you've been looking for Boomwhacker activities that you check out my Boomwhacker Bundle, this will be a fantastic chance to get it at a great price. Also, if you purchase it now and I update it to include more in the future, you'll get all of the new material for FREE!
I don't know about you, but I like free.
Ok, that's enough of the sales pitch. I hope you have a fantastic conclusion to your school year, and I'll be back with actual educational writing soon!
Thursday, April 16, 2015
It's the little things...
I just spent about 15 minutes making a set of diagrams that I hope will solve one of my most annoying general music problems. All they are is a layout of the bars for my Orff instruments. One has blank bars, one has all the bars labeled for C major, one is labeled for G major, one is labeled for F major, and the last is set up for C major pentatonic.
I don't know about you, but time lost explaining which bars go where is one of the most annoying aspects of my job. Never mind that we talk about the musical alphabet. Never mind that the bars are obviously sized to go in order largest to smallest. Never mind that the layout of the bars is logical and visually obvious.
Asking students to use their powers of observation and problem-solve is sometimes just too much.
And I sigh heavily.
I don't know why it has taken me so long to think of providing a clear visual of each particular Orff bar set up that we use.
Thankfully, they are in my TeacherspayTeachers store now and ready to use.
My first thought is the obvious - post this on the Interactive Whiteboard when having students change the bar configuration. No surprise there. My second thought is to use them to discuss scales and key signatures. Also no surprise. Third, these might come in handy for a class that is too big to have everyone on an instrument. The third grade at my school is definitely the largest, and to get them all on an instrument would be a challenge (except we're almost exclusively doing recorders now). Having kids use their fingers to find the bars on a printout of the instrument is almost as good as playing if it comes to that.
Another thought is to have students fill in the blank bars as an assessment. Can they remember what every bar is? Can they label just the bars that are needed in a one-octave C Major scale? Can they remember what bars to remove to do a C Major Pentatonic scale? Can they remember what bar changes to make a G or F Major Scale, and what note/bar becomes do? There are quite a few assessment possibilities here. I plan on using many of them, particularly with my fourth and fifth grade students.
The most amazing thing about these diagrams? They're such a little thing - such an insignificant effort - but I think they will make a big difference in my classroom. At least I hope they will help alleviate one of the most annoying things that happens in my room.
Hopefully you'll find these useful! Good luck, and we're in the home stretch of the school year!
I don't know about you, but time lost explaining which bars go where is one of the most annoying aspects of my job. Never mind that we talk about the musical alphabet. Never mind that the bars are obviously sized to go in order largest to smallest. Never mind that the layout of the bars is logical and visually obvious.
Asking students to use their powers of observation and problem-solve is sometimes just too much.
And I sigh heavily.
I don't know why it has taken me so long to think of providing a clear visual of each particular Orff bar set up that we use.
Thankfully, they are in my TeacherspayTeachers store now and ready to use.
 |
| Tada! |
My first thought is the obvious - post this on the Interactive Whiteboard when having students change the bar configuration. No surprise there. My second thought is to use them to discuss scales and key signatures. Also no surprise. Third, these might come in handy for a class that is too big to have everyone on an instrument. The third grade at my school is definitely the largest, and to get them all on an instrument would be a challenge (except we're almost exclusively doing recorders now). Having kids use their fingers to find the bars on a printout of the instrument is almost as good as playing if it comes to that.
Another thought is to have students fill in the blank bars as an assessment. Can they remember what every bar is? Can they label just the bars that are needed in a one-octave C Major scale? Can they remember what bars to remove to do a C Major Pentatonic scale? Can they remember what bar changes to make a G or F Major Scale, and what note/bar becomes do? There are quite a few assessment possibilities here. I plan on using many of them, particularly with my fourth and fifth grade students.
The most amazing thing about these diagrams? They're such a little thing - such an insignificant effort - but I think they will make a big difference in my classroom. At least I hope they will help alleviate one of the most annoying things that happens in my room.
Hopefully you'll find these useful! Good luck, and we're in the home stretch of the school year!
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Why I don't agree with standardized testing as THE TOOL for evaluation.
Today was a first for me.
Not that I did anything different in my morning routine, or that I did anything out of the ordinary when I got to my classroom. The first was much more subtle and surprising.
I agreed with a news article from Texas regarding education.
What? Is that possible? How can it be?
No, really. I have never before read an article about education out of Texas without feeling like it held a deeply flawed view, or perhaps was promoting some sort of twisted version of how school should be.
But today I read an article about Pearson and their stranglehold on the current educational climate in the US. Not only that, but how they have gone out of their way to discredit those who find fault with their standardized testing products. In particular, the article is about the efforts of Dr. Walter Stroup, and his testimony before the Texas State Legislature.
Here's the link to the article: http://www.texasobserver.org/walter-stroup-standardized-testing-pearson/.
If you'd like the summary, essentially it goes like this: Pearson's tests are highly accurate, but not at measuring student learning or student growth. Instead, the tests are highly accurate at measuring a student's ability to take a test. And for this finding, Pearson has largely discredited a tenured UT professor and seems to be doing what they can to end his career.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, in that the current educational climate reflects a belief that what schools need is more testing, not more instruction of higher caliber. I teach in a school system that had to conduct a system-wide infrastructure test that lasted roughly two weeks in January just to see if the computer resources in the county could handle the load from state testing. In short, it worked, but just barely. Students were kicked out of test sessions because of computer issues left and right. Teachers had to scramble to keep things running. Essentially the system only worked if enough people could frantically keep the plates spinning to avoid everything crashing down on them.
This took two weeks. State testing will last another 3-4 weeks starting next month. This means that the collective time spent just administering this test is growing. To top it all off, this doesn't even touch the issue that many of the standards are flawed, or developmentally inappropriate, or just outright unrealistic. Tell me why Kindergarteners are expected to know what had previously been taught in 1st grade. Tell me why the term "Rigor" has come to mean "Difficult for the sake of difficulty." Tell me at what point do teachers get to teach what they are supposed to teach.
In many ways, I count myself lucky. I teach elementary music, which means that I do not have a standardized test to administer for my subject area. In previous years this has led to an entirely ridiculous notion that in order to be taken seriously the arts must come up with some kind of test for ourselves. Thankfully this year we have been allowed to use performance assessments based on rubrics and student performance of actual age-appropriate skills.
Hallelujah.
Is it too much to ask that educators be allowed to make educational policy? And is it too much to ask that educators make that policy based on what is BEST for our students? Best as in a truly appropriate educational decision is one that helps students learn, think, and grow? I, for one, do not care what kind of money is in it for testing companies like Pearson. Instead, I care for my students. I care for my fellow educators. I care for the families that see their children stressed out by high stakes testing at the ripe old age of eight. Why should an eight year old child have to worry about performance on a standardized test? How about instead they worry about learning the best approach to solving a math problem, or the type of reading they like best, or what instruments they want to learn to play, or how best to paint or draw, or what physical fitness really means. How about they learn what happened at important moments in history, or where in Europe they can find Austria, or what kind of chemical mixture might cause an interesting reaction?
Who cares about standardized tests?
The companies that write them.
And the politicians who enforce them.
Hopefully those politicians can be shown the way of true education and meaningful learning and assessment before it's too late.
In the meantime, anybody want to make some music?
Not that I did anything different in my morning routine, or that I did anything out of the ordinary when I got to my classroom. The first was much more subtle and surprising.
I agreed with a news article from Texas regarding education.
What? Is that possible? How can it be?
No, really. I have never before read an article about education out of Texas without feeling like it held a deeply flawed view, or perhaps was promoting some sort of twisted version of how school should be.
But today I read an article about Pearson and their stranglehold on the current educational climate in the US. Not only that, but how they have gone out of their way to discredit those who find fault with their standardized testing products. In particular, the article is about the efforts of Dr. Walter Stroup, and his testimony before the Texas State Legislature.
Here's the link to the article: http://www.texasobserver.org/walter-stroup-standardized-testing-pearson/.
If you'd like the summary, essentially it goes like this: Pearson's tests are highly accurate, but not at measuring student learning or student growth. Instead, the tests are highly accurate at measuring a student's ability to take a test. And for this finding, Pearson has largely discredited a tenured UT professor and seems to be doing what they can to end his career.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, in that the current educational climate reflects a belief that what schools need is more testing, not more instruction of higher caliber. I teach in a school system that had to conduct a system-wide infrastructure test that lasted roughly two weeks in January just to see if the computer resources in the county could handle the load from state testing. In short, it worked, but just barely. Students were kicked out of test sessions because of computer issues left and right. Teachers had to scramble to keep things running. Essentially the system only worked if enough people could frantically keep the plates spinning to avoid everything crashing down on them.
This took two weeks. State testing will last another 3-4 weeks starting next month. This means that the collective time spent just administering this test is growing. To top it all off, this doesn't even touch the issue that many of the standards are flawed, or developmentally inappropriate, or just outright unrealistic. Tell me why Kindergarteners are expected to know what had previously been taught in 1st grade. Tell me why the term "Rigor" has come to mean "Difficult for the sake of difficulty." Tell me at what point do teachers get to teach what they are supposed to teach.
In many ways, I count myself lucky. I teach elementary music, which means that I do not have a standardized test to administer for my subject area. In previous years this has led to an entirely ridiculous notion that in order to be taken seriously the arts must come up with some kind of test for ourselves. Thankfully this year we have been allowed to use performance assessments based on rubrics and student performance of actual age-appropriate skills.
Hallelujah.
Is it too much to ask that educators be allowed to make educational policy? And is it too much to ask that educators make that policy based on what is BEST for our students? Best as in a truly appropriate educational decision is one that helps students learn, think, and grow? I, for one, do not care what kind of money is in it for testing companies like Pearson. Instead, I care for my students. I care for my fellow educators. I care for the families that see their children stressed out by high stakes testing at the ripe old age of eight. Why should an eight year old child have to worry about performance on a standardized test? How about instead they worry about learning the best approach to solving a math problem, or the type of reading they like best, or what instruments they want to learn to play, or how best to paint or draw, or what physical fitness really means. How about they learn what happened at important moments in history, or where in Europe they can find Austria, or what kind of chemical mixture might cause an interesting reaction?
Who cares about standardized tests?
The companies that write them.
And the politicians who enforce them.
Hopefully those politicians can be shown the way of true education and meaningful learning and assessment before it's too late.
In the meantime, anybody want to make some music?
Thursday, February 26, 2015
TeachersPayTeachers Sale Extended!
Good snowy morning!
Ok, I'll admit it, I am NOT thrilled about the snow that is currently falling outside. Partly because I need clear part of my roof to avoid making the leak worse that I discovered during the last snow melt. But mostly because we were just getting back to having everyone back into the routines of school. Things were finally getting back to normal, projects were underway, learning was happening.... And now... more snow.
Sigh.
But there is a bright side to today. TeachersPayTeachers has extended their Teachers Are Heroes sale another day. They are offering up to 28% off sitewide for an extra day!
For me, that means that you can snag absolutely everything in my store for 28% off using the discount code HEROES at checkout. Want to save almost $3 on music education resources? Try the Great Big Boomwhacker and Orff Collection! Looking for some beginning band arrangments? How about Chameleon or Kookaburra? You could also go straight to my storefront and browse the items that are on sale for less than a dollar!
So hopefully this TpT sale will help keep you warm on a snowy Winter's day. And fingers are crossed that the snow stops soon and melts this afternoon and we're back on track tomorrow. (A teacher can hope, right?)
Ok, I'll admit it, I am NOT thrilled about the snow that is currently falling outside. Partly because I need clear part of my roof to avoid making the leak worse that I discovered during the last snow melt. But mostly because we were just getting back to having everyone back into the routines of school. Things were finally getting back to normal, projects were underway, learning was happening.... And now... more snow.
Sigh.
But there is a bright side to today. TeachersPayTeachers has extended their Teachers Are Heroes sale another day. They are offering up to 28% off sitewide for an extra day!
 |
| Thankfully, teachers are the kind of hero that doesn't wear tights. Well, mostly. |
For me, that means that you can snag absolutely everything in my store for 28% off using the discount code HEROES at checkout. Want to save almost $3 on music education resources? Try the Great Big Boomwhacker and Orff Collection! Looking for some beginning band arrangments? How about Chameleon or Kookaburra? You could also go straight to my storefront and browse the items that are on sale for less than a dollar!
So hopefully this TpT sale will help keep you warm on a snowy Winter's day. And fingers are crossed that the snow stops soon and melts this afternoon and we're back on track tomorrow. (A teacher can hope, right?)
Monday, February 23, 2015
Teachers Pay Teachers Sale!
Greetings! I just wanted to make sure anyone and everyone knows about the upcoming TeachersPayTeachers sale - Teachers are Heroes!
On Wednesday, February 25th, everything sitewide is going to be 10% off using promo code HEROES, and many stores will be an additional discount up to 20%. My store is going to be 20% every item, so by combining the two discounts you can save 28% on anything I have listed. This is a great opportunity if you're looking at possibly purchasing any of my Boomwhacker resources or beginning band or orchestra arrangements. Those are the most expensive items in my store, so this is a great chance to scoop them up at a discount. Here are direct links to each item:
Boomwhackers Introduction Powerpoint
Mary Had a Little Lamb Boomwhacker
Boomwhacker Song Collection #1
Boomwhacker Song Collection #1 with Heart Beats
Boomwhacker Song Collection #1 with Notation
Boomwhacker Song Collection #2 (Pentatonic Songs)
Great Big Boomwhacker Collection
Orff Instrument Bar Labels with Boomwhacker Colors
Big Rock Candy Mountain for Violin
Chameleon for Elementary Band
Kookaburra for Elementary Band
Alternately, you can click the link below to go directly to my storefront:
Have a great week, everyone!
On Wednesday, February 25th, everything sitewide is going to be 10% off using promo code HEROES, and many stores will be an additional discount up to 20%. My store is going to be 20% every item, so by combining the two discounts you can save 28% on anything I have listed. This is a great opportunity if you're looking at possibly purchasing any of my Boomwhacker resources or beginning band or orchestra arrangements. Those are the most expensive items in my store, so this is a great chance to scoop them up at a discount. Here are direct links to each item:
Boomwhackers Introduction Powerpoint
Mary Had a Little Lamb Boomwhacker
Boomwhacker Song Collection #1
Boomwhacker Song Collection #1 with Heart Beats
Boomwhacker Song Collection #1 with Notation
Boomwhacker Song Collection #2 (Pentatonic Songs)
Great Big Boomwhacker Collection
Orff Instrument Bar Labels with Boomwhacker Colors
Big Rock Candy Mountain for Violin
Chameleon for Elementary Band
Kookaburra for Elementary Band
Alternately, you can click the link below to go directly to my storefront:
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Composition! Or, The Colors, Man, The Colors!
Greetings, internet!
I really am trying to be better about regularly posting, but it is a struggle. It's funny how working three jobs gets in the way of writing blog posts. And by funny I mean causes ridiculous amounts of angst. I was reminded recently of just how much I'm not at home when I looked around the house and counted the number of projects that still need finishing. I spent most of my Sunday afternoon cleaning up our rabbit cage because it had gotten nasty, a direct result of me not being home enough to keep up with it.
But I digress.
I assume you're here for a post about music education, right? After all, this is The Mobile Music Mansion, not Mr. Earley's Dysfunctional Rabbit Farm.
So here we go.
I have gotten back into using a resource that I had created last year - the Boomwhackers Song Collections. There are currently two available on my Teachers Pay Teachers store
(Collection 1 and Collection 2), and I am working on some new ones. If you haven't clicked over to see what those activities are about, I'll give you a brief rundown. Essentially I started using squares and rectangles that were color coded to match the Boomwhacker colors as a means of introducing notation to my youngest students. I am not a fan of using the little pictograph representations of notes, since I've never seen music notated with smiling bees or anthropomorphic suns and hearts and stars. Instead, I wanted to use something that would make a logical sequence of reading left to right, grouping by beat, and applying what is read to the instruments at hand. This works great with Boomwhackers, and even better when scaffolded into Orff instruments. All of my barred instruments have color coded labels to match the Boomwhackers as well, and students can make a logical transition to playing those instruments after a little time spent practicing on the Boomwhackers. This can then lead to using traditional notation with colored note heads, and then purely traditional notation. I am still in the development stages of this plan, so there is a long way to go with implementing this and seeing/measuring the results, but I have high hopes.
I'm starting to think that maybe I need to spend some more time with Kindergarten and first grade earlier on in the school year to develop the sense of steady beat and tracking the beat while listening. This is something that my students frequently struggle with, and is at least partly (stereotype warning!) a result of having middle-class Caucasian students forming the bulk of the student body. These are kids who don't grow up experiencing music as something that they do, but instead as something that exists beyond them, perhaps on a shelf only to be taken out on days they have music class. I want to move my students to a place where music is part of their everyday life and expression, something that they do without thinking, without hesitating, and without fear of whether it is "good enough." (I think of this as the "American Idol Phenomenon" - what if we grew up thinking that we weren't good enough because some celebrity judge said we weren't any good? What complex to create in young people. But that is another rant for another time,)
The more students are experiencing music in a hands-on, applied, real sense, the more it becomes a part of who they are. My goal is to foster that as much as I can in as many students as I can. It kills me to hear students talk about music like it's some mystery. Music is all around us, music is a part of what makes us human.
If I can use a bunch of colored rectangles and squares to help reinforce that integral musical part of all of us, I am 100% in.
So then what's next?
Well, in my view that would be composition. But gone are the days when I would just hand out staff paper to my oldest students and have them write meaningless combinations of notes. I have been working with students creating ostinatos, which has been nice, but let's go several steps further. What if students were creating something that had meaning to them, as well as its own musical meaning? By all means, let's do it!
So I give you color coded composition. Also, alliteration. :)
What I am trying now is to have students use construction paper cut to the same relative sizes as the squares and rectangles in the Boomwhacker Song Collections. I spent a little time working out the measurements I could use, then cut them out of red, orange, yellow, dark green, and purple paper, thus making a C pentatonic scale. At first I am planning to introduce the concept by giving students a few pieces to work with and having them see what they can come up with. No rules - anarchy in the music room! We will arrange the pieces and then perform them for the class, discussing what we hear. Then, I plan to given a worksheet/template to each student giving some guidelines - mostly beat groupings (hello, time signatures!), but also reinforcing Do as the tonic note.
With my youngest students, it will just be practice to get used to the idea of organizing notes by how they sound, reinforcing Do, and getting to use the Boomwhackers and Orff instruments to create music.
For my second graders, I hope to have them really apply their knowledge of staff notation and transfer what they have done by color onto the treble staff, thus creating true compositions that they can give to anyone and have it played.
Long term, I hope to never again have a student look at a piece of music then look at me and say "I can't read this."
Fingers are crossed.
I'll keep you posted!
I really am trying to be better about regularly posting, but it is a struggle. It's funny how working three jobs gets in the way of writing blog posts. And by funny I mean causes ridiculous amounts of angst. I was reminded recently of just how much I'm not at home when I looked around the house and counted the number of projects that still need finishing. I spent most of my Sunday afternoon cleaning up our rabbit cage because it had gotten nasty, a direct result of me not being home enough to keep up with it.
But I digress.
I assume you're here for a post about music education, right? After all, this is The Mobile Music Mansion, not Mr. Earley's Dysfunctional Rabbit Farm.
 |
| AWEEEEEEOWEEOOWEOMUMBAWAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY...... |
I have gotten back into using a resource that I had created last year - the Boomwhackers Song Collections. There are currently two available on my Teachers Pay Teachers store
 |
| Some day I hope to have matching mallets for each instrument |
I'm starting to think that maybe I need to spend some more time with Kindergarten and first grade earlier on in the school year to develop the sense of steady beat and tracking the beat while listening. This is something that my students frequently struggle with, and is at least partly (stereotype warning!) a result of having middle-class Caucasian students forming the bulk of the student body. These are kids who don't grow up experiencing music as something that they do, but instead as something that exists beyond them, perhaps on a shelf only to be taken out on days they have music class. I want to move my students to a place where music is part of their everyday life and expression, something that they do without thinking, without hesitating, and without fear of whether it is "good enough." (I think of this as the "American Idol Phenomenon" - what if we grew up thinking that we weren't good enough because some celebrity judge said we weren't any good? What complex to create in young people. But that is another rant for another time,)
 |
| Simon says that was the worst improvised ostinato he's ever heard paired with Mary Had a Little Lamb. You should just stop. |
The more students are experiencing music in a hands-on, applied, real sense, the more it becomes a part of who they are. My goal is to foster that as much as I can in as many students as I can. It kills me to hear students talk about music like it's some mystery. Music is all around us, music is a part of what makes us human.
If I can use a bunch of colored rectangles and squares to help reinforce that integral musical part of all of us, I am 100% in.
So then what's next?
Well, in my view that would be composition. But gone are the days when I would just hand out staff paper to my oldest students and have them write meaningless combinations of notes. I have been working with students creating ostinatos, which has been nice, but let's go several steps further. What if students were creating something that had meaning to them, as well as its own musical meaning? By all means, let's do it!
So I give you color coded composition. Also, alliteration. :)
What I am trying now is to have students use construction paper cut to the same relative sizes as the squares and rectangles in the Boomwhacker Song Collections. I spent a little time working out the measurements I could use, then cut them out of red, orange, yellow, dark green, and purple paper, thus making a C pentatonic scale. At first I am planning to introduce the concept by giving students a few pieces to work with and having them see what they can come up with. No rules - anarchy in the music room! We will arrange the pieces and then perform them for the class, discussing what we hear. Then, I plan to given a worksheet/template to each student giving some guidelines - mostly beat groupings (hello, time signatures!), but also reinforcing Do as the tonic note.
With my youngest students, it will just be practice to get used to the idea of organizing notes by how they sound, reinforcing Do, and getting to use the Boomwhackers and Orff instruments to create music.
For my second graders, I hope to have them really apply their knowledge of staff notation and transfer what they have done by color onto the treble staff, thus creating true compositions that they can give to anyone and have it played.
Long term, I hope to never again have a student look at a piece of music then look at me and say "I can't read this."
Fingers are crossed.
I'll keep you posted!
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Merry Happy ChristmaHanuKwanzicaa! And a Teachers Pay Teachers sale. Hooray!
Last night I had the second of my two December concerts. I say December because they are not generally holiday concerts as I do them, though I have been known to do the odd Chrstimas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa performance. This was my 2nd and 3rd grade performance. The kids did great, though things got a bit hairy a few times, as they are wont to do. The best part was my third grade student with Autism, who had a fantastic time. He spent a fair amount of time dancing around while we sang, but stayed within the realm of what was fine with me, and clearly enjoyed his experience very much. That really made my night, seeing the joy on his face.
The downside of the night was definitely the parent who cornered me and wanted to know (because her son asked, or so she said - way to use your kid as an excuse) why we sang a Hanukkah song and no Christmas songs. I explained to her (just as I had announced to the audience during the performance) that with yesterday being the beginning of Hanukkah (or maybe the 2nd day, I had conflicting dates on that one), it seemed very fitting to perform a Hanukkah song. In addition, I talked about the cultural piece of the music curriculum and the other holidays that I incorporated into this time of year to give the students a broader view of holiday practices from around the world. She didn't seem impressed, and pretty much implied that it made her angry. It took a lot of self-control to not tell her where she could go with her Christmas-centric view of a December performance. Now, don't get me wrong, I celebrate Christmas, and like to view it as intended, with it being a celebration of the birth of Christ, a focus on family time, and being together and enjoying the company of both family and friends. I do not, however, for one moment believe that a concert in December has to be Christmas related. Beyond that, I also reject the expectation that I do a concert based on a parent's view of what music I should do. But that's another topic altogether.
So I am extremely thankful that my two December concerts are finished, I am pleased with how well the kids performed, and I am very much looking forward to Winter Break. Those happen to be two of my three favorite words in all of the English language (the third being Summer).
Now the other purpose of this post - a sale! I am going to be throwing a sale in my TeachersPayTeachers store from now until Christmas. If you are a music teacher and want to buy yourself a little something, or know a music teacher who could use a little something, or are just interested in a little music education sort of activity, everything in my store is 20% off! My store can be found at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Nathan-Earley.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and a Happy New Year!
The downside of the night was definitely the parent who cornered me and wanted to know (because her son asked, or so she said - way to use your kid as an excuse) why we sang a Hanukkah song and no Christmas songs. I explained to her (just as I had announced to the audience during the performance) that with yesterday being the beginning of Hanukkah (or maybe the 2nd day, I had conflicting dates on that one), it seemed very fitting to perform a Hanukkah song. In addition, I talked about the cultural piece of the music curriculum and the other holidays that I incorporated into this time of year to give the students a broader view of holiday practices from around the world. She didn't seem impressed, and pretty much implied that it made her angry. It took a lot of self-control to not tell her where she could go with her Christmas-centric view of a December performance. Now, don't get me wrong, I celebrate Christmas, and like to view it as intended, with it being a celebration of the birth of Christ, a focus on family time, and being together and enjoying the company of both family and friends. I do not, however, for one moment believe that a concert in December has to be Christmas related. Beyond that, I also reject the expectation that I do a concert based on a parent's view of what music I should do. But that's another topic altogether.
So I am extremely thankful that my two December concerts are finished, I am pleased with how well the kids performed, and I am very much looking forward to Winter Break. Those happen to be two of my three favorite words in all of the English language (the third being Summer).
Now the other purpose of this post - a sale! I am going to be throwing a sale in my TeachersPayTeachers store from now until Christmas. If you are a music teacher and want to buy yourself a little something, or know a music teacher who could use a little something, or are just interested in a little music education sort of activity, everything in my store is 20% off! My store can be found at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Nathan-Earley.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and a Happy New Year!
Monday, October 27, 2014
Wow, that's a bit of a break....
Let me start off by apologizing to my followers - all both of you. I did not intend to take such a long break from my blog, it just kind of happened. So with that said, here's a quick summary of what I've had going on this school year:
- I started the year with a student intern named Grace, and she had some of the most original ideas for elementary music I've ever seen. We did an activity with a loop pedal for her second observation and had the students create a loop-based composition using improvised body percussion and vocal sounds.
- I have students who are struggling like never before to play brass instruments. Two trombones and a trumpet, all three who started at the same time; one of the trombones plays everything too low, the other trombone and trumpet play everything too high. It's making for a bit of a beginning band struggle.
- I was observed by my principal doing concert prep. Very strange. We dissected the form of one of their concert pieces which made for a very useful lesson, but I'm a little concerned it cost me some valuable time that could have been spent on performing and rehearsing. The neat thing is that I think I did the best lesson on form that I have ever done, and I will absolutely use it as a touchstone throughout the year. (Also pretty awesome is that the write-up for my observation was overwhelmingly positive - we'll see how that comes up in the post-observation conference.)
- I have second grade students working on rhythmic fluency using pool noodle notes as well as a worksheet I created. They are using the noodles to work out rhythms in three dimensions and getting used to drawing notes on the paper, which is a pairing of ideas I got from Tracy King over at Mrs. King Rocks. If you haven't already, go check out her blog and then her Teachers Pay Teachers store, they're both pretty fantastic.
- First grade and Kindergarten have been working on found sounds, body percussion, and enhancing stories with sound effects and music. This is especially great around this time of year as I have found many great Halloween-related activities. As a side note, I have no students at my school with any kind of religious or cultural barriers to celebrating the various holidays throughout the year; I cannot begin to tell you how much easier that makes my job.
My beginning band and strings groups are making progress, painful though it is to listen to at times. My choir is off to a good start, though I suspect I could be pushing them a little harder. We have honor chorus starting this week, which I am really looking forward to (aside from fighting traffic to make it to the rehearsals on time). In about 2 1/2 weeks we have our fourth and fifth grade concert, which should be interesting. Here's to hoping we pull it off in time!
So that's what's going on in my world, how about yours?
- I started the year with a student intern named Grace, and she had some of the most original ideas for elementary music I've ever seen. We did an activity with a loop pedal for her second observation and had the students create a loop-based composition using improvised body percussion and vocal sounds.
- I have students who are struggling like never before to play brass instruments. Two trombones and a trumpet, all three who started at the same time; one of the trombones plays everything too low, the other trombone and trumpet play everything too high. It's making for a bit of a beginning band struggle.
- I was observed by my principal doing concert prep. Very strange. We dissected the form of one of their concert pieces which made for a very useful lesson, but I'm a little concerned it cost me some valuable time that could have been spent on performing and rehearsing. The neat thing is that I think I did the best lesson on form that I have ever done, and I will absolutely use it as a touchstone throughout the year. (Also pretty awesome is that the write-up for my observation was overwhelmingly positive - we'll see how that comes up in the post-observation conference.)
- I have second grade students working on rhythmic fluency using pool noodle notes as well as a worksheet I created. They are using the noodles to work out rhythms in three dimensions and getting used to drawing notes on the paper, which is a pairing of ideas I got from Tracy King over at Mrs. King Rocks. If you haven't already, go check out her blog and then her Teachers Pay Teachers store, they're both pretty fantastic.
- First grade and Kindergarten have been working on found sounds, body percussion, and enhancing stories with sound effects and music. This is especially great around this time of year as I have found many great Halloween-related activities. As a side note, I have no students at my school with any kind of religious or cultural barriers to celebrating the various holidays throughout the year; I cannot begin to tell you how much easier that makes my job.
My beginning band and strings groups are making progress, painful though it is to listen to at times. My choir is off to a good start, though I suspect I could be pushing them a little harder. We have honor chorus starting this week, which I am really looking forward to (aside from fighting traffic to make it to the rehearsals on time). In about 2 1/2 weeks we have our fourth and fifth grade concert, which should be interesting. Here's to hoping we pull it off in time!
So that's what's going on in my world, how about yours?
Thursday, March 27, 2014
The importance of making things interesting
I don't know about you, but I like things that are a little out of the ordinary. Mind you, that doesn't mean I want everything to be weird or cantankerous or obscure (take that, hipsters!). Instead, I just like things that work a little differently than is sometimes the norm.
For example: I have a penchant for barbecue. Not just some meat in a restaurant slathered in sauce, but real, slow-cooked, smoky, well-seasoned meat that has been tended to over a bed of hot coals for many hours. This is different than the norm these days in that people don't often like to spend hours in preparing a single food item. But it is worth it in the end. It's also nice to come in the house smelling like woodsmoke and meat, knowing that I have been playing with fire for the most delicious result imaginable. Also, each time I make barbecue it's a little different. No matter how hard I try, I can never perfectly replicate the previous result.
Another example: My own personal style is... somewhat rustic, I suppose. I like to wear things that are both comfortable and functional, but that look acceptable for their purpose. This has resulted in showing up to Halloween parties dressed as a lumberjack or some other outdoors enthusiast and having people ask why I wasn't wearing a costume. But I digress.
Part of the attraction of these things, to me, is that they are interesting in some way. They are interesting partly because they are different. Not what you would expect. Not what you see every day.
"But how," you may be asking, "does this relate to teaching?"
The answer is quite simple. Things that are out of the ordinary - striking, different, novel, however you want to say it - attract more attention in the learning process. Our brains are wired to accept new input, categorize it, file it away for later retrieval, and expend minimal effort in recognizing it in the future. Have you ever walked past a painting on the wall so many times you forgot it was there - only to realize some time later that it had been replaced with something else? This is just part of how the human mind works. We don't want to spend a lot of energy or effort on noticing the same things over and over again. This helps us cope with the incredible amount of stimuli that exist as part of our every day lives. We would be quite overwhelmed if we took notice of every single speck of everything that we encounter regularly. There's just too much.
"But how," you may be asking, "does this relate to music education?"
Again, quite simple. One of the most difficult things to teach students is to make things interesting and novel even when they are practicing the most mundane, uninteresting, boring aspects of music. It's why I have as many different acronyms for teaching lines and spaces of the staff as I possibly can remember. It's why I like to ask students to tell me what they think after something goes horribly wrong - or wonderfully right. It's why sometimes a band director will switch around seating and do something ridiculous - like putting the trumpets in the front row. (Another great Tone Deaf Comics moment!)
When things are different, we pay attention to them differently. Our brains are always (ok, usually) more responsive to new things than they are to things that are well-worn and habitual. Music teachers (and teachers in general) take advantage of this frequently, if for no better reason than to keep their students from griping about being bored (side note - I couldn't tell you the last time I had the luxury of being bored. Seems like there is always something that must be done. Must be one more curse of growing up.).
I would like to share with you the revelation I had about a week ago (actually, I had it several years ago but forgot until just last week). When you practice on your own, do you use a metronome? If you teach music, do you use a metronome in class or in lessons? Personally, I can't imagine life without a metronome. It's as fundamental to music as sound itself. The division of time into perfectly regularly spaced pulses is not something that comes easily to many of us. We need something to keep us on target, and something to get irritated with when we are playing in perfect time and that infernal machine is OBVIOUSLY SPEEDING UP. (John Bogenschutz sums it up perfectly in his Tone Deaf Comics found here.)
So what do you do to teach kids that a metronome is so important? "But Mr. Earley," I can hear my students saying, "it's just an annoying noise that won't stop and gets boring (there's that word again!!!)."
Hmmm... They may have a point there. The sound of a metronome does become rather monotonous after a while, and if you're not focused on keeping 100% with the metronome pulse it can become white noise and ignored rather quickly.
One approach I have tried with a general music class is to play some sort of percussion instrument. Conga, Bongos, Djembe, drum set, you name it, I've tried it. This usually leads to kids complaining that they want to try it. Or worse, ignoring it just like the metronome. The most reliable of these has always been the drum set, but there are two fundamental problems with it. First, I am not a terribly gifted drum set player. Second, it only works if I am behind it, and this keeps me from being able to move around the room. What good is a means of keeping tempo if I can't actively adjust/fix things?
Hmmm... So what I need is something that works more or less like the drum set, can keep a perfectly steady tempo, is interesting to listen to, and lets me move around as needed....
Bingo. (Cue novel approach fanfare!)
What I have found is that by using audio software and a loop library, I can metronome the heck out of anything, yet still make it fresh and interesting for the students. Heck, it makes it more enjoyable for me, too! I use Acoustica Mixcraft (because I am not an Apple fanboy), which is essentially the Windows equivalent of GarageBand (what I would use if I were an Apple fanboy). This is a fairly straightfoward digital audio workstation (DAW) that includes, among other things, a fairly impressive loop library. By searching for a drum groove, I found one that I liked - it's straightforward, only slightly syncopated, clear enough to follow, and outlines two measures. I took that and expanded it to three minutes in length. Then I added a chime sound (which sounds suspiciously like something from Super Mario Brothers) to indicate when each minute passes. For kicks, I added a short chime riff to the end to indicate that time was up (I may go back and make this the "game over" sound from Mario - we'll see...). I can now use this to not only keep my groups on track with tempo, but also to manage my own time in the classroom.
What I love about this approach is that it is interesting and novel enough on its own that as soon as I start the track, I can see the kids wiggling and moving to the beat in their seats. No instruction needed, just pure interest.
The next step was to expand the track so I could have one that was 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes in length. This way I don't have to just play a recording on endless loop - I can pick whichever length fits the activity and time remaining. Furthermore, it is versatile enough to use for an extremely wide variety of activities. I have used it with second grade playing mallet and rhythm instruments, first grade and kindergarten playing Boomwhackers
, even the older students in band and strings when doing exercises and scales. What's more is that if we get to where this particular track gets stale or loses its novelty, I can go back to Mixcraft and make a new one that sounds completely different with minimal effort.
Now, I understand that not everyone is in love with loops and creating audio tools the way that I am. If you'd like, you can visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store and pick up the audio tracks I created, either individually or as a bundle of all four lengths. The length is the only difference between them. They are done as mp3 files, so you don't need to worry about having a particular piece of software to make them work. If you use them, please feel free to leave a comment here and/or a comment on TpT.
I plan to keep making things like these rhythm tracks to keep everything as novel and interesting as I can. I also would love to hear from you - what do you do to keep things interesting in the classroom? Do you have a particular approach/trick/product that you use? Do you have a particular group/student that needs more novelty than you can keep up with? I welcome your comments below!
For example: I have a penchant for barbecue. Not just some meat in a restaurant slathered in sauce, but real, slow-cooked, smoky, well-seasoned meat that has been tended to over a bed of hot coals for many hours. This is different than the norm these days in that people don't often like to spend hours in preparing a single food item. But it is worth it in the end. It's also nice to come in the house smelling like woodsmoke and meat, knowing that I have been playing with fire for the most delicious result imaginable. Also, each time I make barbecue it's a little different. No matter how hard I try, I can never perfectly replicate the previous result.
 |
| Smells like.... Victory! |
Another example: My own personal style is... somewhat rustic, I suppose. I like to wear things that are both comfortable and functional, but that look acceptable for their purpose. This has resulted in showing up to Halloween parties dressed as a lumberjack or some other outdoors enthusiast and having people ask why I wasn't wearing a costume. But I digress.
 |
| I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay. |
Part of the attraction of these things, to me, is that they are interesting in some way. They are interesting partly because they are different. Not what you would expect. Not what you see every day.
"But how," you may be asking, "does this relate to teaching?"
The answer is quite simple. Things that are out of the ordinary - striking, different, novel, however you want to say it - attract more attention in the learning process. Our brains are wired to accept new input, categorize it, file it away for later retrieval, and expend minimal effort in recognizing it in the future. Have you ever walked past a painting on the wall so many times you forgot it was there - only to realize some time later that it had been replaced with something else? This is just part of how the human mind works. We don't want to spend a lot of energy or effort on noticing the same things over and over again. This helps us cope with the incredible amount of stimuli that exist as part of our every day lives. We would be quite overwhelmed if we took notice of every single speck of everything that we encounter regularly. There's just too much.
"But how," you may be asking, "does this relate to music education?"
Again, quite simple. One of the most difficult things to teach students is to make things interesting and novel even when they are practicing the most mundane, uninteresting, boring aspects of music. It's why I have as many different acronyms for teaching lines and spaces of the staff as I possibly can remember. It's why I like to ask students to tell me what they think after something goes horribly wrong - or wonderfully right. It's why sometimes a band director will switch around seating and do something ridiculous - like putting the trumpets in the front row. (Another great Tone Deaf Comics moment!)
When things are different, we pay attention to them differently. Our brains are always (ok, usually) more responsive to new things than they are to things that are well-worn and habitual. Music teachers (and teachers in general) take advantage of this frequently, if for no better reason than to keep their students from griping about being bored (side note - I couldn't tell you the last time I had the luxury of being bored. Seems like there is always something that must be done. Must be one more curse of growing up.).
I would like to share with you the revelation I had about a week ago (actually, I had it several years ago but forgot until just last week). When you practice on your own, do you use a metronome? If you teach music, do you use a metronome in class or in lessons? Personally, I can't imagine life without a metronome. It's as fundamental to music as sound itself. The division of time into perfectly regularly spaced pulses is not something that comes easily to many of us. We need something to keep us on target, and something to get irritated with when we are playing in perfect time and that infernal machine is OBVIOUSLY SPEEDING UP. (John Bogenschutz sums it up perfectly in his Tone Deaf Comics found here.)
So what do you do to teach kids that a metronome is so important? "But Mr. Earley," I can hear my students saying, "it's just an annoying noise that won't stop and gets boring (there's that word again!!!)."
Hmmm... They may have a point there. The sound of a metronome does become rather monotonous after a while, and if you're not focused on keeping 100% with the metronome pulse it can become white noise and ignored rather quickly.
 |
| A view of the metronome being ignored. Also, how it feels when your foot falls asleep. |
One approach I have tried with a general music class is to play some sort of percussion instrument. Conga, Bongos, Djembe, drum set, you name it, I've tried it. This usually leads to kids complaining that they want to try it. Or worse, ignoring it just like the metronome. The most reliable of these has always been the drum set, but there are two fundamental problems with it. First, I am not a terribly gifted drum set player. Second, it only works if I am behind it, and this keeps me from being able to move around the room. What good is a means of keeping tempo if I can't actively adjust/fix things?
 |
| If I can't get out of here, I might as well get comfortable... |
Hmmm... So what I need is something that works more or less like the drum set, can keep a perfectly steady tempo, is interesting to listen to, and lets me move around as needed....
Bingo. (Cue novel approach fanfare!)
What I have found is that by using audio software and a loop library, I can metronome the heck out of anything, yet still make it fresh and interesting for the students. Heck, it makes it more enjoyable for me, too! I use Acoustica Mixcraft (because I am not an Apple fanboy), which is essentially the Windows equivalent of GarageBand (what I would use if I were an Apple fanboy). This is a fairly straightfoward digital audio workstation (DAW) that includes, among other things, a fairly impressive loop library. By searching for a drum groove, I found one that I liked - it's straightforward, only slightly syncopated, clear enough to follow, and outlines two measures. I took that and expanded it to three minutes in length. Then I added a chime sound (which sounds suspiciously like something from Super Mario Brothers) to indicate when each minute passes. For kicks, I added a short chime riff to the end to indicate that time was up (I may go back and make this the "game over" sound from Mario - we'll see...). I can now use this to not only keep my groups on track with tempo, but also to manage my own time in the classroom.
What I love about this approach is that it is interesting and novel enough on its own that as soon as I start the track, I can see the kids wiggling and moving to the beat in their seats. No instruction needed, just pure interest.
The next step was to expand the track so I could have one that was 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes in length. This way I don't have to just play a recording on endless loop - I can pick whichever length fits the activity and time remaining. Furthermore, it is versatile enough to use for an extremely wide variety of activities. I have used it with second grade playing mallet and rhythm instruments, first grade and kindergarten playing Boomwhackers
, even the older students in band and strings when doing exercises and scales. What's more is that if we get to where this particular track gets stale or loses its novelty, I can go back to Mixcraft and make a new one that sounds completely different with minimal effort.Now, I understand that not everyone is in love with loops and creating audio tools the way that I am. If you'd like, you can visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store and pick up the audio tracks I created, either individually or as a bundle of all four lengths. The length is the only difference between them. They are done as mp3 files, so you don't need to worry about having a particular piece of software to make them work. If you use them, please feel free to leave a comment here and/or a comment on TpT.
I plan to keep making things like these rhythm tracks to keep everything as novel and interesting as I can. I also would love to hear from you - what do you do to keep things interesting in the classroom? Do you have a particular approach/trick/product that you use? Do you have a particular group/student that needs more novelty than you can keep up with? I welcome your comments below!
Sunday, March 16, 2014
They didn't train me for this... OR "Stand back, I'm a professional! "
A few days ago, I had a meeting at school. Nothing major, just a quick meeting as a reference for a friend. At the end of the meeting I was walking the gentleman I met with back to the office, which involves going out of my mobile mansion, down a ramp and into the school building. Total outside time is something like 10 seconds. In that 10 seconds, I noticed two things. First, there were a lot of screaming children in the playground. Not out of the ordinary. Second, and much more incongruous, there was a dog running around. Just an average sized beagle, not some hulking mastiff or anything like that, just a moderate sized dog. Curious - dogs are not generally on school grounds until after school when a neighbor woman likes to bring her dogs to run around and leave little "presents" for the kids to step in. I went in to the building, informed the custodial staff that there was a dog outside, then did the same with the office.
As it turns out, my principal is deathly afraid of dogs, and was not about to go confront her fear. The secretaries decided the best course of action was animal control, a decision that took about 2 minutes longer to reach than it probably should have. Meanwhile, it occurred to me that in the brief look I got at the dog, it did not appear to be sick or injured, just lost. Perhaps I could coax it over and get a look at its tags. So outside I went.
After a couple minutes of walking around the playground in pursuit of this poor dog, the kids finally are ushered inside and I was left out there alone in relative peace with the dog. He finally dared to come close enough for a few sniffs, I checked his collar and found no tags. Go figure, who would want their dog to be returned to them? Unfortunately, he got away from me before I could get a good grip on his collar, so I was unable to hang on to him for animal control. He trotted off across the road and disappeared between some houses. Animal control finally got there something like an hour later, I talked to the animal warden (apparently that's their preferred title? News to me.) briefly and received an admonishment to not get bitten among other things.
Now, I am a pet sitter on the side. I have worked on a farm, I have had several dogs and cats as pets, and I like to think that I have a decent helping of common sense. If anything had appeared out of the ordinary about the dog I would have stayed away. But it was very friendly, not the least bit aggressive, and clearly not rabid or anything like that. I like to think that I used my professional pet sitter skills to know if the dog was okay.
As it turns out, my principal is deathly afraid of dogs, and was not about to go confront her fear. The secretaries decided the best course of action was animal control, a decision that took about 2 minutes longer to reach than it probably should have. Meanwhile, it occurred to me that in the brief look I got at the dog, it did not appear to be sick or injured, just lost. Perhaps I could coax it over and get a look at its tags. So outside I went.
After a couple minutes of walking around the playground in pursuit of this poor dog, the kids finally are ushered inside and I was left out there alone in relative peace with the dog. He finally dared to come close enough for a few sniffs, I checked his collar and found no tags. Go figure, who would want their dog to be returned to them? Unfortunately, he got away from me before I could get a good grip on his collar, so I was unable to hang on to him for animal control. He trotted off across the road and disappeared between some houses. Animal control finally got there something like an hour later, I talked to the animal warden (apparently that's their preferred title? News to me.) briefly and received an admonishment to not get bitten among other things.
Now, I am a pet sitter on the side. I have worked on a farm, I have had several dogs and cats as pets, and I like to think that I have a decent helping of common sense. If anything had appeared out of the ordinary about the dog I would have stayed away. But it was very friendly, not the least bit aggressive, and clearly not rabid or anything like that. I like to think that I used my professional pet sitter skills to know if the dog was okay.
The point of this rambling diatribe (that has taken way too long to write) is that there are lots of things you find yourself doing as a teacher that nobody ever mentioned in college. For instance - we learned about dealing with hostile parents, administrators, colleagues; we learned many educational and developmental philosophies and theories; we learned about instruments and music and dealing with bathroom breaks in Kindergarten (hint - don't say anything that sounds like bathroom. It's like yawning. It's contagious.); we even learned about how important it is to have the custodial and secretarial folks on your side.
Nowhere did I have the opportunity to sign up for "Dogcatching 101."
Granted, I love dogs. I love animals in general. I actually really enjoyed dealing with this dog. I have even had to capture him now 5 separate times since this article was first undertaken (his name is Buddy and he loves to play with the kids at recess).
What I am really getting at is that these are the moments that I think can really make or break the job of teaching. Job descriptions call this "Other Duties As Assigned." The intentional vagueness can leave open an absurdly broad realm of possibilities. Sometimes they're as fun as romping with Buddy the dog. Other times it means moving furniture, dealing with paperwork, unexpected meetings, conferences, etc. Some days are nothing but Other Duties As Assigned. Some days you see neither hide nor hair of anything out of the ordinary (let's face it, those days don't happen very often).
As much as I don't enjoy having to stop what I'm doing or spend what little unscheduled time I have to chase a dog that is surrounded by a screaming group of children, I can't imagine a job where I knew what every moment was going to hold before it happened. One of the greatest things about teaching is that each day is new. Even when you have all of your lessons planned down to a tee, little things will happen that are completely unexpected. Some good, some bad, but none of them can really be anticipated (beyond the simple fact of their existence).
I don't know about you, but I'll take Buddy the dog over a cubicle and TPS reports any day.
Nowhere did I have the opportunity to sign up for "Dogcatching 101."
Granted, I love dogs. I love animals in general. I actually really enjoyed dealing with this dog. I have even had to capture him now 5 separate times since this article was first undertaken (his name is Buddy and he loves to play with the kids at recess).
What I am really getting at is that these are the moments that I think can really make or break the job of teaching. Job descriptions call this "Other Duties As Assigned." The intentional vagueness can leave open an absurdly broad realm of possibilities. Sometimes they're as fun as romping with Buddy the dog. Other times it means moving furniture, dealing with paperwork, unexpected meetings, conferences, etc. Some days are nothing but Other Duties As Assigned. Some days you see neither hide nor hair of anything out of the ordinary (let's face it, those days don't happen very often).
As much as I don't enjoy having to stop what I'm doing or spend what little unscheduled time I have to chase a dog that is surrounded by a screaming group of children, I can't imagine a job where I knew what every moment was going to hold before it happened. One of the greatest things about teaching is that each day is new. Even when you have all of your lessons planned down to a tee, little things will happen that are completely unexpected. Some good, some bad, but none of them can really be anticipated (beyond the simple fact of their existence).
I don't know about you, but I'll take Buddy the dog over a cubicle and TPS reports any day.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Boomwhackers!
You may know (or you may not) that I love Boomwhackers. Better yet, students of all ages love Boomwhackers. If you have not yet had the joy of seeing or playing them, I will describe briefly. Each Boomwhacker is a colored plastic tube cut to a specific length. This allows them to be pitched, and each tube is marked with the pitch it plays, as well as the solfege syllable associated with it (assuming you are using fixed do). They come in various sets, though the most common set is the standard one-octave diatonic set in C Major.
There are tons of Boomwhacker resources available, some free, some surprisingly expensive. The neat thing about them though is that you do not need any extra materials. The tubes can be used with many resources you already have. Sometimes the best thing to do is to provide no resources and just let the kids explore!
Granted, there is always a need to establish procedures and expectations (Boomwhackers must be held like.... Boomwhackers may not touch your neighbor/other items in the room/small animals... Do not treat them like you are performing martial arts... etc.) but within reason they are tough enough to stand up to class after class of use.
One of my favorite things to do is to show how one person can play an entire song with a set, and then how we can play the same song as a class with each person responsible for one note. I usually do this with simple songs like Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star or Mary Had a Little Lamb. Kids can get pretty excited over a discovery that they can all be part of making the music together (though a few get disgruntled - "Why does red get all of the notes? I'm playing pink and I only got to play once!" I'm fairly certain these kids will never be happy with what I give them, so I just try to make sure no one kid is stuck with one color all the time).
A while back I created a Powerpoint to help introduce my students to the Boomwhackers. The goal was to establish my own procedures as well as get them comfortable with using the tubes properly, waiting their turn, following the directions for when to play, etc. You can find that Powerpoint in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
This school year, I decided I would take that idea one step further. I created a Powerpoint for Mary Had a Little Lamb using the same process - one color per slide, advance through the slides steadily to get the kids to play the tubes in the right order. This led to a realization of a problem. Even if I am advancing the slides to a steady beat, there was no cue to get the kids to play on the beat. I had to go through it a lot to get to a point where they knew what came next in order to have some semblance of beat.
This just wouldn't do.
Instead, I created a system of "notation" that uses colored squares and rectangles to indicate which tube plays and for how long. It allows the kids to look ahead at what's coming, and seems to do a great job of prepping them to move into regular notation. It also has the side benefit of not being a cutesy picture of some clipart bumblebee and heart and sun in place of real notes. I am not a fan of those. I created a song collection using this method of progressively arranged tunes. You can find that collection here. It includes the songs Hot Cross Buns, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Clair de Lune, Go Tell Aunt Rhody, Frere Jacques, London Bridge, and Old MacDonald. Each song takes up one slide, and is readily approachable by even the youngest of elementary students.
My goal is to create a series of song collections, and then offer them all bundled together at a discount.
If you have another way of using Boomwhackers please feel free to leave a comment. Even better would be if you use my Powerpoints let me know how you used them and how it went!
. Better yet, students of all ages love Boomwhackers. If you have not yet had the joy of seeing or playing them, I will describe briefly. Each Boomwhacker is a colored plastic tube cut to a specific length. This allows them to be pitched, and each tube is marked with the pitch it plays, as well as the solfege syllable associated with it (assuming you are using fixed do). They come in various sets, though the most common set is the standard one-octave diatonic set in C Major.There are tons of Boomwhacker resources available, some free, some surprisingly expensive. The neat thing about them though is that you do not need any extra materials. The tubes can be used with many resources you already have. Sometimes the best thing to do is to provide no resources and just let the kids explore!
Granted, there is always a need to establish procedures and expectations (Boomwhackers must be held like.... Boomwhackers may not touch your neighbor/other items in the room/small animals... Do not treat them like you are performing martial arts... etc.) but within reason they are tough enough to stand up to class after class of use.
One of my favorite things to do is to show how one person can play an entire song with a set, and then how we can play the same song as a class with each person responsible for one note. I usually do this with simple songs like Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star or Mary Had a Little Lamb. Kids can get pretty excited over a discovery that they can all be part of making the music together (though a few get disgruntled - "Why does red get all of the notes? I'm playing pink and I only got to play once!" I'm fairly certain these kids will never be happy with what I give them, so I just try to make sure no one kid is stuck with one color all the time).
A while back I created a Powerpoint to help introduce my students to the Boomwhackers. The goal was to establish my own procedures as well as get them comfortable with using the tubes properly, waiting their turn, following the directions for when to play, etc. You can find that Powerpoint in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
This school year, I decided I would take that idea one step further. I created a Powerpoint for Mary Had a Little Lamb using the same process - one color per slide, advance through the slides steadily to get the kids to play the tubes in the right order. This led to a realization of a problem. Even if I am advancing the slides to a steady beat, there was no cue to get the kids to play on the beat. I had to go through it a lot to get to a point where they knew what came next in order to have some semblance of beat.
This just wouldn't do.
Instead, I created a system of "notation" that uses colored squares and rectangles to indicate which tube plays and for how long. It allows the kids to look ahead at what's coming, and seems to do a great job of prepping them to move into regular notation. It also has the side benefit of not being a cutesy picture of some clipart bumblebee and heart and sun in place of real notes. I am not a fan of those. I created a song collection using this method of progressively arranged tunes. You can find that collection here. It includes the songs Hot Cross Buns, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Clair de Lune, Go Tell Aunt Rhody, Frere Jacques, London Bridge, and Old MacDonald. Each song takes up one slide, and is readily approachable by even the youngest of elementary students.
My goal is to create a series of song collections, and then offer them all bundled together at a discount.
If you have another way of using Boomwhackers please feel free to leave a comment. Even better would be if you use my Powerpoints let me know how you used them and how it went!
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