It's All About the Small Stuff

After coaching two basketball teams this year I was reminded how many games come down to free throws and layups. It is another example that the simple things matter. In music, the simple things are scales and technique. Without this knowledge base, playing an instrument is more difficult. In teaching I believe relationships are the most important thing.

In the end, we want out students to participate in the activities and projects we plan. Positive relationships build trust and carrying, so students are more likely to participate. It is human nature to not want to do things that we think are hard or that we are going to mess up on. As teachers we ask our students to trust us and try new and possibly scary things everyday.

Our classrooms need to be wonderful places where there is a trusting, loving and caring atmosphere. These traits cultivate a safe classroom where making mistakes and trying new things are not so scary after all. Learning involves making mistakes, but mistakes won't happen if we are too scared to try new things.

My Love and Logic Journey

One of our inservice days last year was with a speaker from the Love and Logic Institute. This was one of the best institute days I have been involved in and for the past year I have been slowly adding more parts of the Love and Logic Philosophy into my teaching. I strongly recommend the book "Teaching with Love and Logic" to all teachers and parents. In the end, this philosophy is about changing your words and changing directions into enforceable statements.

As with any change, it is vital to start with a small piece. The first "line" I added to my repertoire was "Your behavior is causing a problem for me. Can you please fix it?" instead of owning my student's problems, I am doing my best to make them figure out how to fix it. The second "line" I added was "don't you hate when that happens." This is the perfect sentence to cure all cases of tattling.

My main goal through this journey is to give my students choices. I want them to be responsible for solving their own problems and in charge of their experiences in my classroom. When I don't revert to my old self, teaching is more enjoyable and the day is more fun. My next skill to add is using more empathy when giving consequences.

How is your love and logic journey going? What was the hardest change to make?

Impact

When it is all said and done, the number one reason I teach is for the positive impact I hope to have on my students. I was reminded of this while at a basketball practice for my husband's team. Three years ago I worked at the same school my husband does, so many of his basketball players are former students of mine.

My former students were reminiscing about the songs we sang in choir (many of which they still remember) and they started doing the cup game. I was amazed that they still remember these details after three years. The cup game was used during a scene in the movie 'Pitch Perfect' and my former students were reminded of me because they learned it during my class.

This interaction with these former students reminded me of how much impact teachers can have. I hope that my interactions are positive and that my former students remember me and music in general for positive reasons. How do you want students to remember you? How do students remember you?

Great Big House

After Winter Break we start our Dance Unit. I use "Great Big House" as the transition from Dance to Orff with my second graders.

Teaching Process
1. Song
2. Dance
3. Bordun (We talk about key, scale and bordun.)
4. Melody (We talk about steps, skips and leaps.)
5. Putting it all together (We talk about form and arrangements.)

Somebody I Used to Know

My 4th graders are playing an Orff arrangement of Somebody I Used to Know. I found this arrangement online.

Teaching Process
1. Bass part
2. Chord past-bottom two notes of the chord. We also talked about major thirds.
3. Melody

Eventual Goals
1. Melody and bass part together
2. Melody, bass and chords together
3. Melody, bass, chords and drum set

My students will write their own arrangement after we master the individual parts.

Unit Objectives
1. Chords
2. Form
3. Vocab-chords, bass part, form, melody and rhythm accompaniment.

Beginner Recorder

The first notes I teach on recorder are G, A and B. We spend one week learning each note. The first day we spend playing a specific note. The second day we combine two notes together. We spend a lot of time talking about correct technique.

Activities
1. Echo rhythms
2. Playing basic quarter note/rest, eighths and half note rhythms
3. Play alongs from Rockin' Recorder (listen and play).
4. Drum set echo patterns-each drum represents a different note of recorder. High tom-B, middle tom-A, floor tom-G.
5. Class BAG composition (Google Presentation).
6. Individual BAG compositions.
7. Play alongs from Do It Recorder.

Using your Strengths

My old principal always encouraged us to make our classroom unique. She wanted our students to remember their time in our room because of something that was based on us.

In my opinion, one of the great things about being a teacher is the freedom to make your classroom unique. We should all strive to strengthen our weak areas, but I also believe that our classrooms should also focus on our strengths. Include the unique features of your personality and abilities to make your classroom a unique experience. There are many ways to do this.

I remember seeing a drum set on a wish list for another general music teacher and I never understood having a drum set in my room, but now that I do, I can't imagine teaching without it. I am a percussionist and I have had a drum set in my room for two years now. I use it as a play along, during listening games and during many other activities.

I am not saying everyone needs a drum set in their room, but I suggest including things that make your classroom unique. If you play guitar, if you play piano, if you play another instrument or if you have another interest.

I want my students to be excited about music and about learning in general. I also want them to remember their time in my classroom for positive reasons: events or activities. I am alright with being the music teacher who plays drum set.

What are you known for? What activities to kids hear about before they are in you room? What things in your room do they talk about at lunch and recess?

Evaluating Students

I hate grading and trying to find a system that I am happy with has been a constant struggle. This year I am transitioning my grading to standards based, but I am still not sure if I am happy with this process.

Although I hate grades, I see the importance of evaluating my students. Students need to know what they did well and what they need to improve on. Grades were created to show this progress, but I no longer believe that they fulfill this job. Letter based grades are too vague. If a student earned a B on a project, they need to know exactly what they could have done to get an A. They also need to know exactly what they did well. I realize that what I propose is extremely time consuming. I have over two hundred students and I can't imagine having to write all of this for each student. This being said, I think we owe it to our students to find a way to relay this information to them and their parents.

Rubrics and standards based grading are two evaluating processes that I think can help give students specific feedback. The overall goal is that students know exactly why they lost points and exactly why they earned points. If we believe they earned a lower grade, then there needs to be specific feedback as to why they earned it and how they can get better.

All Teachers Matter

I do not want to get up on a soap box and complain about how the fine arts are misunderstood and disrespected, but I do believe that fine art teachers can teach many valuable skills to other teachers. Differentiation and classroom management are inherent parts of many fine arts classes. Students enter the room with varied levels of talent, ability and interest. In order to create a production or music, students need to work together to create it. This working together means all students participate and contribute regardless of talent or ability. Fine art rooms are filled with things to play with. These teachers must have strong classroom management skills in order for these rooms to not become chaos. There are many tricks or tips fine arts teachers can teach us about teaching all students. There are also many tricks and tips that reading teachers, special ed teachers and all teachers can teach us. I am always amazed at the amount of patience special ed and reading teachers must have.

I believe all teachers have ideas they can share with our profession, if we will watch and learn from them. Which teachers do you learn from? Do you skip the specials teachers?

Finding Balance

There was a Twitter chat a few weeks ago about finding balance between school and your family. I have realized this year that being a single teacher is much easier then being married because last year I didn't have to worry about spending too much time at school. Now that I am married, balancing work and my family is much more difficult and I know it is only going to get harder.

I don't believe that school and family can be 50/50 each day, but I do believe that over the course of days or weeks there needs to be balance. I have found the most important factor is staying healthy. Without staying healthy, there is no way I can give my best to my students or my family.

One of my goals for 2013 has been to be a member of the '5 am Power Hour Club.' This is a phrase I learned in a video by Robin Sharma. The idea is to start the morning with 20 minutes of reading, 20 minutes of exercise and 20 minutes planning/journaling. I have found that this time gets me ready for the day and exercise has been key to keeping my stress level down.

How do you find balance?

Kids Say the Darnedest Things

Through a conversation with a colleague, I learned that she keeps a notebook full of funny things kids say in her class. I have always said I was going to do this. I usually end up posting some of them to Facebook (when I remember). At first I thought I should grab a journal and start writing them down, then I decided to make a blog post about it. We have to share our sense of humor or we might all go crazy with the pressures of the job.

1. I like your shirt, I like your hair, I like your whole body.
2. You lived in Alaska, do you know who Michael Jackson is?
3. You look like the type of person who would collect plastic rings from cupcakes.

My New Mantra

The other music teacher in my distinct shared this video with me. I strongly recommend it. It is an important lesson for all adults to remember and it is a lesson we need to teach our children/students. The more fun you have, the better you get, which makes you work harder. It is an ongoing circle. Things that are hard are usually not fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTqDglhzQbw

Idea Bandit

A teacher I follow on twitter mentioned that his school requires teachers to observe each other and then they have to "steal" an idea from their coworkers. The great thing about twitter and the internet in general is it makes this process even easier. As teachers we need to watch other teachers and find ideas that make our teaching better. On the flip side, as teachers we need to make sure our classrooms and ideas are worth stealing.

Are you an idea bandit? Are your ideas worth stealing?

Trying Not to Become "That" Teacher

Definition of "that" teacher: Using the same books/worksheets/materials year after year. Never putting in any extra time and leaving the minute the contract says is acceptable. These teachers are the warnings and nightmares we hear about in teacher prep classes. Overall, I do not believe there are many of these teachers, but the horror stories themselves prove their point.

I think most people would agree that teachers who lack passion need to retire or find a new profession. I was always confused why anyone would let themselves become this type of teacher and I vowed that I never would. Over the past few weeks the frustrations of teaching and playing the game that is the politics of public education has been overwhelming. Frustration leads my brain to over thinking, which produces many ideas; Some crazier then others.

Through these frustrations I had a realization that they stem from my caring about my profession, my school and my students. A lot of that stress would be eliminated if I could find a way to limit how much I care. I could show up at 7:50 and leave at 3:20, never spend extra time and sing the same exact songs every year. The next realization is that I don't know I could be happy teaching this way. It is fun to try new things and to learn new methods, songs and ideas.

This frustration has helped me realign my focus and my philosophy. That part of the experience has been beneficial. In the end it always comes down to the fact that I have two hundred kids who deserve the best music education that I can give them. Instead of being the teacher from horror stories my goal is to be the teacher that I would want my own children to have.

Why I Teach Music

I teach music because....
-I want my students to learn an art form they can enjoy the rest of their lives.
-I want my students to understand that failure is ok and that through practice they learn new skills and concepts.
-I want my students who struggle with core subjects to have a room where they can feel successful.
-I want my students to feel the sense of accomplishment when they master a new skill.
-I want my students to experience the power that comes from collaborating with classmates and friends to make something magical.
-I want my students to learn that work ethic and perseverance can get them through any obstacle.
-I want my students to learn that nothing is impossible if they believe in themselves and work hard.
-I want my students to know that it is alright if things are not perfect.
-I want my students to learn that details matter.
-I want my students to know that they can always get better.
-I want my students to see the impact that choices and work ethic have on their life.
-I want my students to feel successful.
-I want my students to understand that life is not about passing tests.
-I want my students to understand that not everything that is important is on a test.
-I want my students to learn how to interpret body language.
-I want my students to learn a language that surpasses time and geographical location.
-I want my students to learn how to listen to themselves and those around them.
-I want my students to learn how to work as a team to achieve a common goal.
-I want my students to have a basic understanding of the music that surrounds them.
-I want my students to be well rounded and have an appreciation of many different areas.
-I want my kids to build their self esteem and confidence as an individual, a contributing part of a group and as a learner.

The Importance of Music

It seems February is the month when music teacher's schedules get double checked and the question "Why do we need you?" seems to always appear. Justifying my job has to be one of the most frustrating parts of my job. After conversations with many people recently I was confronted by a difficult realization. Is it really possible to "prove" to people that music is important? There have been countless studies and research papers that explain the many facets of music education and why they are vital to our children's education. Even armed with this information, can we really prove that our jobs are worth keeping around. At the end of the day, NCLB dictates that our children must show growth and many school districts have taken the approach that subjects that are not on the test are of less value.

I am not writing this post to be Mrs. Negative, but I am trying to be realistic. We can only teach our students what they are open to learning. I don't believe that adults are any different. This is not to say that I am throwing in the towel and admitting defeat. I am realizing the challenge. Part of the "Love and Logic" approach that I use in my classroom is holding students accountable for solving their own problems. I am going to follow what I preach. No one else should be responsible for solving my problems. Data and research do not seem to be working, so here are some of my ideas that I think (and hope) will work. This is an uphill battle for all of us who call themselves music teachers.

-Fill my classes with so much fun, excitement and learning that my students are constantly talking about music when they are at home.
-Invite parents in for class so they can see what music class looks like in 2013.
-Invite administrators in for class performances.
-Invite administrators and teachers in to experience the struggle and learning that occurs while preparing for a concert. (Give them an instrument, let them sing along).
-Include music in as many school activities as possible (think outside the box).
-Maintain an up to date website that keeps parents knowledgable about what is happening in music. Look into other ways of doing this too: videos, pictures, newsletters...
-Apply for grants- awards are a great publicity source for all programs.
-Fill in the blanks, be prepared to advocate for the arts without notice.
-I know it is clique, but "Kill them with Kindness."

Rereading my list makes me a little frustrated because few other teachers have to experience this. They just get to "teach," but I have decided that "fighting" the challenge is a better option then hiding in a corner and being overly frustrated.

Classroom Tour #2

This is my first year at my current school. I am fortunate to have a spacious room, so it gives me many arrangement possibilities. I rearranged for the 5th time this year, but I think I have found a setup I will stick with (at least for a while). I have a storage closet that I have turned into an office. Moving my desk out of the class area opened it up a lot.

Recorder

Each year I tweak things in order to make things better and easier for my kids. I have done recorder a few different ways, but here is how my program works now.

Overall Program
-My district starts band in 5th grade, so recorder is part of the 3rd and 4th grader curriculum.
-I start recorder 3rd quarter with 3rd graders. We do recorder off and on throughout 4th grade.
-Each student has a recorder they barrow from the school and it never leaves my classroom.

Specific to 3rd Grade
-We begin our Recorder Unit by having 15 seconds of craziness- Before I have taught them anything I let them play as loud and obnoxious as they want. This gets it out of their system and I have less problems later on.
-My students have music twice a week for forty minutes. For the first three weeks we focus on a specific note each week. I use rhythm Flashcards, play alongside from different method books and echo drills. Our focus is transitioning rhythm to recorder without having to worry about notes.
-This year I am using the Rockin' Recorder Method. Each student has their own packet to take home, so they can practice. We will not use these until the second month of recorders.
- I am a percussionist, so I include a lot of drums into my lessons. My students really enjoyed playing recorder when I play drum set. I used my two toms to signify the notes B and A and they had to echo my pattern.
-We focus on a lot of rhythm reading on one note and echoing patterns.
-As we focus on 1-2 notes we do student echoes and simple composition projects.

Specific to 4th Grade
-We focus more on Recorder Karate. Each class makes a goal on how many belts they must earn each semester. The second class of the week is usually Belt Testing day, but that depends on our schedule and their behavior.

The Importance of Rewards

Rewards are something I really struggle with. Ideally, I would love to use the Ron Clark Academy Model. They give rewards, but it is only for superior work and they stick to high expectations no matter how hard a student works. They reward achievement not effort.

A few weeks ago we hosted Solo and Ensemble. There was a mistake made on a rubric and a group was told they received a lower rating then they actually did. This group of middle schoolers was devastated. I understand wanting to do your best, but what are we teaching our kids if all they want is the gold medal? In my opinion, it is the process that counts. For those girls, it was the hours of practice and all the new skills they learned. The top rating was just a bonus, but it does not impact how much they had already learned from the process of performing and preparing.

When I think of rewards, I automatically think of grading. Do our grades really show how much students have learned? I think we do an injustice to our students when we tell them they did a great job and we pat them on the back when they don't always deserve it. We need to raise kids who are passionate about learning and who give 100 percent. Effort almost always beats talent.

When do you give rewards? Are we raising kids who are only in it for the prize, or who have a strong sense of self respect and want to do their best regardless of the prize?

Walking your Talk

We hosted Solo and Ensemble this weekend and through interactions with people over the course of the day I realized the importance of doing what you say you are going to (of walking your talk.) I know this seems incredibly simple, but it really hit me today. How often, do we tell our students something, but our body language or behavior send a different message? How often do we offer to do something without any intent of doing what we offered? How often do adults do these things to students?

We have all been told that teachers are role models for students. Not all students have great role models at their home and it is vital that students consistently see positive behavior and interactions. That includes how we act to them (body language and or chosen words), how we interact with others in front if our students and following through with actions. People learn by observing others. Students will have a hard time learning how to react under stress if all they ever see are adults getting angry and upset when they are frustrated. They will also have a hard time learning the value of staying true to your word if they consistently see adults offering or saying they will do things, but never following through.

Students need to see adults under control in stressful situations and they need to see action. Be that kind of role model for your students, the one who acts on what they say they will do, treats others with dignity and respect and stays calm under fire. It's a tough task, but students need to see that it is possible.