Saturday, August 31, 2013

Just Dance

I feel like I am breaking an unwritten rule, but my students love when we use Just Dance videos from YouTube as a movement break. The first day we did one of the dances, my students struggled a lot. They had poor coordination and steady beat skills, but I have seen both of these skills improve as we continue to do the dances. A lot of the Just Dance Kids, also help reinforce form and measures.
I created my own YouTube playlists: Just Dance Kids for K-1st and Just Dance for 2nd-4th.

Lately with my third and fourth graders these dances have been a way to motivate them to clean up and get in line quickly. The quicker they get ready, the longer they get to dance.  I know they may seem unconventional, but I have seen great results since I have been including these videos into my lessons.  In the end, the goal is that students learn!

Are there any activities you do in your room that you feel "break the rules?"

Just Dance Kids Playlist

Just Dance Playlist

5/6 Fall Chorus Concert Music

This year I am teaching 5/6 Chorus and we have one concert ever quarter.  I have been thinking about my concert music all summer and I am excited that I finally have it finalized.  My goal this year is to do a better job of picking a variety of music: spirituals (my students love these), foreign language, popular and traditional chorus music.  Fifth graders that were in choir last year helped me get ideas at the end of last year and I look forward to seeing how my students react to our music selections.

1.  Funga Alafia (Foreign Language)-Arranged by Jill Gallina
2.  Down to the River to Pray (Spiritual)- Arranged by Sheldon Curry
3.  You Gotta Sing (Spiritual)-Arranged by Roger Emerson
4.  Butterfly Fly Away (Popular)-Song by Miley Cyrus

How do you pick music while balancing student interest and teaching musical concepts?  I would love to hear what songs you are programing this year.

Instrument Family of the Quarter

When I was student teaching, my cooperating teacher explained to me how he let his students try playing many band instruments when he taught elementary music.  He found this was a great way to expose students to band instruments and get them more excited about playing them in the future.  I always liked the basis of this idea and have used it in most of my classrooms.  Resources and time often play a role in the exact execution of the idea.

In my current position, I see my students for forty minutes, two times a week.  We study one instrument family per a quarter: Strings, Woodwinds, Brass and Percussion.  During our study, we listen to many examples of the instruments that belong to the specific family.  This year, I created a YouTube playlist for each family.  I included more upbeat music and some interesting ensembles.  The main goal is to get my students excited about different instruments.  The Piano Guys are one of their favorite groups, so we listen to many different examples by them.  Along with listening, I have my students play many of the instruments: guitar, flute, trumpet and drum set.  The goal of this is for my students to know what the instruments look like and to have a chance at playing them before they get to middle school band.

Listening-Strings

Listening-Woodwinds

Listening-Brass

Listening-Percussion

Just Use Something

Social Media is bringing together educators from all over the world.  These connections enable teachers to gain new knowledge and ideas. Personally, I would be lost without the ideas I have learned on social media. With a click of a button there is a wealth of knowledge available on a variety of topics: bulletin boards, classroom organization, projects, technology information and an assortment of tips and advice.

There are many options when it comes to social media. Pinterest, blogs, Twitter and Facebook are all great options.  I am partial to Twitter and Pinterest, but I also belong to Faceobok Groups for teachers and read many blogs.  I hear many teachers say one platform or another does not work for them.  The great thing about the technology we have is there are many different options that can fit individual preference.  As teachers, I believe we have a responsibility to our students and communities to be up to date on the most current information and to be open to new ideas.  This being said, just use something! It is easy to get caught up in a certain social media platform.  The ultimate goal is continued learning and providing the best possible education for our students.  As long as the platform you use achieves this goal, which platform you use is less important.

Remember that social media is about being social.  Therefore, relationships need to be created in order to reap the rewards.  I hear many people say they don't understand Twitter, but at the same time they have not invested time into creating relationships.  As a newbie to Twitter I almost did the same thing and it was not until I started participating in chats that I created relationships.  These relationships are when the best learning happens.  As with most things in life; you get out of it, how much you put in.

Which social media platforms do you use for professional development?  Do you have a favorite?

Remember: Just Use Something! Get online and learn from other amazing educators.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Flying

I recently had the opportunity to fly in a small two-person plane.  One of my coworkers and her husband have a plane and offered to take me flying.  Living in Alaska for two years mostly cured me of my fear of flying, but I was still hesitant.  I ended up have a great experience and I enjoyed it immensely.  It actually made me want to learn how to fly, which is a huge accomplishment for the girl who used to get very anxious on a plane.

This experience made me think about my students and things that scare them.  My fear of flying almost made me miss out on what turned out to be a great experience.  How often does this happen to our students?  What can we do as teachers to help encourage our students to try new things?  In my opinion it all boils down to relationships.  In order to help our students, we need to first know what causes them to feel fearful, excited, engaged, upset or happy.  As a music teacher, who sees students for a short amount of time, this can be a challenge.  Regardless of the challenge, I believe it is vital that all teachers create strong and positive relationships with all students.  Students can never have too many supporters.

What do you do to ensure that your students try to things?


Seating Charts


Last year I created small percussion instrument groups for my seating chart.  Using yarn I tied a triangle, cowbell, jingle bells, tambourine, and shaker from the ceiling in my classroom.  I also painted rectangles on the floor using acrylic pain, which shows students their assigned area.  

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Working with a Goal in Mind

As we near the beginning of a new school year, Social Media and the Internet in general are overloaded with Apps and tools to make the next school year easier and better for students, parents and teachers.  I love the added resources technology provides, but to be honest, all the different options for Apps, Websites and Programs are becoming overwhelming.  There are so many options and it is hard to know which one is the best without trying them out and discovering what works individually.  Due to all the options it is vital to remember that technology should enhance our learning and the tools we choose need to meet our goals.  It is easy to start using technology for the sake of using technology.  To prevent this from happening it is important that we state our goals and search for technology that meets our goals.

My Goals and the Technology I am Using to Meet Them
1.  Digital Portfolios: Google Sites
2.  Classroom Newsletter:
3.  Classroom Blogs:  Kidblog
4.  Assessment: Class Dojo

Programs I am Looking Into
1.  Edmodo: Using in my 5th Grade Media Class
2.  Remind 101: Use to remind parents about concerts and other events.


Do you have any technology suggestions?  Which apps do you use and how do you use them in your class?

Classroom Atmosphere

   


My motto for this school year is No Fear. My goal is to help create an atmosphere where my students and myself feel supported, encouraged and respected.  I want us to be fearless.  Instead of worrying about what happens if something does not work right, I want us to look at all of the possibilities and enjoy the journey of learning new skills and concepts.  They may seem like soft skills, but teamwork, work ethic, perseverance and self motivation are life skills that lead to success later in life.  Music is a great vehicle for learning these tools and I am more motivated this year than ever before to make sure that my students are gaining these essential life skills.
 
We will have no fear of...
1. not being the best.
2. not succeeding right away.
3. having to work hard.
4. trying new things.
5. making mistakes.

This year I will focus on the journey instead of the outcome.  I want my students to focus on learning and not on how long it might take.  Just like in life, we all do and learn things at different paces.  We need to encourage and support each other regardless of how long it takes to learn the skills/concepts.  In the end, I do not care when my students master individual skills or concepts.  I only care that they do master individual skills and concepts.

My Plan
1.  Focus on the journey and not the results.
2.  Have more student feedback and 1:1 discussion about individual progress.
3.  Clearly identify what skills/concepts my students are learning.
4.  Focus on my students as individuals and rid my classroom of anything that distracts me.




Friday, August 2, 2013

Why I Love Sports

This summer I had the opportunity to coach a 7th/8th Grade Summer Rec Softball Team.  It was a great experience to be able to share my love for softball with the next generation and I learned a ton about coaching in a short amount of time.  Television overloads us with the negative side of athletics: cheating, poor sportsmanships, fights and all the other bad things we see in the news on a daily basis.  Every once in a while we see a story that touches us and if we are very fortunate, we have the opportunity to be a part of that moment.  I was blessed to have been able to be part of a moment that I will not soon forget.

We finished our regular season with two losses (one was a forfeit) and we went into our season tournament as the top seed.  We had a bye the first round and then the other team we were supposed to play forfeited the second round.  We played a poor game during the semifinals and we found ourselves down by twelve going into the seventh inning.  We mounted a great comeback and were able to score ten runs before we got three outs.  It was not at all how we dreamed our tournament would play out.  The next night we played in the third/fourth place game.

My girls were very hyped for the game and were excited to play against a team that had cheered for us the night before.  During the second inning I realized that the other team was batting eleven players.  I did not know we were allowed to do this, so I asked the coach if I could add my bench player as my eleventh hitter (which also allowed me to use her without her being a sub.)  The coach had no problem with me adding her to my batting lineup.  Once again we struggled at the beginning and at the start of the seventh inning we were down by four runs.  As my team was warming up to start the top of the seventh inning, the announcer proclaimed that we had reached the time limit and therefor the game was over.  The other teams coach (we were playing at their home field) immediately said they did not want the game to be over (even though we were winning) and after a few minutes it was decided we would keep playing.

We found ourselves down by four in the bottom of the seventh inning.  After two walks and a few timely hits, we scored the tying run on a pass ball.  With runners on second and third my eleventh hitter came up to bat (she is the one the other coach allowed me to add to our order.)  She hit a line drive up the middle to score the winning run.  The other team, who thought they had one the game just a few minutes prior, was devastated that they lost.  During our quick meeting before shaking hands, one of my players suggested that we switch medals with the other team, while they let us keep playing past the time limit (they would get the third place medal and we would get the fourth place medal.)  After a team vote, they decided as a team that that was what they wanted to do.  As one girl told me "Coach we know in our hearts we got third, it is just a medal."

It was a great sight to see opposing teams consoling each other and telling them to hold their heads up because they played a great game.  Although we were told by the announcer we could not switch medals, my girls were determined.  They waited until after the awards ceremony before they walked over to the other team and switched medals with them.

Since that game I have received texts and phone calls commending my team for having great sportsmanship and for playing the game with integrity.  Both teams showed why we play sports.  Even though a team looses a game, there does not need to be a looser.  I know it is just a medal and according to all rules my team deserved the third place medal, but the gesture was huge.  In the end it is not about winning or losing, it is how you play the game.  I am very proud of how both teams played that game.

Sports are the perfect example of kids being in different spots on their learning journey.  Classrooms need to stress teamwork and positive attitudes.  We all have different strengths and weaknesses, but we can still enjoy the journey together as a classroom family.  How do you encourage your students, how do classmates encourage each other?  I would love to hear how you incorporate team concepts into your classroom.

What Christmas In July Taught Me About School Traditions

This year marked the seventeenth year that my Dad's side of the family has spent a week together at a lake in Minnesota.  Like many traditions, it has simple roots.  My dad's family camped at Widow Lake when he was a kid and my grandmother thought it would be a good thing to do again.  There are fifty people on my Dad's side of the family, so holidays are a bit crazy with all of our schedules.  My grandmother did not like how rushed Christmas became, so after a few years of going to Widow Lake, she suggested we celebrate Christmas while we were there.  We still celebrate in December, but that time is only for family time.  All presents are exchanged at the lake.  Due to schedule conflicts, the selling of the resort and financial issues, we are now on our fourth lake.  The location and activities may change (we are after all getting older and our bodies cannot endure the amount of water skiing, tubing and knee boarding we used to do), but the bonding time and family stories continue.  It is one week during the year that my whole family looks forward to with great excitement.  I was in sixth grade when we starting this tradition and this year I went to the lake with my husband.

What school traditions do you look forward to each year?  More importantly, what school traditions do your students look forward to?  When I taught in Alaska, we had Fries Friday (parents would make french fries out of our school grown potatoes), All School Hikes in the Fall and Spring and a 5K Race at the end of the year.  These were all events that our students and staff looked forward to each year.

Traditions do not need to be complicated.  They simply need to be something that people look forward to each year.  It could be a field trip, a unit of study, a school activity, a special day or an assembly.  My school cut elementary music a few years ago and I am still working on getting my students excited about music.  My goal this year is to continue things from last year and to start even more traditions this year.  Imagine the power if students and staff were constantly excited and looking forward to the next event or activity.  Traditions are a way to build this excitement.