Five Favorite Pins of April

Hi there! I am linking up with my favorite monthly linky party from Mrs. Miracle's Music Room's "Five Favorite Pins." Each day I find more and more pins that I love! I wonder what my first year of teaching would have been like if I had found Pinterest and TeachersPayTeachers sooner. They are gifts!!!

http://www.mrsmiraclesmusicroom.com/2014/04/five-favorite-pins-of-april.html

#1 Aurasma for Halloween

I just started discovering the wonderful things that Aurasma can bring to the music classroom. I can't wait to check out this blog post about Aurasma and Halloween music. What a fun activity to try in the fall!

 #2 Choir Self Evaluation

It is always hard to do assessment in the music classroom. I struggle with it, as well as providing data for my administration. This packet is a great way to get information from my students about the whole concert, but also their own contributions. Plus, there are a variety of forms to fit my needs.

 #3 Groovin' Monsters

This is so cute! I love Linda McPherson's materials. This one is a way to review loud and soft. If you get the answer correct, the monster dances to his iPod on the screen. Really fun, especially for the little ones at the end of the year. Plus, another great assessment tool!

 #4 Frere Jacques

I almost cried when this resource came out! The Yellow Brick Road is quickly becoming my new favorite blog and seller to go to, as we are very similar in our teaching styles and concepts. I start my 5th grade chorus students off with Frere Jacques. It's a great piece to teach as a whole group and slowly morph into part singing. This file allows you to do that on the projector, which can help me show and explain part singing a lot easier. We don't have an elmo or document camera, so helping students read their line for the first time is tough. 

And, one of my favorite pins EVER..............

#5 Glow Worm

I love this pin - it is hilarious! It's just what I need to brighten my day during these last few weeks of school. There are so many things going on and only a few more music lessons with each class - time to make it count :) 

Long time - no see! Let's talk technology.

Omigosh - I am so sorry for the lack of posting. The start of the New Year was supposed to be more relaxed, but that did NOT happen. I'm finally getting a chance to post today because we are having this weird snow/thunderstorm mess. It was just 60 degrees two days ago - figure it out weather!

Anyways, I am really excited to be going to a workshop this weekend in Marion. I'll have to get up at 5 a.m. to make it there by 8:30, but it will definitely be worth it.The workshop will be in three parts: technology, beginning choral pieces and holiday activities. Woot woot! Can't wait! Here's the flyer if you're interested:

So, on the subject of technology, my post today will be about technology in my classroom. I am blessed to be in a 1:1 school district. The kids are super savvy! To make things easier, I worked with our tech integrationist to create my own Symbaloo. If you haven't experienced Symbaloo, you need to! It is so easy and handy to work with, plus our students are using the elementary one all the time, so it's quick for them to access. My Symbaloo is divided into categories (composing, xmas, nutcracker, orchestra, etc.) and primary tiles are at the top, with intermediate ones at the bottom. My tiles include games, educational videos, projects, and quizzes. Love it! Here's the link and a screen shot for mine if you'd like to check out my resources: 

http://edu.symbaloo.com/mix/elementarymusic2

Now that I've set up everything, I'll share some things we are doing in class. My room does not have a SmartBoard (working on this, fingers crossed!), but I am able to utilize the computer lab and the iPad cart. I like to use links on my symbaloo to introduce concepts (instruments of the orchestra) and allow the students to create in music class (isle of tune, incredibox). These can all be found through the symbaloo tiles. 

The 5th graders have been using the iPads a lot these past few weeks. We are experimenting with mixing and looping. They started out experimenting with instruments and loops through GarageBand. Then, I gave them a three-loop challenge by recording their name and finding 3 loops that work together to create a mix. They loved this! Most of them added more or changed their voice with the extra options. Starting this week, we will begin our project. I found this project through one of the education blogs I follow, Music and Technology. 

It allows the students to work at their own pace, but complete checkpoints each class period. They will be creating ABA compositions with GarageBand. Our district is also big on student centered classrooms. Hopefully, this will let the students use their creativity and work at their pace, but complete the project and understand our driving idea. It is also available for desktop computer.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/iPad-GarageBand-ABA-Composition-Project-1079534

Finally, I am hoping to teach a mini "piano class" project next year. Most district do mallets, orff, or records for their students. However, this requires money and a lot of responsibility for students, teachers and parents. After speaking with the MS and HS music teachers, they preferred a piano class for the students, so they can learn note names and counting. I'm not sure if I want to begin it in 3rd or 4th, but we'll definitely review in 5th and transition over from Kodaly rhythm names to standard names. The iPads will allow the students to practice at their own pace in class with a free App. Wishful thinking - we'll see how this develops. 

What ways do you use technology in the music classroom? I see so many awesome ideas on Pinterest, Facebook & blogs - I'd love to know more! :)

Join Chorus!

School starts this week - ahhh! It seems like it always sneaks up on me, even though I've been in my room several times throughout the summer. Still getting everything up and running - then, I'll take you through a room tour.

This post, however, is all about chorus. I originally taught 5th & 6th grade chorus. However, as more students have come into the district and class sizes are becoming smaller to better assist students, my schedule became too full. Now, I am just responsible for the 5th grade choristers. This is still no easy task. I start with these students in September, with 3 concerts throughout the year (December, March & May). I only see them twice every 6 days from 2:30-3:05. This is especially difficult during the winter and early out days because I don't get the end of the day and the letter days get messed up with missed days.

Behavior & attendance is also an issue. Chorus & band are during the end of the day. If the students choose to participate, they miss their last recess. This isn't a battle until the sun comes out and it gets warmer in April and May. Suddenly, I have students who "forgot" or just don't show up at all. They do get feedback on their progress, but our district is trying to move away from stamping a letter grade on everything.

In the past, I have spoken with each 5th grade class individually and occasionally in the hallways, as well as a letter I send home. This year, however, I'm changing it up! I recently saw some awesome chorus templates from Beth at http://bethsmusicnotes.blogspot.com/2011/02/chorus.html. I loved the pamphlet idea and the "cutting lines" and "keep...return to" spots. This seemed extra helpful. I immediately emailed her and asked about purchasing the template. She was extremely nice and glad that her ideas are helping other teachers. However, the program she used (Adobe Reader, maybe?) wasn't compatible with my laptop. She suggested just finding a basic template I liked on Microsoft Word and imput the things I liked and change the things I didn't like. So, off I went!


Here is what I ended up with:

Hopefully, this will work better for communication with the students and parents. I will also be coming up with a better attendance and rubric system in the next week or so. What ideas & suggestions do you have for chorus? What has worked or needed to be changed?