Choir Recruitment Posters

I've been busy the past few days planning for choir! I've got a fall program planned, musicians lined up, information about the choir typed up, concert dates set...all I need is a choir!

I'm planning to do a week of recruiting within the school so I made some posters to hang up!

Here is one that will hopefully attract the boys.

A girly one

Wanted: Singers

Norton's Got Talent

Music Portfolio

Thanks to Pinterest I found an awesome worksheet from Classroom Freebies! This is such a cute idea!
 

I'm planning to use this in the music portfolios for my elementary students! I'm planning to have the students complete one sheet at the beginning and one at the end of the year. It will be so fun to look back and see which songs were student favorites and how much they have changed in just one year.

Listening Response Journal

After collaborating with a fellow music teacher, we came up with the Listening Journal Activity. This will be a great thing to add to the each student's music portfolio. Here's the premise:

I am collecting videos of music performances that are unconventional, unique, interesting and kid-friendly. so far, I've got a wide range of videos including a Lady Gaga bassoon ensemble performance, a Playing for Change video, an awesome Pentatonix performance, and a One Direction cover using the piano in an unconventional way.

Each week I will show the students a video and have them record their responses on a worksheet I created.

I can't wait to see what they think of all these awesome videos!

DIY Boomwhacker Storage

From what I've already experienced, storing Boomwhackers can be a nightmare. I decided to use up-cycled cereal boxes for storage containers. This way, they round plastic tubes can't roll out of the storage closet (like they did when I found them!)

I used 5 cereal boxes (1 larger one for the longer Boomwhackers)

Some cute wrapping paper from the Target dollar bin

 Scissors

And spray adhesive

The process was surprisingly simple. I sprayed the adhesive one side at a time, smoothed out the surface, and repeated the process until all the sides were covered. 

I wrapped the bottom just like wrapping a present...

And flipped in the excess on the top.

This way, I covered the top flaps of the cereal box that I also flipped in and stapled.

 

And here they are:

 

Ready, Set, Go

Since this is my first year teaching, I plan to use this blog to help me record lessons along with what worked and what I should change for next year. I've been gathering materials from everywhere: music books, activity book, my own ideas and even Pinterest! Since I've been collecting from so many places, I want to have a central location to upload it all to. And so, here it is!

As of right now, I'd say I'm about 60% of the way done on my curriculum. I've got it all mapped out as far as which concepts to teach when. All I have left to do is decided which materials I will use to teach each concept. I really feel like that is the easy part.

As I create more lessons, I will post them here along with pictures! Pictures are the best.

Home Sweet Home

I've been working in my classroom for three weeks now and I can finally say I am DONE with the decorations. I'm done with everything I had planned, at least. Here are some before pictures.

It was a total blank canvas

Since I'm teaching middle school also (6th and 7th), I wanted a theme that would include them as well as be functional for the elementary aged kids. Here's what I came up with.

My door. Complete with recreations of famous concert posters and an original one for my class, The Rockin' Raiders.

View as you walk in. This is my favorite part of my room! The stage is complete with curtains, rope lights, and the hanging sign. To create a wall, I turned 3 storage cabinets backward, covered them in black paper, and hung this backdrop. Not only is it a cool piece, it also serves as a makeshift closet on the side.

My funky curtains that have attracted alot of attention. I had to have someway to hide the outdoor distractions and it just so happens that the curtains fit into my theme perfectly. 

 

Another feature that I'm proud of is my word wall. I love all the colors!

Since I'm new to the school and the kids, I made a meet the teacher bulletin board.

 

Lastly, look at all my storage!!! This is another one of my favorite features in this room.

At this point all I have left to do is organize materials... I just HAD to do all the fun stuff first.

See more of my classroom photos under Photos and Videos.