Ta Ti-ti kind of day

Today was the day I introduced my 1st graders to ta and ti-ti.  I used the terms in Kindergarten, but just said the terms, never discussed them.  We're learning a song game called "Here We Sit" and we've already talked about melodic direction.  The song only uses so and mi patterns and we found out which words we sing high and which words we sing low.  Today we started rhythmic dictation.  I love using the popsicle sticks, because a) I always have a huge resource of them from Kdg. teachers and b) they are so easy to manipulate for little hands.  

We sang each line of the four from the song and worked out the pattern together on the first two.  The last two lines of the song, they were on their own.  They also had the revelation that the rhythmic pattern was the same for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th lines of the song.

Then, we took the ta ti-ti pattern a step forward with the noodle notes.  Cut up noodle notes get strung on rope in the pattern.  They worked in groups to string the pattern of the whole song.  We didn't get it completed before time was up, but we'll finish it next time and then on to the game.

It was a very productive 1st grade day.

Here's a video from our first day of school.  We started the morning with an all-school assembly.  Our principal began the day talking about our expectations in the school.  After we had watched some brief videos about hallway, bathroom and playground expectations, she moved into the celebrations for the year.  We are going to celebrate like crazy.  While she was talking about this, I broke  in with the song "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang and started our flash mob.  It was so much fun.  I've always wanted to be a part of one and now I can check that off of my bucket list.  however, I would like to do another one sometime.  Maybe another assembly this year..........  Oooh, I could teach the kids a flash mob while they're in my music class.  Oh the wheels are turning.....

On a different note, here are a couple of close-up of some of my noodle projects in my room.

These are my noodle balls.  I wish I could take credit for them, but I learned about them from a class I took last summer.  The pool noodles are cut into 12" lengths (8 of them, I think) and then a hose clamp is tightened around the center.  As you tighten them, they start to spread apart.  My preschool and low motor-function students love them, because they have a much better chance of catching a ball when it is thrown to them.  

These are my noodle horses.  I also cannot take credit for these.  They were an idea from Mrs. King's blog with great directions on how to make them.

It was a great first week of school.  I was exhausted last night, but I'm really looking forward to the new things that I'm trying at the beginning of the year.  There are many neat kiddos and I can't wait to play, I mean teach.

I'M READY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My classroom is ready!  I am so excited for kids to come back Tuesday.  As much as teachers love to complain about inservice days, Thursday and Friday were some of the most productive days I've experienced.  Yes, we had to watch the dreaded "Bloodborne Pathogens" video and the "Right to Know" video, but after that it became collaboration time.  Groups seemed to stay on task and my personal music team rocked the socks off of PLC Friday.  I was "officially" trained to be a PLC leader this summer.  I went down to the training in St. Louis in June which was incredible.  For those of you that don't know, PLC stands for Professional Learning Community.  Our district is in the 3rd year of this process, however, due to a very unique set of circumstances, our team feels like it's back at year 1.  Which is okay.  It's a learning process, but I think our team came up with some awesome ideas on how to make sure our students are succeeding in music classes.

Here are some pics of my room.  I'll start toward the entrance and work around counter-clockwise.

Here's my bulletin board that my almost 10-year-old daughter did for me.  The OCD part of me really wants it to make it straight, but that's way low on my list.

Next up is my tech table.  It contains my mimio (smart board) projector, speaker and mimio tablet.  I would love for my projector to be mounted to the ceiling, but that will have to wait.  

These are whisper phones my husband made for me out of PVC pipes.  He also made the hula hoops for me out of pex tubing.  As I said in my previous post, my husband gets many projects dumped on him.  I'll have to take a separate pic of what's in the blue tote later.  Last summer I made a whole bunch of snowballs made out of old socks.  We will often have a musical snowball fight in the classroom sometimes to celebrate the end of a concert or something fun.

This is the bulletin board at the other end of my white board.  It says Instrument of the Month.  Last year I did Composer of the month, and my kids devoured it.  They were so excited to see who would be up there at the beginning of the month.  I had a mimio file created for the info, so all I posted here was the picture of the composer.  I'm doing the same with instruments this year.  I found awesome videos on Youtube called "How It's Made" (used to air on TLC) and they take you inside the factories to see them making the actual instrument.

This is just the final corner of that wall.  Notice the old TV with only VCR capabilities on the cart.  I play all DVDs through my computer using the projector, but still have a supply of VCR tapes that are still really useful.  I also have a really nice keyboard.  I love real pianos, but would take a keyboard any day for elementary music.  I love being able to hit that Transpose button and not have to think about which key to play it in.  I've also recorded some songs into it for subs before where they just have to hit play.

Here's the beginning of my Orff section.  These are just old TV shelves that I repurposed.  I saw one sitting out on the curb down from my house and quick called my husband to wheel a dolly down to come pick it up for me.  The shelves are perfect for soprano and alto xylos.

Here's the rest of my Orff instruments.  Just sitting on and under tables.  Not the easiest for little kids to reach, but we practice proper carrying techniques several times.

This is just around the corner from the chairs.  The door is just to a "worthless" storage room.  I need to get some shelves in there for it to be more worthwhile.  It's just an open "practice room" type space.

These are also the noodle horses my husband got to bend for me.  He said these weren't too bad to make.  I made the manes and ears for them.  He just used zip-ties to keep the head bent in shape.

In the background is another noodle idea I found on Pinterest. 7 noodles formed into circles, then taped together, then attached to a PVC frame.  I will have velcro signs attached to each hoop with cooresponding flash cards.  Dividing the class into two teams, the person at the beginning of each line will have the chance to identify what's on the flashcards (notes on the staff, rhythms, notes/rests, etc).  If they get it right, they will have a chance to throw a Nerf football through the same hoop for an extra point.  We'll see how it works out.

In front of the hoops are my Boomwhackers.  My husband (once again) also built these.  The one on the left is for the bass tubes.  Just a regular box, and then plyboard on top where he routed holes into the top.  Only the bass Boomwhackers are allowed in this one as the others will fall right through.

The one on the right is graduated in height from front to back to accommodate the different lengths.  I still a short one put in the long end from time to time, but they're not too hard to dig up.  Both of these are on wheels to roll around the room.

Last year I hung my hand drums and tambourines on the wall with 3M wall hangers.  They work much better than trying to fit them all back into a tote making sure they fit inside one another.  The only problem with them is that when we are drumming, the vibrations literally shake them off of the wall.

The tote on the floor contains more pool noodles my husband cut into specific lengths.  8" sections I drew whole note and whole rests.  4" sections for half notes and half rests.  2" sections for quarter note, quarter rests and paired eighth notes.  1" sections for bar lines.  This was another Pinterest idea.  Students will string them on a cord and create their own rhythm patterns or for rhythmic dictation.

The barrel on the floor below the clock holds one of two parachutes I have for my room.  I am always hitting my P.E. teacher up for stuff he doesn't use.  There are a few things he only needs once or twice a year, so he's more than willing to share.

Again, I should take a close-up shot of what's on the cart in the far right corner.  My husband also made noodle balls for me both last summer and this summer.  These have to be the project that he despises the most.  I saw these from a class I took last summer taught by an OT.  8 -12" sections of noodles that are bound together by hose clamps.  As you tighten the clamps, the noodles begin to fan outward and make it very easy for little hands to catch a ball.  My kids love them.

Yes, I know I'm spoiled.  I have tons of storage in my room.  And yes, that's also an iMac sitting on the counter.  I have that and 2 brand new iPads to play with this year.  I took a class this summer on the iLife series for Mac and learned a ton of ways I can use GarageBand in my class.  I'm very excited.

This is looking toward the entrance of my classroom.  I love the space I have.  It's a great room to do lots of movement in, which comes in very handy during winter months when kids can't go outside for recess and have energy to burn.

Once again:  Spoiled.  This is my office just next to the entrance door of my room.  Yes, those are 45s suspended from the feeling.  I have so many parents that comment on them when they stop in to visit.  

You may not be able to tell, but on the left side of the pic is another door which leads to a hallway, which connects to my band room.  As of now, I still have the two separate rooms.  I hope I don't lose them as having to deal with chairs and percussion instruments with little kids around would be tricky, so for now I am very grateful.

So, that's the trip around the room.  I am truly blessed in my district and in my school and for the wonderful husband I married.  Like I said, I'm very excited for the year to start and will update on some lessons I'm doing.

My first entry

I'm starting off my music classroom job in the middle of summer vacation.  I often don't really take a break from school during the summer.  I live 1 block away from my classroom and find myself there at least once a week to exchange books or music after I've finished one.  

I teach Pre-K through 5th grade classroom music and 5th grade band.

We are on a 6-day cycle and I get my kiddos twice every 6 days for 30 minutes.  I get them once on their own time and then their 2nd time is in the form of specials where we (Library, P.E. and Music) rotate the grade level between the 3 of us for an hour and a half.

I have two concerts a year, Christmas and Spring.

My 5th grade band meets on Days 2, 4, and 6 of the cycle for 30 minutes as well as getting one 15-minute lesson within those 6 days.

My summer projects for the upcoming school year are usually husband-based.  By that, I'd like to add that I LOVE PINTEREST!  I am obsessed with finding new ways to teach kids the same concepts.  Any chance to make learning fun is the way to go.  My husband, however, despises Pinterest.  Only because it means work for him.

My latest Pinterest endeavor is with pool noodles.  There was recently an amazing sale at Menards where they were down to .75 a piece.  Well, I use noodles for many things and I couldn't pass this up.  My husband and I went and picked up 20 of them.  He was a tad embarrassed.  When we got them home, I realized that wasn't going to be near enough.  I went back the next day and picked up 20 more. The same kid checked me out and gave me a very weird look as he knew I now was the proud owner of 40 pool noodles.

My husband has turned 10 of them into noodle horses already, and others have been turned into targets.  The next step is to cut a few to make them notes/rests to thread onto rope to become measures.

Anyway, here's the first picture of this blog to show you what my husband has to endure.