“I Sing!”

I have a little boy in my grade 2 class who gave me a major heart-melting-teacher moment last week. He’s the same age as the other grade 2 students, but he functions at about the same age as a 2 year old in some respects, and younger in others. I’m not sure of his diagnosis. He only began walking in the last year, and has slowly increased his vocabulary to approx. 30 words this year.

This particular class had been working on a piece called, “When Santa got Stuck in the Chimney” for the Christmas concert last week. At the end of both verses, there’s “Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!” This little boy couldn’t sing the words to the song, but he COULD do the “Achoo!” – and with gusto! He was so proud of it. Anytime he would see me at school, he would bellow out, “ACHOO!!!” and point to me. It was adorable!

On the day of the concert, his EA’s were wondering if it was really smart to include him in the concert, as he can be quite moody. He was having a good day, and I really wanted him involved. He was SO excited during the dress rehearsal, jumping up and down, smiling, and laughing. As the class was leaving the stage after their dress rehearsal, he started achoo-ing at me, and murmuring and mumbling. His EA and I were standing with him as well as another teacher, and we heard him say as clear as day “I Sing! I Sing!” – Something he’s never done before. I was so excited and happy that my eyes even welled up a little bit.

That night at the concert, he got all of the “achoo’s” exactly in the right spots

almost there

I know I’ve been ignoring my blog lately. As a musician, Christmas is probably the busiest time of year for performances. I’ve already played in 5 different concerts in the last 8 days, and I still have 4 more this week, and 3 more the week after that. Yikes!

The only one I’m truly anxious about is my first school Christmas concert which is happening the day after tomorrow. I think the kids are almost ready, and I have an amazing committee of teachers and administration at school who are going above and beyond to help decorate and get all of the logistics worked out. I’m still nervous, though. It’s a big deal! And to top things off, we had a storm day today so I’ve lost a valuable rehearsal day. I’m trying not to panic.

Oreo Cookie ABA

Today I was reviewing ABA form with my grade 2 students. We were singing our new “Welcome” song (”Everybody Sing Hello” from “Its Your Turn Again” by Cheryl Lavender”) that includes a singing together portion, an echo portion, and then the singing together portion again.

They remembered learning ABA last year with their previous teacher, but they couldn’t remember what it meant.

I wrote out a quick diagram on the board that looked something like this:

A : Everybody sing

B:  Hello (hello)

A: Everybody sing

I left out the ABA part first, and we just talked about the sections of the song. Then we labeled the first section “A” and the second section, because it was different, became, “B.” (They are quite pleased with themselves whey they decide to use “B”  for the second section, they look like they’ve just solved a mystery!) Then, we decided that since the last section was the same as the first, it could be “A” also.

I told them that ABA form reminds me of an Oreo Cookie: The beginning is a chocolate cookie, and the end is a chocolate cookie, and the middle is cream. We talked about other things that could look like “ABA” – i.e. an ice cream sandwich, a peanut butter sandwich, a hamburger, etc. Next day, we’ll be singing some more songs that will be ABA form and some that won’t be, and they will have to discern which are in ABA (or “Oreo Cookie”) form.

non-melodies for a non-reader

I  run my own private music studio a few evenings a week in my home. I have one saxophone student who was referred to me because she was having trouble reading music. She was learning all of her band parts by watching the fingers of the player sitting next to her, or just by trial and error and playing by ear. After numerous attempted remedies by the band teacher, he suggested that she get private tutoring.

I decided right after meeting her and watching him play for the first time that this was going to be a challenge. All of her music is easily recognizable and easily learned by ear. The method book wasn’t much good because it, too, was full of familiar tunes.

So. I went there. I wrote out melodies that were completely un-melodic. I know it’s so non-musical and so non-meaningful, but it’s working. We started out by only using the notes in the spaces on the treble clef staff. That Major 7th chord just doesn’t sound right to her, so as she is playing the exercises, she cannot do it by ear. She is forced to concentrate and READ. We’ve also done the same thing with the lines on the treble clef staff.

She’s getting quicker at reading the notes, and we’ve not gone to reading a mixture of line notes and space notes. She doesn’t need to write in the names of the notes anymore (a habit I quickly ended for her). She is still a bit slow at reading the notes, but she is definitely progressing. I’m moving her back into the method book now for some sight reading. I’ve also got her working on the note trainer at www.musictheory.net

Any other suggestions?

things I’ve learned

I’ve been a “real teacher” (edit: paid teacher) now for just about 2 1/2 months.  It’s time to do some reflecting! Here is a list (though nowhere near exhaustive) of some of the things I have learned so far:

1. Lesson plans are not set in stone!

This is not a new concept to me, I learned it over and over as a student teacher in different schools, but it’s something that I always need to be reminded of.

I love to plan. I like to have things in order. When that order gets messed up, I don’t like it. I have to let that go a little bit because I know that no matter how much thought I put into planning something, it sometimes just doesn’t go exactly the way I had planned. I have to change and adapt with each class, the student’s moods for the day, MY mood of the day, if there’s a substitute, the weather, etc.

The good thing, though, is that I have multiple classes in each grade, so I get a chance to teach each of my lessons more than once. By the end of the day, I’m pretty much a pro at the lessons because I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t as each class goes through.

2. Flexibility in schedule

My school is great for making sure that students don’t miss their specials when something else comes up (i.e. a guest speaker, a field trip, etc). Sometimes these things are unavoidable and cannot be rescheduled, so I actually end up with a prep period for the day (wow!) – but that is rare. I’ve learned to be flexible in moving my schedule around and allowing classes to trade music periods so that all students get their music class. It really doesn’t bother me that much, I would much rather change my schedule to fit them and still teach them, then miss a class.

3. What? I have homework for music class?

On the very rare occasion, I’ve given some small assignments in my upper elementary music classes – for example – we’re working on music portfolios in grade six. I asked my students to write a paragraph or two about what music they liked and why they liked it. I also gave them the opportunity to be more creative then that. Some students did amazing work! One student made me a video, others made collages, some made posters, CD’s, and some wrote wonderful short essays. The key word here is “SOME.” More than half of my students didn’t hand their assignment in on time, and had to be reminded over and over, notes home, etc. Some didn’t even do it at all. It was like they couldn’t get it through their heads that this was actual homework.

In grade 4, I had my students working on a note-naming worksheet. We spent a class and a half working on them, most finished their work. Those that didn’t finish were told to finish it at home. I got one back.

It’s going to take awhile to get this going. They would never pull this in their homerooms (at least, not to this magnitude!). I’m not planning on giving a whole lot of homework, but I think I’m entitled to it. I take my class, the things I teach, and their work -  seriously!

4. Choose your battles

I have a couple of students in the school who continuously give me trouble in class. I’ve learned that – for my own sanity, and for the sake of the lesson – I don’t need to react to every little misbehaviour. I don’t want to make their lives miserable, and I do only have 30 minutes in which to teach the class. So. That’s it. I need to choose my battles.

5. Ask and you shall recieve

My school is very small (<200 students), and we don’t have very much money. My music room is fairly well-resourced, but there are a few things that leave much to be desired.  I love to use Orff instruments in my teaching – I find them so much easier to manipulate, the sound is excellent, and for so many more reasons. At the beginning of the year, I only had an alto metallophone, and alto xylophone, a soprano xylophone, and 17 cheap (CHEAP!) glockenspiels. They’re the ones in the blue plastic cases with yellow plastic mallets. They do offer a complete chromatic set of bars but the sound is AWFUL, and the bars are so tiny. They are far too difficult to use for younger students.

I asked my principal about money for purchasing new instruments. She said it just wasn’t there this year, but for me to give her a list of what I would like. I did so, and she authorized me to purchase a new soprano metallophone. The bass metallophone and xylophone will have to wait, but I know it will come!

I also got permission to have a donation jar at our Christmas concert this year – I don’t think this has ever been done. We really need a new electronic piano (preferably a clavinova). I know if I keep asking, things will come.

6. Personal PD

Like I mentioned before, my school is very small and has less than 200 students. We run on a 6-day cycle, and music occurs 3 times in a 6-day cycle. I can teach the entire school – all classes – in a single day. Therefore, my position is only 50 percent of a full-time teaching position. I teach every second day for the full day. The previous music teacher taught music in the afternoons and taught grade 5 in the mornings (then another teacher took the grade 5 class in the afternoon). Enrolment was down this year, and there was no need for that extra half a position, so that’s where I am. It’s possible that they will give me more subjects in the coming years, which would be great!

Anyhow – I decided that on days that I am not teaching, I will make sure that I do something educational for myself. I subsitute teach quite a bit on those days, but on  days when I am not needed, I read other teacher blogs or books about teaching, discipline, etc. It’s been awesome! I would continue to do this even if I were teaching full-time, but as I am not, I have a lot of time to do this! It’s refreshing, interesting, and I have used lots of lessons, techniques, and ideas that I have learned.

7. Colour Coding is in

I’m an organizer – I love lists, folders, labels, everything like that. Because I teach 6 different grades and multiple classes of each grade, I desperately need to keep myself that way. Colour-coding has been the key for me. Our school uses the “Share the Music” program as the main text for music education. I use the colours of those texts to colour code everything I do in my music classes. I have coloured baskets for worksheets and assignments, my resource binders for each grade that I make are colour-coded, I even have coloured pens (buy these!) that I use to write my lessons in my plan book, to grade papers with, etc. I have post-it notes and flags that match too. I know it seems excessive, but it works for me!

8. Hand Sanitizer!!

The nearest bathroom is quite a hike from my music room, and after being on the floor, handing mallets/instruments, holding hand, etc. with the children, I desperately need to wash my hands!! I keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in my desk to blast those germs!

9. Coffee, coffee, coffee!

Just like the bathroom is a long ways away, so is the staff room. And who has time to go to the staff room anyway? I’m a bit of a caffeine addict, so I keep a coffee maker in my music room in “my” area. That way I can have hot coffee quickly, and I can also make tea when my voice isn’t doing so well. It’s saved me more than once already!

10. Hydration!

I have a 1L Nalgene water bottle (BPA-free!) that I take to school every day. I need to drink a lot of water because I’m singing all the time (plus I just like to drink water!). I can refill at the handy water fountain outside my music room as needed. I can also use it to fill my coffee maker if needed

11. Lysol!!

I keep a can of Lysol disinfectant spray and a jar of Lysol disinfectant wipes in my room. At the end of the day I try to remember to always wipe down my mallets and instruments, anything the kids and I touch or handle. I don’t want to get sick. End of story!

12. Post-it Notes

The number one life-saving thing I’ve learned about for the music room is the wonderful, beautiful invention known as the post-it note. I buy the “Super-sticky,” recycled versions. I use them all the time for to-do lists, quick notes, etc – but the best use for them that I have found is for assessment. I watch the students playing or singing or whatever I need to assess that day, and I just jot down a little note on my post-it. It’s simple quick, and much less threatening than to the students then writing in a big mark-book or binder!

I’m sure this list will change and grow (exponentially, I’m sure!) over the next little while, and over the years

Halloween Art Project

I taught my grade 2 classes the song, “The Thing that Isn’t There” from the grade 2 “Share the Music” text. It’s a fun, spooky song to sing and the kids just loved it! It also provokes discussion around the scary things that we can create in our imaginations – i.e. a monster under the bed, something hiding in the closet, behind the shower curtain, etc. Our minds – especially young minds – are extremely creative and we can scare ourselves silly with things that aren’t even there at all.

I thought of a fun art project that really goes along with the concept of thingsthat “aren’t there.” I gave each of the students a sheet of white paper (I wrote their names on them in pen first) and a white crayon. I had the students draw a picture of “the thing that isn’t there” from their imagination. You can only see their creation if you look really, really closely. At first glance, it looks like nothing is there.

On another day, I brought in water colour paints and set up paint stations around my music room. I handed back their seemingly “blank” creations, and we painted over top of the crayon. The water colour paint resists the wax, and pulls away from it. In other words, the colour sticks to the paper where the crayon is not, leaving a clear picture of what they drew. It’s like magic! The students thought it was the coolest thing they’d ever seen. And now they will never forget the song they learned!

success!

Today was a huge accomplishment for me! As music teacher, it falls under my jurisdiction to plan and execute the Remembrance Day Assembly for the school. That includes planning all of the music, readings, etc. Booking, the color party, booking a trumpet player for the Last Post, decorating, setting up, etc. It was a big job! We take this assembly very seriously – it’s a big deal! I had a lot of help from the staff – they were so wonderful.

Both of my choirs performed, and my grade 4 clas sang a song and accompanied themselves on Orff instruments. All of the kids were just so amazingly well-behaved and respectful!

I’m so glad it’s over, but I’m also so glad it went well! Yay! Milestone day!

my new baby…

It’s long overdue, but I’ve finally purchased a new guitar! I’ve played for years (not well, but I can hold my own!) – and I’ve begun taking guitar classes. I decided that it was time to retire my 8-year old Yamaha f-310 and upgrade. I now present to you my brand new Yamaha CPX700:

Field Trips and Halloween

Today was my first time being in charge of a field trip! I took my elementary choir (grade 4,5, and 6) to record a track on the Children’s Wish Foundation Christmas CD. It’s pretty exciting for them – all of the schools in this area will each record a track and then the CD will be sold. The funds raised from the CD sales will go towards granting the wish of a terminally or seriously ill child. Local radio stations will also play the CD during the month of December. It was exciting for me!

On another note – has anyone ever done anything really fun and music-related for Halloween? I’ve been asked to do a station in our school’s Halloween activity day later in the month. I’m super excited about it – I’m thinking about something will scary sound effects…composing “halloween”-y music…I’m not really sure. Any suggestions?

“easy as 1-2-3″

I’ve been having so much trouble with my grade 1, 2, and 3 students when they line up at the door to leave, so today I decided that it was time to review the procedure. While I was at it, I introduced a new technique to get their attention.

After they had entered the classroom and we sang their daily welcome song, I had them (in small groups) line up at the door. I made sure to remind them to keep both feet on the red tiles (my floor is mostly white tile, but it has a red-tiled border that leads right to the door – which is so great!), and face the back of the person in front of them. Eventually I had them all lined up and ready to go. Then, I asked them for three things:

#1. All eyes looking at me

#2. No talking

#3. Arms at your sides

Then, we walked out the door and lined up at my other door to enter again. We then entered the room, sat down, lined up, exited, and entered again – just for practice.

Eventually, I will only have to ask for the numbers, i.e. “give me number one….give me number 2…” when I want the particular response.

I definitely think that reviewing our entrance/exit procedures was a good idea. I forget that they can forget. Physically going through the motions was good for them – and I think it would definitely help them remember more than if I just verbally reminded them. If we have to do this once a month, so be it!

I think the 1-2-3 thing will work too, not only for lining up, but in the classroom, walking in the halls, concerts, you name it!

Today was a great day for my little ones – every single one of the grade 1, 2, and 3 classes were just a joy to teach! I love these days!