Summer.
Is.
Over.
I know I shouldn't really complain, since basically all other jobs don't even have a summer break to begin with. But I still can't help feeling that summer went by way to quickly.
Something I am excited for this year though is music in my classroom. I wanted to try music for transitions and other things last year but didn't really find a way that seemed easy and doable enough at first, and then once the year started there never seems to be any time for something extra. So I decided to get all prepared for music this year before school started again.
My plan is nothing fancy and obviously still all theoretical since school hasn't started yet. I'm hoping if I have my plan for what I want to do, then once school starts I can slowly implement it from day 1. First off I want songs for transitions. Last year my class transitions were extremely better than the previous year, and most of them were pretty good, but a couple still seemed too hectic. Songs seem like fun and easy way (once the procedures are learned hopefully) to improve transition time (lining up, cleaning up, etc). I am excited about this because 1) I think music is fun! I feel like it will liven up the class and create an upbeat atmosphere. 2) Songs are a specific length - and most of them I'm going to shorten to be exactly what length I want. So transitions will now have a set time to be completed by, instead of just however-sort-of-long the kids decide to take that go round. 3) Ideally the system will become routine and I won't have to even say anything; the class will just know what to do with each particular song. 4) Fun music makes me happy! I hope it will help me lighten up some and just enjoy myself throughout the day more at school. Also a happier teacher usually creates a happier classroom - so me being happy during the day is a plus for the kiddos as well.
In addition to the transitions with songs, I plan on using music in the background during the day while my class is working. I've heard from other teachers that this can help keep the general noise level down slightly during work time and also help students know different times of being focused.
With the exception of wanting a couple more songs, I feel pretty ready to go with music starting at the beginning of the year. I plan on using my iPhone with the playlist I've created for my classroom as well as the app Songza that a good friend introduced me to. I've starred several stations in Songza that I've tested and seem awesome for school. With some cheapish bluetooth portable speakers that Cody helped me find, the whole class will be able to hear the music pretty well. If I have time at some point when I have all transitions planned, I hope to burn a CD of the songs for whenever there is a substitute. Hopefully that should be easy enough if all the songs are on a CD and labeled for each transition.
Here's what I've got so far, but again, I still need a few more, and there's one that I'm not loving right now.
Walking on Sunshine - morning routine, unpacking, starting the day.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Time - line up for lunch
The Final Countdown - end of the day, clean up, pack up
Mission Impossible Theme - considering this one for lining up for everything except lunch
Not a transition - but I also have the theme from Jeopardy that I plan on using for different quick-think times
Anyways... still working on final decisions with some of these and looking maybe for a couple more.
Here are some pics from my classroom this week. I worked on it every day but Thursday and somehow still feel like there's a dozens things to do!
 |
| This was the first picture I took of my room this year after already moving around a lot of the furniture. |
 |
| All big furniture moved and bulletin boards (mostly) up. |
 |
| This was how I left it before our teacher work week starts on Monday. |
 |
| My side bulletin boards are a Mystery Wall and my math board. My Mystery Wall is new this year and so far includes a Boggle board and a Thinking Backwards board where I will put up an answer and students can write on sticky notes what they think the question could be. |
 |
| The front of the room seems pretty busy to me in this picture, but it didn't feel that way in the room.
Our Meet the Teacher night is next Thursday, so everything will have to be ready to go by then!
|
No comments:
Post a Comment