DIY gratitude wall

I've mentioned a few times that I promised myself a beautiful, clean bedroom when I moved into our new house- doesn't it seem like our own bedrooms get the least attention when we're cleaning / organizing / decorating our houses? So I'm very happy with the latest update in my bedroom: I'm calling it my Gratitude Wall.

This is one of those projects that ended up killing two birds with one stone. I decided I wanted a place to display some of the cards and little pictures that my daughters and other friends and family have given me- I never wanted to throw them away but I didn't have a good place to put them (and I didn't want to just put them away in storage somewhere). I had also picked up some things from Michael's when I've had good coupons or seen things on sale that coordinated well with my bedspread and I knew I wanted to include them in my room decor somehow, but hadn't figured out how yet. Everything ended up coming together perfectly with some supplies I had on hand and it's my new favorite spot in the house!

I started off with some twine, clothespins, and pushpins, which I had left over from a baby shower I hosted recently (you can easily find this stuff at most dollar stores, craft stores, etc):

I basically created two clotheslines on the wall to hang cards and pictures from. One tip if you decide to try this in your own home: I tied a knot in the twine before each pushpin, and I think that will help keep the twine from unraveling or sagging. Then I picked out some of my most cherished items from over the years and figured out where I wanted to hang them:

I initially stopped there, but decided I needed more color (obviously. why would I not add more color?) and pulled out the same roll of washi tape I had used to decorate my light switch (click on the picture to read my post on that):

I also pulled out the other items I had picked up on sale to go in my room (some paper flowers and a set of paper lanterns) and just started adding stuff :)

The washi tape I just stuck straight onto the front of the clothespins:

I layered some of the paper flowers on top of each other and stuck them to the push pins with some left over foam mounting squares that came with something I bought years ago (you know when they give you mounting tape and screws so you can attach things to the wall either way? yeah that stuff). The mounting squares actually give the flowers extra dimension and they ended up being one of my favorite parts. I'm already thinking of other places I can add more flowers.... ;)

The small little tassels that I hung under some of the push pins came with the set of paper lanterns. I used more left over ribbon from the baby shower decorations to hang the lanterns from the ceiling with push pins, and voila!

I feel like the pictures don't do my happy little corner justice, but hopefully you can tell from my writing just how much I love it! I'm sure I'll continue to tweak it, but I'm glad to have this space that makes me so happy in my room.

I love this idea of having a place to hang up things that remind me of all the people I have to be grateful for. It's perfect because I can easily change out what I have hanging, add more, or take things down without any fuss. And art that also serves another purpose is my favorite way to decorate!

What do you do with the little trinkets and cards that you get from loved ones? Maybe a gratitude wall is in your future? :) If you decide to make one, I'd love to see it!

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Fermata Friday: June 24, 2016

Welcome to this week's installment of my weekly linky party, Fermata Fridays! This is a chance for music education bloggers to share blog posts with readers and bloggers alike, so we can all mingle and learn from each other. Readers, you are going to love all of the awesome blog posts that are out there- I hope you discover some new blogs to follow and get some new inspiration for your teaching! Bloggers, make sure you read the directions carefully before linking up to make sure we keep the party fun for everyone. Thanks! :)

Here are the rules for the linky party:

1. Add the linky image to your blog post, blog sidebar, linky party roundup, or other similar location on your blog and link it back to the party. Copy and paste the code for this button, or use the image above and link to the label "Fermata Fridays".

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://caldwellorganizedchaos.blogspot.com/search/label/Fermata%20Fridays"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5AShYQiAk-NC2PM5EMpGrK31c3bfaUO7qbi6cCVXVIW-ySfO3xfYbJOj0WAbRcl11hVrCCWLIiqFjqs2cV8Yu8Zw-HEdtId-jZRpwv-W6p9VwBWQZvreaxjOfVBwlw-YdvMr_BbR3M0/s1600/fermata+friday+button.jpg" /></a></div><br />

2. Add up to two blog post links to the linky. The posts can be old or new (but no posts that have already been linked up to Fermata Fridays in the past), on any topic related to music teaching, but must not be primarily featuring a product. It's fine to have a link to a relevant product within a post, but that should not be the primary focus of the post. I reserve the right to delete a link that is too product-focused. If you're not sure, just ask! :)

3. Leave a thoughtful comment on at least two other links, including the one right before yours. Add #fermatafridays to your comment so bloggers know where you found them!

4. Pin at least one post to one of your Pinterest boards.

5. Make sure you are following me on Pinterest. I will be pinning every link to the Fermata Fridays board each week.

6. Make sure you are following me on Facebook and check back next Friday- I will be featuring one of the links from the previous week's linky on my Facebook page each Friday!

An InLinkz Link-up

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things to make this summer for your classroom next year

Although it's important to take some time to relax and chill over the summer and spend time with family, summer is also a great time for teachers to check off some of those projects that you never have time for during the school year but would make your life so much better and improve your students' learning experiences too! A few weeks ago I shared some summer tips for making next school year easier, and one of the things I mentioned was putting together materials to use in your classroom. Today I wanted to share some of the things I either put together in past summers or will be putting together this summer to use in my classroom. Each of these projects takes a bit of time but has made a big difference in my teaching (or will next year, I'm sure!).

Rhythm / Pitch Manipulatives

There are so many great ways to make composition more engaging and help students understand pitch and rhythm concepts using simple manipulatives. It's amazing how much more young students are able to understand when they can physically manipulate something instead of trying to write it on a piece of paper! Here are some great ones I used for the first time this past year. I am making more this summer because they worked so well!

Rhythm Monsters- these are basically magnets with googley eyes on them, but they are so much more than that in the music room! I used the colors to show different solfege pitches and the number of eyes to show the number of sounds in a beat. I even had special monsters for quarter rests and half notes! Click on the picture below to see a more detailed explanation of what I did, how I used them, and get directions and supplies for how to make some for yourself.

Solfege Stickers- these are even simpler than the rhythm monsters but worked great with my upper elementary students. I just colored some Avery labels different colors to match the colors of the boomwhackers in my classroom and had students use them to turn a rhythmic composition into a melodic one! Check out the post for more details:

Games to Use in Centers

I use centers as a reward for my students, so I try to make the center activities as fun as possible. One of my students' favorites is Kaboom, which is played by pulling sticks out of a jar. I know, sounds exciting, right? I can't believe how much my students love this game. The best part is you can use it to practice almost any concept imaginable! Details about how to play the game and how I use it are in this post:

Another type of game I put together last summer that my students enjoyed was the card games I got from Musical Interactions. I got this Rhythm Go Fish game, along with a few others, and the students have gotten a kick out of them. All I had to do was print on card stock, cut, and laminate. This year I picked up Rhythm Dominoes from her store to put together too- I think it will be a great change of pace and another great way to practice concepts while still having fun! These are another simple print/cut/laminate project.

There are lots of other board / card games you can put together pretty easily by adapting a pre-made game to make a musical game to use in class. Shelley Tomich from Pitch Publications has several games where you simply adapt a pre-made game, like this take on "Don't Spill the Beans". Sally Utley has some music games using the letter tiles like the ones from Bananagrams. Or you could make a musical Twister game like the one Jennifer shared on her blog, In My Music Class (this one is also on my list to make this summer!):

Other Center Materials

Of course there are plenty of other centers that aren't games per se but still require some making. For me the queen of centers is Tracy King. She has so many creative ideas for centers, it's insane! One I am thinking about making this summer is her Dip Tray Workstation- so simple, but such a great way to practice basic concepts!

Visuals for Behavior Management

For whole class management systems, you usually need some type of visual to help both you and the students see how they are doing and motivate everyone to do better. I love the board I made two summers ago (and have adapted a few times since). I've rounded up a lot of my behavior management ideas in this post, which you may want to read if you're looking for a new behavior management strategy (or just want to tweak your existing one). You can read about how I made my board (it's pretty easy and cheap, trust me!) and how I use in these two posts:

Other Classroom Tools

One of the biggest projects I've ever taken on for my classroom was my DIY SmartBoard. If you don't have an interactive whiteboard system but would like to have one (and you really should, it can help students so much and make your life easier too!), this is a great option. Not counting the projector, the system costs under $50. Get all the directions for how I set mine up here:

My last project idea is just for you, teachers! I love my little teacher toolbox that I put together. It saves me so much time when I'm looking for those pesky little things that always get lost when they're just stuck in a desk drawer, and I can even send students to fetch things themselves because everything is labeled and in its own drawer. This is a super easy project and will save you tons of drawer space. I seriously downsized my teacher desk last summer and this was one of the reasons I was able to do it comfortably. See how I made it here:

Whew, that's a lot of summer projects! I hope you found some inspiration to get your crafting on this summer and get ready to have an even more fabulous year next year :) Which project is your favorite? What other things are you making for your class this summer? Leave a comment!

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flavored water recipes

You know it's gonna be a good time when I get to team up with Jennifer at The Yellow Brick Road, and today is one of those days! We're sharing our favorite cold drinks for this summer. Jennifer has an awesome recipe that reminds me of my childhood in Japan- head on over to check it out!

We have had a string of hot days recently so I am fully immersed in cold drink season and I couldn't be happier! Last year I shared my top four favorite summer drinks to make at home, including iced coffee, flavored lemonade, and two kinds of tea. I've been more than happy to break those out again but this year my girls and I have also been enjoying making flavored water. It's fun to come up with new combinations, it looks so pretty in the pitcher, and even my 4-year-old daughters can help me make it! I thought today I would share some of our favorite flavor combinations (and some that we are planning to try soon).

The basic idea of flavored water is pretty simple: take a pitcher of water, throw in some fruit, herbs, etc, and let it sit in the fridge for a while. The longer it sits, the stronger the flavor will be, obviously, but if it gets too strong just take out the add-in's and mix it with a little more pain water. It's a great way to use up fruit that's about to go bad, plus it's a yummy way to get more water each day (which is even more important in the summer months). 

Here are some of our favorite flavor combinations:

strawberry kiwi

lemon mint

orange lemon

strawberry mint
raspberry orange

watermelon rosemary

strawberry basil

blackberry ginger

lemon lime honey

The girls and I have decided that strawberries are our favorite way to add sweetness to water, and it seems to go well with almost any other citrus / herb we add. Mint is another favorite- so refreshing! There are, of course, endless combinations here- what are some favorites you have tried? Let me know in the comments! And make sure to check out Jennifer's recipe for matcha green tea latte- you won't regret it!

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