Organized Chaos

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Fermata Friday: November 13, 2015

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".

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 other link 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!

The linky will be open every Friday until 4:00am EST Saturday morning.

An InLinkz Link-up

November Small Goals

I'm a little late, but today I'm linking up with Jennifer from The Yellow Brick Road to share my small goals for October. Check out the linky, by clicking on the image below, to see all of the other bloggers who have shared their goals for the month- you may even be inspired to set some goals of your own! ;)

First a look back at my goals for October! My goals were to 1) cook some soups, 2) figure out the last song for the winter concert, and 3) experiment with my new planner stamps. I actually did pretty well with these! Not only did I cook soups but I also introduced my daughters to a soup restaurant in town with which they are now obsessed. I figured out the last song for our concert and have managed to rope in the district fine arts department chair and my building principal to play with the superintendent as well, so it should be fun. And last but not least, I have loved playing with my new planner stamps. You can see them in action in my latest planner share post here.

So on with this month's goals!

1. Purge, pack, and try not to panic

So I am buying my first home, and we are moving out of our little apartment at the end of the month. As those of you who have purchased a home before will know, the paperwork for getting a loan is insane and it seems there is always something new that the underwriter wants before closing.... (also, side note, has anyone else noticed the similarity between the words "underwriter" and "undertaker"?) So I am mentally preparing myself for the possibility that we may not close by the date we had originally planned. HOWEVER, either way, I have already told the apartment complex we are moving out, so there's no way around that one! My goal for the rest of this month is to finish the packing/purging process and try to remain calm no matter what ends up happening with the rest of this moving process.

2. Survive report card writing and parent conferences

I think I am in pretty good company when I say that the paperwork and adult meeting aspects of teaching are among my least favorite parts of being a teacher. Report cards are due at the end of this week and then we have our marathon 4 days of half school, half conferences starting a week after that. My goal is to, again, remain calm and keep my mental sanity throughout this season.

3. Finish planning my Christmas presents

As some of you will recall, I started my holiday planning in July. Yes I did. I did it precisely because of the craziness of this time of year, which you can see reflected in my previous 2 goals. So a lot of my shopping (or plans to shop) are done, but I really need to get the rest of it finished so that once December hits, I can focus on enjoying the Advent season with my girls and not worrying about getting ready for the 25th.

Well I think that's it for this month! Make sure to click on the picture at the beginning of this post to go check out all the other goal posts that are linked up. What are your goals for November? I'd love to hear them in the comments below!

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Teacher Tuesday: time fillers for elementary music

The other day we had a pre-planned fire drill. The teachers knew it was coming but the students did not. Since it was scheduled to happen 15 minutes before the end of my 4th grade class, I rushed through the last activity and made sure the instruments were all cleaned up in time for the drill. Then nothing happened. For about 7 minutes. Woops.

We all have times when we have extra time to fill in class, whether because the lesson went a lot faster than we thought, or the homeroom teacher is late, or something else unexpected happens. Today I'm sharing some of my favorite time-filler activities that I keep in my back pocket for moments like these.

The Salami (sol-la-mi) Game
I get requests for this one almost every time the class lines up and realizes that the homeroom teacher isn't there yet! I sing a 3-note pattern on solfege with Curwen hand signs, usually using only mi, sol, or la, and the students echo me. But if they hear me sing the notes sol-la-mi (which sounds like the word salami), they don't sing. It is basically like the "Poison Pattern" game, if you've ever heard of that. I've also done a variation called the "Me Dodo" (mi-do-do) Game as well, which is pretty fun too :) This is an easy game to use while waiting in line, but I have also used it to fill time in class by doing different levels of the game- get faster, take away hand signs and/or solfege syllables etc.

Move with Different Music
I know that is a very vague title for an activity, but I don't know how else to describe it. I use this whenever I have extra time while we are still in the classroom, or if it becomes clear that the students need a quick mental break or a chance to get out some wiggles. I have all of the students spread out around the room. They must stay in their spot, they cannot touch any other person or thing, and they cannot make any sound. Then I start playing random snippets of music from my iTunes. The more random and disparate the better. I try to switch between serious classical pieces, pop songs, world music, and everything in between, switching moods, tempi, and genres. I tell the students to show the changes in music with their movements. This is actually a great way to assess student comprehension of a particular musical element- I have used it as part of regular lessons to have students show the changes in tempo with their movements, or instruments, or dynamics, or... you get the idea. It's also a fun way to expose students to a variety of music.

Spell Words with Rhythms
Unless I have something else that needs to be up there, I keep a set of simple 4-beat rhythms up on my lined whiteboard, with each 1-measure pattern labeled with a letter of the alphabet (I usually have A through H). If I have some extra time, I have students first practice clapping each pattern, then we try to spell words by clapping several patterns in a row (like clap rhythm B, then A, then D, for example). The students love coming up with their own words to spell with the given letters, and it is a great way to improve sight reading skills since their eyes have to jump around the board from letter to letter.

SQUILT (Super Quiet UnInterrupted Listening Time)
This is a great one when a class is riled up and I want to calm them down before sending them back to the poor homeroom teacher. I tell students there is no agenda here- just a chance to listen to a new song, in the same way that we might have time to read a book just for the pleasure of reading. If there is time, I invite students to share any thoughts or observations after listening, but in this case I do not pose any particular questions or ask them to listen for anything before starting the piece- I simply tell them to listen and pay attention to the music.

What are your favorite time fillers for the elementary music classroom? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments below!

Monday, November 9, 2015

Mommy Monday: DIY calendar as a family scrapbook

I am so excited about my latest project: a DIY calendar as a family scrapbook! I am excited to use it with my family this year and I am seriously thinking about giving one to friends and family as well- it would make a great Christmas gift!

This is such a simple, cheap, and fun way to keep photos and note dates for things that happen throughout the year without the pressure of a full scrapbook.

I printed this blank 2016 calendar that I made and had it bound at Staples with a simple plastic coil. With printing and binding, the total cost was around $4. I printed every page 1-sided, including a title page, so that there would be a blank page before every month (where a traditional wall calendar would have pictures).

My plan is to add printed photos, notes, memorabilia, and decorations to each month as we go to both keep track of important dates (like birthdays and appointments) and remember things that happened (like a scrapbook). This way, instead of having old pictures from last year or generic nature scenes or cats snuggling balls of yarn, I can put pictures from the family vacation, birthday party, or trip to the ice cream store right into that month's calendar.

I have, of course, already decorated January so it is ready to go:

Because there was extra space at the beginning and end of the month, I was able to include a space to write down goals at the beginning and favorite memories at the end of the month. I also noted birthdays (and New Year's) with some washi tape. I left the rest blank so we can add in photos and note the things we do as we go. And the best part is, we can stick things in with washi tape, so if we get tired of looking at one picture we can just change it out (or add another)!

I've often made calendars for family members with photos from previous years on each month and had them printed to pass out to everyone at Christmas. While looking back on the past can be fun, having the freedom to make something that fits the mood and style of our family in the present sounds really appealing to me. I'm also excited to have an easy way to "scrapbook" to look back on years from now without adding a major craft project to my list of to-do's.

Because the calendar is plan and blank, I am thinking it would be a fun way to make the gift of a calendar a little more handmade by adding some washi tape, stickers, or other decorations to each month to give as gifts. Then they can add their own photos and events wherever they want.

I don't know if this is even a thing... do people do this and I am just now stumbling onto an old idea?!? Do you do something like this with your family? If you want to print out the blank 2016 calendar that I made for this or any other project, click here to download it for free, and I'd love to see how you use it! :)

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