July 2017Sweet Sounds : July 2017

When I first started teaching, I thought my room had to be perfect! I wanted bright, flashy displays of every instrument, every composer, every genre. I felt like I had to cover every inch of wall space with concepts and inspirational posters.

Now that I've been teaching for over a decade, I've learned the value of white/blank space, peaceful decor and bringing beauty into the classroom.

My friends with special needs also appreciate that my walls aren't vibrating with color and stimulation. I try to keep it simple & organized so that all kids will be able to take a breath and enjoy music class.

I also decorate for myself - hey - I have to look at it all day every day, so I want it to be something nice to look at.

My inspiration for my classroom this year comes from the home reno shows that I've been watching in the background all summer! #musthaveshiplap

I am in love with the rustic, farmhouse look and I wanted to see what I could do in the classroom to evoke that kind of softer, peaceful atmosphere. I found some fantastic ideas on Pinterest so I started a Pinterest board to bring all my ideas together.

How cute is this?

Love how they mixed the different types of baskets -

so much nicer to look at than my previous mismatched plastic tubs!

What about spelling out Music or Sing?

I have the perfect ribbon for this! I love the look of this for my tone ladder - with a bow on top!

Even a small accent can add to the room!

After checking out the local arts and crafts stores, plus one or two home stores, I began to design my class decor set around shiplap (the wooden board background), magnolia leaves and cotton bolls. I was easily able to find lots of useful classroom items that complemented this style.

My dynamics posters go up in a spectrum - loudest to softest. I used a 2 inch ribbon to connect them and show the flow from each dynamic level. The hand held set will go in the board basket with magnets so that we can choose which dynamic to sing/play when working at the board.

My tempo cards will also go in a line to show the spectrum of beat! I love having a hand held set to use with magnets with Kindergarten and 1st grade beat charts. Just one more thing for them to "choose" for when we sing a song!

These bucket labels will go on the outside of each bucket or basket to help when students put away instruments. The Orff instruments will get a label attached to each instrument and the drums and rain stick will have a label on each shelf.

I'm a little different than some people when it comes to solfege - I don't want them to see what's coming ahead in the next concept. In my Kodaly training levels, we discussed that they need to experience the sound before they label the symbol. So I have a set of these on velcro that only come out when we are working with a new solfege syllable - and only the ones they know!

I'm in love with these binder covers! swoon! I love having a teacher planner to keep me organized and a few additional binders for all the extra stuff. I don't need to carry home every IEP, 504 or BIP every day; however, I need to know where they are to be able to access them when needed. I have a separate binder for those forms, a binder for choir music and permission slips, one for each musical and a binder for parent communication logs & administrative paperwork like PO's and grades.

Inside my main binder are my grade level checklists, a copy of my yearly plan, lessons for the week and upcoming week (if needed), music and whatever else I'll need for the week. I have gotten into the habit of carrying around a stapled packet with my lesson plan checklists during each class. After the week is over, I can prep the next week's lessons easily by looking at what we accomplished, and file the packet in the binder for reference.

Grab this Shiplap Music Room Decor Set for 10% the bundled discount during the #MusicTeacher101 event!

Thursday, July 13, 2017

How to Organize your way to a Peaceful Music Room