I am (luckily?) one of the few that is planning to be in an actual music classroom, instead of pushing in on a cart. While there are many benefits to being in my own space, I will definitely be making some changes to accommodate the physical distancing and cleaning procedures that will likely be in place in the fall.
Here are some of the ideas I'm brainstorming to help create a calm, welcoming, but more physically distanced classroom.
1. Remove the Extras for Space:
- Removing furniture to create more extra space - anyone else a collector of bookshelves? I'm planning to move or remove all of my shelves except what is absolutely necessary to create the maximum amount of square footage for students to spread out.
- Removing chairs / spreading out sit spots - I love having chairs as a "home base," but I'm probably going to remove them for this year so that I can spread out my sit spots as far as possible.
2. Remove/Store Materials to Facilitate Cleaning:
- Removing stuffed animals, puppets, and curtains (anything cloth)
- Putting small equipment and instruments into containers and buckets - typically my drum area gets very dusty and isn't cleaned very often. I'm hoping to get tubs or other closed storage for these to help with cleaning.
- Removing personal belongings/decorations - this is an easy way I can help my custodians save time. This doesn't mean my space has to be devoid of decoration, but I am going to think outside the box and maybe create laminated pictures and easily cleaned items (that I can clean myself!).
3. No Shared Materials
- Students bring their own pencils/white boards
- Creating enough mallets for several classes to use (and then clean)
- Individual sets of rhythm cards - I'm working on creating smaller versions of my rhythm sets so that I can print off a page for each student (we might bring our own scissors to music that day, I'm not sure yet!).
Other changes:
- Open Door or Windows: I'm extremely lucky to work in two classrooms that have either windows that open or an exterior door. I'm planning to have those open as much as possible throughout the year.
- Class Outside: At both of my schools, there is a small area just outside my classroom that could be used for outdoor class. I'm brainstorming ideas for the logistics, but I plan to take us outside as often as possible.
- Assigned Seats: While I have assigned seats for my chair area, I have traditionally let students choose a seat on a sit spot. I think the one of the first things we will do next year will be to assign seats for everyone.
This is definitely just a place to begin - I have some guidelines from my district, so I will start with those things, but I'm trying to think outside the box about what can be done to create more space.
This is in NO WAY a replacement for your county/state/district recommendations or requirements. I'm going based off of my state and local recommendations and how I think I can do that in my specific classrooms.
This is not the ideal situation (or anywhere close), but it's my attempt to see what I can do to make it more manageable for my classes. What ideas do you have? Join the conversation on Facebook!
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