What is working this year

Today was the second day of school. We have to go through mounds of paper and procedures the entire first week of school which is never fun - especially when it is happening in all the kids' classes all day. All of the things we are having to go over are very important though and not to be ignored or blown over. 

One thing that is working so far is the music literacy powerpoint with listening example. I am training the kids (in all the classes) to come in silently (so they can listen to the day's listening example), sit down in their assigned seats, and complete the following from the powerpoint: their listening journal, their vocabulary word onto their created music dictionary page, and the day's rhythm with the counting written underneath onto their created rhythm page. It sets the mood for the class and teaches them critical listening, music history, reading and writing skills, music vocabulary, and rhythms. Once they are finished, they file all the different pages in their band binder - music journal pages behind the music journal tab, the music vocabulary behind the dictionary tab, and the rhythms behind the rhythm/theory tab. My music literacy powerpoints cover almost all of the AVID WICOR components - writing, inquiry, organization, and reading. And when we cover collaboration every day in band too. :)

Another thing that is working this year is how we raise our hands. Thanks to Lynne Jackson's tutelage this summer at the Young Educators Seminar at SMU, I learned the importance of teaching the kids how to raise their hands. Yesterday I taught the kids how to raise their hands properly (arm straight up in the air with elbow straight - no bend at the elbow). We practiced it yesterday and I reviewed/reinforced it today. You might think that something as simple as raising your hand shouldn't be something you have to teach the kids, but I've found out first hand how important this is. I told the kids how important raising your hand so that I can see it is in the sight-reading room (as just one example).

Lynne Jackson also taught me how important it is to get the kids to "use their voice" early on. I've been doing my best to make sure every student in my beginning classes speak out loud every day - from reading something I've written out loud to answering questions. If a student has not volunteered to speak, I ask for them to share. This has been great too. It is a little more difficult to do with the Symphonic and Honors Band classes as they are much larger, but I do try to greet each kid and say hi and talk with them individually after class. 

Another thing that is working this year is how we are creating our classroom/family atmosphere. We've created a social contract in each class. I asked each class to think of the things they need in order to have a successful learning environment. I then had them popcorn out their ideas which I wrote down on a large post-it presentation pad. I didn't really have to guide the kids very much. Once the kids started popcorning out, it started to flow in each class. These became our classroom social contracts. I hung each up around the band hall. The kids all came up with things listed in our handbook (before we even went over our handbook). They already know how to behave in order to have a successful learning environment. The one class that has not made their social contract yet is the Symphonic Band. For the first time in a while my school has a full-size symphonic band. We only had 10 people in Symphonic Band last year. Symphonic Band somehow got scheduled last period this year too. I'm going to turn this in to a positive though. At any rate, the Symphonic Band will need more guidance when completing the Social Contract. I want to go through the band handbook with them before doing our classroom contract. A few of the Symphonic Band kids are testing their limits with me already. I need to start pouring on the positive reinforcement with these kids. If they want some attention, I'm going to do my best to make sure it is positive attention. 

I am really excited about my kids this year. I am looking forward to getting out our instruments. I will make sure to record the first sounds in each class. I also want to share more documents with you all. I will do my best this weekend to post some lesson plans for you to steal. :)

I hope everyone else's first couple of days have been as great as mine.