Muir School Programs

Wendy had 2 different grade level programs in one week, and they were both fabulous. She really goes all out, down to the decor as you arrive. 

4th Grade Utah Program

The program featured different classes on different songs.

The classes sat together on the risers, and when a specific class was featured they transitioned back onto the stage. It flowed really nicely. I've seen several of you do this at your school programs.

Indian Song

Cotton Eye Joe with parents
After the program, the parents learned Cotton Eye Joe with their students. It's a tradition there that can't be forgotten.

Veterans Program

The Veteran's program featured slides accompanying much of the music. The Veterans displayed behind the students are all related to the students.

Great job, Wendy!

Homemade Ribbon Sticks

I recently visited West Point Elementary and saw Melody Brogdon working her magic with the kindergartners.  I love when I hear about teachers using things they learned in trainings and today was no exception.


At the Kindergarten training in March, Mizan gave out a CD full of great music (or MUZIK as Mizan would say) to all the teachers.  It was a fun compilation of songs from the USOE, Making Music and fun things she had found.  One of those pieces is called Moving to Music. This was a great piece of music that told the kids how to move their bodies to the music. 


Melody's Kindergartners loved exploring movement.  Melody was very clear about her expectations and reminded them frequently to use their own space.  When she saw something or someone not following the expectations she would stop the music and ask the class to tell her why she had to stop the music.  Soon enough she started again and the fun continued.


Melody went to the dollar store and bought some plastic table cloths, cut them up in strips and taped them to some dowels to make her own ribbon wands.  Once the kids had explored the movement with their bodies they got to explore movement with their ribbons.  I couldn't believe the change in their energy when they were given such a simple prop.  Suddenly they became less self-conscious about their movements and what they created was magic!  The best part was seeing the expressions of concentrations on their face as they created movement to match the music.  Here are some fun photos of the kindergartners at West Point.

 

I certainly am not a very good photographer (I need to take a class or something), but I think I captured some good moments in the class with Melody.  The ribbons were so much fun!  And guess what?  Those scarves you got at training can be used in the same way!  I hope you have fun with this too!

World Cafe Conversation

What a successful year we have had together!  Every single one of the trainings this year has been exciting, full of information, and useable!  I'd like to share a few stats with you regarding trainings this year. 

• During the 2014-2015 school year the average number of teachers in attendance at the monthly district trainings was 17.  That's barely a third of the music specialists employed by the school district. 
• In 2015-2016 the average number of teachers in attendance at the monthly trainings increased to 28.  That's more that half of all the district music specialists. 
• When the 2015 school year began 40% of our music specialists were new.  Though we won't know how many new teachers we have until school starts in August,  right now it looks as if our teacher turnover rate has decreased to 23 percent. 
• What I assume that means, is that the trainings provided for you this year have been valuable and inspiring.  They have inspired you in your classroom and left you wanting more.  I also hope that these statistics mean you are feeling more confident in your teaching and enjoying your job more. 

I am looking forward to the new school year and all the fun it will bring.  As a classroom teacher you get new students every year.  Teachers work hard all year to build trust and relationships with those children and their parents and then start over again the next year.  But what I loved about being a music specialist was that I got to see the same kids and continue to strengthen my relationship with them, thereby reaching students through music in a deeper, more challenging way. 


May 12, 2016 was our final training for the year.  We had a great time discovering form and movement with Valerie and then got to have a round table (OK...rectangular) discussion and good things happening in our classrooms and challenges we still face. 

I love how you all answered these questions!  Every one has different strengths and weaknesses and we all interpret materials in different ways.  Some of us are visual learners, some tactile, some aural learners and some kinesthetic.  As I have worked with teachers in students this year I have forced myself to become more familiar with the resources provided each school by the district: USOE Songbook, Dance Activities, DMC and Making Music.  Pinterest, Teachers-pay-Teachers, You Tube and other sources like that have fantastic ideas!  Why reinvent the wheel when you can use a great idea provided you by someone else.  In my opinion, for music specialist who are not paid very much, teach all the kids in the school, and have very little prep-time the USOE Songbook is the most easily useable resource available to you.  It has great music in it, minus tracks are available on Utah.schools.gov website and each standard (Singing, Listening, Playing and Composing) are outlined with a simple lesson or game.  If you haven't fallen in love with this book yet, I challenge you to spend some time looking through it and becoming more familiar with it. 

Look at that!  Teachers expressing their confidence and sharing that with their peers.  When I was teaching recorder for the first time I would have loved to know who to go for help or when I pulled out that classroom set of Ukes ... I would have loved to know what chords to start with first.  It was all trial and error for me, but now I know that Gayle Bleak, Renee Tanner and Marci Low are amazing at Ukulele.  I know Janet Rawson, Jeanette Eggett and Kimberly Graff have amazing recorder programs.  I also know that if I wanted to teach a folk dance but couldn't interpret the actions from the description, I could call Laurie Allen.  It's important for us to know who to go to with questions.  Valerie and I are always happy to help with questions, but we aren't out there in the trenches with you.  I love the network of teachers we have created this year and hope that it continues to grow.

Can you see the starred items?  I didn't really notice them until I read over it a couple of times and then a light bulb went off in my head.  Most of you know that I have been working on some research and this research is centered around student behavioral engagement (classroom management) and teacher enjoyment (confidence in pedagogy).  In short, student behavioral engagement is improved when teachers implement routine, create a relationship of trust, and provide rigorous (challenging) and relevant (appropriate to age and what students are learning) lessons and activities.  .   

 In Ten Steps to Better Student Engagement, an article written by Tristan de Frondeville, Project Learning Consultant for PBL Associates, and published by Edutopia.org he talks about Cultivating your Engagement Meter.  De Frondeville says, “Be acutely aware of when your students are paying strong attention or are deeply engaged in their tasks.  Master teachers create an active-learning environment in which students are on task in their thinking and speaking or are collaboratively working close to 100 percent of the time.”   .”  He goes on to say, “Although it may take years to develop the repertoire of skills and lessons that enable you to permanently create this active-learning environment, you can begin by discerning which activities truly engage your students.”

Adjusting lessons according to skill and age comes with experience as well as trial and error.  Keeping the students engaged in your lesson also comes from study, experience and trial and error.  I think the most difficult thing about cultivating your engagement meter is knowing what positive student engagement looks like.  When I'm preparing to teach I ask questions like:

•   Is this relevant to the skills and concepts I want to teach and relevant to what they need to learn?
• Is this lesson challenging? 
• Why am I teaching this?  What do I want them to have learned at the end of the day?
• How can I make it more interesting and exciting for the students?

When I'm in the process of teaching my questions might look like:

• Are the students paying attention to me or their neighbors?
• Are the students more interested in what we are doing as a class or in goofing off?
• What can I do to get their attention?
• What can I do to keep their attention?

When I'm finished teaching I usually ask myself:

• Did all my students participate appropriately today?
• Did they understand the skill or concept I was teaching?
• Did they show me they understood or just say they did?
• What can I do next week to continue on from today's lesson?
• Was I confident in my teaching strategies?

These are all really basic questions we can ask ourselves to figure out if our lessons are positively engaging for the students. There are, of course, deeper questions we could ask but I would suggest that the more the students participate and behave appropriately, the more they are engage in your lessons. 

We all have different personalities and different ways to approach similar situations.  As I have visited classrooms this year I have loved seeing all the different approaches to behavior management.  Behavior seems to be one of them most difficult things to tackle in teaching, especially when you teach all elementary grade levels (K-6) and have to vary your approach according to developmentally appropriate learning abilities.  Here are my MUST HAVE'S....many are the same as you all have mentioned.

1. Post your class rules where the students can see them and refer to them often!  (Especially after winter break and as the school year comes to a close)
2. Encourage positive behavior with class rewards.  I love it when this class reward correlates with the school behavior plan and classroom teachers can support you with behavior management. 
3. Use 'watching turns' when students are having a hard time participating appropriately, but provide an opportunity for redemption.
4. Create a routine and STICK TO IT!  Children thrive on routine.  They also behave better when they know what your expectations are and what will happen if they don't behave appropriately.  Give yourself time to accomplish this.  It doesn't happen over night! 
5. Greet your students at the beginning of class and dismiss them at the end (I love a high five). 
6. Speak with the classroom teacher as much as possible regarding behavior.  You can do this by asking them to pick their students up at the end of class and just giving a brief report. 

One of the most commonly asked questions I got this year was, "Do I have to prepare a different lesson for each grade level?"  My answer is NO!  I say do what works best for you.  If you prefer to prepare a lesson for every grade level and that works for you then keep it up.  If it worries you, then prepare a lower grade and an upper grade lesson.  I had a recent conversation with a teacher about this who was feeling guilty about not preparing a different lesson for all the grades.  Her conclusion was that she could teach the same concepts and skills in each grade level, and probably even use the same music or activity to teach with, but might differentiate her instruction by using different words, asking different questions and allowing more age appropriate opportunities per grade.  There is no right or wrong answer to this question.  You do what works best for you.

This, again, is a skill that is learned through trial and error.  Introducing instruments into your lessons does create more noise and requires more strict management.  It also requires greater patience and understanding.  Not everyone in your class has to play an instrument all of the time.  Taking turns is OK and an essential social skill for students to learn.  Students model what they see the teacher do.  When you use an instrument, make sure you explain how you are doing it, how they should do it and then make sure you model it the way you should. 

I really enjoyed reading through these posters and reflecting on what amazing things have happened this year in your classrooms.  I have seen growth in personal and professional confidence, I have watched relationships be built between teacher and students and teachers and administrators.  I am always awestruck by the creativity displayed in your classrooms! Thanks for making this year so great!









Dance of the comedians

I had so much fun watching the creativity you teachers shared at training with Dance of the Comedians. 

A few tips for success when teaching this:

• Adapt and scaffold to support your students in success. As much as possible, let students lead the discovery of concepts, but increase or decrease support as needed to ensure their success and understanding.
• Try using scarves while listening the first time through. I didn't think of this until I was writing up this post, but here is how I might set it up. Have your students choose one of six colors of scarves as they enter the classroom, with the music playing. Let them dance their scarves to the music until you stop the music. Next, guide them through listening to the form. Display the notation, and indicate that different sections will represent different colors. Only the scarves matching that section color should be moving during that section. This would definitely create more engaged listening that just following along or just pointing. If you're worried about management, just take the scarves away as soon as they are using them inappropriately. They'll get the message quickly if you are consistent. ;)
• Focus on the freeze. If we had done this another time through at the training, I would have had you all freeze right in place when your section finished, instead of shuffling off stage. There's not necessarily a right or wrong to either way, but I really like the magic of the movement shifting from one place to another, one group to another, and the magic and focus it takes for students to instantly freeze in place.
• Positively reinforce desired behavior. Stating what the student did well helps them learn and create value more than just telling them they did well. Your tone of voice will communicat the positivity. 
• Look how many of you remembered to freeze! 
• Look how Alex is using her arms to tell the story. 
• This group is making sure to stay in their own space, even though they are working all together in their movement.
• Make it a performance! Take a video of the students or invite their teacher in at the end to watch. Students will be more excited and invested with this end goal.
• Do you want props? I know, I completely forgot to use the scarves when I taught this. I intended to let you bring the scarves into your movement sections at the end. Scarves do change the effect. Decide for yourself which way you prefer, or let your students try both and let them choose. It's a great chance for discussion, analysis, and decision making with your students. Ask questions like, do the scarves help better illustrate the effect we are trying to achieve?

You all should have recieved an email with files to go along with this lesson. Please ask if you didn't get it. Shannon or I are absolutely happy to come help with this (and any) lesson if you'd like. Any of you can email either of us. 

Below is the packet from the training. Please take note of the training dates for next year. Susan Kenney will be presenting at the required training on the 24th, and she's the one who came up with this Dance of the Comedians lesson plan. She's fabulous! Have a great rest of the year.

Colombia Choir Performance

I absolutely love getting to attend school performances. It's so fun to see the creativity, the personalities, and the love of music at all of the different schools.

Our music teacher at Colombia, Renee Tanner, accompanies the choir, and she pulled in a fabulous choir director. I took video of a few of the songs at the performance. Enjoy!

Here's their program. It was such a well-planned program with a great variety of songs. The beginning had some songs that really showed musical ability and skill; more traditional songs. The last portion of the program was a collection of songs from Mary Poppins.

Haida

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

They accompanied themselves on the ukuleles with this song!

Allelujah

A few fun classroom ideas (to put in your pocket for next year)

One of the things I love about my job is that I get to see so many fun ideas when I come to your schools. Here are a few ideas some of our great teachers have used to keep things "organized" in different ways.

Liz Eames at Adams Elementary made this to go on her board and remind her students of the rules. I love that she put images with each rule to help the younger children. I know many of you have similar rules and add movements, too. 

Nicole Burnham and Ann Bradley at Farmington Elementary use these visuals to help track classroom incentives. 

In case it's too small to see, each class has their name on a pick or on a music note.

Jeanette Eggett at Boulton showed me this idea she uses to keep track of her schedule. She said it saves her on a regular bases. She's just shrunk a copy of her schedule, laminated it, and attached it to the same lanyard she wears her name badge on. I think this would be especially helpful at the beginning of the year, or if you are a teacher that has to be out of your classroom to teach for any reason.

Knowlton has a grade level program for every grade. The classroom teachers choose the songs, and the fabulous music teachers teach the songs in music. Melanie and Allyson really have a good thing going. They've broken the program songs up so that the students are learning one new song each month, and it's displayed on the wall in their room like so:

Do you have any great ideas you'd like to share? 

Comment or email us and we'll add them to the blog.

Lincoln Elementary with Kimberly Graff

Today I stopped by  Lincoln Elementary for an 'end of the year visit' with Kimberly Graff.  Lincoln Elementary is lucky to have Kimberly as a music teacher.  Today I saw her review a previously learned song with the kids (Don Gato) and then introduce a new song to them.  Through this new song she wanted to teach or reinforce the concept of dynamics and moving from soft to slow.  This is a lesson she found in the 3rd Grade Making Music Book (page 7, CD 1 track 3) and one that I have seen a few others of you use as well.  Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Kimberly began by having the kids identify the dynamic markings found in the chorus of this familiar song  (p, mp, mf, and f).  The outline for this lesson suggests that the students identify the different levels of dynamics by using their body.


 Sitting = piano
squatting = mezzo piano
standing = mezzo forte
standing with hands over head = forte. 


The students sang through this song a few times practicing the different levels of dynamics with their voices and their bodies.  It was fantastic!


Kimberly moved on to the next activity which was a partner clapping game.  The rhyme goes like this..

Double, double this this

double, double that that

double this double that

double, double this that.

Mrs. Graff had the students partner up and practice this game which they had previously learned.  She walked around the classroom checking in with the student pairs to see if they were proficient.  Here's what I loved best!  When she wanted their attention she played a rhythm on her hand drum and the kids echoed it back....and then it was silent!  Obviously a management tool she has used many times and practiced with them over and over so they know what she expects.  Next, she asked for volunteers to show the class how good they were at this new game.  She set a limit (3 partners) and each partnership performed independently.   After the 3 partnerships were finished, Kimberly tapped a few students on the head and told them they had 10 seconds to find a new partner.  I really liked how she handled this.  It wasn't the whole class scrambling, just a select few (or 10).  It took less time and was less confusing for the students when everyone didn't have to move around.  The students practiced again and a few more partnerships performed.  The kids loved it! 

With just a few minutes left in class Kimberly introduced a new clapping game, Peter Pan is the Man.  She had the kids stand in two long rows facing their partners and then modeled the game for them.  They caught on so quickly and when the bell rang they were excited to hear that next week they will start with that game. 

Clapping games are a great way to reinforce rhythmic practice and performance.  Great job Mrs. Graff!  The kids at Lincoln are learning so much in music and enjoying every minute of it!

Endeavour Elementary Morning of the Arts

Each spring at Endeavour Elementary parents, teachers and students come together to celebrate the fine arts programs at their school.  This celebration typically takes place in the morning, during the school day and lasts just over an hour.  This year was no different and I want to take a minute to celebrate Marci Low and the students at Endeavour Elementary for their hard work and accomplishments in music and visual arts.


For the Morning of the Arts program each grade level learns 1 song and then performs it together for their parents.  Back in the galaxies teachers have displayed the students' visual art for parents to see.  Those with students in 1st -3rd grade meet together in the gym for the musical performance and then head out to the galaxies to see the art work.  After a short break those with students in 4th-6th grade are invited back into the gym for the remainder of the musical performances.  Endeavour is a big school with lots of students and lots of support from parents.  It was standing room only for both performance times!  And if you think the audience was big, wait until you see how many kids are on the stage for each grade level.

Marci began preparing for the Morning of the Arts way back in December.  She spent many hours looking through her resources and decided to choose music from the USOE Songbook.  Her choices were brilliant!  The songs she chose were fun, allowed creativity from the students and supported the DESK Standards as well and State and National Music Standards.   Marci was asked by her administration to tell the parents a little bit about what the kids have been learning in music this year and how they will see that during the performances.  To me...that's the scariest part!  Marci did awesome introducing the program and helping parents and teachers see what learning had taken place in music this year.

Here are the grade level performances!  Take notice of how many students are on the stage...and this is with 1 track off!  First Grade is singing Down by The Bay.  I love how Marci had the kids perform the echoes.  First the boys sang and then the girls echoed them.  Obviously there are some who love to do both and watch for the cute little boy who catches himself singing the girls part. 



Second Grade is performing I love the Mountains.  You will notice in this performance that Marci had each second grade class (there are 5) write their own verse on what they love about Endeavour.  Here are some things to listen for...Mrs. Robbins (the principal), Awesome Sauce!, Blast off, Mac and Cheese and Chicken Pot Pie. 



Third grade sang one of my all-time favs...Tinga- Layo!  The even incorporated movement to help them remember the order of the words and some Spanish.  Listen close for the Spanish verse.

Fourth Grade used some of their dramatic skills to act out their song while they sang.  The song Marci chose for them was Don Gato.  The actors were hilarious and the singers awesome!  My favorite part in this piece was when they sang the word...FISH! 



I wish I was an Apple, a hangin' on a tree.  And every time my sweetheart passed she take a bite of me.  Do you recognize this song?  Fifth grade performed Cindy and accompanied themselves with body percussion patterns. 



OK...here we go.  I think most of us agree that 6th graders, in the spring are difficult to motivate and engage especially when a parent performance is approaching.  They are ready for summer and ready for Jr. High.  Marci had the 6th graders sing Peace Like a River and added some sign language and harmony to make it challenging for the kids.  I had a hard time getting my camera off a certain favorite student of mine.  The joy in her eyes was contagious.  Can you see who I'm talking about?



I traveled through outer space after the performances to capture some pictures of the visual art for you but.... My Ipad died.   I know that there are several of you who teach multiple art forms and I wanted to share this with you today so that you can see how a school can come together for a short period of time to celebrate students achievement in the arts.  What a great way to combine, music, art, dance and drama.