Room ideas

One of my favorite parts of my job is all of the fun ideas I see in each of your classrooms. Here's some inspiration to cheer us in the middle of a long, snowy winter.

Patty Johnson, King - emoticon theme

This actually was an idea I found online, but I thought it was share worthy. I've seen several of you organize boomwhackers in your classrooms using those cardboard or plastic book holder containers on a shelf. I'll have to add a picture of that, too!

Quiet Signals

I snapped this picture in the teachers lounge at Foxboro. If you're searching for the perfect attention signal, there are plenty of ideas here!

Here's an idea for hanging your ukuleles. These were hand made, and this is the pic before they were mounted on the wall, obviously.

recorder setup

This one is kind of a room setup idea, kind of a logistics for teaching idea. Lynette's classroom is in a room that is actually part of the community center, so she has to have her room setup be something that can be easily set up and taken down. She asked for music stands, and they work so well for teaching recorders. It helps give the students more physical structure, and it creates a more authentic feeling ensemble experience. In this picture the students are getting set up/warming up.

I attended a drama integration training this year. The teacher who did the training used the 5 words below as her positive management system for her students. To wrap up the class, the students shared how they thought they earned stars in each of the 5 categories. Their answers were fabulously specific, and it was a great opportunity to put the power of self-evaluation in the hands of the students.

Here's another management/positive reward idea that takes shape throughout the whole school year. Lori Tilley at Tolman shared this idea. Students earn the privilege of writing their name on whichever symbol represents that month. Their name/symbol is placed in the chain on the wall to create a fabulous unifying effect. Students feel a part of a much larger whole, and it doesn't cost Lori any money...it does take a bit of time, though.

This colorful bulletin board was also a product of the students at Tolman.

This idea I was probably more excited about than most. Kendra at Windridge uses velcro on her carpet for the students to line up on as the leave the classroom. Last year, I was looking for a durable way to create a music staff on the carpet in a music classroom, without damaging the carpet. The custodial staff doesn't love it too much when we use tape... we found some really nice, expensive industrial velcro. I don't know why we didn't think to look into this. Kendra purchased a large roll of velcro at a fabric/craft store, and just used the hook side to place on the carpet. It's held up well. I even tried kicking at it, and it stayed nicely in place. 

Wendy, at Muir had a fabulous talent show, and shared it with the school on their music bulletin board here.

Wendy also has contests where students can design the bulletin board, or part of the bulletin board. It's a great way to get the students excited to create, and also to highlight specific students.

This is more of a manipulative idea than a room idea, but it has to be shared. Alyssa at Colombia made these staff manipulatives for her students. The students were asked to bring in the milk caps, and they brought in more than enough. Alyssa made enough of these that all of the students can be using their hands and having a tactile experience while working on their staff notation.

I've seen sooo many amazing ideas in all of your classrooms. If you have an idea you'd like to share on the blog, please let one of us coaches know! You could write a guest post, or we could share the idea for you.