As you anticipate returning to the classroom this fall, do you find yourself  wondering how to better manage student behavior? Are you asking yourself  how to get your students to stay engaged with your lessons and stop all of that  talking and goofing around? Harry Wong states in his book, ​The First Days of  School,​ “the number one problem in the classrooms is not discipline; it is the  lack of procedures and routines.” Positive procedures can transform your classroom and the way you feel as a teacher.

When you teach procedures to your students, you are teaching them how things are to be done, not announcing rules. Procedures need to be taught and practiced. And practiced and practiced. Teaching procedures is an investment in time, not time wasted. As Fred Jones shares in his book ​Tools for Teaching, “Investing time in teaching classroom rules, standards and procedures is a  classic example of proactive versus reactive management. Prevention is cheaper than remediation. But prevention is not free. You must invest ‘up front’ if you want to reap the dividends for the rest of the semester.”

I spend most of the first two weeks of school teaching procedures and establishing expectations. I don’t spend time lecturing about the procedures, my lesson content is purposefully designed to include the procedures that need to be practiced. I’m sneaky like that.

Design your procedures by first visualizing the end result. Work backward and break the procedure into steps. Go through these steps yourself or with a colleague, following your instructions as if you were a student. You may want to establish routines and procedures for the following:

● Entering the classroom
● Exiting the classroom
● Transitioning to/from different areas of the room
● Waiting times (when the teacher needs to talk to a student or there is an emergency)
● Getting into groups
● Getting tissues
● A visitor in the room
● The teacher needs your attention
● Passing out/collecting

A common procedure in my general music classroom is distributing bell sets. When it is time to get bell sets the first row is invited to stand, follow the leader to the windows, walk along the windows, take the first available bell set, walk along the back of the room, continue along the far side of the room and back to their place in their row. The subsequent rows are trained to be ready  when it is their turn. Students may open their bells sets, but I make it very clear that if they choose to play their bells before they are invited, they will close their case and not be allowed to play. This routine may seem strict and a little mean, but it actually ​keeps ​me from having a teacher freak out! After this procedure is learned and practiced (many times) it allows the distribution of  instruments to go very quickly, avoids student tantrums about who cut somebody in line, who took someone else’s bells and little Sally crying because nobody ever gave her an instrument! And we can all live happily ever after and get on with the good stuff – making music!

I use Love and Logic as my classroom management philosophy. Love and Logic has taught me to use positive techniques to establish a calm and effective classroom in which I strive to prevent behavior problems instead of react to  them. I try to offer students choices that are within limits that are OK with me.  I model problem solving and if a student causes a problem I give them a chance to fix it before I step in (if I have to intervene they are guaranteed to not like  the outcome!) These strategies take careful training and consistency – on the  part of the​ teacher. ​If your expectations, procedures, and systems are  consistent students will feel safe, respected, calm and motivated. That may  require hard work on your part.

My mom used to tell me that you catch more bees with honey than with vinegar. There are times when swift consequences for unacceptable behavior  are called for. However, using routines and procedures often allows us to stop  the continual discipline struggle and have the freedom to compliment and enjoy our students and their music making. Students themselves are more  comfortable with predictability and routine. In his book ​Tools for Teaching​, Fred Jones says “The teachers with the best run classrooms spend most of the first two weeks . . . teaching procedures and routines . . . ​do it right or do it all year long.​”

Holly Walton
Fort Island Primary School
Copley-Fairlawn City Schools

Holly shared her ideas for teaching procedures, please share yours in the comments below. Your ideas might be just the thing someone needs to Make it Work in their classroom.

The post Making It Work: Positive Procedures (updated) first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

Student Learning Objectives: A Manageable “How To” Guide from the Trenches

The process of crafting an SLO when kept logical and reasonable, can really be a positive force in your instruction and beneficial for your students. Don’t let the structure, all of the “official-ness” of the forms, and evaluation aspects overwhelm you. You are doing a good job, this is an opportunity to prove it in terms educators outside of our discipline can understand!

How to mesh an active music-making environment with an SLO and LDR assessment requirement:

SLO stands for Student Learning Objective. Don’t become consumed by the vocabulary from the world of lawyers and law makers. We can simplify the jargon to teacher-friendly language.

Step 1: Choose the group of students you are going to assess.

SLO protocol often asks teachers to choose one section or class. For most music teachers this is pretty simple—it’s usually the best-behaved, “favorite” class or the class we see most often.

Step 2: Set goals for your students’ growth or mastery. You may already have successful assessments in mind from past teaching, use them and don’t reinvent the wheel! If you have not used formal assessment regularly, go slow, be patient, and purposeful. You’ll find good options as you explore possibilities.

You will need to make some decisions about what your students should be doing to fulfil the requirements of the SLO. The idea is to prove that you are teaching and the students are learning. Returning to these three words – Student Learning Objective – can provide clarity when you find yourself “lost in the forest.” The guidepost is the objective. It is the reason we are providing instruction to this group of students. We are creating guiding experiences to develop mastery of _____ skill, or develop _____ ability.

The metric categories some SLO models use are targets like Growth, Mastery, or Growth & Mastery. I prefer to choose mastery because in order to attain aesthetically pleasing results in music mastery is essential. In your teaching situation growth may be preferable. I consult my curriculum and the standards by which my curriculum is structured. Using those resources as a guide, I select learning objectives and figure out what the “end-goal” will be. It helps to consider this process as a road trip and the end goal as a final destination. What does the “city” or “end goal” where the final assessment will occur look like?

Step 3: Create the assessment instrument by which you will measure student growth, mastery or both.

I design assessments that will accurately demonstrate that my students have learned and that I have helped them show growth or reach mastery. This can be where confusion sets in. Return to “Student Learning Objective.” Students will master _____. Use this statement: “I can measure student mastery or growth through this data:_____.” Data can be compiled through the use of rubrics that assess active demonstration of skills and abilities or numerical scoring schemes applied to a physical product like a quiz, worksheet, test, etc. Rubrics can also be used to assess and measure growth when students create physical products like compositions, or multi-component projects.

If you choose growth, you’ll have to establish some kind of baseline data which will provide the mechanism for growth to be proven. This can be done in the form of a pre-test. In my experience, it works well to administer the final assessment prior to any instruction on the targeted concept or skill. If the students score highly, you’ll have a harder time proving growth.

Step 4: Create a timeline for the process.

Once I have created my final assessment, I decide how instruction will align with these parameters, create a plan to support my students in meeting the objective and put a timeline in place. Again, use the road trip analogy. Which stops will we make during the journey to support our successful arrival at the final destination? When is the appropriate time and place along our journey to make those stops? If we need to be prepared for “Final Assessment” Town by April 30^th, we should probably visit the cities of  1.____, 2.____, and 3.____, where we will practice and process skills and acquire increased ability and/or knowledge along the way. The plan will take us to 1.______ by November, 2._____ by January, 3._____ by March, etc. Sometimes this approach can be easily related to Backward Design or the ADDIE model of instructional design.

Getting Organized

I like to use this graphic organizer to help sort out my ideas away from and prior to filling out the “official forms.”

I create three SLO assessments for one group of students. I use one for playing instruments, an understanding of chord and level drones. The second assessment demonstrates mastery in decoding rhythms to prove an understanding of iconic music literacy. The third is a movement assessment based on successfully performing a folk dance with correct dance figures, vocabulary and appropriate partner manners.I find that once I have put this informal plan together, I am more successful completing the “official” forms.

I use the organizer above to create my three assessment plans. I refine my ideas throughout the process and stick to “big ideas” as I map out my plan.

The Official Forms

Now that I have sketched out my plan I can take it to my official form. Although there are variations in SLO documents from state to state and even district to district there are a lot of similarities. While this might not look exactly like your SLO documentation it may provide some insight and inspiration when you complete your documents.  Here is an example of a Pennsylvania SLO overview document:

The goal statement was one that our music department agreed upon. It is general enough to apply to any SLO assessment plan we might select. Next, I filled in the standards that are guiding instruction.

A rationale for your placing importance upon this assessment plan may be required. Here is mine: “Students should exhibit age-appropriate skill development in basic ensemble skills, decoding rhythmic and melodic notation, and effectively respond to music as a member of a community folk dance experience.” This should be general enough to cover the assessments, but specific enough to be meaningful.

Performance Measures or something like these will probably come next. This is a fancy way of saying what the name of the assessment plan is. Here is the example from my SLO.

The Purpose is often outlined next. This is like an extension of the rationale for each Performance Measure (PM). The metric selection is on the right. I choose mastery.

I chose growth and mastery for my first SLO, but regretted it because in order to form a baseline, I had to ask students to perform a task using vocabulary that they had never even heard before. It was awkward for all of us. Imaging asking a group of 3^rd graders to perform a level drone in C pentatonic to accompany the melody I play. They just stared at me…  

Next the administration frequency is usually required. It is usually acceptable to select to do these once per year. You may want to repeat your assessment in each marking period to show growth.

Performance Tasks

It may be easier to shift one’s focus next to the Performance Tasks, or the separate “official forms” for each assessment. If the details in the examples seem overwhelming, go back to your informal graphic organizer to get re-centered as you work on your own SLO. The important thing to keep in mind is that there is a need to outline your specific plans for each Performance Measure. In this example I fill out the specific goals I am expecting my students to achieve and how I will be assessing them in more specific terms. The forms will usually require you to reiterate the essential information from the overview, and then elaborate on each Performance Task.

Once the basic information is re-supplied, this information will be probably be required in some form:

You will probably have to provide some form of information about the student contributions. Here is an example:

I don’t record the “pretest” as I once did, but I replace this with an exploration of what the students think it might be like to accompany a song in the manner of an “always the same” using C and G, and “Jumping from long bars to short bars” C and G.

The Rubrics

Your plan for scoring is the next thing that you’ll need to outline. Here is an example of a rubric that I created for chord and level drone assessments.

The Fine Print

Next a series of explanations regarding process are outlined. These come from the actual forms for Pennsylvania. The italicized words are my responses to the questions the form poses.

1. Administration (TEACHER)

a. Administrative frequency: How many times will the student be given this task within an identified timeframe? Twice; Once in first trimester (pre-test), and once in last trimester (Summative).

b. Unique task adaptations and/or accommodations: How does the task change in either presentation, response options, setting, etc. to accommodate students with disabilities, English language learners, etc.? The task changes minimally for various learners; however, the guidance to performing the task will be adjusted as is necessary for student to arrive at essential task performance capabilities.

c. Resources and/or equipment: What equipment, tools, text, artwork, etc. is needed by the student to accomplish the task?  What additional personnel are needed to administer the task? Equipment as outlined in the Performance Task Framework 1.c. No additional personnel should be needed to administer the task.

2. Task Scenarios, Requirements, Process Steps, Products (STUDENT)

a. Task scenario: What information is provided for the student that provides the context necessary to create a response, project, produce, demonstration? Teacher demonstrations and student-to-student reinforcement interactions will take place in an ongoing manner. Finally, a short performance experience in a small group will occur.

b. Requirements: Given the scenario, how are the task requirements articulated to the student in order to establish key criteria by which performance is evaluated?  Task directions will be articulated in plain language and through “watch and copy” demonstrations which the students will then perform themselves without a teacher model to copy. Which requirements are implied, thus requiring deeper understanding of the content being assessed?  Which criteria are stated explicitly in order to adhere to the time constraints, product parameters, etc.? The requirements of playing in a cohesive ensemble will be implied, i.e. the students will need to play together in such a way that all are playing the same notes according to one central pulse that unifies the sound of each player.

c. Process steps: What guidance expresses the sequence of events, steps, or phases of the task?  Guidance will be expressed initially to the whole class and then as needed to individuals who should need clarity and reinforcement of specific aspects of the task(s). How are extended (multiple days) timelines and demonstrations of progress articulated? Extended timelines will not be articulated as the task is easily captured within a short time-frame.

d. Products: Given the activities within the task, what products, demonstrations, or performances are expected during and/or at the end of the process? Products yielded will be the instrumental accompaniment upon barred instruments in either a chord, or level drone while students (same or others) are singing. What information is provided about the criteria used to judge student calculations, products, demonstrations, performances, etc.? Specific outlines of what an excellent model will encompass are provided to the students, as well as possibilities for improvement when deviations should present themselves.

3. Scoring (TEACHER)

a. Scoring tools: How does the rubric classify different levels of performance, student work, etc.? Advanced, Proficient, Basic, In Progress. How is the overall score attained?  Scores are attained through teacher observation and ratings on rubrics. How well are multiple dimensions aligned to the standards? Multiple dimensions are aligned to standards as well as possible. The task encapsulates a very small scope in terms of dimension which are the specific target standards addressed and referenced above.

b. Scoring guidelines: How are the steps that are used to evaluate student products, performances, etc., articulated? The scoring teacher will observe students performing the task and assign them ratings based on the rubric above. What guidance is provided to assign scores for incomplete work?  For incomplete work, or absent students, no scores will be given and they will be made up in subsequent classes. How are additional scoring personnel identified and trained? No additional scoring personnel will be necessary. Given an overall score or classification/performance level, how are examples, models, or demonstrations provided? Examples and models will be provided through the teaching process by both students and teacher.

c. Score/Performance reporting: How are overall results reported back to the student?  Overall results will be shared with the students in reference to the rubric. How are scored results reported for all students? A group score record will be kept in the form of an Excel spreadsheet.

These are an example from one SLO that works for me. You will modify your responses to “fit the mold” in your school with your students.

Next, we’ll have to return to the overview and insert the Performance Indicators and Targets into the Overview. Basically, just fill in the blanks with the information from the Performance Task Framework.

Performance Indicator Targets

The PI Targets are the direct correlation between the goal statement and the assessment instrument. This is the essential way that your assessments will relate to your SLO Goal Statement. Here are some examples.

Once you’ve filled out this overview, you are ready to submit both the Overview and the Performance Task outlines and follow the plan you’ve laid out. The important thing to remember is to keep the experience of the student forefront in your mind. If the students know they are taking a “test,” you probably haven’t been artful enough in the design and integration of the SLO process into your classes.

What is an LDR?

In some districts a Locally Designed Rubric (LDR) Assessment is a requirement as well. This is different than an SLO only in that it is a broader “survey group.” In the SLO, we are supposed to select one class section in one grade level. In the LDR, it is required that the teacher use an altogether different grade level or course than their SLO group, and it should include all the classes in that grade level. So, where an SLO should be say 25 students, the LDR, could be 60-100 students. All other parameters remain the same as the SLO model. Essentially, this is a broader application of the SLO but instead of 3 assessments, it is only one.

Big Takeaways:

1. Choose from assessments you are already using if possible. Don’t reinvent the wheel.
2. If you aren’t doing a lot of formal assessments, start simply, reflect, and refine.
3. Be kind to yourself through this process! If you are trying your best, you will find positive outcomes and you will improve!
4. Create a manageable assessment plan and timeframe.
5. Collaborate with a colleague or several colleagues if possible. Divide and conquer!
6. LDR Assessments are similar to SLOs in that they are only one assessment vs. something like three, but spread out to all the similar sections a teacher instructs.
7. Once you find a successful approach to your SLO and LDR, you can reuse it in future years.

While there are certainly more fun ways to spend our time, I do believe this can be a worthwhile way for music educators to show our value and worth through the same lens as our classroom teacher colleagues. Is it the best language for us to use in communicating our value? Probably not. The bottom line is SLO’s are part of our professional world and we want to make them as manageable and meaningful as possible.

I sincerely hope this post has been helpful to “Make your SLO Process Work”. Please comment below to ask questions and share SLO’s and tips that have been successful for you.

The post SLOs for Orff Inspired Teaching first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

As you anticipate returning to the classroom this fall, do you find yourself wondering how to better manage student behavior? Are you asking yourself how to get your students to stay engaged with your lessons and stop all of that talking and goofing around? Harry Wong states in his book, The First Days of School, “the number one problem in the classrooms is not discipline; it is the lack of procedures and routines.” Positive procedures can transform your classroom and the way you feel as a teacher.

When you teach procedures to your students, you are teaching them how things are to be done, not announcing rules. Procedures need to be taught and practiced. And practiced and practiced. Teaching procedures is an investment in time, not time wasted. I spend most of the first two weeks of school teaching procedures and establishing expectations. I don’t spend time lecturing about the procedures, my lesson content is purposefully designed to include the procedures that need to be practiced. I’m sneaky like that.

Design your procedures by first visualizing the end result. Work backward and break the procedure into steps. Go through these steps yourself or with a colleague, following your instructions as if you were a student. You may want to establish routines and procedures for the following:

• Entering the classroom
• Exiting the classroom
• Transitioning to/from different areas of the room
• Waiting times (when the teacher needs to talk to a student or there is an emergency)
• Getting into groups
• Getting tissues
• A visitor in the room
• The teacher needs your attention
• Passing out/collecting instruments

A common procedure in my general music classroom is distributing bell sets. When it is time to get bell sets the first row is invited to stand, follow the leader to the windows, walk along the windows, take the first available bell set, walk along the back of the room, continue along the far side of the room and back to their place in their row. The subsequent rows are trained to be ready when it is their turn. Students may open their bells sets, but I make it very clear that if they choose to play their bells before they are invited, they will close their case and not be allowed to play. This routine may seem strict and a little mean, but it actually keeps me from having a teacher freak out! After this procedure is learned and practiced (many times) it allows the distribution of instruments to go very quickly, avoids student tantrums about who cut somebody in line, who took someone else’s bells and little Sally crying because nobody ever gave her an instrument! And we can all live happily ever after and get on with the good stuff – making music!

My mom used to tell me that you catch more bees with honey than with vinegar. Using routines and procedures allows us to stop the continual discipline struggle and have the freedom to compliment and enjoy our students and their music making. Students themselves are more comfortable with predictability and routine. In his book Tools for Teaching, Fred Jones says “The teachers with the best run classrooms spend most of the first two weeks . . . teaching procedures and routines . . . do it right or do it all year long.”

Holly Walton
Fort Island Primary School
Copley-Fairlawn City Schools

Holly shared her ideas for teaching procedures, please share yours in the comments below. Your ideas might be just the thing someone needs to Make it Work in their classroom.

The post Making It Work: Positive Procedures first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

When I began my teaching career I was working in a large county school district, on a cart, in three schools with almost no resources before the dawn of the Internet. I would hear about teachers who were “long range planning” and was completely mystified as to how one would even begin that process. I was struggling not to drown! When I got a few years under my belt long range planning started to make more sense. After taking Orff Level I, I was not sure how I had gotten by for so long without planning ahead. For me, long-range planning does not mean that I don’t write daily lesson plans but that I know where we are headed, what concepts are coming next, and how much time we need to get there.  It is important that my plan is flexible and allows for changes, differentiation or improvements and leaves space for new ideas. Here is how I approach my long-range plans.

We teach on a four-day rotation schedule.  The first step is to go through the calendar and count how many class periods I will have in each marking period.  Next I factor in when I have performances and block off some time to prepare for our presentations. Now that I have a solid estimate of contact time for each grade level I can determine what content we will explore and when we will tackle each concept. I list the content, concepts and vocabulary for each marking period.  Then I choose lessons, songs and projects to reinforce my choices, outline or revise the necessary formative and summative assessments and pencil in approximate target dates to administer assessments in order to be prepared for report card deadlines. Lastly, I add music and cross-curricular standards to the final document.

We take a project-based approach, and my long-term plans are an outline, not detailed daily plans. Our “performances” are student generated, and not separate from our curricular goals. When I mention that I block out time to prepare for performances, I am making sure to begin the project early enough for it to be complete on the assigned date and ready for the stage. I am required to schedule concerts in May before the upcoming school year. When I was teaching elsewhere and had to schedule concerts “as we go” I would pencil in dates when I would like to schedule performances. It was a little less precise and sometimes I had to adjust. Prior to implementing a long-range planning strategy I was often scrambling at the end of each marking period to be prepared for report cards. Now I seldom have last minute assessing or grading to complete. I am confident that I have allowed enough time to be prepared for performances and presentations and I am more relaxed with the students when we are working.

Each school, district or state will differ in the best way to approach long-range planning. I have a lot of flexibility in my curriculum choices; others have a more prescribed curriculum or more guidelines on which concepts should be taught when. In my previous school district I did not have a schedule sometimes until the morning of the first day of school. I was not able to gauge contact time as accurately. I did find it helpful to have a basic outline of teaching ideas and projects for each grade level. It took some of the pressure off of daily planning. I often had to add or take away from my long-range plan, and it was easier to edit than start over every week. I became much more consistent in meeting learning goals with my students even in an ever changing teaching situation. The best part is, after the first year it becomes easier to edit and modify long-range plans leaving more time to enjoy your students.

Please share your strategies and resources for long-range planning in the comments below.  My ideas may not work in some situations, and your solution may be just the inspiration someone needs to successfully plan ahead. If you have obstacles to long-range planning or questions leave those in the comments below too. We can all put our heads together to “Make It Work”!

The post Making It Work: Long Range Planning first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

I have been watching Facebook posts and it seems that some fortunate souls are already on summer break. If you are one of them – lucky you! Some of us have a few weeks left, and others have a bit longer until we can put our feet up for a few days and relax before beginning to plan for next year!  I fall into the “few weeks left” category.  If your school is anything like mine, the last two weeks are full of field days, field trips, awards assemblies, talent shows and last minute schedule changes to accommodate end of year activities. Due to the uncertainty of the schedule, I already have my grades wrapped up as I may see my kids only two or three more times in the next two and a half weeks. Add squirrelly kids and too hot classrooms, and planning effective and engaging lessons can be challenging. Here are a few “end of the year” lesson ideas that work for me.

I purchased twenty-five folders with the three prongs in them and added song sheets of all of my students’ favorite songs. I made a playlist on my computer so if I am pulled for an awards assembly or meeting and need a last minute sub plan they can sing.  This is a big hit.  I made two versions, one for the younger grades, and one for my intermediate grades.

I like to explore new material that I want to use for the coming year. You know that piece from the volumes that you have always wanted to try with your students but you were not quite sure how to process it out or if they would be able to play it? The last few class periods is the perfect time to play around with something new.  We never finish the whole piece, the kids have fun playing, and I learn how to teach the music effectively for next year.

Folk Dance review is another favorite for me. I make a playlist of all of the Folk Dances they learned this year and some from the past and we dance until they can dance no more.  Now is also a good time to work out a new folk dance you have wanted to try. You may not finish the whole dance, but that’s OK. Pick up where you left off next year.

Name That Tune is a popular game for the last class of the year.  I make a list of all of the songs we sang or played and with two teams engaged in fierce competition we play just like the game show.  After we guess the song we sing it together.

Lastly, a review of singing games is always a fun way to end the year.

What are your “go to” lessons and ideas for the ever-crazy last two weeks of school? Your idea may be just what someone else needs to make the last few music classes enjoyable for everyone.  Post your ideas in the comments below so everyone may share in your amazing ideas and “Make it Work.”

The post Making It Work: Surviving the Last Two Weeks first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

*Copyright © 2016 by Sweet Pipes. Used with permission. Journey Around the Globe With Recorder! is a series of 24 lessons for teaching soprano recorder.  Power points are included for each lesson to aid in presenting the material.

The post Recorder Lesson: Que Llueva first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

I distinctly remember the start of my first school year after taking Level I. Armed with two weeks of Orff Schulwerk education, I was eager to recreate these experiences in my own classroom. I wanted to provide my students with meaningful Orff Schulwerk lessons that flowed with the same seamless artistry that had been modeled for me. In essence, I wanted music teacher “super powers” in my quest to channel the wisdom and experience of the teachers who had inspired me.

Alas, I did not have super powers, and I had to learn to balance my ideal goals with those that were more realistic. It simply was not possible to integrate all of my new learning at once. The lasting lessons of this balancing act have been the value of practice and patience. Does this sound familiar?

I discovered that starting with one new idea at a time allowed me to deepen my teaching practice. Building on each successful moment and refining those that did not go as well as I hoped, resulted in far better outcomes for my students. This approach kept me energized and engaged in the process.

In honor of the new school year, I invite you to consider granting yourself patience, and time to practice. In fact, the language we use to describe the Orff pedagogical process can be used as a guide to help us, as teachers, reflect and refine what and how we teach.

Preliminary Play:

• Read through course notes, or workshop handouts. What were your favorite experiences?
• Revisit favorite pieces or dances.
• Play through pieces in the Volumes and discover something new.
• Research a new folk or historical dance.
• Practice recorder or xylophone and try playing for your students as they move.
• Watch dance videos and decode movement vocabulary that you might be able to use later.
• Take a dance class, or music lessons.
• Read poetry, look at art, and listen to music. Find inspiration!

Imitate:

• Which course or workshop lessons resonated or inspired you last summer? Choose a favorite to try in your classroom, adapting it to fit the needs of your students and curriculum. Discover what works with your individual style and build on that success.
• Is there a teaching style that inspired you? Try it out with a lesson that you already know.

Explore:

• What could you add to your current teaching repertoire? Push yourself to try something new: a movement activity, folk dance, body percussion piece, Volumes piece, or…?

o   Try something new with something old.
o   Transfer a melody to different media (e.g., play a song after singing it).
o   Transpose a melody to a new tonality.
o   Add a poem to extend a song, rhythm, or melody.
o   Or…?

Improvise:

• Find opportunities to expand existing lessons by adding improvisation structures. Discover the developing musicianship of students by giving them a chance to demonstrate their learning.
• Teaching is an improvisational art – open doors to new ideas and take a risk now and then. This can be as simple as saying, “Yes, let’s try it!” when a student offers an unexpected idea. Sometimes taking a step outside of our comfort zone results in an outcome far more satisfying, exciting, and artistic than expected. (This is also the place where we as teachers will learn and grow the most.)
• Practice improvising melodies for your own professional development. You may end up creating something beautiful that can be used in the classroom!

Create:

• Nurture yourself as an artist. Engage your personal creativity through the process of teaching.

o   Create a new lesson process based on something that inspires you.
o   Write an arrangement or new orchestration.
o   Write a text that brings a melody to life in a new way.
o   Or…?

Reflect:

• How did you collaborate with students, and what questions did you ask?
• What new musical behaviors did students demonstrate?
• How did students demonstrate musical understanding?
• When did students have opportunities to apply their learning in a new way?
• What did you learn from or about students when you tried something new?
• Consider keeping a journal to record observations and ideas throughout the year.

As we venture into the new school year, I challenge each one of us to:

• Try something – at least ONE thing that is new.
• Try something that scares you because you need to work on it.
• Try a little, or try a lot – but try.
• When in doubt, do what you know you already do well.
• Set reasonable goals.
• Be patient and practice.
• Take time to reflect, and assess what you and your students have learned.

The work of an Orff Schulwerk teacher is never done. The endless possibilities for learning and creating are part of what we love. Too many changes at the same time can be our downfall if we try to take on too much at once. Set realistic goals, and keep in mind that we sometimes learn the most from something that doesn’t go quite right the first time.

Cheers to all of you creative colleagues across the country!

Your students are lucky to be learning WITH you.

“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” – Lena Horne

The post Reflect and Refine: A Realistic Approach to the New School Year first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

Fact #2: Most, if not all, teachers spend their own money on resources and supplies for their classroom.

Wouldn’t it be great if a store existed where you could buy a lot of things for your classroom and spend very little money? With just a little creativity, your local dollar store just might be that place! I’m here to share many of my own dollar store finds and ideas.

No Assembly Required:

• Office supplies
• Tools
• Paper lanterns (usually only available in the summer)
• Foam placemats that can be used in place of poly spots for some activities (for example, they could mark lines for longways sets, but they’re not great for actually dancing on)
• Plastic spiders to use with “There’s a Spider on the Floor” (you could also use a variety of the little toys as rhythmic buiding blocks)
• “Prize Box” items, such as glow stick bracelets, party favors like tops, pencil sharpeners, pencils, bead necklaces, and others
• Teaching Supplies, including stickers, poster letters, sentence strips, and so much more!

Dollar store finds featured: borders, bulletin board cutouts, and plastic tablecloths covering the board (I had to use two because they are thin and these were technically 3 for $5) 

Dollar store finds featured: window cling graphics and window cling border (these worked great on my whiteboard, too)

Some Assembly Required:

• Popsicle sticks (colorful or plain) – use them to divide students into small groups or choose students to pass things out (I number the sticks and then assign a number to each student in a class)

Dollar store finds featured: bulletin board cutouts, bulletin board month headers, velcro dots/squares (this saves a lot of work if you change posters frequently)

 
Dollar store finds featured: paper plates (these particular ones aren’t from a dollar store, but they do have plates!), poster letters [I made the starbursts, but I just saw some pre-cut ones at the dollar store recently]

Dollar store finds featured: plastic shoe boxes, packing tape [labels were free from Teachers Pay Teachers]

Dollar store finds featured: contact paper, packing tape [containers were from home, labels were free from TPT]

Dollar store finds featured: hula hoops, foam noodles cut into thirds [tie was from home, but they have some at the dollar store]

 
Dollar store finds featured: googly eyes, colorful Popsicle sticks [great for following sheet music or beat pages]

Dollar store finds featured: coordinating bulletin board cut-outs, computer paper, packing tape, pencil bag

Dollar stores finds featured: foam circles (technically from Target’s Dollar Spot, but there are similar things at dollar stores), permanent marker

Dollar store finds featured: dinner spoons, duct tape [foam in between spoons is from my art teacher, but I’ve heard you can use erasers too]

There are many resources out there for free supplies, lessons, and ideas – Pinterest, Facebook groups, music teachers’ blogs, Teachers Pay Teachers, and, of course, Teaching with Orff!

How about you – What are some of your favorite dollar store finds?

The post Creative Classroom on a Budget first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

Click on the link to download the lesson: Purposeful Pathways: Old Mother Brown

The post Purposeful Pathways Lesson: Old Mother Brown first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

“I once did this lesson with a group of 7th grade students with no prior experience in creative movement. It was delightful to observe how eagerly they embraced the dance portion of the lesson, and how this experience with movement opened the door to composing truly beautiful music…another new experience for them. The haiku they wrote at the end of the activity are still treasured possessions!”

– Marjie Van Gunten

Download lesson here: Inspired by Haiku

The post Lesson: Haiku Inspired Creative Movement first appeared on Teaching With Orff.