Mini-books finally!

While sitting here waiting for things to happen, I decided to be creative and develop some of those mini-books I had written about in an earlier blog. These products can also be used individually or in an interactive notebook.
I have seen lap books featuring different themes in different subjects so I decided I could make some for my music classes. These are easy for me to leave for my sub too!
My first set is the instrument families. I used some blackline pictures from one TpT source and found some “Foldables” from another source. Combined, I think they are splendid! I also made one for dynamics which is included with the instrument families.

These can be found in my TpT store. When I am able to print them out, I will make a booklet and take pictures to show you here.

The New "Normal"

It has been a while since I've blogged on either one of my blogs. First, it was because school was getting started. But, for the last month, everything in my life has changed.

It all started Labor Day weekend. My husband had not been feeling well for, oh, about 2 or 3 weeks. Shortness of breath, tightness in his chest, fatigue. On Sat. of that week he mowed the yard (riding mower) and usually finishes up with weed-eater, etc. the next day. It didn't get done cause he didn't feel like it. (That doesn't usually matter to him--he would finish no matter what.) Monday, I noticed his feet were very pale looking and then later that evening, his hands were the same way. He had already decided to go to our family doctor on Tues. but decided that I would need to drive him. (Were there any red flags waving here? Not really.) I thought maybe it was COPD or something with his heart. He thought he'd just get a pill and go on home. The nurse took his vitals and did an EKG. Asked him if he had a pace-maker?? She went immediately out to get the doctor and he came straight in. (Usually have to wait your turn.) He sent us to the ER next door so they could get some lab work done and results back quicker than he could. We went straight away. * update at the end

At the ER, blood work was done and another EKG. The EKG showed nothing abnormal. The blood work told us his white blood count was at 90. That's thousand. Normal is 4-11. Also, his hemoglobin (carries oxygen to the different parts of the body) was at 4--normal is 14-18. Both of these explained why he felt so bad and couldn't get his breath. Also, explained why, when they put the sensor on his finger to monitor blood oxygen, it wouldn't register.

It also indicated leukemia. The ER doctor discussed his case with an oncologist in the next city where he would be transferred. He told him to stabilize him and get him to MD Anderson. They gave him 3 (at least) units of blood and platelets before they would even transport him. He arrived at MD Anderson around 1:45 am and hasn't been home since.

After the first few days and a bone marrow biopsy, it was determined that it wasn't leukemia but lymphoma. None of his lymph nodes were affected though, only his spleen and it was swollen so much it was pushing on his other organs. He began chemo therapy a week after all this started. Side effects have been few and mild. The last chemo he was given was so strong (they have to give it by itself) that every time there was a side effect (severe chills and fever) they had to stop it and let his body recover for 30 minutes to an hour. Then it would start up again. This went on for 18 hours. He was exhausted mainly from lack of sleep. They came in every 15 minutes to check his vitals, then every 30 after the first hour. Every time they stopped it they had to go back to the every 15 minutes. The doctor says that the next time he has it, it won't be as bad. He only had the chills 3 times. 

Except for a couple of days here and there, I've also been in Houston, first at the hospital with him for two weeks and then in a hotel. We have set up temporary housing in a hotel that has suites--a separate bedroom and a full kitchen. This is the second one we've been in and it has wonderful, caring staff and free laundry and it doesn't take too long to get to and from the hospital.

We go back and forth to the clinic at MD Anderson every other day or so. Some weeks every day, others maybe twice. He has blood work done and then a visit with an APN (advanced practice nurse) to discuss the lab results. Sometimes he has a transfusion of platelets. Those are the long days. Some days we've been there from 9:30 or 10 in the morning till 7:30 at night. So glad we decided to stay here instead of driving back home.

We thought 2 weeks ago that he'd be starting his second round of chemo but the doctor wants his platelets to be higher. This week they are finally getting there and he hasn't had any platelet transfusions in almost 2 weeks. That means his body is making its own now. Hoping the blood work and visit with the doctor on Monday will indicate that he is ready to go on with the chemo.

We have learned several things through this.
1) Never plan anything around a schedule. It just doesn't happen that way. 
2) When retirement finally comes we'll be okay. :)
3) The only normal we have that is like BC (before cancer) is that we love each other. 
4) We have some awesome friends that have provided some financial, emotional, spiritual support that we couldn't do without. We are blessed.

Oh, and a student of mine asked "Did you cry?" That first night in the ER after we heard the word "leukemia" and one night in the middle of the night early on when we realized: this is the new norm. Am I worried? No. We take it one day at a time. Go with the flow. Live and learn. And I know he's in God's hands.

Have I shared everything I had in mind? Probably not. That's all for now though.
All the technical stuff but none of the personal. Maybe another day, another post.

* Went to visit our family doctor and asked him about the EKG and what they saw on it that wasn't on it in the ER. He said it wasn't the EKG. It was just looking at him. "Thought we were gonna lose him." We didn't. It's not time.

copied from my other blog "Contemplations"

Back to School Sale

This weekend is the back-to-school sale on TpT. Look for up to 28% off. If you have things on your wish list, now is the time to transfer them to your cart.
In my store you will find several products at 20% off. When you check out, use the CODE: BTS13 for an additional 8% off.

        PLAYLIST BULLETIN BOARD MP3

MUSIC THEME BULLETIN BOARD

PLAYLIST BULLETIN BOARD MP3 FOR MUSIC

I also have Whole Brain Teaching posters as freebies—all the time, always free.
Thanks for reading!

Super Improver Wall!

Once again, I find myself a few weeks from the start of school and I’m not finished with my summer stuff and definitely am not finished with my back-to-school stuff.
I finally found my notes from the WBT conference and was able to create some categories for my Super Improver Wall. If you are new to Whole Brain Teaching, we strive to make all our students successful. They are not competing against each other but are competing against themselves. Teach them to strive to do better than they did last time and then reward them.
Since I have so many classes, (27 this year) there was no way for me to have a place for all those charts in my classroom. I decided to have the categories on the wall next to the SmartBoard but use the SmartBoard to display the different classes.

My classroom theme is musical with my 45rpm’s-themed posters so I decided to go with a music theme here, too.

These will be printed on cardstock, cut apart, and attached to a strip of poster paper. The chalkboard graphics came from www.teachingsuperpower.blogspot.com/ and I love how the circles came with different color choices.

That helps when I change the colors of the stars for each level. My levels are 1. listener, 2. garage band, 3. 1,000 views on YouTube, 4. US Tour, 5. Platinum album, 6. World Tour, and 7. Grammy Award.
Each student star begins with white. WBT usually has 10 levels of improvement, but since I only see my students once a week, I’ve opted for 7 for now.

The Smart Notebook slides include the classroom teacher’s name on the bottom and the stars will have the students’ names as soon as I receive the rosters. The color of the star can change and the students can “decorate” their star with the magic pen. 5 “stickers” puts them up to the next level. Photos may be included as they improve at certain levels.
Next project: mini-books for their lapbooks.
Happy planning!

Finally, Music Elements

I have finally finished the music posters for 5 elements of music. I am hoping to add more at a later date. You can find them here.


The first one (shown above) is geared towards kindergarten. We practice these from time to time all year long. For Whole Brain Teaching, I will use gestures for each of the voices. This leads into dynamics in the later grades as the poster is set up from loudest to softest voices. (Thanks to my daughter for that idea.)

The next is tempo with pictures of animals that move at that particular speed. Yes, we do teach the Italian definitions. The lower grades will start with only presto and largo. Lining up at different tempos is always fun for the kids. They can also suggest the (appropriate) way to walk down the hall. WBT gestures will be the speed of arms moving.
Dynamics are next. I need to add crescendo and decrescendo to these. WBT gestures will be similar to a conductors cues. First graders begin with forte and piano. Second grade adds fortissimo and pianissimo. Third grade adds the mezzos.
Form was an interesting element to work out. I tried to make the definition as simple as possible. The WBT gesture is the American Sign Language sign for “together” indicating how the music is put together.

Last comes the poster for the instrument families. Normally, I teach only the families in the orchestra but I have added keyboard instruments to the list. Different grade levels will discuss the combination of instruments in different ensembles such as a jazz band, rock group, and marching band, etc. Gestures will be however the main set of instruments is played.
I hope to add genre (which could easily follow the instrument families), the staff including letter names and solfege syllables, and folk dance movements at a later date.
Again, if you have any suggestions for me as to different gestures to use to get in that Whole Brain Teaching, it would be much appreciated. As I am the only music specialist that I am aware of that is trying WBT, I can use all the help I can get.
Also, thanks to Lovin Lit for the graphic frames.
Trying my first Made It Monday linky at 4th Grade Frolics.

Thanks for stopping by!

More WBT Posters

I have been enjoying going through Pinterest and finding free fonts and backgrounds. I have just finished another set of Whole Brain Teaching 5 Rules posters. The can be found in my TpT store or by clicking on the picture.

I have also been learning about zip files and have been able to compress this one instead of having it list as a large file. It was SO easy! In your folder where the file is located, highlight the file and then right click. In that menu, scroll down to Send to –> and select Compressed (zip) folder. That’s it! I can also upload them as PDFs by saving them in that format. The PDF can also be compressed.
Oh, the things I learn about in my summer months.

Whole Brain Teaching in the Elementary Music Classroom

I have finally experienced the WBT National Conference. I first learned about Whole Brain Teaching last summer as I joined in the weekly webcast on wholebrainteaching.com. I tried it out in my classroom starting with “Class-Yes!” and the 5 Rules. Those lasted all year. I also tried “Teach-Okay!” and the Scoreboard. I found that my problem was being inconsistent and lack of diligent planning the Whole Brain way.

There was a wondrous day when we had an all-school assembly and the students were really chatty. I went to the microphone and calmly said, “Class, Class?” and they all responded with “Yes-Yes!” My principal later emailed me and asked me what I said that got them all quiet.

Seeing Coach B and the others in action at the conference in Pineville, LA has spurred me on to try the whole thing. I do have to tweak it a bit to fit my classroom but I've got some time this summer to give it a try with planning. At the conference, I was actually able to get 2 lessons from my Music TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) and I am looking forward to teaching them the first week or so. One is on the 5 voices for kindergarten and the other is dynamics in music for 1st graders. With both K and 1st classes last year, we started oral writing, but in my class they have to sing in complete sentences. Can’t wait to add the spicy sentences. I will be adding more oral writing to 2nd and 3rd grade this year.

I have also spent the past few days working on my own version of the 5 Rules. You can find them in my store on Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT.)

Be looking for more in the coming weeks as I go through the Music Standards. If anyone can help me figure out some hand gestures for the music standards, I would really appreciate it. Leave suggestions in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

Debbie

Things learned from other blogs while at home with the flu

I love to look at other blogs, especially about technology for teachers. Today, as I sat here in bed with the flu (second round for me this year), I read a blog in my list about how to make an outline of any text. The blog is

click here to go to her blog

The instructions were very helpful but I have Microsoft Office 2010 instead of 2007. Not hard to find out how to do it though. After I went through the steps on her blog and did not find the check box for "outline," I noticed a button at the bottom-- "text effects"-- so I clicked on it and there were my options. Here are the steps (borrowed from "A Turn to Learn" and added to for Microsoft Office 2010):

1. Type your message and decide on fonts to use.

 2. Highlight the words (Ctrl+a will select all) and right click. Select "font". (Yes, you can do them all at once.)

3. Click on "Text Effects" at the bottom of the window.

4. Select "no fill" for text.

5. Select Text Outline and "solid fill" and choose color.

Voila!

Don't forget to go by "A Turn to Learn" and check out her "Technology Tuesday" for great tips!

Black Friday, not in my world

I am spending "Black Friday" looking through blogs and posts. I came across this pencil sharpener that I would love to have for my personal use as well as for my classroom. I love "Old School" and, although this is new, it's like improved old school. They are inexpensive and they are giving some away! Here's the link where you can enter to win too.
http://www.classroomfriendlysupplies.com/pages/free-sharpeners#
and here's a picture of the fabulous classroom friendly sharpener:

I'm thinking of ordering for some fellow teachers. What a great teacher gift!
I'm also watching "Band of Brothers" with the hubby and waiting for the rain to start. Hoping cooler weather comes back soon.
Happy shopping!

Permission to Pin

We click “accept terms” without ever reading them. I know I do, don’t you? We’ll join a new page, social site, etc. and click on accept because reading all the legal jargon is, well, boring and takes up too much time.

This subject was brought to my attention by a blogger I follow. In the terms on Pinterest, we have agreed that the pictures we pin are ours legally and that we give Pinterest rights to use those images in any fashion.

All I can say is that I’m glad teachers (and crafters) are all about sharing their ideas. I follow so many blogs and see so many good ideas that I want to share with my fellow teachers on Pinterest. Although I may not used them in my music classroom, I have friends in “regular” classrooms that are always looking for new ways to do thing that may be interesting in something I find.

If, in my pinning, I have pinned something of yours that you don’t want to share, please contact me and I will remove it.

Otherwise, if there is something you see on my blog that you’d like to pin, permission granted.

 

1st day of school

First day of school went fairly well. Using the model I learned at Capturing Kids Hearts worked nicely. The "time-out" signal gets their attention and I think they are beginning to understand what we discussed about the way we treat each other. There were 2 who chose to go to classroom time-out. One 3rd grader, after going through the 4 questions with him because he was talking, straightened up right away. The four questions are:
1. What are you doing? --if you don't get the right answer, ask it again--sometimes "nothing" IS the right answer.
2. What are you supposed to be doing?
3. Were you doing that? --the answer to this one is always "No."
4. What are you going to do about it?

I am working on social contracts with all classes and , hopefully, by the end of their second class with me, the contracts will be completed and signed.

to be continued....

Is it August already?!

August is definitely here in all its hotness. I really feel sorry for the band folks who started summer band practice today. Glad I'm not one of them.
As for me, I head back to school in about a week. I am encouraged by the things I've learned this summer at my workshops and look forward to putting them to the test. I have in my mind to write down some "ponderings" from each day so I can measure how I am doing. Whether or not it will be in this blog or in a notebook has not been decided. I suppose sharing these things would be what this blog is all about. Check back with me towards the end of the month.
God bless.

Summertime

This has been a pretty busy summer for me. I have attended two 3-day conferences, one at the University of North Texas and one at the Round Top Retreat Center in Round Top, TX. Both were excellent conferences.

The first was with John Feierabend learning his way of teaching general music to the kiddos. I've had his books for a while now but didn't quite know how to start. Now I do!

The second was "Capturing Kids Hearts" and not only was the material good, the location was fantastic! If you're ever offered a chance to attend "CKH" anywhere-it's worth the time and money. If it happens to be at the Round Top Retreat Center, even better.

For the first conference, I stayed in a dorm room/cubicle and except for occasionally (I just spelled that correctly without spell check!)eating lunch with people in the class, I pretty much did things on my own. The second conference, I stayed in a beautiful room full of antiques and a friend from my campus and learned that I really need to socialize more. I have one regret from that trip: I did not go into town with them the first night and missed a great opportunity to bond with other teachers from my campus and my district. Feeling left out is not good, but to essentially be the one who chose that for myself was more than not good. I was able to find lots of things to take pictures of around the grounds and that was wonderful, but...

That's all for now. Enjoy the pictures!

a program I really didn't want to do

At the beginning of the school year I met with the other two elementary music teachers in my district to strategize. (For some reason the spell check is not recognizing the word "strategize.") When our curriculum director came in to talk, they balked on me and I was urged to do a program with my second graders. I've been in to the workings of it with the kids since January. They are doing a Texas program. They know several songs, one in Spanish, and a couple of dances (square and a polka)and are doing rather well with it. The program is scheduled for Thursday and I've been getting things ready for it including some decorations. Here is a picture of the cowboy I just finished with--no, I didn't draw him--used an opaque projector and a free coloring page off the internet. I did chalk him in though and I think he looks pretty handsome even if I do say so myself. I'll be glad when Thursday night is over.




Adios amigos!

no fighting no biting

In all the years I have been teaching, I have never had a kid try to bite me before. Until today. It was NOT a good way to start my day. I was a bear the rest of the day.

I also just realized that I don't really remember exactly how many years I've taught. It's either 21 or 22 I think. My husband and I have been discussing it and we'll probably be retiring in 4 1/2 years. That means there are a lot of things that need to get done between now and then. Update two bathrooms, furnish the bedroom that my daughter recently moved out of and purchase a new vehicle. I need one that I can rely on to get me to and from wherever I want to go--which is really wherever my daughter decides to live, visiting my sister in Wyoming and my brother in Vancouver. (I have to get a passport before that trip though.)

As far as retirement itself, I really don't know if I'll actually miss working/teaching full-time or not. I don't miss it during the summer and yet I plan all summer through reading, actual lesson planning, etc. so nothing gets boring. I do have other hobbies I haven't given much time to lately. Also, I will probably still teach the occasional class at Lamar-Orange.

Travel, quilting, photography, reading for fun or to learn something I'm really interested in sounds really inviting. hmm

new year

I am back to school as of Wednesday. Teacher meetings and workdays till the kids come back on the 24th.

I don't feel as ready for the year to start this time as I have in the past. Have not been able to dig into any articles or books on classroom management or anything like that this summer and only went to one day of workshop.

My daughter and I went to see the movie "Julie and Julia" and it was one of those inspiring movies. Either you left inspired to cook or inspired to blog. I think mine was blogging. I'm going to try and blog daily if possible. You never know what I might come up with.

Maybe I'll have time to get some lists made. My daughter, the list maker, has several lists. Short term goals, goals for her first year of teaching, personal goals, etc. I think I'll start off with a list of things I'd like to accomplish in my class this year.

That'll start tomorrow.

A new chapter

I am proud to say that my daughter is officially a teacher. Her first teaching job will be as a reading teacher for 4th grade students. As I told her yesterday, she has been teaching all her life, only now she'll be getting paid for it. And she is passionate about it! So excited--she jabbered all the way to Walmart about all her ideas for her room and the things she wants to teach and ways she wants to present things. We're talking 90 to nothing! I have seen her with kids and they all love her and I think she'll be wonderful--KNOW she'll be wonderful. She has some great ideas. Maybe it'll rub off on me.

summer 2009

What do you do during your summer vacation time? I may be the odd one out but right about the time school is winding down for the year my mind is winding up for the next year. I guess that's because things are fresh on my mind: successes and failures, what worked, what didn't, what I can do about it. I tend to read books on classroom management and methodology and look at websites and blogs of other teachers.

Last summer I read the book The First Six Weeks of School and even presented it through teacher inservice to the rest of the teachers in my building. Looking back at this year, I find that, although I was gungho to start, I needed to go through those notes again to refresh my memory. I wish I had. I'm sure the other teachers probably could've used a refresher course too.

Here are the notes from that presentation for you--and for me .

The First Six Weeks

A review

Intentions During the First Six Weeks:

• Create a climate and tone of warmth and safety.

• Teach the schedule and routines of the school day and our expectations for behavior in each of them.

• Introduce students to the physical environment, and materials of the classroom and the school and teach students how to use and care for them.

• Establish expectations about ways we will learn together in the year ahead.

Responsive Classroom Approach

• The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum.

• How children learn is as important as what children learn.

• The greatest cognitive growth occurs through social interaction.

• Children need a set of social skills in order to be successful academically.

• Knowing the children we teach is as important as knowing the context we teach.

• Knowing the parents of the children we teach is as important as knowing the children.

• Teachers and administration must model the social and academic skills which they wish to teach their children.

Morning Meetings

• 4 components

– Greeting

– Sharing

– Group activity

– Morning message

Greeting

• Teach the children how to greet each other (without leaving anyone out)

– Simple: “Good morning ______.”

– Variations:

• With a handshake

• With a “high five”

• With a pinky shake

• With a touch on the shoulder

• With a wave

Group activities

• Songs:

– “Apples and Bananas”

– “This Old Man”

– “The More We Get Together”

– Any hello song

Morning Message—beginning of the year

• Kindergarten

Morning Message—beginning of the year

• Second grade

Morning Message—middle of the year

• Kindergarten:

Morning Message—middle of the year

• Second grade

Modeling

• Model every procedure

– How to carry chairs in the classroom

– How to line up at the door

– How to use the water fountain/washing station

– How to show that you are listening

– Etc.

• Have students practice

• Reinforce, remind, redirect when necessary

Establishing Rules

Rules fall into one of 4 categories:

• How we treat each other

• How we take care of things

• How we do our work

• How we keep the classroom safe

Apology of Action

Sometimes, saying “I’m sorry” just doesn’t cut it. A child who has hurt someone else’s feelings is required to come up with something that will make the other child feel better. It must fit the “Three R’s”: related, respectful, reasonable.

Conflict Resolution

The injured party must come up with an “I” statement:

“When you _______, I feel ________, because __________, so what I would like is _____________.” (keep this posted)

Student presents it to teacher 1^st then a meeting is set up with the two parties. Other person restates what they’ve heard and tells what they will do or not do again.

Handshake.

Logical Consequences

• A way of responding to misbehavior that is respectful of children and helps them take responsibility for their actions

• --The Three R’s—

– Related

– Respectful

– Reasonable

• Making reparations: “You break it--you fix it”

• Mishandling responsibility: more limits set (teacher takes back responsibility or limits use of something/ with supervision

• Time-out: when a child cannot control himself, teacher takes control—”take a break” (teach this procedure through role playing)

Logical Consequences

• “When we do everything correctly we are showing mastery. When we make mistakes, we have opportunities to learn. Mistakes are noble because in order to make them, we must take risks. It takes courage to step into an area in which we are not sure we will succeed and to try anyway. If we are to learn and grow, we must be willing to take those risks and make the inevitable mistakes. We do need to learn from our mistakes…”

• They’ll learn and grow by fixing mistakes when they make them.