2015-2016 Revised Music Teacher Planner - Chapter 5 - Meetings, Notes and Budgets

This chapter is the final chapter of the planner.  You will find a variety of note taking templates for all of the wonderful meetings we get to attend.  For myself, I find it useful to keep my professional development notes separate from my every day meetings.  I also found that this last year, my notes section wasn't quite big enough, so I decided to actually remove my weekly calendar to buy some additional note taking real estate.  

You will also find budget and financial planning templates in this chapter.

Being good stewards of the resources we are entrusted with is extremely important.  To do less than our best in this area can only cause problems.  Furthermore, when you are trying to build or maintain a solid program, investments in music and equipment are necessary.  In these days when budgets are always decreasing while the needs stay constant, it's a great idea to get creative about how we find resources.  Multiple funding opportunities means a need for very purposeful planning and record keeping so that you can make every work for your program.

DOWNLOAD CHAPTER 5 HERE

If you would like to download chapter 1 click   HERE! 

If you would like to download chapter 2 click HERE! 

If you would like to download chapter 3 click HERE! 

If you would like to download chapter 4 click HERE! 

Advise about printing:  

The PDF files that are linked here include pages as I have them set up for my own planner.  Your needs may be different than mine so feel free to print more or less of any given page. You will notice that each page is either left or right of center.  This is to allow for binding or hole punching. 

For best results try to arrange your planner so that when your book is open an even numbered page is on the left and an odd numbered page is on the right.  

Please remember that all parts of this planner are intended as a gift to busy music teachers who spend hours of their own time and regularly contribute their own money to the cause of making their music classrooms a haven of learning through music.  If you choose to use any part of this planner please do not sell it.  If you choose to share any part of this planner with others, please share the link to the blog rather than downloading and then mass producing planners for others.

If you find any part of the planner useful or if you have a request or suggestion please leave a comment below.

2015-2016 Revised Music Teacher Planner - Chapter 3 - Roadmaps, Checklists, lesson plans and calendars

I use this section of my planner to plan my year. Without this section of the planner I would be          L O S T .  My favorite part is the "roadmapping pages".  I find that I refer to them throughout the year as I write lesson plans and make adjustments as needed.  In order to make the file a manageable size I only included "master" roadmapping pages and "master" lesson plans pages.  You will want to consult a calendar and figure out how many you need.  When I printed my personal planner I included two more than the calendar led me to believe I would need. 

DOWNLOAD CHAPTER 3 HERE

Use this template to decide when each standard will fit best within your grading timeframe

Use this template to build a "roadmap" for each grade level.  As each lesson is taught, check it off so that you can keep track of what specific groups are missing

Use this lesson plan template to add details to your lessons - Since my district uses an online system, I don't include this template in my personal planner anymore. 

Use this calendar to track when lessons are taught.

If you would like a blank calendar to use year after year, or a weekly calendar you can click HERE! 

Advise about printing:  

The PDF files that are linked here include pages as I have them set up for my own planner.  Your needs may be different than mine so feel free to print more or less of any given page. You will notice that each page is either left or right of center.  This is to allow for binding or hole punching. 

For best results try to arrange your planner so that when your book is open an even numbered page is on the left and an odd numbered page is on the right.  

Please remember that all parts of this planner are intended as a gift to busy music teachers who spend hours of their own time and regularly contribute their own money to the cause of making their music classrooms a haven of learning through music.  If you choose to use any part of this planner please do not sell it.  If you choose to share any part of this planner with others, please share the link to the blog rather than downloading and then mass producing planners for others.

If you find any part of the planner useful or if you have a request or suggestion please leave a comment below.

2015-2016 Revised Music Teacher Planner - Chapter 1 - Contacts and Communication Log

So after a year of using my planner I love it more than ever, but  now after almost a year of use I have a MUCH better idea of how I would like my planer to actually function.  With that in mind, I have decided to create a revised version for this next year.  I've cleaned up some errors, moved some things around,  added some things and taken out others. I am sharing my edits with you!

If you like the old version fine and would like to continue to use it, please feel free to do so.  You can find the first chapter for download here.

CHAPTER 1 - CONTACTS AND COMMUNICATION LOG

 

Advise about printing:  

The PDF files that are linked here include pages as I have them set up for my own planner.  Your needs may be different than mine so feel free to print more or less of any given page. You will notice that each page is either left or right of center.  This is to allow for binding or hole punching. 

For best results try to arrange your planner so that when your book is open an even numbered page is on the left and an odd numbered page is on the right.  

Please remember that all parts of this planner are intended as a gift to busy music teachers who spend hours of their own time and regularly contribute their own money to the cause of making their music classrooms a haven of learning through music.  If you choose to use any part of this planner please do not sell it.  If you choose to share any part of this planner with others, please share the link to the blog rather than downloading and then mass producing planners for others.

If you find any part of the planner useful or if you have a request or suggestion please leave a comment below.

The Collaborative To-Do list! - Google Sheets to the Rescue

I am so blessed to work with an amazing, talented, steady, organized and hard working co-teacher. We have a great time working together!

Like all successful partnerships we each bring strengths and weaknesses to the table. One of the things we have in common is that at least in our professional lives we are both morning people.  By the afternoon we are D-O-N-E done!   We are TIRED!  We are ready to go home!    When you are tired it's REALLY REALLY hard to remember what important things need to be done.  Most of the time, nothing has to be finished as much as progress needs to be made each day.  All too often, at the end of the day we would find ourselves blanked out in front of our email with no task coming to mind.  Once in a while that's fine, but ya'll know that things go much better and mistakes are avoided when you can take the time to be methodical.    

Because we are partners we sometimes have the ability to divide tasks according to our interest and ability.  That works out great unless you can't remember who is doing what, then you might end up doing the same thing twice..... At a previous school with a previous co-teacher we kept one entire whiteboard covered with an ongoing list....  The way our rooms were set up it meant that both of us could easily see our list at all times....  My current situation doesn't really have a place like that.... BUT we have googledrive!  

Within our partnership we have been relying more and more on google drive on our collaborative work, but a couple of months ago we created a shared "To Do" list using Google Sheets.   

It has worked REALLY REALLY well....  It changes all the time and there is no real formatting involved but it is a place that we can go to keep our "To Do" list together and available.  

We have room to make notes and we have created a sort of short hand.... When there is something that you are working on, you just enter your initial into the cell before the item.... that way my team mate or I can move on....  

Now when we get done with dismissal duty and our mind is blank of any idea other than the thought that we should get something (anything) done we have a place to start.

When you get ready to create your own collaborative "to do" list, all you have to do is create the spreadsheet and then share it with the people who you want to collaborate with.  It is important that everyone on the team of collaborators has the ability to edit.  It is a little strange to be working on a document and see another cursor moving around and having letters appear that I am not typing, but it is a very efficient and effective way to share the work that needs doing!  Have fun!

Lesson Menus For Substitutes in the Music Classroom - FREE DOWNLOAD!

There are several things that are true about having a sub in your music class. 

• You can almost never afford to tread water with the class you miss because you won't see them again until next week. 
• You never know who you will get as your sub, or their confidence level.  If you are blessed you will end up with a retired music teacher but it is equally likely that you will have a very kind sub who is not a confident musician and won't be comfortable singing.  You might even have a sub who has trouble running the CD player. 
• Your sub needs choices.  When you have a musician as a sub, you don't want to disappoint them by having your students watch a video and if you have someone is musically uncomfortable, you still want them to be successful.  CHOICES are AWESOME!
• Your students will act better if they have choices and expectations
• Hands-on involved activities will work better than passive ones
• Videos are never as effective as we wish they were and often cause discipline problems due to lack of engagement. 
• Subs are often ill equipped to use technology and when would your technology most likely have a problem?  When the sub is there.... just to make their day more interesting. 
• Even if you can't move ahead with this class, students can always use more time to practice newly acquired skills. 

That is why I developed a series of LESSON MENUS for my Sub tub. 
WHAT??

Yep!  a LESSON MENU!

Here is how it works. 

• This semester I have  3 different menus. (K-2), 3, (4-5)   next semester after the 3rd grade show, I will redo the menus so that they are (K-1), (2-3) (4-5).
• Each activity has an approximate time and a point value.
• The activities range in complexity and level of involvement in order to offer more in depth more interesting work for subs who can handle it and more accessible work for subs who need something simpler. 
• Each menu item contains a brief description, but more in depth instructions and additional materials are in the Sub Tub including recordings, books, worksheets and game instructions. 
• Most of my Menu items are ones that my students already have experienced and enjoyed, like the rhythm scavenger hunt.  This year I used the rhythm scavenger hunt as a pre-assessment in order to determine what needed the most focus during review before moving onto grade the new rhythms for the new year.  So that I could assess more than one grade level at a time, I color coded the cards.  3rd-5th had to do yellow, 4th had to look for yellow and orange and 5th grade had to find yellow, orange and blue.   I LOVE scavenger hunts because they serve as a great way to review anything.   If you would like to read my original post about Scavenger Hunts - click HERE.

August and Early September:
Nothing can replace the Emergency Plans - At the beginning of the year, in addition to classroom procedures I have a VERY simple Emergency plan in case I am out before I have had a chance to front load my students.   Those plans are exactly what my students used this year when I missed the 2nd week of school with a high fever and sinus infection.    Below you will find exactly what I have for my Emergency Plans.  They aren't the best, but they will do in a pinch.   ALL of the materials that are needed are in the SUB TUB. 


If you decide that you take a look at my Lesson Menus you will notice that one option for the sub is to sing a song and do an activity out of the Sub Survivor book.

This book is AWESOME! and I highly recommend it!

FREE DOWNLOADS BELOW!!!!  

Kinder, 1st & 2nd Lesson Menu

3rd grade Lesson Menu

4th & 5th grade Lesson Menu

EMERGENCY SUB PLANS

Back To School - Music Room Tour - part 2 -2014

One of the joys of not being new anymore is that I've had all year to inhabit my classroom and learn how the room flows with students in it.  As a result, my room set up is a little more refined and indicative of the way that students actually use the space. I finished my room last Friday and decided to hurry up and take pictures of everything before I messed it up again!    I'm very pleased with how things turned out...

The view from the entrance

 

my teaching nook

 

My computer area.... My personal CD collection is not yet put away because it is in need of some TLC

CD player and CD cabinet

The red bucket is where I keep my "today" teaching things.  The notebook is where I will keep printed lesson plans.  Objectives and reminders will be written next to the grade levels. 

I have the electric keyboard in the front of class because although I'm not a great accompanist, I like to play for class.  I'm much more likely to be successful if I am seated rather than standing on tiptoe over an upright.  I almost never use the removable music stand and prefer to play with my music flat on the keyboard so that I can see my students better. 



Our Orff instruments are always out.  We don't want them to get dusty.  Bandanas from Hobby Lobby some in a ton of colors and patterns and work great.  2 cover a bass.



I left this bulletin board blank on purpose because it will hold anchor charts as we create them.  The genre posters I hope to use during listening lessons

The recorders on top will eventually be assigned to students who need them so they don't have to share.  The drawer below has extra new recorders for 5th graders who might not have purchased a recorder yet.   Oh yeah, here is my pencil sharpener! :)



Managing instructional materials for 6 grades can be tough especially if some materials are shared.   Extra copies, shared resources, things that we are getting ready to teach.... THIS is the area where I will organize those things. 



This the view of the back wall from my "real" piano.... :)



I am going to try to house my textbooks like this.  I don't know if I'll like it, but I didn't think my plan last year was very effective.... SOOOO we'll try this and see how it goes. 

Each class has a folder to help me keep track of student work. 



When I look at this picture, I realize that I've got to sort my mallets. 
These bins are the perfect size for a class set of recorders.



pocket charts for my word wall. 



The empty shelves at the back will hopefully be the right size to store some of the things we may need for our upcoming performances. 



Have you ever notice that things accumulate over the year?  I think  I've finally left room for things I will receive.... like giant boxes of recorders, or performance shirts



Oh my goodness!  I have a desk! AND it's cleaned off!



Having been a teacher for so long I have a fairly extensive collection of things that I have made over the years that I keep on my laptop.  My resolution for the year is to actually set up my laptop everyday so that I can have access to those hidden treasures if I need them.  I would also really like to keep a clean desk.  After 15 years of teaching I don't know if it's possible, but its a new year and I can try.  MAYBE my desk decorations will last through the end of the first day....maybe not.... double sided tape is my friend.... If it gets messed up.... oh well!   This also reminds me that I need to do a post about sub plans.... one of these days! :)



who can resist musical bathroom passes? 

With school starting on Monday, I may not be free to write again for awhile, but I hope that everyone has a great time going back to school this year!

Back to School - Music Room Tour - 2014

 

  When you get to share a space with your favorite co-teacher, it's important to create a space where both folks can work easily, because it's a place you will spend a lot of time in throughout the year. Everything should have a place.    When you want to decorate and organize on the cheap there are a few tips that will help. 

1.  Be neat!  - Being neat is FREE! Did you know that turning magazine holders so that the high side faces looks neater even if you are like me and not particularly organized?  Before we changed anything our office environment improved tremendously just because we turned the magazine holders around to cover the mess.  Then over the summer we had a chance to organize things a little and it's improved!

2. If you are looking for cheap magazine holders, they aren't ghosts, they exist!  I got some magazine holders from IKEA!  You can't beat the price!

 

 

 

 

3.  Good wrapping paper!  I found some wrapping paper on sale at the container store. This paper is wonderful! Check it out HERE!

4.  Colorful and patterned Scotch Expressions (masking tape) .  Use this sparingly on surfaces that won't be hurt by the sticky side.... Masking tape is really much better for this than duct tape because it is easy to remove and as long as you are in a climate controlled environment it won't leave a residue.  The best selection is at Office Depot. Two rolls took care of ALL of the decorating that I did.

 Here is the product info for the masking tape I used

Blue Quatrefoil 3437-P9 00-051141-97688-4


 Here is a multimedia catalog for all the various types of tape made by Scotch.

5.  When you get ready to hang things on a wall that you don't own, use command hooks!!!  The best selection is at Joann, but not online, you'll want to go to the store.  

 

Here is my current favorite: HERE! 

 

 

 

 

 

Music Makes Me Happy - Bulletin Board - Fall 2014

A few days ago I posted about some clip art I created.  I used the clipart in these posters for my hallway bulletin board.  I'm pleased with the way that everything tuned out.    I printed my posters at OfficeMax on 11x17 paper and then had them hard laminated.  I was VERY reasonably priced and cheaper than buying a poster set at the teacher store. 

 

DOWNLOAD music clip art!

 

 

Music Teacher Planner and Management Notebook- part 6 - Meeting Notes

to download the sixth and final section of the planner - click on the link below!!!!

DOWNLOAD Meeting Notes

• Meeting Notes- A place for larger more in depth meeting notes
• Small Meeting Notes - A place for notes for smaller meetings

Please visit PART 1 to download contacts and call records
Please visit PART 2 to download seating charts & lesson trackers
Please visit PART 3 to download roadmaps, monthly and weekly calendar
Please visit PART 4 to download performance & field trip planner
Please visit PART 5 to download budget planner

Recommendations for printing and using your planner: 

1. All pages are intended to be viewed in a 2-page spread with a 1.25 center margin.  This is to allow for spiral binding or hole punching while leaving plenty room for writing.  You don't have to change the margins for it to print correctly, but the center margin is the reason why the even numbered pages are slightly left and the odd numbered pages are slightly right.... it is not a mistake.

2.  When you open the this section 2 -  there will be a blank page, THIS page is not a part of the planner.   it is really only a place holder so that the page layout will work, so there is no need to print it.  The title page will be a separate download. You can either wait for my generic title page or you can create your own.  I can't wait to look at my family photos every day!  

3.  When printed, my planner was approximately 150 pages front and back because I know how many pages I need.   Only you know how many of each page you need, with that in mind, make sure that you set up your printing precisely.  It might be easiest to print one of each page that you want and then go from there. 

Music Teacher Planner and Management Notebook- part 2 - seating charts, lesson trackers, checklists

Thanks for stopping by!  Here is your chance to download a seating chart, a lesson tracker and a checklists that I created to use this year.  In order to use space wisely, I've also been able to sneak in some rubric templates, so the rubrics you create will always be nearby when you are ready for assessment.  

 

 

When I printed my planner at OfficeMax, I included some of the following features:

• a clear plastic cover, a vinyl back cover and a black spiral. 
• a title page printed on glossy card stock with family photos
• quick reference card printed on the back of the title page card stock, everything else has been printed front & back is on medium weight paper in order to reduce bleed through.
• I was able to print it from a jump drive at Office Max.  In 20 minutes and for about $30 I had the perfect planner for me.

 to download the second section of the planner - click on the link below!!!!

DOWNLOAD Seating Charts, lesson trackers & checklists!

• seating charts - keep track of behaviors or special needs
• lesson trackers - a place to keep track of what a particular class has learned
• checklists - keep them right behind each seating chart and use them for assessment or keep them in their own section and keep track of returned items.
• rubric- keep a rubric at hand for all of those skills you teach

Please visit PART 1 to download contacts and call records

Recommendations for printing and using your planner: 

 

1. All pages are intended to be viewed in a 2-page spread with a 1.25 center margin.  This is to allow for spiral binding or hole punching while leaving plenty room for writing.  You don't have to change the margins for it to print correctly, but the center margin is the reason why the even numbered pages are slightly left and the odd numbered pages are slightly right.... it is not a mistake.

2.  When you open the this section 2 -  there will be a blank page, THIS page is not a part of the planner.   it is really only a place holder so that the page layout will work, so there is no need to print it.  The title page will be a separate download. You can either wait for my generic title page or you can create your own.  I can't wait to look at my family photos every day!  

3.  When printed, my planner was approximately 150 pages front and back because I know how many pages I need.  Only you know how many of each page you need, with that in mind, none of the pages in my PDFs will be duplicated.