Spring Break Recital Project!

Happy Monday readers!  As an elementary beginning band instructor a few of the challenges of my job are Thanksgiving break, winter break, and finally spring break.  These are the long extended times when my students will either leave their instrument at school to collect dust or take it home and forget about it, forget how to play it and finally forget that they joined the band in the first place.  In order to overcome this challenge a mentor teacher of mine introduced me to a Thanksgiving Break Recital project which gave extra credit to students who performed for their families and made their own programs.  After trying this out for the first time last year I have adapted it to use for spring break as well!

I've included some bolded vocabulary terms that I realized some of my students didn't know.  It also gives them plenty of room for creativity as I had some students make posters with pictures of their performances or make their own programs.  If they don't want to go to those lengths this does fold nicely into a program they can use as well.

My hope is that this will encourage them to perform for their families more often and to get used to playing alone.  By this time in spring however they have had plenty of opportunities for solo playing in class as well as at the solo and ensemble festival a dozen of my students participated in this past weekend.  I even discovered that some of my 4th grade teachers have allowed them to play a short song for their peers at the end of the school day!

Hopefully this can help anyone who is also struggling to get their students back into playing after extended breaks.  Does anyone else do something similar?

Have a great week!

Fashion Friday: Faux-Infinity and Beyond

Happy Friday!  It was Thursday morning when I woke up angry at whoever was calling so early on a “Saturday” when I realized that this was a long week.  Not only is Solo and Ensemble Festival tomorrow but we also have a “Cluster Concert” (concert with the elementary schools, middle schools and high school students) next Wednesday, Spring Break in 1 week, Spring Concerts in May, Six Flags trip, 3rd grade recruiting events in June, and finally 6th grade promotion.  The time is flying by and I’m starting to wonder how much longer I’ll actually have my kids this year!  I guess it’s time to go into operation end of year!  

I’m sure I’m not the only one who, with the long awaited arrival of spring, feels like the concert season has caught up with us and so quick!  I also realize that the past few weeks this has seemed more like a fashion blog and not so much about education however I do have some fun posts planned for next week.  I’ve recently purchased a ukulele and I’ve been pretty sidetracked with that.  

So here’s today’s Fashion Friday!  I wore this to church on a recent warm day.  I’m beyond excited to start ditching the tights and wearing skirts again!

Boots: DSW

Dress: Piperlime

Belt: Target

Jacket: Gap

Scarf: Target? American Eagle? 

By now you’re probably wondering why I called this “Faux-Inifinity and Beyond”.  Well, the scarf is actually not an infinity scarf!  I tied it in a knot and put the knot in the back.  Ta Da!  Infinity scarf.  I’d probably iron it next time so that it doesn’t look as bunched up.  

Have a great weekend!

Fashion Friday: Olive You

Happy Friday!  Today is an at home grading and planning day for me, which is one of the best things that my school district has to offer.  I'm glad to say that I'm already done with my grades!  4th Quarter here I come!  Lots of things to look forward to this quarter with spring concerts, cluster concerts, Six Flags Trip, Solo and Ensemble Festival, Instrument Circus!  I'm very excited and energized to go into it!  Here's a fun "Is it spring yet?" outfit?

 Boots: DSW

Skirt: Target

Sparkly Belt: Target

Olive Top: Target

Tan Cardigan: J. Crew

Necklace: Forever 21

Watch: Fossil

Hope you all have a great weekend!  I don't have too much planned for this weekend, which is a welcome change.  Anyone else excited to start wrapping up the school year?

Fashion Friday: Southern Sparkle

Finally it’s Friday.  I don’t know about you but this week seemed to be so long even with a snow day on Monday.  I’m really starting to get excited about some of the music I’m playing with my students!  Progress, finally!  This week I moved three of my beginners to my advanced band at one of my schools and the difference it’s making has been really wonderful!  I’m happy to see how the change for students who were just miles ahead of their peers has motivated them to play more challenging music.  It’s also putting some pressure on my older students who haven’t been practicing or playing well to step up their game.  

My goal is to have three different level groups at all of my schools but right now I have 3 levels at one school and 2 at the other.  Just for reference I teach 4th - 6th grade.  Though next year some of my schools will lose their 6th grade so I’m not really sure how that will effect me yet.  

Well, onto fashion friday!  Here’s an outfit I wore to see Green River Ordinance.  They are a great band and have a country / rock sound.  I obviously love to break out the cowboy boots for concerts :-) 

 Boots: Country Store in PA

Jeans: American Eagle

Sequin Shirt: J.Crew

Cardigan: Target

Necklace: Nordstrom Rack

Watch: Fossil

Hair Tie: CVS ;-) 

Have a great weekend!  I’m hoping to start an orchestra (both my advanced band and orchestras will perform together) arrangement of “Happy” if I can find the motivation.  In other news I am learning to play the ukulele to use with my summer camp program!  It’s going pretty well so far.  Over the summer I do general music type activities with children ages 3 - 13 in Alexandria, VA.  It’s a blast.  I’ll definitely be posting about some of what I have planned for that.

Teaching Portfolio: Update

After getting so much views on my Teaching Portfolio post I decided to add another post about some of the other materials I’ve added since.

The first page I added to my portfolio section is a list of Method books that I have studied or used.  In the interview for my current position I was asked to go into detail about which method books I used in college and in my instrument methods courses, which I had no recollection.  So I went back into my college notebooks and attempted to find the syllabi for those courses and see which methods I used.  I also included books that I use with my band and orchestra as well as any other literature that I’ve studied personally.

The next page I added in addition to my resume, cover letter and list of references.  It’s a list of repertoire that I have performed.  I had to make this for my grad school application and decided that it could be useful to have in my portfolio as well.

 I also included two scores of songs I have arranged for my students, “Drummer Boy Samba” for band and “The James Bond Theme” for strings.

Hopefully this will help anyone as this part could be useful as a graduate school admission portfolios as well.  Feel free to leave a comment on anything you think could be used as well!  

Thanks for reading,

Fashion Friday: In like a lion and out like a lamb

Happy Friday!  Here’s a quick fashion friday post for you all before I start the weekend!  This week was pretty uneventful due to state testing.  Very glad to have that behind us now.  I had an observation today by my vice principal, which I think went really well.  She was even trying to help my bass player out.  Good thing that kid has it together and didn’t need much help.  I’m also really glad that all of my students had their instrument and my one student who has a cast on her arm (and plays violin) was able to figure out the metallophone I gave her to use instead.  

I’m looking forward to next week when (hopefully) my students won’t be so confused about the testing schedule.  Anyone else in a similar boat?  

Boots - DSW

Black Jeans - Urban Outfitters

Plaid Shirt - Old Navy

Green Vest - Old Navy

Jean Jacket - Gap

Scarf - Flee Markey

Bag - Michael Kohrs (via Marshalls)

Have a great weekend everyone!  

Teaching Portfolio

*Update - I’ve added another post on some additions to my portfolio!  Check it out HERE*

I've recently found some wonderful pins about professional portfolios and decided that it was time for me to revamp my own.  Hopefully this will be able to help any soon to be college graduates when planning their own!  It's definitely been helpful to have so many pictures to use since I've started the blog.  I recommend taking lots of pictures of your classroom for this reason!

This will be a great way to showcase the work I've done and give evidence to administrators when I'm being observed of the things I do in my class they might not see that day.  It will also be helpful for any future interviews or meetings with principals to have the ability to quickly find photos and documents.

Here is the cover of my portfolio:

I found it at Target and thought it was a fun, inviting pattern.

Inside I designed a cover page that has my phone number, email and includes a photo of myself and students who performed at the solo and ensemble festival last April.

 Next, I included a cover page which is a combination of my cover letter and my teaching philosophy.  It summarizes what I have included in the portfolio and has another photo of myself.

My next section is a snapshot of my classroom management and set-up.  It tells about the different things I am doing in my classrooms to help with behavior and positive reinforcement.

 Following that is a section on differentiation.  I included many ways that I differentiate such as the learning process and class structure, stand partners, my positioning, student interest, visuals, pre and post testing, student ownership and choices, procedure, group making, and karate belts.

 I included a section on recruitment and retention that describes my recruiting process and successes with retention.  I talk about retention both in elementary school but also through to middle and high school.

 The last page of my "classroom" section is on parent communication which talks about my newsletter and information I send home with students.

 Following this section I've included professional certificates, my resume and references, transcripts, praxis scores, lesson plans, evaluations, observations, example of curriculum I've written, awards and programs.  As you can see it's quite full.

 I would still like to include method books that I have both studied and used as well as a repertoire list of pieces that I have performed with my students and performed professionally.  I will also include a score of a piece I arranged.

I also made smaller portfolios in case I need to leave information with anyone or school.  It includes my resume, references, teaching certificate, transcripts, praxis scores and a teaching brochure which summarizes my classroom section, philosophy and cover letter.  It also includes a photo to help put a face to the portfolio.

 I made a few of them…

Hope this helps someone!  What do you do with your professional portfolio?  Is there something I don't include that you do?  I'd love any feedback so feel free to share or leave a comment!