Sunday, August 24, 2014

My Music Room Set Up

So excited to finally have time to post pictures of My Music Room Set Up.  I'm linking up with Aileen Miracle at MrsMiraclesMusicRoom.


This year I decided on the theme of mustaches - partly because I just love them but also because they are one of my daughters favorite things!  

My room does not have a great deal of stuff to 'decorate'.  I decided to focus on the bulletin board by my door, the window in my door and the wall outside of my room.  I also must give a shout out to Katie Wynkoop and my daughter for their amazing help in setting up the room!  I couldn't have done it without their help!

The bulletin board right inside my door is seen by everyone, either as they walk into the room or as they are walking in the hallway. This is also the area of the room where I choose my start student at the end of each class, so we spend a good amount of time looking at it and I wanted it to be bright and cheerful.  I used a Cricut Machine to cut out the letters and stapled tissue paper squares onto the board to make the mustache 3-d like.


Here is the wall outside of my room where I went went "Do you know this 'stache' of famous people?"  I made frames out of paper that I printed out in a wood pattern, typed up a sign with the name, dates and what they are famous for and then added black mustache decals from Amazon.com to each one!  The kids (and parents) have really enjoyed checking them out.   I included both composers and artists.  They are: Saint-Seans, Beethoven, Monet, Grieg, Kandinsky, Picasso, VanGogh, Wood, Tchaikovsky and Copland.  These were chosen because I bring them into the music classroom at different points of the school year.   Again, I cut out the letters on a Cricut Machine but this time I got smart and used Avery whole page labels so that the backs were sticky - it went so much faster!

Lastly, my door.  It is very large and has lots of glass - which I do like being able to see through.  so I did not cover up the entire thing so that we could see in and out as well have get some light.  (This picture is taken looking into the hallway from my room).  I printed out letters and taped to black construction paper.  The mustaches are vinyl clings that I purchased from amazon.com.

I also have lots of space beside and above my door, so I decided to put a little mustache decoration there too.
Shout out to The Bulletin Board Lady - Tracy King for the Mustache Welcome Banner FREEBIE!  Love it - you can download it here

I found these pencil eraser toppers at the dollar store and set them in my window sill.  Not sure how many students have seen them because they are a little high, but many teachers have walked by and stood in the window so it looked like they had a mustache!  I love that!

I also placed my mustache themed rules from my teacherspayteachers store at the front of my classroom but I seemed to have deleted that picture!  Here is what they look like:


Here are some other pictures of my classroom (just to give you an idea of my space).  Lots of storage and movement room.  Both pictures are taken from the front of the room and you cannot see the SmartBoard and my computer desk.  



Hope you have enjoyed seeing my room.  It has been a great start to the school year for me - I hope your start has been or will be as good!



Sunday, August 3, 2014

Products for Prep

Happy August to all my teacher friends out there! Ok, I'll be honest, I'm not so sure that I'm really happy that it is August, I've had a great summer with family and friends and am not really ready for it to end just yet!  But, that being said, I am excited to start (ok not really start becaue I've been thinking all summer about this) thinking about my classroom set up, bulletin boards, new teaching strategies and working with my colleagues at Indian Trail Elementary!


This week brings the wonderful TeachersPayTeachers back to school sale! My entire store will be 20% off and if you use the code BYS14 you will save an additional 8%!!  I know that my wish-listed items will soon be a dream come true!  Click on the picture to go directly to my store to find all the deals!  Thanks to Jena Hudson from Sew Much Music for the graphic!

I am also excited to link up with Aileen Miracle at MrsMiracleMusicRoom for the Products for Prep Linky Party!



As I begin work for the 2014-15 school year, I am first thinking of a theme for my classroom.  Inspired by my daughter's love of all things mustache, I have gone with a 'stache theme!!  I've created these classroom signs, rules, posters, tags and binder covers to use in my room.  

I also have an idea about a couple of bulletin boards stewing right now - more to come on that later in the week!


Another thing that I do for all of my 1st and 2nd grade students is choose a star student at the end of each music class.  With my 2nd graders a star student is chosen on the first day of music class because they know the routine from 1st grade - which is great, but I have to have my ducks in a row to be ready for them.  To help with that I've created a star student Smartboard template complete with page links, different colored stars and a free font (used with permission from MrsMiraclesMusicRoom).  


Click here read more about how I incorporate star students into my teaching by reading this previous blog post.



As the school year begins, it is necessary to review songs, games and concepts from the previous year.  I am excited to use many of the games that I put together in my file, Activities to Practice Rhythm using Flashcards.  

This download comes with everything you need - over a dozen activities and games as well as 9 sets of flashcards! Check it out!


Lastly, I am super super excited to use Sara Bibee's Music Jeopardy - Frozen Rhythm Game!  I snatched this one up during the $2TuesdayMusicFlashSale (if you don't know, look for this great sale on the first or second Tuesday of the month - great products for only $2!!!).  At the end of last school year, I shared the Piano Guys "Let It Go (Disney's Frozen") Vivaldi's Winter youtube video with my students.  They were MESMERIZED!!! (click here to watch it - if you do not know the Piano Guys, check them out soon!!!).  I can't wait for my students to play this version of the Jeopardy Game.  Thanks Sara!!!


Hope you find some great products to support your start to the school year!!!