Many teachers intend to spend a good chunk of their summer preparing for the next year. Everything from revamping lessons to taking levels to reading professional development books. Intentions are always good and sometimes goals are achieved (yay!). But every now and then the summer sneaks by and the books and plans sit in a crate in the garage (oops!). Honestly, sometimes this is the best thing you can do as a teacher – take the time to step away and recharge with other interests, friends, and family!
However ,the first day of school is still coming and you must be prepared, or perhaps you just want some fresh ideas for the new year. The Music Crew has put together some amazing ideas and plans to get you started. Take a look at these great blog posts and products to give you back to school season in the music room a boost!
This post from me (Shelley with Pitch Publications) covers the activities I do when going back to school. My goal is to give students the most positive first day back ever! I want them looking forward to music every. single. week. If I can hook them with a super engaging lesson, then they will be receptive to learning all the things! (Plus a little classroom management and discipline coverage thrown in!).
Here is a free back to school checklist from Jennifer at The Yellow Brick Road. It’s editable, so you can customize it for your own needs. And the best part is, you won’t be scrambling on that first day back wondering if you remembered to do everything. Instead, you can just check it off your list!
Here is a great post about back to school in the music room from Ginny with Ginny’s Music Space! She offers some great tips about mentally getting ready and how to make your home life and work life BTS ready!
I love this post from Marti Chandler that is all about back to school with Kindergarten! I struggle the most with working with K students at the very beginning of the year. Marti has some great tips about how to help these little ones settle into procedures in the music room while at the same time having a positive musical experience!
Elizabeth Caldwell from Organized Chaos is truly the most organized person I have ever met. I really want her to come and literally organize my whole life. Every tip she gives is golden! Take a look at her ideas for organizing your music room whether this is your first year or 20th in the same room! This post covers everything from classroom setup to planners, behavior management to assessments, and so much more. Use this as your back-to-school checklist and you’re guaranteed to have an awesome year!
This post from Sally’s Sea of Songs shows you how you can get immediately back into making music even on the very first day! Sometimes we got bogged down in administrative and classroom management things the first week. Remember to give kids a musical experience too and this activity is the perfect way to do it!
This post from Linda at Floating Down the River has some great ideas for giving student’s jobs in the music room. She picks a kid to be a kind of “leader of the day” and they get to sit in her custom VIP Chair! She discusses how she made the chair in the post too!
This post from Anne with Anacrusic is the first in a series of posts about back to school. She covers everything from rules and discipline plans to great activities for back to school!
This post from Jennifer Foxx with Music Educator Resources offers some fantastic ideas for get to you know you games and activities. This is such an important area to focus on. We all feel more open to sharing ideas and speaking up in a situation where we know our peers!
Take a look at some of these great products to get you through first few days and weeks of school! Everything from full plans K-5 to simple games and activities for your kids to have a great start to the year! You can also click here to see a list on Teachers Pay Teachers!
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