Staying Organized in the Music Room: Three of My Favorite Things

With a busy teaching schedule, after school commitments and family life, staying organized is a must.  In my classroom I am often preparing for a concert with one grade (sometimes two different concerts!) as well as teaching my curriculum.  With hundreds of students a week, it can be overwhelming keeping everything organized.  Here are few of my favorite things for keeping my sanity in the music classroom.

1.  Playlists for Everything

This may seem like an obvious one, but keeping a playlist for each class or grade level can be super handy.  I also make playlists for concert songs, seasons and holidays, movement activities, scarf activities and more.  These playlists are organized in playlist folders.  I use iTunes for the most part, but also organize music on other streaming platforms too.

In iTunes go to File, New and select Playlist or Playlist Folder to get started.  You can create the folder and then drag any existing playlists to it and drop them in.  Here's a quick look at mine.   Notice the playlists and folders on the left.

2.  Category Boxes

I have several magazine boxes that sit on the shelf behind my desk.  I call them my category boxes.  They hold books, CDs, manipulative, folders, IEPs, classroom forms (office referrals, etc...), tidbits of inspiration, resources and more.  All of these things don't fit on a shelf or in a folder neatly as they are different shapes and sizes.  The category boxes collect all of these items and group them by topic.  

Some of my categories are ukulele resources, choir, classroom forms, song books, and seasonal and holidays.  Two of my most used boxes are the ones marked "File Me" (where I stash things that I need to file out of sight) and "Great Ideas" which is a place to put some great ideas of activities I want to try or centers and manipulative I want to make.

3.  Seating Charts that Serve Double Duty

Teaching every student in the school makes seating charts a necessity for me.  I also use them to record assessments, to note learners that need accommodations, to note behaviors until I can record them more formally, and of course to take attendance!  Read more about my seating chart in my blog post, Music Assessments with Seating Charts.

Note:  This looks real, but the names and data are fiction.

I hope you'll try one of my favorite ways to stay organized in the music room this year.  Let me know some of your favorite ones here or on Facebook.

Friday Favorites: Pillows, Chickens and Music Stuff

Fridays are for favorites!  I hope you enjoy reading about some of my favorite things this week.

Customized Pillows - I use a reading center in almost every one of my center rotations.  I usually have some kind of rug, a few pillows, a funky lamp and books!  This year I made a few customized pillows with Vista Print.  I LOVE the way the turned out and they colors are bright and beautiful.  To create your own just upload a logo, graphic or picture.  You can put the same picture on both sides or mix it up a bit.  Don't purchase anything on Vista Print without a coupon.  There is always a coupon!

Squeezy Chickens -  Look what I found at Walmart this week!  They are cheaper than ones I have found on Amazon.   I love squeezy chickens and so do my students!  I use these as fun props in relay racing games.  On their feet I right a letter from the musical alphabet.  Then I create tiny rhythm cards or tags and tie them on to their necks.

Next, I lay them in a line at the front of the room.  If we are working on pitch names, I'll show a flashcard or pop one up on the screen that has one note on the staff.  When I say "go" a student from each team runs to the front and grabs the chicken with the correct letter and squeezes the chicken.  If we are working on rhythm, I clap one of the rhythms on the chicken then say go.  This is great for review and for times when you might have a few extra minutes.  My students ask for the game all the time!

We Shall Overcome - I learned this song in elementary school and a few years ago I added this beautifully illustrated book to my classroom library.  I think I am going to read/sing it to my classes this year.  I found a video on Youtube video of an elementary music teacher reading and singing this book that you might like to hear.  Click here for the video.  

Rainbow and Clouds Bulletin Board Border - I really have SO many sets of border that I don't need to buy any for another ten years, but they keep making the most beautiful sets so I keep buying.  This year I used it with a black and white scribble patterned border for my Have a Magical Time in Music bulletin board.  I think that next year I may use it to border my desk. It is created by Creative Teaching Press.  LOVING it!