Retro Groovy Classroom Tour

I am looking forward to have the grooviest year ever!  This year I decided to embrace the cool, retro vibe that is appearing in fashion, home furnishings and more.  I hope you'll enjoy this peek of my classroom.

My desk is in the front corner of my room.  It holds every pen or pencil known to man and the mixer box for my classroom speakers.  I play music through my computer but it is set up to quickly play from my phone if I need to.

This wall contains my light up treble staff and the board where I'll post my student objectives for the week.  I am in the smallest room I've taught in and storage is limited for instruments.  On this board I have the descriptors for our grading scale. We use standards based grading and I ask students to check where they are with our learning goals for the day and show me by raising fingers to go with the scale below.  

The chicken's name is HENnifer Lopez.  She is sometimes used as a reward.

 

This light up treble staff display is one of my favorite things.  You can learn how to make your own HERE.  The butterflies are sitting on magnetic shelves.  As the school year goes on, I plan to display books that we are reading or that connect with a subject we are learning about.

I painted this rocking chair a few years ago and my students love it. Actually teachers and staff members love it too.  When they come in to talk they often ending up rocking and talking!  The light up mushrooms don't heat up and I love the way they look.  

This corner is used mostly for storage.  On the shelves in front and behind the chairs is where I store my Orff instruments.  I really only use the chairs second semester but we don't have a place to store them until then.  

The Boomwhackers are stored in plastic bag storage containers from IKEA.  I have Boomwhackers in each container.

I use my cabinet doors for extra display area.  When we are studying instrument families or working in stations, I utilize this area as a reference for students.  You can take a closer look at these instrument family posters HERE.

My media cart holds a classroom set of iPads.  On top there are groovy containers for Kleenex, hand sanitizer and spray and a stack of blank paper.  The cart is near my classroom door so that students can put their iPads up on their way out the door.  The cute mushrooms are from Schoolgirl Style.  

This is the back of the room that displays some bulletin boards that I will leave up all year.  On the shelves my library is sorted by categories.  You can read about this organizational system and download some files to get you started by reading more about it in Organizing Books in Your Music Library.  

  

The pillows are used during workstation time.  Students love grabbing  one and sitting on it or laying on it during reading time

You can take a closer look at more of the files I used in my retro groovy classroom here.  I hope you have the best school year ever!

Bulletin Boards for February ❤️

There are so many things to recognize and celebrate in February.  Valentine's Day, President's Day, Black History Month and Random Acts of Kindness Day are in February just to name a few.  Here are four bulletin boards that are easy to print and post during the shortest and sometimes busiest month of the year.

NOTEable Black Musicians from A to Z

This colorful bulletin board is great for Black History Month or to post and leave up all year. It features 26 amazing musicians. Each musician is featured in an ABC format (with a few liberties taken with the alphabetization). On each page there is a picture and a short synopsis of their careers and accomplishments.

All That Jazz

Celebrate Jazz with some of these amazing musicians: 

Duke Ellingon, John Coltrane, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Thelonius Monk, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, David Brubeck, Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Wynton Marsalis, Count Basie and Jelly Roll Morton

Love Yourself

Let's change the way we talk to ourselves and make it more positive.  This bulletin board reminds students to do the same too.

What Does Kindness Look Like?

Random Act of Kindness Day is February 17th so it is a great month to inspire students to be kind.  This colorful bulletin board does that.  Check it out and you can pick up a free kindness bunting to decorate the halls too!

I hope these ideas have inspired you and I hope you have the best February ever!

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Music Room Tour 2021

I am excited to reveal my classroom this year.  I went with big, bold colors and a refreshing theme-Grow With Music.  Students have really enjoyed it and during Open House there were many compliments.  Best of all is that everything is organized for learning!

This is the back of my room.  I put the bulletin board paper up and then divided the board into three sections with borders from Schoolgirl Style.  Grow Your Musical Mindset is my yearly growth mindset focus.  I refer to it before we start any challenging pieces to remind students that just because they can't do it today doesn't mean that they won't be able to do it next time.  

The middle display is a reference for performance ensembles.  A few years ago I discovered that most 3rd-5th grade didn't know what to call a group of four performers, so I wanted to have something to remind them of the groupings.

The board on the right is mostly a reminder for me, but I don't mind if my students catch on to the idea either!  Being an ambassador of joy each day is such a privilege.  I am thankful that music is a wonderful vehicle for it.  This is a FREE download in my TpT store.

The pillows are my design.  I used my Bitmoji and Powerpoint to create what I wanted, saved it as a JPEG and then sent it off to VistaPrint to be turned into pillows! On the bottom shelf you'll see a couple of pillows from Target.

My library is on the bottom shelf this year because while doing centers at the end of the school year I realized that putting them on the top shelf wasn't convenient for kiddos that sat on the floor.  Now they are on the bottom shelf near the pillows and will serve as a workstation that it always set up and ready to go.

In the front corner of my room I have stored many things that we won't use right away this semester.  I love not using chairs so that transitions go faster during my lessons, but currently there is no place to store them in my building.  I'll use them some months so I'm just keeping them stacked and out of the way.  This rocking chair was my summer project last summer and I use it when I'm reading or chatting with classes.  The buckets contain drumsticks and light-up drumsticks.

I have wanted to create an interactive treble clef display for a long time.  I love how this turned out!  Using black masking tape I constructed the treble clef staff on a dry erase board that I didn't use very often.  The "notes" are actually push lights or tap lights, most commonly used for under cabinet lighting. Although you can find these inexpensively in dollar stores, I wanted something that could change colors. I picked these up at Target and then attached magnets to them.  The letters could easily be made with vinyl and your preferred cutting machine, but I chose to use letter stickers.  I plan to use them when we are learning to play only a few notes at a time, for instrument ostinatos, pitch naming games, etc...

This is the bulk of my classroom storage.  The cabinets are filled with centers, bulletin board supplies, miscelaneous instruments and props, office supplies and sheet music.  My ukuleles are on the rack near my door but I haven't taken them out of their cases yet.  My room gets very dusty throughout the year so until we begin ukes in the spring, I want them protected.

On the doors you see my music symbol posters (I printed them two to a sheet.) and my instrument families display. 

At the front of the room I store small percussion instruments in tubs.  They aren't in the picture but are just below the shelf you see at the bottom.  This bulletin displays tempo terms and dynamics terms.  I love that this set has backgrounds that progress from slow to fast and quiet to loud in color order.  I know.  I'm a nerd.

My desk with a little touch of Boho style.  Behind my desk I store my fridge and microwave, file cabinet, paperwork, cleaning supplies and things I need within an arm's reach.

I hope that you have enjoyed touring my room and wish you a school year filled with joy and peace.  If you are interested in using the Grow with Music you can find it in my TeachersPayTeachers store.

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Dollar Store Bulletin Board Hacks

Like many teachers, I love a great bargain.  Dollar stores and discount stores are great ways to decorate and stock your classroom without breaking the bank.  Here are a few dollar store hacks for decorating your room and adding some pizzaz to your bulletin boards.

Many dollar stores already carry education supplies like flashcards, letters, charts and border.  They can help put up bulletin boards, class job charts and come in handy when creating folder activities or workstations.  Let's walk a litter farther through the store and see what we can find that may be a little out of the box.

Wrapping paper makes excellent bulletin board backgrounds.  Many are fadeless and instantly add color, texture and interest to your bulletin board displays.

Another great bulletin board background source is tablecloths.  Most dollar stores carry a variety of inexpensive plastic tablecloths.  Patterned tablecloths are great to use when decorating with a theme or color scheme.  My favorite is to use the birthday tablecloths and then add Music K-8's composer and musicians' birthday calendars. 

Of course, solid colored tablecloths provide a bright pop of color and don't fade like regular bulletin board paper if you are using it in a sunny area.  These flannel backed tablecloths are quite sturdy an you'll want to use a box cutter or scissors to trim the edges.  Be sure to look for a rectangular one to fill all of your bulletin board.

BONUS:  I use these to define areas on the floor for centers.  In this way, students keep all of their things in this area and it is a snap to clean up!

Pom poms are a great way to add texture and dimension to your bulletin boards.  Add one in each corner or staple them up close together to make a border for the entire board.  I like these pom poms because they are inexpensive, but they are a little frustrating to pull apart and fluff.  With a little patience, you'll have them ready to go in no time.

Letter stickers are an easy way to add a headline or captions to your bulletin board.  Here's how to keep them straight.  First adhere just the bottom to a ruler or yardstick.  Sticking just a quarter of an inch or so, make sure the letters and words are spaced how you want them to be on the bulletin board.  Press the yard stick to the bulletin board and press the top of the letter stickers to the bulletin board.  Gently roll the yardstick towards you so the letter stickers come off and then press them firmly to the bulletin board paper.  

I am a big fan of adding dimensional objects to bulletin boards.  I have tied them, stapled them, hot glued them, tacked them and once even added packing peanuts behind bulletin board pieces to make them stand out.  I look for objects that are easy to staple to the board like hats, flags, plates, balloons and pom poms.  Summer is a great time to find patriotic objects to use for your patriotic music or American composer bulletin boards.  I like THIS bulletin board that is simply lyrics to some popular patriotic songs that you may teach in your classroom.

I have an unusually large collection of paper plates in various sizes, shapes and colors.  I use them for movement activities for props when deciphering form and for bulletin board borders.  Yes!  They make the easiest and fastest border ever.  I start with a plate in each corner and add the other plates to fill in.  They are fast to take down and you can reuse them time and time again.

Just like paper plates, paper hats as a border are just fabulous.  They add extra interest and color. I've used a variety of hats and my students always love the displays.  In addition to dollar stores, I have found many great options at Oriental Trading and local party stores.

Occasionally I will post a bulletin board that is interactive.  When I do, I usually ask students, parents and teachers to color part of the board, leave a message, answer a question, etc...  With a couple of Command Hooks, this basket could hang near the board and hold markers or crayons.  FUN!

Poster board is a great way to create bulletin board pieces, letters or signs that you'll place on your bulletin boards.  For teachers on a cart, a piece of poster board could be turned into a bulletin board on the go.  You can evening use poster board to create a clever awning for your bulletin board.  Check it out here.

This is a weird one, but stay with me.  Playing cards make a creative border for your bulletin board.  Any order, number side up or back design up they are eye catching.  Try a title like "A Great New Year is in the Cards" or "Stacking the Deck for a Great Performance" and you've got a great bulletin board.

The last great dollar store find for bulletin board is tissue paper.  It makes a great background, but with a little bit of creativity you can make an even bigger statement.  Fold the tissue paper into paper fans and staple to the corners of your bulletin board.  Take individual pieces of tissue paper, crumple them and staple as a 3-D border.  Follow THIS tutorial and create beautiful flowers.

Looking for more dollar store hacks?  Check out these Dollar Store Deals for Music Teachers.

I hope you've been inspired to decorate your bulletin board with some of these tips.  PIN THIS for later!

Magical Music Classroom Reveal

Back to school time is so exciting!  This year I decided to use a magical theme for my music room.  Not exactly magic as in wizards and spells, but more of a celebration of mystical, musical creatures.  This year I've decorated with unicorns, gnomes, dragons, mermaids (and mermen) and narwhals.  It has been a lot of fun!  Take a peek at my room.

 This is the front of my room.  I used some stone wall paper to create a castle using the two bulletin boards and the space above my Smartboard.

 As you enter the room I have a small table set up for pencils, singing sticks and other odds and ends that we may use as the school year goes on.

Dynamic narwhals, tempo mermaids and unicorn ensembles are the perfect addition to my Magical Music room!  They come separately or you can get them in a bundle too.

I upgraded my crayon storage boxes this year.  For the last five or six years I've used plastic travel containers for soap.  This year I decided to go up to index card boxes.  I love that there is a little bit more room.  I also added a little reminder to keep the crayons in the box instead of dumping them out.

I love to have a reference board up for the lines and spaces of the treble clef staff.  This year it features gnomes.  Take a closer look.

Have a Magical Time in Music bulletin board.

For the last three years I have had some kind of growth mindset bulletin board up in my classroom.  It is such a great reminder to students and also to me!  This year I used dragons to help students change their mindset.  The title (which is a little tricky to read with the glare) says "Is Your Mindset Dragon You Down?"

On the side of my room I just used a bit of the stone wall paper to add some interest. 

Positive song lyrics!  My kiddos love these and I'll catch them "getting" what song one of the posters if from and smiling.  Love that!  See them here.

This bulletin board will hold the titles of Songs of the Month.  I'll start with the "Star Spangled Banner" in September.  The border and bulletin board pieces are from Creative Teaching Press.

In this corner I store my Orff instruments, steady beat swords, pool noodle ponies, Boomwhackers and right now, my piano.

My ukulele storage is actually a drying rack from Walmart.  I padded it will pool noodles and added numbers on the noodles and on the ukuleles so that students know where to put their ukes.  

I love these mermaid themed borders but didn't have anything mermaid to hang up.  I took an old bulletin board, Meet the Composers, and gave it a new title.  I think it turned out great.

This is my reading corner.  I added some sequined pillows that add some sparkle.  I decided to sort a few of my books into categories this year.  I think that I may use them during centers time. 

I hope you've enjoyed a peek at my classroom.  You can find most of the decor items that I'm using in my classroom this year in this bundle:

If you like these ideas, you might want to pin this post for later!