Planning for Teacher TLC

It's that time of year again.  Teachers are getting ready to head back to school by decorating their rooms, attending professional meetings and lesson planning for the first week of school.  During this busy time, don't forget to plan a little time to take care of yourself too!

Eat Well

What will you take for lunch?  Is there a way to plan a crock pot meal or freezer meal that provides lots of flavor and needed nutrients without stealing time away from your busy day?  I know that when I eat well, I feel well!  A pop tart for breakfast, microwave popcorn for lunch and take out for dinner doesn't provide the fuel that you need.  Plan some meals to ease yourself back into the school routine.

Sleep

No, really.  Your mom was right.  A good night of sleep can make a world of difference. I know that you are busy and that there are many things on your to do list.  Sleep is your body's way of rebooting and preparing for a busy day of meetings, lesson plans and smiling children.  Don't stay up to finish that plan.  Whatever you are doing can probably wait.  Get some sleep.

Five Favorite First Day Activities for Music Class

If you're like me, you are thinking a LOT about the first day of school, because it is coming up soon! The first day of class is important for discussing rules and procedures, but it doesn't have to be ALL about rules. Today, I'm blogging with five of my favorite first day activities for music class.

Name games

I have 700+ students, and I do know all of their names...but after not seeing them for a couple months, it's good to have a refresher! I wrote about a couple of my name game favorites in this blog post (which also has helpful tips for remembering so many names!) One of my favorite name games is "Jump in, Jump out"; here's a video of the game below:

David Row at Make Moments Matter also just recorded a podcast all about name games!

Talk to kids

My first several years of teaching, I was so focused on reviewing rules and procedures, going down class lists, etc., that I didn't take the time to ask kids what they had done this summer. Yes, it does take away instructional time, but it's SO good for building a rapport! You might not have time to ask every single kid what they did this summer, so you could say things like, "Raise your hand if you went to the beach this summer," or "Raise your hand if you went out of the state this summer," or "Raise your hand if you played video games this summer," and then, if time, have a few individual conversations from there (like "Sam, which video game did you play the most?" when you see Sam raising his hand.) I use an app called Smart Seat to do seating charts, and like to take pictures of half the class in the first lesson and half the class in the second lesson so they populate the seating chart. When I'm taking the pictures, I'll ask each kid what they did this summer.