Music Is Not for Insects

In a previous post, I asked you to help me write the “10 best ways to plan for the school year”.

Several of you responded with some great ideas (see below) and I want to share with you a tool I use to help me organize my general music classes. The example below is for a 1st grade general music class, but you could adapt this for any music class:

I like this form because it has 3 essential sections:

1. What is this course about? Can you answer that question clearly in the area provided?
2. Course Questions. Student accountability questions that begin with “Can you…identify, sing, play, etc.”
3. Course Standards. Question you will be held accountable for as the teacher- “What are the students supposed to learn? How will we know they’ve learned it?” And Value-weight given to each measure.

Wrap that all up in a nice looking graphical design, and you have a course organizer that works for me. You can see more examples from other classes and download some more course organizers here. If you use these in a workshop, presentation or blog post, please trackback or link back to my blog.

YOUR GREAT IDEAS FOR PLANNING

# Msgallanton

I am an elementary school music teacher (Grades 1-6). I’m beginning my second year of teaching next month, and this method of planning was hugely helpful to me in my first year of teaching, when I needed lots of structure to get me through:

I created a binder for each grade, each with 10 index dividers inside. I labeled the dividers for each month, and on each divider, I stuck a post-it note with a list of the major concepts/songs to be covered for the month. This way I can reuse the dividers in future years, but I can easily update/change my monthly plan with a new post-it note.

For each month, I insert photocopies of songs (so that I can write my notes all over them), copies of worksheets or handouts, note pages, pictures, etc. in the order that I want to teach each song or concept. My school uses “Share the Music” as our main resource, but we are not expected to teach it page-by-page. By using the binder method, I’ve given myself the opportunity to photocopy pages from Share the Music and other resources (I love “An Orff Mosaic from Canada” as well). This saves me from searching for songs mid-year in my stack of song books. I have it all at my fingertips! Using a three-ring binder is also beneficial because it allows for easy insertion and removal of songs and ideas.

Hope this is helpful!

# Paul Schernitzkion

Ken,

Is is time to prep already? While I have a thousand things to organize for the school year, I am really getting a handle on lesson plans. I’ve noticed a lot of classroom teachers don’t realize that elementary music teachers really make their own lesson plans, usually pieced together from various sources.

I may be one of the few music teachers who actually does this, but, I do write (on the computer) a lesson for every class, every grade. K-5 sees me once a week, it usually amount to about 30 lessons a year. 30 lessons for each grade amounts to 180 lessons plans.

Back in school when I was learning how to teach I remember teachers having us write long, detailed lesson plans – “Teacher says this, students do this,” etc. My lesson plans aren’t that detailed because a lot that info I carry with me.

The lessons are based on the Washington state EALRs, that’s where I get my lesson topics. On each plan I have a space for what supplies I will need for the lesson (elementary music sometimes requires a lot of stuff), tech stuff I need turned on or files I need pulled up, and usually a list between 5 and 8 things to do that enforce the topic. At the bottom is a place for evaluation – things that worked or didn’t, maybe a class didn’t get everything done, students who had behavior trouble, etc.

Since this is my 4th year with these plans I have tweaked them each year on the computer, and always add new things (usually to the intermediate grades).

This year all I had to do was look at each one, tweak on the computer, and print the new ones off. When the year starts I put each grade level’s plans in a folder and put last years plans in them as well. For example, the first grade folder this year has last year’s K plans in it so I can see what I did with them last year. This works great because a lot of the EALRs build on concepts throughout students’ elementary music careers. I can always say, “remember back when we sang ________? Then we sang it faster and slower? Today we are going to add names to when music is played fast or slow.”

Being this organized takes a lot of time up front, but it sure pays off during the year.

Now, back to school year planning!

-Paul

# Brandt Schneideron

Oh boy, I am jumping into a new program and I have no idea what I am going to be doing. There is room to grow here.

Week 1: Assess, assess, assess.
Week 2: Plan for year.

I always plan back from the concerts and how many minutes I think I need for each song. Then I build in the lessons on reading, ear training, etc…

But this year…who knows?

Boy that sounds more like a Twitter post…but I just have to tell you I found these computer speakers on sale last night at Target for $10.10. Are they awesome fidelity? No. Will they work fine for a computer? Yes.
And you know that outlet you need for other computer speakers but can’t use them because your computer, monitor, iPod, cell phone charger, etc. is filling every last slot on your power strip? Did I mention they are USB powered? Now I’m your BFF. IDK? Check ‘em out at your local Target.

GE 2.0 Multimedia Speakers #98923

Maybe you have seen the episode where Dwight and Andy from “The Office” are singing together…I believe in that episode, Andy makes the statement to Dwight, “Literally every song is better a capella…name a song…”

This was the inspiration behind a new site called “Better A Cappella”, the Online Index of A Cappella Arrangements. Check out this site to find some really great arrangements for your a cappella ensemble. It’s very easy to navigate and search by artist, title or even voicing. Most of the entries have either mp3 samples or better yet, links to Youtube videos of the song being performed. There are some really fresh arrangements at this site. Check it out!

Did I get your attention? I have to admit, I am bugged when someone starts their post title with “50 ways to leave your Lover” or “30 must have web plug-ins for middle aged music directors”.  I’m a sucker for the list post title, and no matter what it says, I will click on it or star it as a favorite in Google Reader….

198 PERFORMANCES IN ONE CONVENIENT LOCATION

I love it when technology makes my life as a choral director easier. And ACDA (The American Choral Director’s Association) has finally figured out how to use the internet and mp3 files to make great choral performances available to anyone via their web-site, or, behold, the amazing 2gb flashdrive:

I know, what’s the big deal with a 2 gb flashdrive? Nothing, until you load it with the ENTIRE COLLECTION of 2009 ACDA National Conference recordings (all choirs) in MP3 format. Sweet! And check out the cool logo on the drive. That’s some nice bling!

And these are the finest national and international choirs around; it’s quite an honor to be invited to sing at an ACDA National Conference. All kinds of choir are represented on this flashdrive from women’s choirs to men’s choirs, high school choirs, junior high/middle school honor choirs, madrigal singers, college ensembles, professional and community singers, jazz groups, children’s choirs- they’re all represented.  I’ve listed all the choirs on this 2gb resources at the end of this post.

ACDA JUMPS INTO THE 21ST CENTURY

If you haven’t been to the ACDA website in awhile, you need to check it out. Not only can you download mp3’s of great performances, but check out videos too. This is an incredible resource for choral directors looking for quality literature and performances of this literature. BRAVO to ACDA for jumping into the 21st century. Members also have access to forums, resources, and publications that are invaluable for choral educators. And if all this music and technology is still new to you, check out this fun video on how to access mp3 files and get the most from the new ACDA site:

198 PERFORMANCES- THE LIST OF CHOIRS FROM THE 2009 ACDA NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Alamire, David Skinner, England.

American Boychoir, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, New Jersey.

Cantoria Alberto Grau, Maria Guinand, Venezula.

Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas, Cynthia Nott, Texas.

Chor Leoni, Diane Loomer, Canada.

Clear Creek High School Symphonic Chorale, Kyle Pullen and Sean Pullen, Texas.

Cornell University Glee Club, Scott Tucker, New York.

Green Valley High School Madrigal Singers/Chamber Singers, Kimberly Barclay Drusedum, Nevada.

Hamilton High School Chamber Singers, R. John Hamilton, California.

High School Honor Choir, Christine Bass, conductor.

High School Honor Choir, Tim Sharp, conducutor.

Incheon City Chorale, Hak Won Yoon, Korea.

Iowa State Singers, James Rodde, Iowa.

Junior High/Middle School Honor Choir, Judy Bowers, conductor.

Lawrence Children’s Choir, Janeal Krehbiel, Kansas.

Lawrence University Concert Choir, Richard Bjella, Wisconsin.

Luther College Nordic Choir, Craig Arnold, Iowa.

Mirinesse Women’s Choir, Rebecca Rottsolk and Beth Ann Bonnecroy, Washingon-  (I created this web-site!).

Michigan State University Women’s Chamber Ensemble, Sandra Snow, Michigan.

OneVoice, Stephen Widenfofer, Illinois.

Pacific Youth Choir – Coro Pacifica, Mia Hall Savage, Oregon.

Phil Mattson Singers, Phil Mattson, Iowa.

St. Mary’s Varsity Ensemble, Randy Stenson, Tokyo, Japan.

Tascosa High School Women’s Choir, Billy Talley, Texas.

Taylor Festival Choir, Robert Taylor, South Carolina.

Unity Singers, Ruth Palmer, Minnesota.

University of Texas at Austin Chamber Singers, James Morrow, Texas.

The Vocal Majority, Jim Clancy, Texas.

Voces8, Barnaby Smith, England.

If you are a church musician, at some point in your career, you will conduct Handel’s Messiah in part or whole. Unfortunately, this well-known masterpiece is often performed poorly by well-intentioned choirs.

Leonard Van Camp’s “A Practical Guide for Performing, Teaching and Singing Messiah” will help you approach this choral mastepiece in detail.

Section One is devoted to dispelling common Messiah myths such as “The proper title of this oratorio is The Messiah” and “Messiah was intended for a large chorus of amateur men and women to perform.”

Section Two answers practical questions regarding the various published editions of Messiah, performance practice considerations and an invaluable list of suggested church services when using portions of Messiah.

Section Three provides analysis of each piece for singers and conductors and gives great tips on dealing with all the melissmas in the most famous choruses.

Finally, in the appendix you will find the greatest rehearsal schedule for Messiah with orchestra down to the minute: when to rehearse various sections with orchestra, chorus and soloists so you can maximize your time with all involved in this timeless oratorio.