From Football to the Music Room

Lessons to be taken from the Patriots AFC Championship win:

Never give up, even in the face of obstacles
The Patriots body language on the sidelines is always fascinating. They get frustrated - Belichick swore and threw the tablet - but they never counted themselves out. Even when the Chiefs were up, they were in the game, encouraging their team, and trying to win.

Learning an instrument is hard. Maybe not pro football hard, but difficult and frustrating and sometimes it seems like a certain note or skill will never, ever happen. And yet with enough time, effort, and ragged determination, it happens.

Life isn't fair, play on
There were some horrible officiating calls in the game. Things aren't always just or fair or equal. Sometimes you get five less rehearsals because of snow days, sometimes your instrument's part is way harder than another's, sometimes you don't get that glockenspiel you were desperate to play. And yet we play on, we keep going, we keep trying in spite of whatever circumstances are thrown our way.

Practice hard, but have fun
Sports and music both take focused practice and effort. Improving skills, whether in football or music, requires work. Whether it's a football play or a musical scale, doing the same thing 100 times takes determination and tenacity. Doing the same thing 100 times and improving each time takes effective effort and self-awareness. Those who work hard can always get ahead.

Among all that hard work, find joy and levity. Tom Brady's look of joy after that trick play (that didn't work) or a fifth grader's laugher after figuring out Baby Shark both show the fun and rewards of trying hard. There can be moments of levity amongst hard work and practice, in fact there need to be in order to keep things moving forwards.

Champions win before they're on the field
It's all about preparation. The concert isn't where kids learn music. The Super Bowl isn't where the Patriots get good at football. Success requires preparation and systematic improvement, not simply to show up for the big day. Confidence comes from preparation and practice, and confidence encourages excellent performance. It's not about being perfect, or never deviating from a strict script, but it's about knowing that you've practiced and prepared as much as possible and are able to excel in the situation.

I'll be back in the classroom smiling on Tuesday... and cheering on the Patriots in the Super Bowl!!!!

Sharing Files with Families with ClassTag

I use ClassTag for a lot of my home communication, and often use the file sharing feature to help give families the full story of what is going on. Whether it's concerts, sign-ups for another session of after school activities, or just encouraging students to practice, adding files offers teachers flexibility in how they use ClassTag. It could even be used to post homework. A file can be attached to any announcement, right from the announcement creation screen:

I typically use PDF files, since they open easily and look good on both mobile devices and computers, but ClassTag will let you add all sorts of files that students and their families might need. Flyers, photos, homework, or long messages could all be uploaded as a file and sent out to parents. This feature is unique to ClassTag, and lets teachers share more about their classroom than they might be able to in just text or photos. Need to make sure a notice is seen by parents and not lost in backpacks? A ClassTag announcement is the perfect way to get that information out to parents in a helpful, easy to use format.

ClassTag messages can be sent as email, SMS, or through the app with notifications depending on a parent's preferences. I try to have the "main idea" of my message in the text of an announcement, so parents looking quickly on a phone can get the gist without opening the file at that very moment. But it's great to have the option of sending more information for those who are interested or who need it. ClassTag lets families access the information in many different ways, giving them choices in communication.

If you want to sign up for ClassTag, you can sign up here with my referral link!

--I am a ClassTag ambassador. I receive ClassTag coins and referral incentives for sharing how I use ClassTag in my teaching, but really do believe in their service and think it's useful for teachers.

The Beginning and the End

My school district hosted our All-Districts music festival last Friday. Before I made my way over to the high school to help out and observe some master conductors at work with the best and brightest high school musicians in the area, I held a before-school beginning band rehearsal for our first concert. It went well, as I expected it to. The kids have been working hard in their group lessons, practicing at home, and taking risks to help them improve their playing. We're taking on the beginning band classics, Hot Cross Buns and Mary Had A Little Lamb, and playing We Will Rock You for a fun ending that's a bit more relevant to pop culture. Our two "harder" songs have four notes each. This is absolutely normal and developmentally appropriate for beginning band, given our rehearsal schedule and the age of the students.

The All-Districts band I got to watch, on the other hand, was playing dozens of notes. They took on some amazing rep, including Wagner's Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral and a very difficult Persichetti piece. The chorus, orchestra, percussion, and jazz ensemble were likewise grappling with challenging music, pieces which represent significant artistic achievement in their respective musical fields.

It's fascinating to see the differences in these two groups, and the similarities. "Breathe together to play together", a phrase my beginning band students have heard enough to finish for me, doesn't just apply to fifth graders. Students talked and laughed together during breaks, just as my students tend to do. They left instruments in precarious positions, just as my students do.

For many of the All-Districts students, they're at or near the pinnacle of their musical journeys - for some, even near the end - while my fifth graders are just beginning to understand and experience band. It's gratifying to see where they're going musically, that their potential in six or seven years includes more than five notes and making beautiful music together. But it's also helped me to see the beauty in simplicity, in getting students to play simple music really well. So much of the limited district rehearsal time was spent on fundamentals, things that my students are already working on. Playing a scale in tune is hard! It takes years of practice! But it's important, even if it's not immediately gratifying. Good beginnings are so important in music, so that students can excel when they get to All-Districts or just life beyond elementary school band. It's not about Hot Cross Buns, it's about building the skills to go beyond the basics later.

Take a Break: Scheduled messages during school vacations with ClassTag

I try really hard not to do a ton of work during school breaks. I really need the time to rest, and I want to spend time with my family and friends, not worrying about work I could or should do. However, I also like to encourage students to practice their instruments over breaks, since many of them have more relaxed schedules. With ClassTag, I was able to set up messages to be sent out over break before I left school last week. It's super easy to schedule announcements for any time in the future. After clicking the giant plus sign in the right hand corner and choosing "Announcement", this screen pops up. Fill in the fields, then click "add send time" in order to schedule it for the future.

Scheduled announcements are super handy for many different purposes, and make it easier to maintain work-life balance while communicating with families at a time that works for them. ClassTag's stats let me see how many families read my announcements. I notice that they are more likely to get read if I schedule them to go out during evening hours (likely because many parents aren't working at that time), so adding a send time is an easy way to improve communication with families.

Ready to sign up for ClassTag and level up your home-school communication? Sign up here !

--I am a ClassTag ambassador. I receive ClassTag coins and referral incentives for sharing how I use ClassTag in my teaching, but really do believe in their service and think it's useful for teachers.

I hope all teachers are having a relaxing, enjoyable break!

Teaching Through

It's been quite a week:

• I had to go on antibiotics because of a case of an infectious disease at my school
•  My school got a bomb threat on Friday (unfounded and non-credible, the same ones sent to schools across the country)
• I got observed 4 days before break
• I have a whole-school singalong to run on Friday

And I just keep teaching... Teaching through a headache and other bad side effects so I don't get seriously ill (get your vaccines!). Teaching through police searching for suspicious packages. Teaching while two administrators watch me try to keep the lid on a boiling pot of first-grade excitement for break. Teaching while trying to find the hours in the day to do all the other parts of my job besides teaching. 

Just keep teaching... just keep teaching... just keep teaching...

December Singalong!

I, like many music teachers, do more than just teach classes and put on concerts. One of my favorite school events is an all-school pajama day singalong right before December break. I teach K-5, so it's a wide range of ages to appeal to, and a diverse student population. Because I have students who cannot participate in anything holiday related due to religious beliefs, I try to keep the singalong primarily winter based, but represent Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa with one song explicitly about each holiday. That way, students who want to can sing about the holiday they celebrate, or another holiday, but those who cannot are still able to be included on songs about snow, penguins, and other non-holiday related fun. Rather than sit and sing, we add lots of movements and other fun activities to keep everyone engaged. I've built a few new traditions in my 3 years so far at my school, and it's always amazing to see the kids remember songs they've learned in years past.

I can't share my slides for all of the songs due to copyrighted lyrics, but here's a list of what we'll be doing for our singalong this year:

• Jingle Bells
• Sleigh Ride (we use the Pentatonix version)
• Do You Want to Build a Snowman from Frozen
• I Have a Little Dreidel
• Penguin Polka from Music K-8 (we stand up and dance while singing this one)
• Kwanzaa is Here
• Fur Elise winter movements (from the Feierabend Move It DVD)
• Snow Day! Snow Day! Hip Hip Hooray by Sally Albrecht and Jay Althouse
• Frosty the Snowman
• Rudolph
• When the Lights All Shine from Music K-8 (SHINE is our school rules/character building acronym and we do sitting choreography to this one)

The Hills and Valleys of December

Teaching in December is:
a. exciting
b. exhausting
c. frustrating
d. all of the above

Today was a long Monday, and last week was one of the toughest weeks of teaching for me ever. Teaching in December is different from the rest of the year. Not worse, exactly, it's fun to see the kids excited and there's lots of cool events happening, but it's tiring. That hundredth time asking kids to quiet down isn't quite as gentle as the first time. The fifth time kids start randomly singing jingle bells in the middle of another song isn't as endearing as the first time. There's so much joy, so much energy, and so much to do in too little time. December is like a microcosm of the school year, with lots of highs and lows and sugar crashes and drinking too much coffee (or is that just me?).

The best moments, though, come at those times of exhaustion and frustration. I've been using the last few minutes of my music classes to work on songs for our December singalong. We do a big all-school pajama day before break, and I like to do a few non-traditional songs that require the kids to learn a bit of choreography and some short tunes. It's fun, no pressure, and gets us all dancing our way into break. And just when I'm about to remind a student about behavior for the tenth time, they'll perk up and join us in snow hands or "shine fingers" (yes, I renamed jazz hands) or some other silly movement. There's magic in all that energy, in having 20 kindergarteners shove peace signs as close to your face as they can from their seat because they're SO EXCITED about a song they're doing with the "big kids".

I'll be spending the next 9 school days looking for those magic moments, and surviving the frustrating times in between. And then I will take a very long, well deserved winter break nap.