#46 Seating Charts, Rules, Rewards, etc.,

#46 Seating , Rules, Rewards - Updated 6/16

TOPICS

Aides in the Classroom-----
Chairs or No Chairs?----- Class Control/Discipline ----Dismissal ----Entering Room Without Chaos ----Groupings ----Large Classes
Lines and Circles Without Chaos ----Motivating Students ----Mystery Person(Reward system)
Music After Recess
Memorizing Students' Names ----Organization of Charts, etc.,
Passing Out Materials ----"Personal Space" ----Resources ----Rewards -----Rules ----Seating
Storage of Materials ----Student Helper ----Talking
[Note: for "Circles Without Chaos" see: #31 Movement,Drama,Dance]
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AIDES IN THE CLASSROOM
01/16 Aides Around Thanksgiving, I made a point to send each of the aides who came in to my classroom a Thanksgiving card with a personal note attached. I also sent them a thank you note at the end of the school year. The thing that really got me was their reaction. They were blown away that I would thank them. In a way it was kind of sad and poignant that evidently these wonderful people were so seldom thanked. It became a win-win situation and some great friendships were formed in the ensuing years! ---- Kathleen Bragle, NBCT
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NO CHAIRS!
12/08 PE SPOTS: I highly recommend going to Ikea and picking up mousepads for 99 cents each. I have red, black, white, and polka dot ones. They have a non slip backing and are just as effective as PE spots. --- Dianne Park, San Diego, CA
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10/05 STUDENTS MOVING CHAIRS! Last school year I went absolutely crazy trying to keep the chairs remotely organized. The bunch of kids I had just couldn't sit still - constantly tipping back or scooting back or pulling chairs forward. So I had my dad make me chair boards. I'll try to explain! He took a 2x4 and drilled holes large enough for each of the back legs of a chair to fit. He measured so that there would be four chairs to a board, and evenly spaced apart so that they had plenty of elbow room. At first, the custodian grumbled because she thought it would be a pain when time to vacuum. She actually likes it better because, when no one is sitting in them, you can push four chairs forward or backwards at one time! I LOVE MY BOARDS! Other teachers have come in and have been amazed by them. The entire cost was about $15. I did just my front row in the middle of the school year last year, and this winter my dad will do my second row (he's a semi-retired farmer and has time in the winter for fun little projects). -- Karen Reynolds, Nebraska
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10/04 RISERS: We have 4 platform risers in our room which also convert into choral risers. We also had a carpet made in 2 pieces which fit perfectly over the 4 platforms when they are laying flat. Before class, I put the 2 carpet pieces in front of the platforms and then convert the platform into choral risers (for standing or sitting)
Next I then place the following instruments just in front and touching the carpet BM, BX, AM, AM, AM, AX. In the middle of the carpet (giving the first row enough room to sit at the instruments) I put AX, AX, AG, AG, SG, SG. (Enough instruments for 12 students to sit and play) Girls with skirts sit up on their knees as they play. We usually do a movement first (dance, etc) and then go to the Orff instruments, and then perhaps go to the Choral Risers to sing as a choir...
Students sit down on the risers while listening to instruction. We do all 3 at a time, also...some dancing, some playing, and some choral singing all at the same time... The choral riser platforms are made of a durable hard plastic and will last indefinitely. -- Contributed by Dan Evola Retired Public School Music Teacher- Presently teaching Montessori Orff-Schulwerk Music
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10/04 KINDERGARTEN: I have 10 K classes this year, about to be 11. (K-3school) I don't use chairs with K. I tried that last year and it didn't work. This year I am trying carpet mats. I make a big circle out of them and they are different colors (K likes that) I take the first student by the hand and make them stay in line and slowly walk around the circle to place the first K. My point with these mats is 1) to show them where to sit and 2)where to stay. When we stand up to do movement activities, they have to STAY on their mat. I tell them that if anyone falls down then they are being too wild and they will go to my time out chair. When they go to time out, I tell them that if they can sit in the chair for one song, I will let them back. Otherwise they have to stay there. Also this year I am doing listening time at the end of every class. They have to lay down on their mats, close their mouth and eyes and listen. If it is a rowdy class, I always play calm music. I don't enforce the close your eyes too much- unless they are causing trouble. NormaG in Mandeville LA
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10/04 SEPARATE AREAS: My room is large enough to have a dedicated "Instrumentarium" area, a movement area, and a Drum circle area big enough for 40 children in each at one time. We generally move through a dance, then a piece with improvisation, then a drum circle time (Kalani style - I trained with him this past summer). I have been having the children hang their Peripole angel soprano recorders also on themselves so we are incorporating more recorder music into each lesson also. Thank you to Martha E Osbourne for that idea! No chairs ever with any grade level. They would just get in the way of our transitions. I do, like Pat, sit in a comfy chair which I push out of the way after I greet the children. My teachers have been "trained" to bring the children through the door and have them make a round circle and then sit down quietly. At that point, I go to my chair and briefly take attendance by asking the teacher who is absent that day. That way I don't do "roll call". It saves so much time. I also get to greet the teacher and we wave bye. I greet the children and off we go into our movement time. -- Contributed by Patricia Albritton
BACK to Seating topics
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CLASS CONTROL, DISCIPLINE
12/16 CLASS DOJO - online record keeping for behavior (free) https://www.classdojo.com/
I did this for a short while at one if my schools that really needed it. The incentive to get a certain number of points by marking period was that they got the code to change their avatar. Believe it or not, that was all it took. Tgey wanted control of the creature that represented themselves. Ha! Super cheap and easy. Lori VerMerris
I used Class Dojo very successfully last year. I kept it completely separate from homeroom classes because I see double classes. I had the kids earn points and I really only did positives. They could then cash them in for a PRIDE buck (our school currency) worth 50. They could then spend those on the school menu and at places where those bucks are taken. (I didn't want to have to buy a bunch of stuff) This year, I'm going to use class dojo, but as a whole class behavior tool. The individual points won't matter. I'm moving to this model because kids are pulled for interventions and couldn't compete with friends who are always in class. So, the desktop version allows you to see the whole class points (red and green). We are going to go for trying to get less than three red points (negatives) in a class period. If that happens, they will earn a letter of MUSIC. When they earn all the letters, we will have a whole class reward day (like stinky feet, hold a stuffed animal, etc). That makes it a little more fair in my book and I don't have to worry about cashing out individual points.---- Emily Lucas
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06/15 MAJOR DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS
SO STAND: IF their behavior was pretty bad, and IF their recess was at the same time as mine, (usually it was 5th grade and we had the same times available) they would come in and stand for the half hour - totally silent - stand. Legs get tired. Sounds of kids outside at recess were within earshot. TRUST me - the kids did not want to repeat this particular type of activity with me again. Mean? Maybe, but that was not my intent. I didn't want to lecture them - they knew what the deal was. They knew what kind of behavior was expected. This was not something frivolous on my part and *not something I had to do often.* The kids KNEW I was done and this was the consequence. It WORKED! I also didn't want them writing during this time. When they wrote in the Music room it was to be a special time for great creativity. I didn't want "writing in Music" to be a form of punishment. (I gleaned this particular insight from the kids themselves through the years.) ---- Kathleen Bragle, NBCT
PUNISHMENT FIT THE CRIME: I find that the consequence needs to fit the crime too. I don't have many issues anymore, but when I first started teaching I once had three boys in for recess for three different things. Here's what they did and their consequences:
1. One was screaming during a song.. on purpose, and holding notes out too long.. on purpose. So- his consequence... He had to sing one pitch over and over again for the entire recess (now this was when we only had 15 minute recesses. Today I might only make him do it for half the recess so he doesn't strain his voice).
2. Jumping up and down the risers/flip forms when we were supposed to be singing in choir formation. His consequence: He had to go up and down the risers all recess time.
3. The last one couldn't keep his hands to himself so he had to hold his arms out to his sides as long as he could. I gave him breaks, but the funny thing was that after about 5 minutes they all wanted to trade what they were doing with one of the other kids. Ha! They never did any of those things again. Now.. this was like 15 years ago. And, like I said, I don't have many issues anymore, but writing (if that wasn't the issue in the first place) might not be the way to go. Instead, make them practice the song. Or if they have to write - have them write out the lyrics to the song you were practicing. (If that was even what you were doing). Better yet, have them each try to write a lesson plan about the same subject you were trying to teach about and tell them that you will pick one at random to present to the class... the student will present it. Ha! I think I'd be scared about that one. ---- Lori Van Meter
LET THE DIRT SETTLE: I sometimes need to do the mayonnaise jar response. You know, if you take a jar and fill it with garden soil and water, then shake it up (lid on), it makes quite a bunch of dirty water. If you are really thirsty, what could you do to get the water clear again? Wait for the solids to sink to the bottom and pour off the top. This is basically the story I start off the mayonnaise jar response with.
When the kids are so wound up that they choose not to settle or the first time I do this with them, this is what I do.
I just look at the clock and time the interruption. When they finally get quiet, I simply say "I waited (blank) seconds for you to get ready and now I want my time back. I don't want to fuss. I want stillness and silence and I don't want to see your eyes. So close your eyes or look at the floor.
When everybody is still and silent with no eyes showing, we'll start. If I see moving or hear anything or see your eyes, I'll start over." I can't teach you when your inner feelings are all shaken up. You need time to settle.
Then when they are ready, I say "Start." Someone looks at me. I say, "I see eyes. Start over." If someone moves, I say, "Someone is moving. Start over." When the time is finally up, I say , "Time's up." And then i just start where we left off, with a smile and positive attitude. I will have to do it several times the first day until they ALL finally do an inner capitulation. After that day, they know the drill and the time used is much less. I had a variation on this with the 6th graders yesterday. They are typically... well... 6th graders. Everyone was doing well after a few interventions but one guy who was listening, participating and being calm except he kept blurting out comments. It really was disruptive. So I started doing 5 seconds of looking down, etc., every time he interrupted. After 5 or 6 times and some comments from hid friends, I looked at him and said, "do you see a pattern here?" He agreed and he avoiding blurting out every minute.
I dont yell, I dont fuss, I just say, "Start over." Just a kinda passive way to actively handle it. ---- Martha Stanley
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BOOK: "Winning Over Your Toughest Music Class" by Ben Stiefel techniques of motivation through competitive games and friendly competition. ---- Mallory Martin
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08/02 GET THEIR ATTENTION: I do several things to keep from yelling (although its usually what I want to do first!)
1. I'll quietly say "If you can hear me clap once." usually at least one person does and that gets the attention of someone else. After a 2 or 3 times I have everyone's attention. Sometimes I'll say silly things like "If you can hear me honk your nose" and the kids like that.
2. I do the CLAP. You know the one...... ta ta titi ta and then they echo back. i remind the classes of this every year. The classroom teachers are SOOOoooOoo impressed. I quieted an entire cafeteria full of kids with 2 claps. The second grade teacher gasped with surprise. *grinning*
3. I pick up a copy of my classroom rules poem and just show it to the class. Best with older groups.
4. Chalk Talk is AWESOME! Didn't try it until later in the year last year and LOVE it! (check the archives)
5. On occasion when I had little or no voice or if we were working on a noisy project I would use a whistle to make the ta ta titi ta pattern. It works too but scares the bujeezus out of the kids. *grinning again as I think about my evil 6th graders*
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GETTING CLASS STARTED: I always have music playing when the kids enter the room. There is a multiple choice question about the music on the board that is related to something we are studying, e.g. this music is from:
1. China
2. Germany
3 Ireland
4. Nigeria
As soon as the kids know the answer they raise their hands with that number of fingers. Nobody can talk because then the others can't listen....they remind each other of this. Our kids sit at 4 big tables(we share the room with art), so the first table with all the correct answers wins.....the prize: that table gets excused first that day! It gets them settled and focused fast and even encourages the stragglers who take longer than the rest to get in and get settled. Usually the "winning table" is declared within the first minute of class.
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01/02 STUDENT ASSISTANT: I choose an assistant in each class. Usually chosen by having those who have not been my assistant yet standing up. I sing a song pointing to each student on the beat. When the song ends the assistant is the student I am pointing to at the end of the song.
I draw a music staff on the board. Everytime I catch the class using really good self control I have the assistant add a note to the staff. This may be for being very cooperative, remembering to raise hands, an individual who take the initiative to help another, or pick things up with out being asked. Or perhaps making a transition quickly and quietly... whatever I happen to catch. The class needs to earn a total of 5 notes each class to get a happy note sticker put up on their music star. When the class has earned 10 happy notes they are rewarded. This round the kids asked for a game day... but since we've been studying Handel I have manipulated them into combining their game day with a video and spreading it out over two days... They're happy, I'm happy, and the self control is great.
Also... I play their 5 note song at the end of class and make any corrections that need to be made. Great teaching tool and my kids feel so special when they are the assistant. Of course the assistant can be asked to do many other things as well..
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CHALK TALK ADAPTION: I've adapted the chalk talk idea and called it 'Mumbles' - it's my pet peeve in rehearsal - you turn your back and the kids start mumbling. We're going through the class list, and each day a new student is the mumbles marker. When the class is Quiet and Ready, they get a point. When I hear mumbles (or callouts) I get a point. I made a chart and at the end of the class the win or loss is tallied on the chart. If the class gets a shutout - I get NO points - they get a jelly bean. If the class wins, we mark it on the chart. Two classes have won 10 games, and when they get to 10 they can choose from one of the following: - game day (they choose from the music games we've played this year - we do a new one each week in 1-3, and a new one every two weeks in 4/5) - song pick day - movie day We're the Munchkins in the Wizard of Oz with a high school this year, so they can choose to watch the Wizard, or one of the music videos I keep in the room.

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GAME: I used 'Marvelous Musical Mansion' already, and have the Sesame Street 'Let's Make Music' for the next class to reach 10 wins. If I win the Mumbles game, win extra music time with the class. I have grade 3, 4 and 5 classes once a week before lunch so I can collect time owed to me then. If I win 10 games (and I'm not even close) then I get to teach them for a whole recess. I've told them (in jest) that if I ever get a shutout, they have to bring me jelly beans or chocolate! Is it a perfect system? No - but for some classes it works really well. I can ask, "who gets the point?" and they realize quickly, that they've been out of line. Transitions between activities are much improved. I say "you'll get a point if you can make a circle quickly and quietly". I'm not completely certain what to do with the individual students who continually forget about callouts. There seems to be at least 1 in every class - it's not fair to the class to penalize them because of the behavior of 1 child, so in a few classes, after a warning, I've put individuals on their OWN mumbles chart
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DYNAMICS CONTEST: One "contest " idea that has worked for me is to have a "Dynamics Contest" This only works if you have three or more rooms (usually of the same class grade, but you can combine grades, 5 and 6 for instance). Each week you give a dynamic "grade" based on their behavior (pp is best, FF is worst). I assign point values to each level to make it easier to score, and keep a running chart on whatever wall I am using for my bulletin board (I have no music room of course!).
I try to run it for 3 months--much more and they lose interest. The winning class at the end of that time gets a party (usually cheap candy from BJ's or the like, cookies and juice and a chance to listen to their own CD's) . The chart is highly motivational as they can check up on the other classes as well. I have also used the same idea with recorder classes who must remember their instruments each music day after bringing them home to practice during the week. It really works !!
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TAKE A STAND: Take a stand and be firm. Don't accept less than their best. They must realize that their grade in music will be derived as to how well they can perform the concepts that you are teaching. They WILL be responsible for the activities by participation and they ARE getting a grade on everything, including behavior.
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POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT: Positive reinforcement is a good thing. But what about those students that don't care about this sort of thing? What I have done this year that seems to be working very nicely is to have my students actively involved in the music lesson at all times. Frequent feedback is utilized, even when I am "lecturing", I stop every two minutes or so and ask questions, ask students to go the board and explain what I have just said. When we are doing group activities, co-operative learning, then they are expected to do their fair share and each student in every group has to show me what they contributed. (ie. first one to follow a direction, being a leader etc..), have identified misbehavior with goals of attention, power etc and deal with that, immediate consequences (sit out of the game, miss a turn at the instruments).>
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MISS AN INSTRUMENT TURN: Well, missing a turn at the instruments kind of defeats the purpose of your desire to teach them about playing instruments properly, etc. but I realize you are probably at your limit in patience with these kids, so maybe you could CHOOSE his or her instrument for them. Have the disruptive student play the rhythm sticks versus the bass xylophone or perhaps the ever so popular drum. (just a thought) That individual that is talkative and disruptive will soon learn that, in order to have the freedom he or she wants so much, they must show that they will be responsible with this "freedom" and use it constructively rather than destructively. They earn the right to play whatever instrument they desire, otherwise you will choose for them. This is not meant to give the rhythm sticks a negative view. This is to show them that if they will show more responsibility in being the best student they can be, that they can move up to an instrument that will allow them to show the added capabilites they have learned and polished by using a simpler instrument. It doesn't have to be the rhythm sticks, it could be any instrument that you choose.
Sometime, I just have that child practice the rhythmic patterns on an imaginary instrument to get the pattern and gross motor movement internalized before they play the actual instrument. Remember, to not act as though, you are punishing them. Have the attitude that because of their lack of interest in following the rules during the week that you are choosing to help them with their choices so that they can learn to be the best they can be. Make your corrections as pleasantly and as respectfully that you can. Also have the attitude that what you are doing for the student is in their best interest because you care so much for his or her development.
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HUMOR: I use humor (for my own sanity!) and have a goal sheet that they use to know exactly what larger projects we are accomplishing so they know what skills I expect from them for grades.
Excellent. It is important to keep the "big picture" in front of the students so that they will see how the "bite size" lessons or "baby steps" are preparing them for the goal.
And yet, TALKING. I'm starting to have vocal problems! HELP!>
Here is something that has helped me immensely in the twenty plus years that I have taught. When we are stressed and uptight, our throat and shoulder muscles get tense. Of course that will affect our breathing and the delicate vocal chords. My voice therapist told me that I needed to stop and BREATHE a deep breath and focus on releasing the tension when i sense that I am getting up tight. Then check the volume of my voice and very calmly in a relaxed way, respond to the students. If they are so noisy that they can't hear me, then I will wait until everyone realizes that I am not talking. If the situation is really bad, that may take two minutes or more. Calmly say that it is rude and disrespectful to speak out of turn. I tell them that we are a team, just like a football team or a band or a choir, etc.
All of our input is important and that we should give each other the respect to play an important part in our overall success as a team. I tell them that if they have something to say, that they should raise their hand and get everyone's attention, so that we can all focus on what that person is saying. I tell them, that they should not get out of their seats to come up to me because that makes the rest of the class feel as though they aren't included so then they will begin to talk and so if they will speak to me from their seats, everyone may contribute constructive comments.
I also tell them when they are not participating that that type of behavior wouldn't be accepted in any other class that they are taking. I say, What do you think your math teacher would say, if she or he handed out a worksheet and you just sat there and said, I don't think I'll participate today. What do you think your grade would be, a zero. Right? Well, the same thing goes in music. Everyone must participate.
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WRITE REPORT: My next step is to begin a composer research project where they will write a short paper. The idea being that they have showed me they are choosing to act irresponsible and therefore have lost the privilege to use the instruments and play games. Playing instruments and playing games are sometimes activities that I use on Fun Fridays. Now granted there are days during the week where my music class will be using singing games and instruments as a part of their daily grade but sometime on Fun Fridays, that means that they will get an additional time to do those music lessons that they enjoyed the most. So if I have a class that hasn't buckled down to do the lessons during the week, then of course, Fun Fridays are taken away so that they can do makeup work from the lessons that they choose to talk during the week.
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REWARD: I use a marble jar system in which I put marbles in a jar for each class when I "catch" them doing things right. I'm very generous with the marbles so they can earn rewards quickly. This really motivates them and they get after each other to shape up so they can earn more marbles!
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REWARDS: My class wide rewards include: Suckers or popsicles Watch a Disney "Sing-a-Long" video Sing silly camp type songs. Play a music related game such as "Name That Tune" Concert Time (mini music-related talent show with their class only)
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12/13 RULES: I have five rules, the second of which is "One person talks at a time." I've been using an adaptation of "Angry Birds" where I have a card chart that conveniently has five rows (one for each rule) that I have titled "Music Birds" using the Angry Birds font. I printed the red and yellow angry birds on paper, then laminated them and cut them apart. I also printed some "bad piggies." All I have to do is walk to the chart with a piggy in my hand when things are getting a bit noisy. They don't like to get bad piggies. At the start of class I will begin to place birds by each rule number while providing quiet reminders "Oh look, everyone is following directions, a bird for that! Only one person is talking, a bird for that!" When things are going well, I will place birds next to the various numbered rows while speaking (not interrupting what I am saying). At the end of class, I take away one bird for every pig and then count up the birds that are left. Even the older kids tell their teachers things like "We got 16 birds today!" My third, fourth, and fifth grades earn a reward for getting a certain number of points (currently they must earn 80 birds after five classes in order to have a day where they bring their own electronics in to music class - I keep raising the stakes after every five week period). For my lower grades, the birds in and of themselves seems to be good enough.
Create some easy reward system (stickers, stamps, whatever) where they must earn something. Then have some signal (for me it's the piggies) that tells them things are too loud. I try to avoid attaining a quiet atmosphere by making more noise (yelling, an instrument, clapping, etc.). Also check out the whole brain teaching website - "Class-yes" works. When it's noisy, I will usually start by sitting quietly myself and just staring at the class (not necessarily the "teacher look" but sometimes it turns into that, LOL) if they don't start to get the hint that "He's ready and we're not!" I move to the bird chart. ----- Norm Sands
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12/11 TROUBLING FOURTH GRADERS--I use a positive reinforcement activity with the entire school and I rarely have behavior problems. Every day the students come to the music room, they look to see which student is the star student for their class. This student is at the front of the class and gets to be my helper, giving points and playing special instruments. As we go through the lesson the students have a chance to earn 10 points. At the end of the lesson I'm always conscious of whether they are at 7 or 8 points because they earn the last two points lining up quietly. I often have to help them do this activity, but with consistency they have learned how to do it. When they get 10 stars in their classroom, they bring the stars back and we play the Freeze, Kung Fu Kick, Chicken Dance, Conga in the Kitchen and Limbo Rock. Kindergarten students play the freeze game and Kung Fu Kick. At first grade I also add the Chicken Dance. At 2nd Grade I add the Conga in the Kitchen and at 4th and 5th grade I add the Limbo. They love these days and I have it worked out to where they get to play these games one day out of the nine week grading semester. They work hard to be the star student to get those special perks and they work hard to earn a star each week to collect 10 of them. I believe that everything we do should be positive. If I do have someone who is acting inappropriately, I have a time out table. While there, they must write the rule that they broke and then re-join the group. This is usually enough to help them re-focus. The biggest thing that will blow their socks off is if you don't allow yourself to get upset and praise them as much as possible. If you have a little bugger who is doing everything he can to irritate you, then sympathize with him and ask him if he something sad happened today or ask if he needs a hug. You never know when you kill them with kindness! ---- Caryn Mears, Kennewick, WA
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06/09 GAME: It took me a while to get accustomed to the sheer numbers of them (I can have up to 34!), but I found that making a seating chart and ensuring the disruptive ones don't sit near each other is the best bet. I use a "Game" called "I pick, You pick" to arrange it. I pick the first kid to sit in the end seat, they pick who sits next to them. Then I pick next, they pick, etc. I tell them to make wise choices, and I remind them of this throughout the process. I also let them know up-front that I have full authority to veto if necessary. Then, if anyone is disruptive where they are sitting once it's all done, I immediately move the students apart to new seats, non-negotiable. I know this isn't discipline, per se, but it is preventative medicine, which I find to work the best! --- Erin Delaney, from NJ br>-------------------------------------
BEHAVIOR DETERMINES SEAT: I would let the kids sit where ever they wished the first two to three weeks of school. Their behavior determined if they could stay there. This gave me a chance to check and update their pitch matching skills. I had cardboard seating charts that had little pockets where you could insert names on little postage stamp sized squares of card stock. I could easily pull them out of the slots and change them around anytime needed. I found that my final seating chart was two girls, two boys, two girls, two boys, etc. And, I set them up so that each team was made up of a secure singer (on pitch most of the time)and a weaker singer. I tried to sandwich the weaker singers between stronger singers. That combination helped prevent behavior problems and I found over the years that the weaker singers really did improve. Also, when we needed partners they had one immediately and could share a book, do a movement, or instrument. Of course if the numbers came out uneven, three would share or I would be partner of one. I kept those little squares from year to year so I could see the improvement. I marked the squares in pencil with my own codes for pitch matching and behavior so that students could not figure out what marks meant and I could change codes quickly when I heard improvement in pitch matching. Some would ask but I never told them and they never figured out if the saw the seating chart. These marks helped with with parts of the reports to parents when we had to send out report cards.
For consistent correct pitch matching, I used a dot, if really strong it was bulls eye. For weak singers or those not able to match pitch, I used a plus sign. For those who showed some correct matching but sometimes not, I put both marks and underlined the side they were leaning towards the most. Depending on the number of underlines I could tell how serious any pitch matching problems might be. As they improved, the underlines were erased. By the time most were in 4th grade, most were matching pitches consistently. Of course there were those who never seemed to understand what to do with their singing voices. Before I would start a round of pitch matching checks, I would explain to the kids and demonstrate the difference between a talking voice and a singing voice and tell them what I was looking for in matching pitches. Sometimes it helped. I did at least four pitch matching checks a year.
Sometimes I would call each student to piano while others were working on some paperwork. I would ask them to sing "America" in various keys so that I could see what they could do with the break. Some could match the lower range but could not get their voices to the higher break range. This was the only time I could really concentrate and coach individual students with matching problems. Other checks, I would put on a CD, remove the voices track if I could and run up and down the rows leaning between students listening to individuals as fast as I could as the entire class sang together. I looked for those cardboard seating charts recently in a catalog but they seem to be very expensive if you can even find them. I would think that a velcro board with individual postage stamp card stock for each student would work just as well.
The nice thing about the system was that I could keep a history of each student through the years I had them, it helped me report to parents, I could change it quickly, and it was easy to re-group the kids for the next year's classes. Yes, it was time consuming to set up the new seating charts, but it paid off. Plus, it was like working with puzzles to match pitch matching needs and behaviours to find the best places to position students. Who doesn't like to play brain games ? --- Dale Poling
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06/06 HAPPY FACE/SAD FACE: Something I've done with younger kids (K-2) is write each kid's name on a popsicle stick with a Sharpie, and then I have 2 cups: one has a happy face, and one has a sad face. If a child is acting up or disrupting, I ask them to move their stick to the sad face. If they are participating extra well, or especially if things aren't going so well and only 2 students are following directions, say, they get to move their stick to the happy face. At the end of class, whoever has their name in the happy face gets a sticker, or sometimes I'll draw 3 sticks from the class cup and give stickers to those kids (the sad face ones get nothing) if no one had moved to the happy face. It works pretty well for most classes, and they hate having to move their stick to the sad face. It also gives me a record -- when they leave, I can look in the cups and quickly mark in my grade book who gave extra effort and who had problems. Mary Evans
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07/05 CATCH THEM BEING GOOD!. I begin with the assumption that the children want to do the right thing. In my 30+ years of teaching I have yet to meet a student who truly did not want to be a success. I do not assume that all children know how to achieve success so I work hard to let them know what the successful behaviors look like. Another way to describe it is "water the flowers...not the weeds"(quote from Rudy Benton, PE teacher in the SF area) I always have a place on my board for "Bravo" and "Opps." When a student displays one of those successful behaviors the name goes in Bravo. I use this as often as possible so I can "catch them being good." The positive reinforcement is the best way to reinforce these attributes of a good student. On a good day the list is very long...on the best days the class gets listed as a group because they worked so well together. The students respond immediately to the challenge and feel great pride when the whole class is in Bravo. I am not afraid to use the Opps list if needed but it rarely is necessary. If I must use negative reinforcement, it is quick and friendly: name in Opps with a quiet explanation of the reason (if the child doesn't accept the warning we talk about it after class...I never argue with a child). If the same child is "Oppsed" in the same lesson, they take a time out for the balance of the class...end of subject. I have used this system for years and rarely even get a name in Opps as a warning; the children are more interested in gaining positive reinforcement! -- Marjie Van Gunten
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07/05 PARENT LETTER:
Dear Parents of ____________________________ (Room #____) Date:_________
This progress report is designed to inform you of your child’s behaviors in music class. I believe that I can teach just about anything to a child who is ready to learn. The behaviors listed below help children get ready and stay ready to learn. Please take a few minutes and read how your child is behaving in my class. Perhaps you will see some areas that you can help your child improve. Perhaps you’ll see some areas that are so wonderful that you will want to give him/her an extra hug or two!
Thank you for your support. Feel free to contact me at (phone # here) or email at (school email address).
Sincerely, Mrs. Stanley, NBCT
Each item is rated 1-5 to show you how often your child behaves that particular way. Higher is better.
5 = always 4 = usually 3 = sometimes 2 = seldom 1= never
____is respectful of adults
____is respectful of other children
____is respectful of things and objects
____is respectful of feelings
____pays attention without reminders
____asks questions when confused
____gets calm, stays calm without reminders
____sits in a wise place
____avoids making distracting movements and noises
____is patient
____chooses peaceful ways of dealing with conflict
____accepts correction gracefully
____is willing to be helpful
____tries
____follows the rules without reminders
____stays in own personal space
____asks questions appropriately
____avoids commenting on or getting involved in other people’s business
____is truthful
____is cheerful
____looks at the person who is supposed to be talking
____accepts responsibility for own behavior
____has a positive sense about him/herself
____tries to be good ____follows directions the first time
____stays on task
____cooperates
____shares ideas and objects easily
____gets over being mad easily
____forgives easily
____stands up for him/herself peacefully and effectively
____ignores distractions
____moves around the room and school without destroying, disrupting or hurting things or people
____avoids cheating
____avoids stealing
____avoids tattling
____avoids doing “put-downs”
____avoids talking out of turn
____avoids seeking revenge --
Martha Stanley
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07/05 http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Teachers/discipline.html
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07/05 GIVE ME FIVE: We at Jefferson County Public Schools have adopted "Give ME Five " in conjunction with the CHAMPS program as our voice meter component. With it, we have 5 steps that students take to adjust behavior suitable for instruction. They are:
5 - Eyes are watching
4- Ears are listening
3 - Lips are silent
2- Hands are quiet
1 - Feet are still It is working well here.
Hope this is what you were asking about. Ken Downs;,Minors Lane Elementary
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07/05 BOOK: I highly recommend Love & Logic. www.loveandlogic.com
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09/03 POEM: I use a poem for classroom rules. I basically only have 3-respect yourself. respect others. Respect the property of all. BUT I go into detail anytime we go over the poem (a couple of times a year usually).
Consequences (that I post in classroom)
1. Warning / Poem
2. Poem / Discipline Slip
3. Trip to the Office
I generally assign the poem 1-10 times (yep 10 is LOTS of words!) depending on the crime and how often the culprits repeat the offense in the classroom. Sometimes I give a warning (for example: talking...I don't mind a little noise so I don't mind warning them to get quiet) and other times its just a poem (tearing something up, throwing something, disrespectful language, etc....) I only get these kids for 30 or 50 at a time and I will NOT sacrifice my entire class time for the whole class because 1 or 2 kids turn evil. I would much rather send them out to the office and be able to TEACH the rest of the time rather than playing the "Who's really in charge Here" game with them. Fortunately I don't have to do this too often (a few times a year) and the principal keeps them for the rest of the time.
Here's the poem:
Upon this wall are rules I post
That you must follow here the most
Please enter the room with a quiet smile
And be prepared to learn music for a while
Stay in your seat, whether carpet or chair
Make sure your supplies are with you there
Do your best to sing, dance and learn
Then high scores you will always earn
During discussions avoid disruptions
With needless talk or rude interruptions
Please raise your hand before you talk out
So all may hear what your thoughts are about
In the music room there are lots of neat things
But before you touch let the warning bells ring
Take care of supplies, instruments and books
Treat them respectfully. Don't be a crook!
Put things back where they were found
So Mrs. King won't have to frown
Keep your papers nice and crisp
Don't fold or crinkle or wad or twist
Here is something for you to consider
Where is the place we deposit litter?
It's not the hallway or music room carpet
But in the waste basket is where we drop it
There should be absolutely no gum in this class.
No candy, no food, no drinks. Don't ask.
If in your shoe rocks or tire is seen
Dump them in the trash. Let's keep our room clean.
Never hurl insults or words of hate or fear
"Please" and "Thank You" are better to hear
Do not use language in a negative way
Try "Good job!", "Keep trying!" or "Have a great day!"
If you think this poem is too long to remember
Here are 3 rules that can make you a winner
Respect the property of each and everyone
Respect others. Respect yourself. That's three. You're done.
By treating each other with consideration
You will enjoy a first rate education
But if these rules you do neglect
This poem written out-I will collect.
-- Contributed by Tracy of: Bulletin Boards for the Music Classroom

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09/03 FACE BALLS: I don't do this on a regular basis, but when I do, my older kids L-O-V-E the little yellow smiley face balls from Oriental Trader that have bulging eyes when you squeeze them. I tell them he's Wilson's son, Wilbert. Wilson is my tennis ball puppet that they have seen since kindergarten. They think Wilson and Wilbert (and wife Wilma) are sooooooo cool. I'm sure it depends on how you present it and what kind of children you teach. - Contributed by Laurie Zentz
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10/02 RULES: I laminate and post my classroom rules at the frount of the class. Then on the first class meeting we read and discuss all of these rules. Then I talk about the consequences of breaking my rules. I have a slogan that says: "just like in baseball, three strikes and you're out."
Someone will always become your test case. Whichever rule the child breaks after that third infraction, he/she must go into the hall and write that rule a specified number of times. I find the worst punishment is missing music. Since the children have to write all day, they miss the freedom and creativity of music. Some of the students actually cry, but they remember to behave the next class.
I date the writing assignment and file away in a folder in my desk. If you begin to see a pattern of bad behavior developing, you then have documentation to show to the principal, parents. and the child. I find the younger the child, the more likely he/she forgets behavior patterns. With this saved information to show the child, you have a powerful weapon. I tell the child that falls into this category that I really care about him/her and if bad behavior continues school will not be a successful endeavor. Children today often come to school without any training or guidelines of behavior.
Unfortunately it seems that parents now would be happy to have the school bus pick up the children from the hospital delivery room. In VA we have free breakfast program, free and reduced lunches. Once the kids are born they become the teachers responsibility.
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SUGGESTIONS: Some tricks I use are these:
1) I change incentives regularly. All the discipline plans in the world that work for most folks will work for a month at the most. I get jealous of those who say "I take the boomwhacker away from anyone who plays out of turn and that solves the problem." I'd have to take up all of them before we played anything!
2) Chalk talk works for awhile. Stickers or stamps on the hand work on days when I really need to accomplish things. (These days, I give out a sticker EACH time I see kids following directions. Some leave class with 4 or 5. I watch the ringleaders very closely and try hard to find them doing SOMETHING right. Their first sticker usually acts as an incentive for them.) Singing a favorite song IF we finish this activity.
3) I do lots of hand arm movements (every song - to give them something positive to do with hands rather than hitting their neighbor!). We keep our bottoms glued to the chair ALOT. They just get out of control too quickly.
4) When I begin to add movement, I start with stand up/sit down right in front of your own chair, and talk about safety. I don't want anyone to get hurt and cry in my music room! We must stay in our own space to be safe.
5) K's and 1's get to sit criss cross in the chair. That cuts down on legs swinging and kicking each other.
6) I constantly work on the seating arrangement. The "busiest" usually sit on the end of a row with an empty seat next to them to give them some space.
7) My time out place is a chair at the FRONT corner of the room facing the board. I cut 2 sides of a large box and covered it with paper and labeled it Compose Yourself and put a picture of Haydn writing music. The box acts as a screen on one side and behind the chair. So the time out child sits in the desk, head down. I can see the child, but the child cannot gain the attention of the class with their antics. My rule for primaries is that they must sit quietly for one song. If they do that, they can come back to their seat. If they are noisy in timeout, they stay for another song. I have to work hard to remember to BRING THEM BACK IN TO THE CLASS. I have found that the longer they stay there, the more disturbances they will make.
8) I stand as close as possible to the ones having the most trouble that day. Sometimes I bring that student up front with me and just hold on to them in a gentle hug while I go on with the lesson. I think they need attention and sometimes (never always!) this works and they are quiet while they are in front with me. Sometimes I put a chair for me in front and a chair for one student right next to mine. As long as the student in question is in or next to the chair, I don't fuss, but I continually try to engage them in the songs. One very needy K would lay on the floor under the chair and sing all of the songs while he played with the bottom of the chair.
9) Somedays we practice coming in to the room and sitting down, then lining up at the door over and over and over until we can do it in an orderly fashion.
10) Some days I escort the worst offender to the gym. There are 2 gym teachers and they have students on the wall writing if they forget their tennis shoes. They add mine to the lineup and they don't get to participate at all that day.
11) I have stopped class for the day. I do have some books in my classroom. I try to give a book to those who were trying to participate, but those who were disrupting must sit with heads down quietly, while I write the letters home! I figure why should I use my time at home with my own children to fill in these "bad day" notes. Take it out of the time of the kids who were having a bad day.
12) I also have a listening center that I have used in 2 ways. Sometimes I let those who are trying to learn go there while I deal with the rest who are not. Other times I send the one or two children who cannot remain in control of themselves to participate in this alternate music lesson at the back of the room (or in the timeout corner). I have used a tape of Peter and the Wolf and Beethoven Lives Upstairs. Anything with music and narration would probably work.
13) I have used simple music games as incentives - we will play a game TODAY if we have a super day - 3 or less timeouts. Reward them quickly. Don't try to save them up. I tried playing games when they had accumulated 4 supers. Many of my classes will never even got two and then gave up. I just had to make myself shorten the lesson and save time for a 3-5 minute "game."
Things do get better as we begin to build our repertiore of favorite songs. Some days we just sing and sing and sing. Some days are still difficult, but they do get used to your style and you will begin to figure out which kids are the ringleaders and be able to key in on them.
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THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE IN!: In other words, I am going to use the yellow and red cards. If a kid breaks a rule, they will get the yellow card as a warning. If they straighten out, I will take the card back. If they are talking or break another rule, they will get a red card which will be their third strike and they will be in for recess. While they are in, I will have them write on a form with their name, date and room number on it that will answer these three questions:
1. What are the rules?
2. What did I do wrong?
3. Which rule did I break?
4. What can I do to correct my behavior?
I am keeping a manilla folder of these so I will have the documentation to back me up. I hope that works. I do know I will have to re-invent the wheel. But I hope that I will help while the weather is still nice and they will not want to stay in. One thing I have to work on is not to yell. It took me all summer to get my voice back to its normal range and I don't want to mess it up again.
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GOLDEN APPLE AWARD: I do believe that an entire class should never be punished because I feel really bad inside myself. These are my personal alternatives:
1. Last year I experimented with this one. Other teachers used this one successfully in one school I taught at. For those classes where one or two children were challenging for grades K and 1 I gave the class, the golden apple award. I let the child who was the biggest behavior problem carry it out. That child got to put it on their desk which later I found teachers putting them on the top shelf. For each music class they were to return the apple to me. If they were all good then the apple was returned to their classroom. This then allowed me to tell the problem child that their entire class was about to loose the apple award.
The apple came from PicNSav now Big Lot for $.75 or less. It was big, golden red and had that special glittery effect.The kids helped me disciple the problem kids. They would go over to the problem and say you are making us loose the apple.
I found that when the apple returned I would act so happy to get my apple back. I asked them to please, please be bad. My rules were this but I wanted them to do this instead. Those kids in the know of who was a problem would take that kid asside and tell that child I was wanting them to do the opposite. I saw them---use the teacher stare on their classmate to get them to behave. I saw them go over and stand next to the misbehaving student. I do not use a seat chart or use chairs. I heard them admonish that student. They all wanted that apple. This lasted the entire year. As the children learned correct behavior I noticed the teachers let the apple idea go. Only one teacher allowed it to continue up to the last month of school.
2. If there is a board available I put the offending names on the board. I say to the class, who did that? I wait for them to tell me that kids name. I have to trust them since in some classes I did not use name tags. I pick one or two only. I tell the children that everytime I see good behavior happen I will erase part of that name. This means I do stop the entire class and compliment that person with the name on the board with erasing a letter from his name. If misbehavior happens again then the name goes up and even the last name. In this case I will erase the letter and leave a star in the missing letter. The consequence for having their name left on the board when the period is up is something I am unwilling to do like have that person sit with me outside for the entire lunch period. That makes me really notice all good things that kid with name on board does often. Letters get erased when the kid is looking at me when I am talking, the kid raised his hand to answer a question.
When I worked in Juvenile Hall, we learn to immediately pick that one scape goat misbehaving person to be sent to their cell. If it happens at the beginning of the class it sets the tone. Teacher expects and wants correct behavior. Everyone knows this lady means business. If I push the button a guard comes in and escorts the kid to their cell. Ultimate consequence is to really clean the toilets with a toothbrush. So the bottom line is I do use whole class discipline with my own take on how it works for me.
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WHAT DO YOU DO/SAY TO THE BUMP ON THE LOG THAT DOESN'T PARTICIPATE AT ALL?
I try to find something for them to do to make them feel important. It could be pass out papers, play an instrument, be the timekeeper, etc. Again, I try not to make a big deal of it, as usually it is because the student feels self conscious about their musical skills.
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08/02 10 POINT GRADE SYSTEM; I still remember my first 6th grade class from he$$ in 1970 - I had 6 boys in the hall and the principal there on the first day. It got better, but it was not an easy year. I feel for you. Here is what I do now
1. Assertive discipline techniques are great Catch them being good and send home "good" reports, certificates, stickers,etc Post your rules and consequences and stick to them.
2. I grade on a 10 point system for participation They walk in with free 8 points -that's a B . If they want to earn an A they have to do something outstanding to get a plus point. Minuses result in losing a point. One minus is automatically a C for the day. After 2 minuses they are separated from the class and out of the activity(perhaps with awriting activity). If someone gets 3 minus points in one class they are out- to another room or the office. I try not to let it get that far very often. In addition to participation points there are points for projects, tests, skills etc. I use this system for all grades, but most especially for upper grade.
3. Arrange with another teacher to accept a child who cannot remain in your room- a kindergarten or first grade class is good- where they have to just sit quiet.
4. CALL PARENTS!! LET THEM KNOW I KEEP MY CELL PHONE ON ME AND CALL RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM NUMBERS ARE PROGRAMMED INTO THE PHONE THE PRICE IS WORTH IT!!!!!!! Just be careful, I had the phone taken once, so keep it on you
5. With older kids I often "Divide and conquer" I set up learning centers and rotate the kids in groups - computer center, karaoke,guitars, recorders, puppet& drama, listening, reviewing note reading, etc. This way those who want to really learn are not held back and those who wouldn't work anyway might fool you and get excited about something.
6. Let classes earn a free activities day. I have a large staff of velcro on the bulletin board. Each class has a note with the room number on it. If the class has an excellent day - establish the criteria- then the note moves up. When it reaches the F line they have earned a special activity, treat, etc. and the note gets a sticker and moves back down to start over. Just be careful that children cannot get at the chart and change the notes!!!! Keep a record of the movement yourself to avoid disputes!
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03/02 POEM: Here's my brother's (Paul Trepus) discipline poem. (This is the poem that inspired another one on our list.)
http://sjh.bethel.wednet.edu/web/staff2/trepus/expect.htm
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03/02 TALKERS: The art teacher and I have recently started a new behavior system with some of our students. We have some students that just talk ALL THE TIME. We recently sent letters home with a few kids that we are doing this system with. Each student has their name on a list with 3 smiley faces next to it. If they give us a problem, they simply mark one off-1 off is a warning, 2 off is loss of recess, and 3 off is time before or after school with one of us. Right now, we are using this with a few students that have been giving both of us problems. It really seems to work.
They have their name on a list for art and another list for music. Really, they have plenty of chances. If we really wanted to be mean, we'd have one list for both art and music. These students start fresh each week. I just have my lists saved on a disk and print them out every week. They are on a clipboard where the kids can get to it when directed. I might begin with this for all of my students next year. It's a good visual way for the students and for me to keep track of their behavior.
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01/02 TEACHER RESPONSE: We do two things that have been very effective with 5th, though you have to be able to identify the trouble makers. They won't work for a whole class.1. Stop the child mid-behavior and say "You are a 5th grader, but your actions would blend in better in 1st grade, so I'm going to return you to 1st grade until your actions better match 5th grade expectations." Then do it. It's even better if you return them to the teacher they had. For the rest of the period, they sit in 1st and do 1st grade work. Some of our 1st grade teachers will assign a "helper" to sit with them in case they need help. No one ever has to be sent twice.
2. Special Needs classes: We have something called PPCD, which is for special needs pre-schoolers. Some of them are severely affected. I have been known to send a rude or whiny child to help out in PPCD instead of recess. They have to sign in and out like an employee. The PPCD teacher is great about pointing out the good fortune of the helpers for simply being healthy enough to help. Also very effective. Some scofflaws liked going so much, though, that they tried to get into trouble. We now have a 5th grade PPCD club, which helps out on alternating days, so I've lost that as a discipline measure.
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01/02 SCHEDULING: One thing that works well for me, too, is that I scheduled the fifth grades for RIGHT before lunch...I walk them there and they know if they waste my time in class, I'll waste their lunch time.
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01/02 OK, FILL IN A FORM!: One of the disciplinary methods I use with my 3-6 graders is a form sheet that they have to fill out for each infraction of the rules. They need to fill in their name, fill in the date, and write out what happened to cause them to fill out the sheet in the first place. While they are filling it out, I can continue with my lesson with little lost time. When they are done filling it out, they bring it to me so that I can glance at it (to make sure they put down their own name, and to add any details that I think might clarify the situation). This gives me something concrete to go back to if there are questions later about any given situation. One discipline sheet is usually considered a warning. Two within a week or six class periods (or whatever time frame you decide on) results in noon hour time. I rarely have to give up my noon hours now for discipline reasons. Three sheets within a quarter means that they have to take them home to be signed by their parents and returned. If all three sheets are spread out across the quarter, it usually means minor 'stuff', and I'm sure many parents think its no big deal, but at least there is some communication that 'Johnny' is not making all the right choices. There is also a place on my grading report for a behavior score and my kids know that every two sheets lowers their score. For a very few, that doesn't mean much, but for the most part it takes care of most problems and I can get on with the business of teaching and interacting with the ones who are doing what they are supposed to be doing. It also gives me documentation for those occasions when I'm questioned about a situation.
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STOP SIGN: With 5th grade I used a stop sign I made on flourescent red poster board. Kids loved it!! They have 5 seconds to settle down or the check goes up. 5th grade is a different breed.....
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CLAPPING SIGNAL: I simply use a clapping signal - ta ti-ti ta. Students are expected to clap it back immediately. I'll clap it again if necessary one more time. If I have to clap a third time, there will be a check placed on the board. Three checks and you're out - no happygram for that day - and happygrams are highly prized by teachers.
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RAINSTICK: I have used a rainstick (small) with my upper classes to get their attention to quiet down. The shorter, the better they have to get quiet in a hurry.
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MUSICAL STARS: I have something else I do in addition to my "log" for discipline problems. This is called music stars. One student per class receives a star for being 1. Polite, 2. helpful to others, and 3. Willing to try.
In addition, they can receive a music star by doing extra credit. I offer extra credit with each class going along with the topic we were learning. I also offer a "album of the week." I pick a different album, jazz, rock, country, opera, etc., and display it all week. They hear bits when they enter and leave. If they write up a bit about it as to what they like/don't like and tell me why, in musical terms they can also earn a star.
One more way they can do this is by looking up information on the "composers of the month." I have a section of the wall where I display composers of the month. These composers were born in the month that we are presently in. They can look up info and put it into their own words and receive a music star. Every class is on the wall with each student's name displayed. They can check every day to see who has stars and who does not. When they receive 3 they get a certificate explaining to everyone that they are "wonderful and fabulous," as I always say. They continue to get awards with every three they earn. I found that the kids really love this and it gets them more involved in the music outside of the classroom.
BACK to Seating Topics
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DISMISSAL
01/02 SONG: I have created a classroom routine with K8's "Hola Amigos".(MK8, Plank Rd. Pub.) We now sing this song to begin/end our class. I also have used it to give directions...."Line, up, line up, line up Amigos!"......stand up.......circle up etc. Works wonders. They sing with me as I sing (no talking:) and easily follow the directions. This semester I have begun varying this with different languages.....so far we've not only learned the song in Spanish, but also Japanese and French with more to come! The students are eating it up!
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01/02 LINE UP SONG: I end my class by singing, "If your name starts with A, please line up" (to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It), and the kids know I only call on those who are "ready." I change it to use colors, # of letters in their name, etc., etc.
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01/02 WHAT YOU DO WITH YOUR HANDS, FEET, MOUTH: I have a thing that I do when I line kids up from the very beginning of the year.
3 things-- what do you do with your hands--by your sides
what about you feet--quiet walking feet
what about your mouth--zip it
the kids line up and I almost always pick one or two that are lined up like I expect and point out--I love the way so and so is lined up. Amazing how quickly the rest of the line follows suit. Then if there is any noise in the hall we stop and I reiterate whatever of the problems I see--What do you do with your mouth? Almost always that ends it.
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01/02 RIGHT/LEFT HANDS: She has them put their right hand finger on their lip and their left hand behind their back. This gives each hand something to do while walking down the hall.
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01/02 My kids sit in chairs in an "L" shaped formation against two walls. One end of the "L" is next to the door. I always choose one boy and girl (or more) to be a "Person of Note." They receive gold "Good as gold"stickers which I have made to order by Current (gold address labels) and have a music design plus the words "PERSON OF NOTE/GREAT JOB IN MUSIC/FROM MRS. DAVIS/WINTHROP PRIMARY CENTER." These kids go to the door first. Next everyone stands up in front of their own chairs, in music order, they face the people of note, and follow the leaders out the door in that formation. This is quick, easy, and instantaneous. And is was suggested by a kid!
BACK to Seating topics
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ENTERING ROOM WITHOUT CHAOS
12/13 SONG: I have used the "Hello Freddie" song (by Sharon Burtch, sp?) In grades K-2 for 2 years, every class, every day. The kids know the routine........they sing it as they enter, circling around the rug, remain standing after everyone is in, then when I tell them to. It takes a few weeks to kinders know it, some from their siblings, but I begin the year introducing them to Freddie the Frog, and they love him.---- Kay Humbert, Fort Wayne, IN
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01/07 PROVERB: I'm going to write 1/2 of a proverb on the board each day. (For instance: "Early to bed and early to rise...) The students will then need to finish it. When the students enter the room they will be instructed to sit down and finish the proverb - with their own ideas. When the bell rings I will add an additional minute for those who walk in the room right on time and then we will share our freshly made proverbs. I will then read the "real" proverb, share the originator/Ben Franklin in this case, and we will create a melody for it. (Or I might make this an extra credit idea. Students can make up the melody, or use a piggyback melody/jingle - outside of class and get extra credit if they share it with the class.
http://www.famous-quotations.com/asp/origins.aspThis site divides the proverbs based upon the country from which the proverbs came. How perfect! Now it will be very easy to teach a "statement" lesson concerning musical characteristics about the country from which the proverb came. (National Content Standard 9) -- Patty Oeste
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With my Ks and first graders I sing a little song when we come into the room or when get we get into our "spaces" for movement, etc. We echo sing:
This is my space, (draw circle in the air around self) (S,M,L,S)
This is my place, (draw circle around self, indicating place on the floor) (S,M,L,S)
My space, (air circle again) (L,S)
My place, (floor circle again) (L,S)
Nobody but me! (point to self) (L,S,M,R,D)
Seems to work for me. Now if I could just remember where I got this.......
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I made up a little song with an easy tune and I sing first then they echo me as they walk in to their places. The words of the song are:
Hello there and how do you do? (echo)
It's surely good to see you! (echo)
I'm gunna do my best today. (echo)
Cuz that's the Wiscasset Way! (echo)
When I taught in Va. a friend of mine used to have them sing to the tune of an army march:
(I've used this on occasion and they really like it too.)
We know how to come into (echo)
Mrs. Drury's class room (echo)
Come in singing through the door (echo) and sit so quietly on the floor (echo)
Sound off (one two)
Sound off (three four)
One, two, three, four Shhhh! (spoken)
I do my song with ALL grades k-5. Some times 5th grade gets a little weird about it at the end of the year, but I just remind them that they have to sing it to get the note on the B# board! Works like a charm!! HEE HEE!
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I have been starting up one of those common songs as they enter. I wait until I have 5 or 6 kids in the door, then go for it. I have taught them the expectation that they should be listening even before they get into the room, to hear what the song is today. And of course, no talking when they hear music of any kind. This is tied in with the points they are trying to earn toward a musical choice day (games, etc.) and I am enjoying getting the class going right away.
As an outgrowth of this, when we were working on our Vet's Day Assembly, I used America/Oh What a Goodly Thing (Peace Round)for entering the room, and later we were able to start our all-school assembly the very same way, with 400 voices joining in class by class as they entered the gym. It made a smooth and fairly musical beginning
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GROUPINGS
12/07 I have assigned students to "home bases" in past years that were particular spots on my risers. Because of a folk dance unit that I do at the beginning of the year with 6th grade, and my desire to use Mallet Madness and have more space on the floor for instruments - I folded up my risers and stacked them against the wall. I used large Sharpie markers in four colors and put 30 different musical signs and symbols on the laminated part of my classroom floor (all of the ones in my Gameplan set of visuals and more). My seating chart (for myself and also subs) is drawn out to look like the floor and has each musical symbol in a box, which includes a small piece of Post-It with the child's name and 12 small squares for marking assessment (+, -, or check mark). The Post-It is very handy for changing a child's placement easily if the spot I chose for them "isn't working" (can't stop talking to their neighbor, or keep their hands to themselves, etc.) The most fun is all of the different activities we have done to familiarize students with the names, functions, and categories of the various signs and symbols. The first week with students in grades 1-4, I gave them a picture of one of the symbols and they found the matching symbol on the floor. Students in grades 5 and 6 were given a card with the name of the symbol, and they had to use the available posters and visuals in the room to locate their sign or symbol. These became their assigned "home bases". Since then I've been doing a short opening activity with most of the grade levels to further "cement" their knowledge of the signs.
1. I put down six pieces of paper around the perimeter of the room with the categories that the symbols fit into (notes, rests, clefs, tempo markings, dynamic markings, and other). With the younger students I told them which category their sign fit into and we all went to stand by the paper with the name of our category. Older students had to use the available resources in the room to find their category, if they did not already know.
2. We "introduced" our sign or symbol to 3 other classmates using a formal introduction "Susie, this is treble clef. Treble clef, this is Susie". (One boy went so far as to insist that the kids he introduced his symbol to "shake its hand". Very cute!)
3. We put our signs or symbols in order within the categories. Ex: Dynamic markings from softest to loudest. Tempo markings from slowest to fastest. Notes and rests from the shortest duration to the longest.
4. We found out which sign or symbol I call the "Queen" or the "King" of them all (depended on whether a boy or girl had been assigned that symbol.) It was of course the "staff". We all bowed to the king or queen. I explained that without the staff, the rest of them would all be without a home and without a job - because they all were located either on or near the staff.
5. We've divided into groups for games and activities based on the color of their symbol (red, green, blue or black). We've also divided up into the categories I mentioned earlier (notes,rests, etc.) to form smaller groups. -- Leslie Ritter
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01/07 POPSICLE STICKS for the Day’s Groups: My popsicle stickes are the wide-ish ones...almost like tongue depressors. Anyway...I have one set that I use for all classes. On the popsicle stick on one end I have the following: A number (one-27 for my class sizes) a circle (red, blue, green or purple) On the other end I have: a note (barred eighth notes, quarter note, or quarter rest) the name of an instrument On the back of the stick I have: a 4 count rhythm (just in quarter notes, quarter rests and eighth notes I think) the name of an instrument family If I am going to use the sticks with a group I pass them out as they are coming in the door.
Sometimes I'll pick out the highest numbers that I know I won't need, but I usually don't. I just lay out the extra sticks next to me so that if I call number 6 and no one answers that I can look and see...duh! I have it right here. Okay...now for all that stuff that's on the stick: the numbers-I use that for choosing a student to pick a song on folder singing day, answer a question, run an errand, etc....
Occasionally I use them to assign groups of 5. (I'll say numbers 1-5 are a group, 6-10 are a group, etc...) colored circle-used for when I want to divide the entire group into four groups...four colors...four groups note-used when I want to divide the group into three groups or groups of three. Using the note helps them identify a musical symbol while transitioning to another activity. name of an instrument-various instrument guessing games, sorting games (all the brass instruments sit in the back row or all the instruments with mouthpieces line up, etc....) 4 count rhythm. I think that I have two of these rhythms each and that this can be used for finding a partner. instrument family-dividing into four groups and various instrument games. I like that I can use it for a variety of purposes with all grade levels. -- Tracy -- Bulletin Boards for the Music Classroom -- www.musicbulletinboards.net
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LARGE CLASSES
06/15 LARGE CLASS UPPER ELEMENTARY: Cooperative learning. 8 groups - 3-4 students in a group, one of the group members being your fourth grader. Assign a piece or exercise or page, fourth grader teaches it to the group, each group performs their piece for the class. Yes, this is noisy - but that's okay. The fourth graders get to solidify their knowledge, the third graders learn something new, and they get to hear it from someone other than the teacher!
Jobs: teacher - (fourth grader), monitor - (reminds everyone to stay on task), gofer (student who is to get your attention if they bump into problems) - if there is a fourth student in the group, their job is to be time keeper (set limits for each stage of the activity).
Higher order: have the class (or each group) devise a rubric for evaluating each group's performance. -----Norm Sands
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OUT OF CONTROL CLASSES: I find that the more movement I use with rowdy classes, the easier it is for me to keep order.I may have to be strict at the beginning about sitting kids out who choose poor behaviors, but the learning is so engaging that I can reinforce good behavior with it. Start with easy stuff and be tough on "transgressors". Establish the norms immediately. No second chances at first ..... and "I'm so sorry. I hope you can watch how to do it and come back in just a bit. Have a mixture of loco and non-locomotor activities. Have some reinforcing form; some reinforcing fluidity and music concepts like staccato/legato/loud/soft. Have a middle/resting time where you do a sit and move (non-locomotor)activity - a hand jive, "fudge" (rather like a movement round - I bet there's a description in the archives), then get them back up for a new something or other. Have a mixture of directed motion (with specific steps and directions) and self-directed motion (improv, going with the flow).Have a manipulative of some kind for them to use. If nothing else, a rhythm stick or a handkerchief or a beanie baby....... use creatively.And if you don't have a voice amplifier system, definitely build in a "stop, look and listen" procedure of some kind. Or even if you do have one..... do that. ---- Martha Stanley
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09/03 ADVICE: Pair students "kindly" for sharing music books. Don't force boy/girl or other uncomfortable pairings. Same for instruments if sharing is needed.
- Use overhead proj./ transparencies in place of large quantities of papers. Our MK8 lyric sheets work especially well for this. Listening maps can also work well in this format. Colorful dry-erase markers can add punch to these.
- Have a large body of song material in notebooks. With MK8 or P.D. material, any amount can be copied, no matter the size of the class. I've used pocket folders before but will use 3-ring binders now that I'll have storage space in my new room.
- When adding instrumental parts, teach in speech and body percussion as usual, then transfer part of the group to instruments, rather than the whole class. My instruments were usually in "far-flung" corners of the room due to space problems, but we made it work.
- Make more use of teaching videos. It may not be your first choice of teaching material, but it can help preserve your strength and sanity.
- Begin the year with songs/activities that encourage the cooperative-classroom spirit. This helps students get over the "us / them" hurdle.
- Take time during each period for groups within the whole to share or perform for the whole class.
- With a large group, movement activities are often limited. Collect short self-space movement pieces that can be used as warm-ups or tossed into the middle of class for a break. We're used "Dr. Knickerbocker," "Downright, Upright," "Flea Song," "One Bottle Pop," (round with layered movements) and "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" (with cumm. actions, as on Sharon, Lois, & Bram recording).
- Make more use of recordings. If I know I have a large-group situation coming up, the first thing I reach for is Denise Gagne's collections. My little ones would do "One Green Jelly Bean" every day if I'd let them. Of course, my 13 volumes of MK8 tapes and CDs are always at hand!
Hope there is something in all this rambling that provides a tiny bit of inspiration. One giant plus you already have is your school-wide discipline system. That should make the student behavior element much easier to deal with in this baaaaaaaddddd situation. - Contributed by Connie Herbon
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LINES WITHOUT CHAOS
01/07 ADAMS FAMILY: Do with the theme for the Adams’ family:
Show me a line *snap* *snap* Show me a line *snap* *snap*
Show me a line, make it so fine. Show me a line *snap* *snap* -Meredith Harley Inserra
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06/06 CIRCLE To get the class to sit in a circle I simply start singing the song: "Such a making of a circle I never did see..." For smoother transitions it also works to makeup simple songs (using mi, so &la) giving them instructions. They'll love it. I promise.
Such a Making of a Circle I never did See
e e e e e e q e e e q q e e e e e g f e c c c c c c e c e g f e f d d d
Such a making of a circle I never did see, such a making of a
e q e e e q q e e e e e e e q e e e q q
e e d d f d f a g f e c c c c c c e c e g f e
circle I never did see, such a making of a circle you never did see, such a
e e e e e q e q q q f d d d d g f e c c
making of a circle, you can't catch me.
I don't know where this song comes from, but it works for me. In case your not familiar with the above format here's an explanation: The top row is the timing: q - Quarter e - Eighth The second are the note names, followed by the words
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10/05 CLEANUP: Music time is over, things are put away, We will leave our singing for another day.
S F M F S_ M_, F M R S M_, S F M F S_ M_ S M F R D_. -- Mando
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10/05 LINE: [Adapted - sung to “When Johnnny Comes Marching Home”]
When everyone’s done and ready, then off we'll go.
When everyone’s done and ready, then off we'll go.
So form a line so very straight, oh, let's get started, I can't wait. Oh, we're almost ready, off we’ll go to march to class oh…-- Susan Knutzen
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08/04 LINE: To the tune of “The Adams Family”
Show me a line (snap, snap) Show me a line (snap, snap)
Show me a line, that would be fine Show me a line (snap, snap)
Your feet are pointing forward,
Your fingers pointing downward,
Your lips are pressed together, and
Now you're in a line! (Repeat chorus.) -- Contributed by a 2d grade teacher
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LINE: If I have a few minutes at the end of class, I often will quickly hang up a poster I made of the C major scale, play the scale, then go back and isolate one note. The kids get to guess which one I played, by its letter, and I give clues of "too high" or "too low". When someone guesses correctly, they get to line up first. This usually keeps everyone pretty focused and listening.
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CLOSING SONG: I teach toddlers and primary (pre Kindergarten) and use the tune: Goodbye Ladies substituting the children's names. When they are all in line we sing the chorus: Merrily we roll along.....(using hands to "roll")
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MOTIVATING STUDENTS
Here's a couple of ideas to motivate and get your 5th graders to sing with enthusiasm:
1. Get them singing in front of an audience. Ask their teacher to come watch them, ask the next class to watch the previous class. Ask the principal, aides, nurse, anybody to watch them sing a song. I've been known to take kids into the lunch room and sing something we are working on.
2. Have half the class sing for the other half or boys sing for the girls, etc.
3. I'm not against bribing. The show must go on! Get the teachers support. If the class does so and so the teacher will do so and so. Most of our teachers have some sort of class room reward system like if good behavior in specials a marble or two is added to the jar- than the class gets some reward when their goal is reached.
4. I tend to be very animated and expressive and in their faces. Move around , walk up and down the rolls. I give directions and expect them to comply. You know like SMILE, Sing through your eyes, Raise your eye brows, Open your mouth, Watch Me, Everybocy Sing, Have fun! If you want them to smile or open their mouths and they won't, walk around with a large hand mirror and put it in their faces. This brings smiles and laughter. Now all I have to say is, "I'm getting my mirror" and they start laughing.
5. Compliment a popular kid on something you want them all to be doing. That kid may not even be doing what you want, but complimenting him on his dancing or smiles or whatever usually encourages the other kids to follow.
6. Be positive! Tell them the things they are doing well, like you know the words to the songs, you're always watching me, etc.
7. Encourage, encourage, encourage! I'll remind them of their other performances and how good they felt after working so hard and doing a good job at the performance. I remind them how much their parents and principal will be impressed with them, how good they will look on the video. When they sing really well I just give them a huge smile and thumbs up. When they are working on something hard. I'll say I can't believe they are getting this piece it's meant for middle schoolers or high schoolers and they get really proud of themselves. Sometimes if they give me goose bumps, I'll rub my arms and wink and they know they've done a good job. One girl said recently in choir, "You're crying and it's not even at the performance." "I'm am not," I'll say, and they laugh. They feed off you.
8. The video idea is good. We video the concerts and have a tradition of watching them in the music class following our shows, so our kids know they will be on TV. I tell them we don't have mirrors on the walls like at a dance studio so, "I'm their mirror". I see them all and want them to look good on stage. I tell them, if they do what I say they will be wonderful on stage. I tell them how many years I've been performing and teaching, so I know what I'm doing. I also say have I ever made you look bad on stage? It takes time to develop a trust relationship with your students.
9. Be honest with them. Tell them we have a problem and you need their help. You want them to be good on stage but you can't make them do what you instruct. They need to decide to cooperate and all need to work together. Let a couple of kids give you their opinions on how they are doing. Ask them how can we be better. Make the problem theirs and you are there to help anyway you can. But it's their faces on stage. The parents will only see the back of you. (You will probably have kids that will be negative, but don't give them too much attention. Focus on the constructive.)
10. When I first came to my school that didn't have much of a music program 3 years ago, I had problems with the 4-8 graders singing and performing. So I understand your concerns. Just be as clear as possible to your students of what you want from them. Not knowing their previous performing experience, they may not know how to be expressive, practice specifics.-- JoDee Dean
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MUSIC AFTER RECESS
12/16 Try "one minute of silence." Have a discussion. You're not "being mean" and you understand they are excited from recess and it's difficult to settle down, but we have a program for which to prepare. Everyone take one long deep breath, let it out. Now give me 60 seconds of silence. If anyone makes a sound, we start the clock over. No moaning at the person who breaks the silence. Even if you don't get 100% silence, the energy level will diminish so you can begin. ----- Norm Sands
I would add that I normally do a Hello song and when I need energy to be focused this gets us there. If the energy is too high I change it to minor and the energy totally changes to calm. ---- L.V.M.
I do BLACKOUT to help my classes memorize lyrics to a song. I print out the words on my computer. Then run it through the projector and show it on the wall or screen. Then blackout a few words with a marker and let the sing the song. Then I blackout some more words and let them sing it. I do that until all the words are blacked out. My kids like doing it that way. You can, also, write the words on the board if you don't have a projector....just erase the words. Hope this helps!----Sherri in AR
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MEMORIZING STUDENTS' NAMES
04/02 NAME GAME: At the beginning of each class, I tell the kids that it's time for the name game. I ask them all to stand. I announce, "If I get your name ....you must sit back down". Of course if they are wearing any name tags, I ask them to cover them up. I usually get through half of the class at first. If I'm stuck on the remaining names, I ask them for the first letter of their name. That usually triggers the right name. If I'm totally stuck at the end (even with help), the children tell me their name. It's very funny when I make a mistake and pick the wrong name. The kids think that's the funniest thing ...and it's what makes the game fun.
After the class leaves, I take out my class list and mark any "special features" that I can remember about each child next to their name. ex: long blond hair, glasses, very tall....etc. This list is for my eyes only and I keep it in a private place. I refer to it just before the class comes in next time. It helps me to pick up where I left off. I must say, by Halloween time - I know just about all of them. The kids enjoy this activity and it really works!
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04/02 I also had bus duty in the morning. I told the students that if they saw me out there, they needed to come up to me and make me tell them their name. Four years later, I don't need to do that at the beginning of the year, but I still take roll everyday for my kindergarten classes. It lets me learn their names.
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04/02 GIVE 'EM A DIFFERENT NAME: In high school I had an Algebra teacher that avoided the whole situation by making up names for everybody. I think he called me Mortimer or something equally insane. Lots of Gertrudes and Broomhildas.
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I've heard what can be really helpful is taking their picture and putting that on your seating chart. Most teachers will have extras after picture taking time. Also, my school has a yearbook, so if I was smart, I would cut out their faces from the previous year and put them on my seating chart.
07/13 REQUEST BUS DUTY: My biggest secret is to request morning bus duty for the first 3-4 weeks of school. That puts me on the playground with the kids. I let them know I'm going to be there, and ask them to please quiz me on their names. It really helps to learn names away from the music class room! ---- Becky Luce
For the first few months I have my lower el. kids especially sit in a circle to start class. We go around the circle while we sing "Here we are together..." and I have each student sing their own name when it is their turn. ---- Lori V.M.
PICTURES: We have pictures of our students in our grading system. I arrange my classes in a seating chart using these pics. As they leave class during the 1st quarter, I say each of their names. If I ever get their name wrong, they get a jelly bean. It makes it fun! I have 400 students.---- Kristin Lukow
I used seating charts and it really helped. I also made a point to change that seating chart fairly frequently to be sure that I knew the kids names. With Kindergarten, I had great success having them wear their "Magical Musical Singing Crowns". :) I cut long rectangles and I put their first names on it. First time around I would sing, "Where is David? Where is David?" Usually I would sing the answer with "David" - staple the crown together and put it on his head. Next child - same thing. Eventually this was how I would take attendance and eventually they would start to sing their name by themselves (which is wonderful to see/hear). At the end of class, I would go around "Goodbye David, glad you could come" and so on S-M-S-M-M-RR-D. I would slide the crowns on to a bungee cord and hang them on door knobs of closets etc. in my room. The kids never touched their "Magical Musical Singing Crowns" (they were magical after all!) and I also tried to put them on *after* movement exercises. ---- Kathleen Bragle
I take a picture of each homeroom class holding a nametag on the first day of music. I print the pictures and have them to refer to the rest of the year. It's great for substitutes to use, too. Every now and then I'll use the nametags, like for assigning groups or changing seating charts. > I also ask students their names anytime I see them in the hall and when we're talking in class. > At my school, music starts the week of Labor Day which is 3 weeks into the school year. By then, most of the classes are set. If things change a lot (like when we had to add 2 5th grade teacher due to large class sizes from late registrants),I take a new picture. I also make note in the gradebook of students who aren't in the picture. > Another use for the pictures (digital file) is to make student heads for school-appropriate jib-jab videos. The kids love the funny videos and they're a great incentive for good behavior.--- Kristin Boldin
I always start the year with a seating arrangement in ABC order by first name. That way I at least have a clue if the name is at the beginning, middle or end of the alphabet.---- Karen Reynolds
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04/02 SUGGESTIONS: ~seating chart: in rows by height.
~name tags: during the summer (this year i skipped it) make a ton of fat eighth notes on 3x5 index cards with black marker. I use colored ones to coordinate with color of text books. sit down with a few good videos. at beg. of school year, get class lists a.s.a.p. and fill in the name tags yourself (I've had much better luck doing it myself than having the kids/teachers write them), give to the office staff to laminate and the teachers to cut out and pin on each week.
~Xerox their classroom composite photos and put in three ring binder.
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MYSTERY PERSON (Reward System)
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR: http://www.mathgoodies.com/calculators/random_no_custom.html
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01/02 WATCH THE MYSTERY PERSON FOR BEHAVIOR - talking or not, distracting others, following instrument rules, etc. For example, one of my "mystery persons" hit another student with a boomwhacker on Friday, breaking a cardinal rule in my class. No points for him. The mystery person earns points for the whole class towards a student choice day, where I give several choices of activities for students.
01/02 My kids love the mystery person. They don't like it when I forget, or when I have a substitute and the sub doesn't do it.
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01/02 INDEX CARDS: I use index cards to choose my secret person. Every child's name is on an index card - this comes in very handy. I use index cards to keep attendance, to evaluate, to write notes to myself etc... Anyway, I shuffle the cards at the beginning of every class and pick one to be the secret person. I write the date on the card. That way if they say, "I've never been it!" I can answer, "Oh yes you have. You were it on 12/1."
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01/02 NAMES IN A CUP: At the start of the yr., I would just put the pulled name back in the cup with the others, but a few times, the same name was pulled, and the kids were not pleased that the same kid got to be the mys. person. So, I separated the ones pulled from those left so all would eventually get a turn. However, this does seem to defeat the purpose of them not being able to predict who it is. Once they've been picked, they know it won't be them for a while and thus they don't have to mind their behavior.
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01/02 MYSTERY PERSON EARNS POINTS FOR WHOLE CLASS: The mystery person earns points for the whole class towards a student choice day, where I give several choices of activities for students.
D---
01/02 MERITS & DEMERITS: On the behavior side, I use the "mystery person" plan that others have spoken of. I choose a person at random before the class begins. That person I'm watching for behavior. No one but me knows who that person is, so they all have to behave. I will remind them, and they remind each other, if someone gets out of hand. I'll say something like, "I sure hope the mystery person isn't playing his/her instrument right now!" I try to keep the gender neutral so as not to give anything away. At the end of the class, when the kids are lined up to leave, I reveal the mystery person. The mystery person can earn up to two points per class, and when each class earns a certain number of points, they get a "students choice day," where I give them three or four choices of activities. It works out to about one choice day per quarter or nine week period. I am continually amazed at how well this works, even at the middle school level.The second part of my system revolves around the red tomato story that was posted recently. I have made a "Big Red Tomato Patch" in my room, with one plant for each class. I elaborated on the story a bit, and told the kids that tomatoes need three things to grow, sunshine, water and good soil. The good soil is comprised of the concepts they learn in music class. The water is the practice, and the sunshine is their effort. If I see any student using all of these things, they get a big red tomato on their class plant, and a badge to wear for the rest of the day. The kids really love it, and they enjoy seeing which class has the most red tomatoes. I don't give one out every time, just when I see the right things. Sometimes I give out two or three, but not usually more than that. I want the tomato to be a special reward, and I have seen effort and behavior improve as a result.
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MEMORIZING STUDENTS' NAMES
04/02 At the beginning of each class, I tell the kids that it's time for the name game. I ask them all to stand. I announce, "If I get your name ....you must sit back down". Of course if they are wearing any name tags, I ask them to cover them up. I usually get through half of the class at first. If I'm stuck on the remaining names, I ask them for the first letter of their name. That usually triggers the right name. If I'm totally stuck at the end (even with help), the children tell me their name. It's very funny when I make a mistake and pick the wrong name. The kids think that's the funniest thing ...and it's what makes the game fun.
After the class leaves, I take out my class list and mark any "special features" that I can remember about each child next to their name. ex: long blond hair, glasses, very tall....etc. This list is for my eyes only and I keep it in a private place. I refer to it just before the class comes in next time. It helps me to pick up where I left off. I must say, by Halloween time - I know just about all of them. The kids enjoy this activity and it really works!
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04/02 BUS DUTY: I also had bus duty in the morning. I told the students that if they saw me out there, they needed to come up to me and make me tell them their name. Four years later, I don't need to do that at the beginning of the year, but I still take roll everyday for my kindegarten classes. It lets me learn their names.
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04/02 In high school I had an Algebra teacher that avoided the whole situation by making up names for everybody. I think he called me Mortimer or something equally insane. Lots of Gertrudes and Broomhildas.
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I've heard what can be really helpful is taking their picture and putting that on your seating chart. Most teachers will have extras after picture taking time. Also, my school has a yearbook, so if I was smart, I would cut out their faces from the previous year and put them on my seating chart.
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04/02 Memorizing student's names
don't stress about memorizing 800 names! use your brain power for other things. you will naturally learn their names over time. if you really mean business, here are a few tricks to help:
~seating chart: in rows by height.
~name tags: during the summer (this year i skipped it) make a ton of fat eighth notes on 3x5 index cards with black marker. i use colored ones to coordinate with color of text books. sit down with a few good videos. at beg. of school year, get class lists a.s.a.p. and fill in the name tags yourself (I've had much better luck doing it myself than having the kids/teachers write them), give to the office staff to laminate and the teachers to cut out and pin on each week.
~xerox their classroom composite photos and put in three ring binder.

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ORGANIZATION OF CHARTS, ETC.,
06/14 I divided the curriculum for each grade level into months and then into weeks. I made a colored index card for each week. Then as I find the perfect song, listening lesson, game, whatever to fit the week's plan, I make an index card for it that tells where I can locate that particular song or activity and put it with the correct week's heading. I know this is very low tech but it works for me. Example: if I am working on black history in week two of January in fifth grade, there might be several index cards filed there for me to choose from for my lesson. The card would tell me where I can find the song and maybe even a footnote as to how and why I might want to use this song or activity. This has saved me hours of "hunting." and over the years my collection has grown considerably. Periodically I also cut out the songs that I no longer want to use. ----- Cathy Harvey
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03/02 NUMBERS FOR EVERYTHING:. It's been a great time saver! I have a number can with poker chips in it with all the numbers up to the number in my biggest class.
In most of my 45 classes the teachers assigned the numbers. I discovered that they do this anyway - I just ask the students what their classroom number is the first time I see them for music and I write it on my class lists. It's usually alphabetical, but it doesn't matter. I'm sure this isn't just something the teachers do at my school. I think lots of classroom teachers do it to help with filing papers into folders, cubbies, lining up, etc. Ask them!
I even have my Orff instruments numbered with index cards so that when it's time to go to instruments they just look for their number. I randomly move the numbers around about every other week. I have their spots on the floor numbered too. It helps them get to their seat quickly.
My behavior chart has 30 numbered disks on the green area. When a child breaks a rule I tell them to move their number to the yellow warning. Forty five classes - one chart! It's great!
Anytime I need one or two students to do something, I use my number can. I love it! I even reward the classes occasionally by drawing a number from the can at the end of class and giving away a prize to that person.
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12/13 RECORD KEEPING: http://www.idoceo.net/index.php/en/
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08/02 HANGING FILE FOLDER: At Target discount store I bought a vinyl hanging file folder that has 5 different colored folders. Each morning, I hang this file folder on the whiteboard in the front of the room. When the folders hang open, I can easily reach for the seating charts, lesson plans, class lists, etc.
At the end of the day, I close it up and take it home. I have tried many ways, but this one worked for me. During rehearsals on stage, I hang the file from my music stands, so it is close at hand.
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PASSING OUT MATERIALS
02/03 Found some decorative $ .99 plastic serving trays at Big Lots. Now when I have song sheets, Bingo cards, whatever, I lay them on the tray(s) before class, then choose a student to take around the tray. Convenient, organized, and has added a homey touch to this otherwise mundane task.Unexpected perks: kids no longer snatch papers or "gang around" and overwhelm the helper, things that occassionally happened before the trays. Our rule: when the helper holds the tray in front of you, it's your turn.
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PERSONAL SPACE
10/04 For personal space, I have the students pretend to blow a giant bubble (I swish the drum for sound effects). We blow and pop a few to get that our of their systems! and then we blow a "magic" one. We open it, step inside, and then close it (if I forget any of these steps, they let me know!). Then they explore the inside with their hands, showing me the top, bottom, sides, front and back. We rock in it, jump in it, turn around in it, etc. Then we slowly move our bubbles through space, being very careful not to pop anyone else's bubble. If they do, both people with popped bubbles go to the side an blow up new ones. They love this, and ask for it even into second grade! -- Contributed by Denise Philips
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08/04 POLKA DOT POSITIONS
My sister gave be this idea and she got it from someone else too.. buy a piece of polka dot fabric... cut a swatch to post up in front of the kids... label it " Polka Dot Positions" . Then discuss how each polka dot has space all around them. When we are moving into positions for a movement activity , I just say " take polka dot positions" then wait for them to check all around and see if they are ready. -- Contributed by Nancy Paxson
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RESOURCES

09/03 BOOK: Ron Clark was on Oprah and this week on the "Today" show. Ron wrote a book called: "The Essential 55: An Award-Winning Educator's Rules for Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child" (Whew!!! sounds like an education book!!!!) Ron was a 2001 Disney Teacher of the Year because of his work on discipline. On Amazon.com you can read his rules and also evaluations of his book. Might be worth looking into since discipline is an on going challenge in all classrooms. - Contributed by Johanna Beebe
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TRAINING: Responsive Classroom is a wonderful educational approach! I've just completed RC II training and have been using RC for two years in my classroom. 10 teachers at our school have had RC training through an organization called Origins based in Minneapolis MN.
The core belief of RC is that we need to establish a social curriculum to support the academic curriculum. In other words, until students are able to interact appropriately, they will not be able to learn effectively. Much time is spent at the beginning of the year establishing classroom procedures and empowering students to act in a responsible way. Simply said, this is wonderful inservice opportunity and I recommend it without reservation. Linda Crawford and the staff at Origins in Minneapolis are amazing!
The training is intensive, hand-on and very appropriate. Most of the presenters are practicing teachers. The rest are employed by Origins directly to do school inservice. I can't speak for the group on the east coast, because I haven't worked with them.RC has been highly accepted here in Western Wisconsin. At our training site this year, over 175 teachers from the greater La Crosse area alone received training... and this is the 3rd summer Origins has done training in our CESA district. The numbers have grown every summer as word of this approach spreads in our area. For more information on Responsive Classroom, here are 2 websites to visit:
The National Organization: http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/
Midwest Training is available through Origins: http://www.originsonline.org/resp_class.shtml
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PERSONAL SPACE
10/04 For personal space, I have the students pretend to blow a giant bubble (I swish the drum for sound effects). We blow and pop a few to get that our of their systems! and then we blow a "magic" one. We open it, step inside, and then close it (if I forget any of these steps, they let me know!). Then they explore the inside with their hands, showing me the top, bottom, sides, front and back. We rock in it, jump in it, turn around in it, etc. Then we slowly move our bubbles through space, being very careful not to pop anyone else's bubble. If they do, both people with popped bubbles go to the side an blow up new ones. They love this, and ask for it even into second grade! -- Contributed by Denise Philips
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08/04 POLKA DOT POSITIONS
My sister gave be this idea and she got it from someone else too.. buy a piece of polka dot fabric... cut a swatch to post up in front of the kids... label it " Polka Dot Positions" . Then discuss how each polka dot has space all around them. When we are moving into positions for a movement activity , I just say " take polka dot positions" then wait for them to check all around and see if they are ready. -- Contributed by Nancy Paxson
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REWARDS
12/13 Every day that the kids come to music, I have a "STAR STUDENT". They get to be the helper of the day and I have a certificate with a star on it that they get to write their name on it and they get to sit on the STAR STOOL! ----- Caryn Mears, Kennewick, WA
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Each time the students come to music, the star student gets to play a game where they toss two velcro balls at a musical target. The rest of the class is supposed to be "The best audience around." Depending on where they land on the target, they get to ring the gong or the chimes or the ratchet. Then the class claps for the "Performer" as the audience. ---- Caryn Mears
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12/08 AWARDS: The PE teacher gives out the "golden gym shoe" award. I give the "toot your own horn" award. It's a toy trumpet. --- Mary Honegger
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12/08 SONG REQUEST: I have them get their songbooks out, and I play them anything they want to hear out of them. This is popular, because I never get even close to doing all the songs in that book, and some of the pictures are very interesting to them and they are curious to see how the song sounds. One person chooses a song at a time. The easiest way to do this is if you have iTunes with your curriculum CDs on it. You can just sit at the computer and play them one at a time out your computer speaker. This could be a problem if your computer has a crappy speaker, though. This has always been a motivator for me to use. Doesn't cost anything, either. --- Carol Masser
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12/08 DAILY AWARD: I like to have each class earn rewards every day. They know from day 1 that if we get everything done that I have planned for the class period, then they can do Limbo, Dancing Baby, Freeze Dances, Chicken Dance, Animusic, etc. They also know that if I have to wait for kids to quit talking or playing around, they won't get that time. I'd much rather give up the 2-4 minutes at the end of class instead of losing a whole class period for a reward party.--- as posted by Camille Page in the MK8 archives 9/01/08
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REWARD CERTIFICATES: http://www.abcteach.com/free/m/music_award.pdf
(The above is suitable for Pre K and K, maybe? It's a simpler one, you can't write on online, you can only print it out.)
http://www.aaacertificates.com/certs/freemusicachievemulti.pdf
(The above one is suitable for 1st - 5th, and comes with a music quote, which is beautiful. This one, you can type the child's name in and then print it out from online. I got 44 done in about 13 minutes.) --- Patricia Albritton
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01/02 PENNIES: I am just starting a new behavior system where students can work toward earning activities in a free music day in March. The 3/4 and 1/2 students can earn Harry Potter Pennies...real pennies with Harry Potter stickers on them...to buy activities for the free day. The pennies each class earns will somehow be displayed on the door. The pennies they can earn have pictues of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, Hedwig, Dumbledore, Scabbers, Stars, Books, or the snitch. The 3/4 classes will earn a penny if the entire class brought their recorders. The 3/4 and 1/2 classes also can earn a penny for behavior. I am willing to give one warning per person but the second time I have to talk to someone they lose the penny for the class. For the classes that earned the penny I have the meeting leader or line leader pick the penny the class earned for the day. I have only done this for 2 days but it has changed the behaviors of many students. The kindergartners are building the Hogwarts Express trains with each car showing a different Harry Potter sticker. The way of getting it works the same way as the penny but they will be doing lots of train songs so I thought that would be interesting.
I have compiled a list with some classes of activities they would like to have available for their free day...Bop-it, Music BINGO, Musical Milkshake, Steady beat game - FUDGE, Movie, Name That Tune, Music Memory, Musical Chairs, Note Relay, Who Stole the Cookie From the Cookie Jar, Ackalacka Tackalacka...
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12/07 QUANTUM LEARNING: They show you how to use lots of celebrations -spoken, rhythmic, funny and musical rewards. One that I made up is to the tune "Celebrate." When someone gets a correct answer during my morning opening we all stand and sing and dance:
"Celebrate! You got it right! Uh huh, Uh huh, Oh, yeah, you got it right!" Think..."Celebrate good times come on..."
It's a tradition now along with many different kids of claps and whooshes. You'll have to take the class to understand all that I am talking about but it is so worth it. I builds camaraderie, teamwork, acceptance and approval!
Here is a link that gives a glimpse: http://tre.sheridank12.net/PDFfiles/QuantumLearning.pdf -- Contributed by Kristin Lukow -- rnklukow@gtmc.net -- http://www.geocities.com/klukow/music.html
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01/07 BAREFOOT MUSIC is the top level of class reward in my classroom. We have a carpeted room, and once a class has 20 weeks of good behavior, they earn "barefoot forever". Now mind you, if the behavior starts to slide, they get 2 chances to fix it, or they have to start all over earning it back and it takes 5 good weeks. At 15 good weeks, they get barefoot for a day. We sit in our assigned spots, then I go over the barefoot rules. If they do well, they keep going toward Barefoot Forever. If not, they are a week later getting Barefoot Forever. Forever means until the end of their current grade. If we go outside for singing games the last week of school, of course shoes go back on. Fire ants are the scourge of our playground!
1. If you wore shoes and socks, you keep your socks on. Smart kids will begin wearing flip flops pretty soon.
2. Shoes must be taken off at their assigned seat and carried to the coat area and neatly stored against the wall. If a pair of shoes gets tossed, or area is messy, the owner of the offending pair must oput them back on.
3. If individual or class behavior becomes unmanageable, one or more students will need to put shoes back on. For example, sliding across the floor in sock feet, playing with one's toes or socks - shoes go on, go wash your hands!, not following directions, routine class problems that you would expect on any given day. It is a great way to extend the behavior plan at a point in the year where things get boring. I have had the occasional fire drill, but the students go to get their shoes and put them on back in their spots, and we get out okay. One in a while, some kid will have powder in his/her shoes and leave tracks across the floor...Lots of fun to use sock colors as a way to set up small groups for instrument turns, lining up. Don't forget those skin socks!
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09/03 BULLETIN BOARD: I made a bulletin board, using strips to resemble football yardlines, and put a "goal" at each end. Each grade, 4-6, has a different, short warm-up they can sing individually to advance 10 yards. For instance, 4th graders individually can sing "do, re, mi, re, do", and they advance 10 yards. They must demonstrate the following: proper posture, diaphramatic singing, tonal production, and a full sound (nothing shy and mousy!). Each 10 yards is progressively more difficult by grade level. When they get the touchdown song passed, they'll earn about 20 composer bucks. So far, kids are scrambling to try, and I've had kids who will NEVER sing give it a try! It's amazing the voices that they've been hiding from me for years! -- Contributed by Karen Stafford "The Music Education Madness Site": http://www.musiceducationmadness.com/
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04/02 CHALK TALK: draw a T chart on the board, with a "me" and "you" column. Every time they misbehave, YOU get a point, every time they get something right, THEY get a point.
It has been the greatest thing! Now, I've actually had to set tiny little goals, such as, "If everyone tries and no one misbehaves during this song, you get a point!"
I let them play a game for 5 minutes (usually I planned on doing it anyway, if we had time, so it works out great) or pass around the Bop-it. The thing is, they DON'T win every time which really seemed to help when they were starting to get lazy about it.
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04/02 PRAISE: These kids thrived when I praised them. I praised them all the time (when I could find any little tiny thing to praise them about). I put all the emphasis on the positives.
I also brought in a medium sized jar and labled it "popcorn jar". I kept a bucket of uncooked popcorn kernels next to it. Several times during the 30 minute class, I would catch them being good. I would stop what I was doing and add a scoop of popcorn to the popcorn jar. I told the kids that if they were able to fill the popcorn jar, then we would have a little popcorn party. (Nothing fancy.....just popcorn, juice and some fun listening music to go along).
It really was amazing to see how quickly these kids improved their behavior. It was like turning on a light switch.This continued until the first party. (It took a few weeks to fill the jar).
Then, I found that I didn't have to stop so often to put scoops of popcorn in the jar. The behavior had improved and I slowly moved away from the popcorn. The problem had seemed to correct itself.Good luck in whatever methods you choose. I hope this might have helped.
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03/02 HAPPY CALLS: What is this great "method" ?? I call them "Happy Calls"! Just pick up the phone and call the parent of a child who is doing a GREAT JOB either in a big way or just very quietly in class and tell the parent that. I have really tried to find the time in my crazy life to do this once or twice a week if I can. It has created such good will and it isn't anything contrived but very sincere. I end up having a great conversation with parents (that's not hard with my big mouth!) and I try to make the point that I noticed their child 'midst the crowds of children I encounter all week etc. etc.
This means so much to parents and you have opened a line of communication with them. Yes, it is time consuming, but so worth it. I especially use this "approach" if I see a child whom I really love, acting consistently like an idiot and on the verge of getting into trouble big time. I tell the parent just that - that I want to nip this behavior in the bud, BECAUSE I absolutely love this child etc. etc. It really works. The child usually arrives back in class a bit shame-faced - they know that you called, that you told their parents that you think the world of them and how you want continued good behavior etc.
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12/01 DAILY EVALUATION: I have Daily Evaluation Sheets for music with 5 rules in a "music" acronym:
Maintain respect for yourself property and others
Use good judgement about when to speak
Sit in your assigned seat and follow the riser rules
Involve yourself in all activities
Come in and leave quietly
I circle yes or no after each rule at the end of class. If they have had two or more warnings on any rule, that one will be a "no". I tell them moment there is a warning so they can keep track, they really get on each other. Each yes = a PAW ticket. For my 5ths and 6ths, they will get a music free choice day (music games, they choose songs from the text, or ones we have sung. etc...) when they earn 60 points. Something like this with your own reward might work if your school doesn't have something in place.
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PREFERRED ACTIVITY TIME: This system uses P.A.T time which stands for Preferred Activity Time. The first thing I do is decide how often I want to do this. I see my students once or twice a week so I decided to do it every four class periods. The key is you have to give them some time and have them earn the rest. Our class period is 40 minutes long so half would be twenty minutes. I divide that by three and got about 7 minutes. The first day they come in I write 7:00 on the board and a chart underneath with a plus side and minus side. When they are cooperating and following the rules they can earn minutes. When they quit letting me be the teacher I take out a stop watch, start it and wait. That goes on the minus side. You can also have a set amount of time for breaking certain rules like tipping chairs back=1 minute off. At the end of the class time you add and subtract to get the final total. I repeat this for three consecutive class periods. On the fourth day I add all the time up and we have a "choice day" I give them four choices of activities. Such as talent day, rhythm bingo, hot potato, limbo, note twister, etc. They vote and we do that activity for the amount of time earned. As an added incentive I will do a contest between class of a grade level and the class that gets the most minutes might get a piece of candy too. I have found that this works best with 3-6 grades because younger kids don't really have a concept of time.
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BINGO PRIZES All of my rewards are based on the coupon system I learned about from one of our helpful peers on this list. I make up coupons that say: This coupon is worth 2 M&Ms, 2 Jelly Beans, 2 Skittles or 1 Sticker. For prizes, good work, excellent "thinking" answer during class, good behavior etc., the student gets a sticker. They place it in the can with their teacher's name on it... on the last day of the month, they may redeem all of their coupons. This has worked well for me. Students may even "bank" their coupons so that they may redeem them later. I try to provide several opportunities during the month for them to earn coupons - trust me, a 3 lb bag of M&Ms goes a long way and is not that costly. Note: I do have a child who is severely diabetic and I provide Sugar Free candies for him!
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PRIZES: For prizes?.....sometimes wrapped candy; if I don't have any, I sometimes use a rubber stamp star and just stamp the hand (or some want their forehead stamped?..go figure!)...sometimes, I just let the winners be the next callers......or let the winners be the helpers to clean up the game stuff -- or to be the line leaders when we exit....We clap for the winners and learn to congratulate and encourage each other. It's amazing what they're happy with since they know I don't always have candy (but when I do, they may eat it as long as they don't leave wrappers on my floor!)
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STICKERS: They all love it and love getting the stickers and I can afford the stickers. On special occasions, I give candy or music pencils.
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HAPPY NOTES DAILY: - "Happy Notes" post-it sized affirmation notes given to those students who do an exceptional job of participating in class. I give 3+ daily. They may choose 2 jelly beans for each happy note, some choose not to. Some parents have told me that their children have their rooms "wallpapered in "happy notes!" I keep track of these in my grading cubes and am always on the look-out for fairness. Some students do receive more than others.
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HIPPO HURRAY: Occasionally - "Hip Hippo Hurray Awards" This is a class award given when the whole class just has an awesome day of cooperation, participation and learning. 5 Hippos earns them a party day. They plan their treats and musical activities.
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BEETHOVEN BUCKS: Using my trusty, never could live without it "Print Shop Deluxe" program I made graphic pictures of dollar bills with Beethoven's Picture on the face. (You know the classic bust head shot) in denominations of 1's, 10's and 50's and 100 dollar bills. Of course they're ornately decorated like money, and then I reproduced them on different colors of paper for each denomination. Color coding always works best for me. The students have many opportunities in each music class to earn bucks individually and as a class. I also made up an envelope called the "Beethoven Bucks Bank " for every classroom. The kids put the bucks they earn each music class into this "bank" and save them there. Some individuals don't like to give up their bucks, but they usually get the group effort eventually and contribute to the save for the class reward. When the class saves up a combined total of 1000 Beethoven Bucks, the class earns two free "CENTERS" days, of which they are extremely motivated for! (I am fortunate to have a large room and have 13 centers set up in my room constantly, ready for me to use at any given moment)
Most of the teachers get into the "Beethoven Bucks" and ask the kids "show me the money" when they pick up their class. If they don't have any or much money, they know we had some problems. they also like the math tie-in in the classroom. As I said, they can earn bucks many ways. The biggy is for the entire class participation. I begin each class with 4 musical notes on my board. If we have a problem with a lot of talking or lack of participation, i have to remove one note as a warning. If all the notes are eventually removed, we would stop class, as they "are not ready for music today" (This has only happened once in 5 years) BUT if they play a particularly hard passage in a song we're studying on orff or recorders really well or EVERYONE sings with their best effort and voices, or does a great activity so well they WOW me, I may write a new music note on the board. They love it when I get so enthusiastic and add notes to the board. Finally at the end of the class, I "pay" them $10 Beethoven Bucks for each note written on the board. Individuals can earn extra bucks for things like playing or singing for the group, anwering a particularly tough question, cleaning when no one else thought of it, or other things.
Sometimes I reward the whole class that EVERYBODY remembered to bring their folders or recorders. They all want to carry the bucks to the teacher, that's my only complaint. Otherwise, the system works well. It may seem like bribery to some, but it's actually a token economy. I figure, we get paid for working and they like their "pay" system too. Plus, it encourages my motto in the music classroom- "All for One and One for All" I like group and peer pressure. everyone earns for the whole group. Everyone helps the group succeed. And together, we make great music and everyone wins. Incidentally, I adI can manipulate how much I give out so most classes come in earning the $1000 around the time we're ready for review- about once every 9 weeks. (You see, the kids think the centers are "free time" but most of them are really set up for reviewing topics we've covered in music the last few weeks or year. Just don't tell them that.)I throw out my music stickers and other treats every now and then, but I always have a pocket full of Beethoven Bucks!
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GAME WINNER AWARDS: Other Rewards - For various games which I play occasionally, I have special little post-it sized notes for the individual or team winners. They say things like: You are awesome at Musical Twister or Wow! What a Musical Bingo player! They may also choose 2 jelly beans for these rewards.
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MUSIC DOLLARS - I have enjoyed using "music dollars" this year as it allows me to reward those that are showing extra effort and I don't have to penalize the whole class for a few that may misbehave. Prizes are displayed around the room with prices on them. I also have a box with $5 items in it. I collect stuffed animals and things from yard sales and thrift shops. I also get a lot of small toys from the bottom of my son's toy box...things he doesn't want or play with anymore.

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RULES

TWO RULES:
(1) "Any old way" WILL NOT DO (words from my Mother..)
(2) If you annoy me, et cetera. . .
They ALWAYS know what I mean!
I LOVE the "noid" idea! ! ! That's GREAT ! ! !
There are some WONDERFUL ideas on this list about discipline and organization, and I heartily recommend them. The most useful tool in the discipline arsenal is keeping them busy. The second most useful tool is humor.
The most amazing thing about this listserve is how old a lot of us are. You "young folk" are hearing the results of many years of devising teaching and coping mechanisms out of very little. It's so much fun to see what others have created in the crucible. ON THE OTHER HAND, we're DShaving JUST as much fun finding out what you young ones are thinking up. It's like a crisp fresh breeze blowing through our old brain waves.
What IS that whistling sound? ???
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_M_ake music, not noise.
_U_se good manners.
_S_tay in your seat
_I_f something does not belong to you, leave it alone.
_C_heerfully participate.
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1. Follow instructions.
2. Do your own work.
3. Keep your hands and feet to yourself.
4. Use good manners
5. Do your best.
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RESPECT THE PLEDGE: I pledge to be respectful at (name of school).
I choose to be courteous and do my best with what I have.
I will take care of our school and everything in it.
I will strive to be a 'gold-medal' person at all times.
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At the beginning of each class we sing the rules in a call and response manner. I use some instrument to accompany (including electronic keyboard or Suzuki Omnichord with auto-accompaniment styles). I try to change tempos and styles, and I even use different melodies. It's a good exercise, and only in the second week, each class has the rules down cold. When a rule is broken, I only have to say (as I make a notation in my book): "Rule #4 is use good manners. If you're talking while Suzy is reading, then you are not using good manners" as a reminder.
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I made three signs with cute bees (honey bees) on them that say; Bee Ready; Bee Responsible; Bee Respectful
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CHALK TALK: Write on the chalkboard a quick T chart. On one side write "me" with a smiley face and say "I'm happy because I'm going to win." Other side, write "you" with a frowny face and say "You're sad because you're going to lose". The side with the most points wins. You can set out a predetermined time limit or just determine on your own when the game is done.
Explain that you're going to win because every time someone talks without being called on or makes inappropriate sounds or movements, you get a point.
Explain that the students are going to lose because the only way they can get points is when a student raises a hand and waits to be called on before speaking.
The teacher proceeds with the lesson and stays at the chalkboard in order to tally points. The first time you play the game the music curriculum takes a back seat. In fact, the subject of the lesson the first time you play the game could easily be the game itself. For example, after the brief explanation I gave above, say "Chalk Talk starts now" and start tallying. The kids will test by speaking out of turn and being inappropriate at first. Be objective and keep tallying. Soon they'll get the picture and start correcting each other by putting pressure on the kids who earn the points for you. Continue to tally, especially those who correct without raising their hands.
Quickly, they'll catch on and start raising their hands to correct each other. When they see that they are earning points for their team simply by raising their hands, they do it over and over. Be sure to tally those points.
Next, they will most likely start to raise their hands and say totally irrelevant things. Be sure to give them points for it. They'll begin to think they've got a for-sure win. This is the time to change the rules. (Be sure to let them know.) Now, if a student raises a hand and waits to be called on before speaking BUT contributes a questions or comment that is off-topic or irrelevant, you will win a point. This extinguishes the unwanted behavior of veering off the teacher's objective.
The next time they come to see you they will be begging to play Chalk Talk. You should be able to use the game for discussion, review, or for finding out what a group of students know about a topic.
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01/02 CHALK TALK: I wrote the word MUSIC on the board. Every time I get a disruption, I erase a letter. If any letter is still left, they will get a reward next time. The reward is they will get to choose between three songs that have been on the charts in recent years. Each song gets eliminated one by one, the I will start over. It worked pretty good. The fifth graders that had me about to quit my job last month had a good day. Even my colleagues could tell the difference. Two classes earned the reward. Two have to work a little harder.
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ROW I-QUARTER NOTE: At the beginning of the year, as I was setting up my classroom seating charts, I decided to name each row with a name of a note value. I have four rows seated on the floor, and beginning at the front of the room, I named them eighth note row, quarter note row, half note row, and whole note row. As the kids entered on the first day, I passed out a shuffled deck of index cards with about 6 of each note in the stack. (I tried to pass out eighth notes to all the confirmed wigglers - I've enjoyed my private personal prank all year . . .)
I then taught a lesson about the note values. My first lesson involved using a drum for steady beat and having all the students "walk and talk" each note value (i. e. WHOLE NOTE-HOLD IT) . Then, I had them locate other students with their same note value, and had each group walk to their assigned row at the appropriate pace.
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CHANT: I have a song-game I use with the kids at the beginning of the school year and periodically review it throughout the year. You could chant it, too. It goes like this: p= patsch, c= clap p p p p c c Teacher: You gotta CONCENTRATE (kids echo) p p c c PARTICIPATE (echo) p p c c COOPERATE (echo) p p p p p p c c LISTEN to the teacher and learn. (echo) Do a body percussion patsch and clap as you say this. Make up your own rhythm. Next- Change the claps to two handed pats on neighbor's hands (patty cake). Now walk around room and say this (or sing it ) (I'd have to mail you the tune) stopping at the first person you come to, to do the patty cake parts. Before I begin I ask them to define those "big words". We go over each word and what it means. We do the activity. Then I tell them: you all got an A today! Everyone of you concentrated so that you could learn our rules game. You participated and cooperated with each other, you all listened to me to hear directions and to echo sing. We are off to a great start! Let's remember our classroom rules are: concentrate, participate, cooperate, and listen!
Periodically I go over these words. I will print them on large valentines, shamrocks, flowers, etc. I ask the kids for definitions and put smaller, hearts, shamrocks, or etc. under and around them. For instance, kids may define concentrate as "thinking hard", 'focusing", "paying attention" or cooperate as "working together", "following directions", "raising hands" "waiting turns", and so on. We define these further in the context of the music room. How could you show cooperation when you are at the instruments? ( answers such as: keeping mallets quiet until given signal to play, taking turns at favorite instruments, putting instruments away carefully) How about in a dance or movement situation? never saying no to a partner, join hands, keep pace so no one stumbles in the dance, don't fall down, and so on). These 4 words cover a lot of territory!
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SEATING
10/05 SEE THE CHART AND SEAT YOURSELF! I made laminated signs for the walls (high up above any bulletin boards, since I had a slanted, high ceiling.) 1-6 on the front wall and A-D on the side wall. The students adjusted themselves to (Row) A-1, etc. all the way to the back row, D-1-6. It was great seeing even kindergarteners looking to align themselves in the grid. Also, a great math connection. Pat Boozer
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12/07 FIRST DAY, FIND YOUR NAME: I made a chart, with 45 numbers --- 1-15 bottom row, 16-30 middle row, 31-45 top row.
Before the kids came in, I put address label stickies on the carpeted seats where the kids would sit. As they registered, I eyeballed them for size, sized them up and wrote their name on the seating chart, giving them a number. The kids picked up their music packet, and went to find the number on the row. Worked like a charm. We had a seating plan for the first practice, we knew who was sitting where! We played number concentration - (Musicplay 3) did it in order, so kids would remember what number they were for the next practice.
Don't forget your number, don't forget your name. When you're ready, start the game:
I sing: one (so-me)--- child who's #1 sings back his/her name,
I sing: two (so-me) --- child who's #1 sings back his/her name, etc.
I tried this out of order first, but kids didn't get it, so did it in order for first practice. Worked great! Next time, I'll mix them up. That way I get to know names, kids know where they sit, and I get to hear each of them alone. (Non-auditioned choir - we take whoever comes! - only 1 child out of 40 didn't match pitch on day 1) I don't teach these kids, so see them only once a week. If anyone would like a pdf file of my chart, just email off list and I'll send it to you. I made it 8.5x11, but enlarged on the photocopier 150% onto 11x17 paper. Filled it in using pencil, so can easily move kids around. -- Denise Gagne www.musicplay.ca Musicplay - the Sequential Text Series tvmusic@telusplanet.net 888-562-4647
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10/05 COLUMNS & ROWS: I learned this summer about calling the grid, columns and rows, which I loved because computer tables and spreadsheets use that terminology so I thought it would be great vocab for my students. I have had much success this year using carpet squares. I put one at the head of each column and the first person in each column sits right behind it. I tried using carpet squares along the side to show rows but the students paid much more attention to the lining up with the columns and not the rows. The older kids have naturally spaced themselves a comfortable distance behind the person in front of them and I've told the younger ones to stay an arm's length away. It is working beautifully. Also, carpet squares aren't permanent in case I want to change things. -- Laura
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07/05 FOLD YOUR LEGS: When I want the kids to fold their legs, I say, “Criss, cross, applesauce.” Tracy, http://www.musicbulletinboards.net/, MZMMakers@aol.com
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I usually just say, "Pretzel!"-- Kristin Lukow
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07/ SIT ON FLOOR: We ALL sit on the floor, when we sit. I do have some benches that I"ll bring out for especially older kids when we're working hard on vocal technique. It's a freeing experience. There's more room for movement. I have space for the instruments. It's easy to have the kids change >directions to face another wall. I love it. -- Contributed by Beth Orris
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02/04 DOT SPOTS: What I did this year was use those dot spots to create a circle and told them to find a dot to sit on. Then I had them all SMILE. I told them that I needed to rearrange their smiles a bit and switched their places around to separate the talkers, the punchers, etc... THEN i told them this was their seat FOREVER in music class (I really just meant for this year, but I'm so into the drama baby!). I said everyone get up and walk 5 steps away from your special spot and freeze and then practice finding your spot again.
We did this several times (a few times with music, sometimes acting like elephants of butterflies) in one class period. I wrote their names down in the circle position and the next week I gave them 10 seconds when they came in to find their special place. I rewarded everyone who did. Those who didn't I just reminded them where to go. We "practiced" finding our place one more time before we left. Next class period I rewarded those who remembered (amazing that they remembered they could earn stickers by getting straight to their special place in the circle! By the fourth class period they had it. - Contributed by Tracy http://www.musicbulletinboards.net/
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05/03 I bought DOT SPOTS (a set of 35 round rubbery circles in 5 different colors) from Music in Motion. They are smaller than I expected them to be (3-1/2 inches in diameter), but will help keep the floor sitters in their "spots" and eliminate the squishing that always occurs during floor activities. -- Contributed by Kathy Berg
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05/03 MUSICAL DOTS: You can play musical dots. It's the same as musical chairs but they just stand on a dot. I usually just remove dots and anyone who is not on a dot is out. I also have the rule that you cannot move backwards you must always move forward. Some students will move backwards when the music stops and ends up pushing the person behind them. If two people land on a dot they are both out. When I get down to just two players I put a hula hoop in the middle of the floor. Whoever jumps into the hula hoop first (with both feet) wins. You could also call out a color and anyone that is on that color is out.-- Contributed by Tami Mangusso
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05/03 PLAY W/DOTS: You can have the children "play" them with rhythm sticks, like mini drum pads. It helps them "aim" for a certain spot, has a different kind of timbre, and creates a nice bounce effect. You could even make a color coded chart. -- Contributed by Laurie Zentz
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02/04 TAKE A PHOTO: I just took our digital camera and took a picture of the class (I use the Flip Forms) and took a pix of each riser and wrote the child's name on the pix...put all 4 pix on one page and there is my seating chart. Then when I change seats in the year I just take a new pix. Works great! - Contributed by Jan Morris in IN
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10/02 RISERS: NUMBER THE SPOTS: I do not have flip forms, just 5 regular risers. I seat two kids on the top step, one on the middle step, and two on the bottom step of each section- assigned seats for the quarter. That way everybody has room for their feet. When they stand, they do not stand on the top step, just "stand where their feet are."
I number each spot with marker on the front face of the riser: 1 and 2 on the bottom, 3 in the middle, 4 and 5 on the top. On the wall behind the risers, I made a huge staff visual with electrical tape. Then I made 5 whole notes out of black contact paper. I put one on the E line and labeled it, one each on G, B, D, and F.
So each child has 2 coordinates (math correlation!!!!) Kids on my far
left are E 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5.
Next group is G 1,2,3,4,or 5, etc.
When we get books, it is easy to ask 1s to get books for everyone on their riser. Or the Bs to get books for everyone else with their same number. It also makes partnering easy, passing out instruments a snap, group work a piece of cake (all the fs or all the 2s) and it's not always the same people. Plus the giant staff is a constant reinforcement.
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04/02 SEATING CHART: Stick to a seating chart as much as possible. If they or you need some variety or want to shake things up, rearrange the chart every 9 weeks or so.
It helps me to memorize names when I set up my seating charts alphabetically by FIRST names, not last. By second semester I offer suckers or something similar if I screw up a name - there is always a few that I never seem to get straight.
You can always insist on kids wearing name tags the first month or so. They also should have them when you have a sub to minimize the shennanigans.
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BUDDY CLOCK CHART: I teach both middle school and elementary. I would not dream of letting the middle schoolers choose their seats. The first day of class, all the seats are numbered, and as students walk in, they are randomly handed an index card with a seat number on which to write info like their name, phone number, and hobbies. I take the cards at the end of the day and write out the resulting seating charts.
I make up a buddy clock chart. This consists of a circle with their name in the center of the circle. Around the circle are eight music symbols placed like the numbers on a clock. Next to each symbol is a line for another students name. The first day of class they go around and find buddies for their clock. (At least two must be of the opposite sex._ They must fill in the same spot on the wheel. For instance... Susie puts my name on her chart next to the Treble clef I put her name next to my treble clef. And so it goes... If we don't both have an open spot than we have to try someone else. Towards the end I usually have to bring the class together and do a bit of helping out and sometimes there is an odd number of students. When this happens we have a Wild Card. They love to be the Wild Card. This student will fill in for absent students or be allowed to sit wherever they want.
This takes a bit of time the first class but pays off in a number of ways. They never argue about their partners because they have actually helped out in the choosing. There are more partners than I will actually need in a year so I have some leeway if I need it. I never have to worry about them having the same partner because I got mixed up. The record keeping all there for me. And best of all they have an established partner then I need them to, we can switch partners at any time for movement, games etc, but next week they still have their established seating partner. After the buddy charts are completed I collect them, take them home and just plug the partners into a seating arrangement.
I don't have to pair up the kids because they have already done it. For instance... I can set up the seating chart using all the Bass clef partners. I flip through the charts and the partnering is all set up. I don't have to take time figuring out who has already been whose partner. If you have desks in your room these buddy charts can be taped to the desk and you can chose different partners any time you want. Many of my classroom teachers do this anyway, (If I were in their rooms I would just use their buddy charts,but fortunately I have my own room.) In the past I have found that letting the students pick partners always leads to hurt feelings. This way the students still feel like they have picked their own partners, I do tell them that sometimes I have to fiddle with the partners a bit. Especially if there is a problem with self-control. I suppose this would also work with folders, but I don't have the folders out all the time and like to cut down on passing out time
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I just found several shareware seating chart programs. Go to then search under seating charts
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INSTRUMENT ROWS: In my classroom I use 4 rows across. Row 1 is labeled "Strings", then Woodwinds, Brass and Percussion. Students are numbered from left to right 1 to 10. The reason for the numbering is that i use a conduct chart arranged in the same order with pockets. Each pocket contains 5 colored strips (about 1 inch wide). when the students walk in the strips are all green = A. If the student acts up they change their card to the next color Blue = B and so on. I introduce them to their number and row the first week of school and the second week the chart is in force. They are in charge of their conduct grade! Each pocket is labeled thus --> S1,S2,S3...for Strings, W1,W2,W3 for Woodwinds and so on.
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NO WARNINGS? FREE SEATING: On days when no one gets warnings, I allow them to sit by friends the next class period. However, anyone who gets warnings on that "free seat" day, has to sit by me. If I give out three warnings, or if the class as a whole gets 3 strikes, they have to go back to their seating arrangement. Since the assigned seats were byrandom (at the beginning of the year, they drew numbers, and the seats were numbered), some of them aren't too crazy about where they sit. Before this is done, they must be reminded that free seating is a privilege, not a right. It's their responsibility to avoid the seating chart.
I also do stickers on a chart. After 20 stickers, they get a CD day, where they're allowed to bring in CD's and board games. Any student who gets a certain number of warnings or "strikes" between CD days sits in time-out and writes while the others enjoy the CD's. By time-out, I mean OUT. We have a hall bench right across from the office for malcontents. It seems sometimes that it's a whole class causing the headaches, when it's actually only 2-3 that get everyone else going. It's not perfect, but it helps. Also, document and send letters home, and communicate with the classroom teacher, the art teacher, the PE teacher about certain students. If everyone seems to be having the same problems, it's time to bombard those parents with individual letters. Hearing it from one teacher means that teacher "hates" the kid.
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MIDDLE SCHOOL: I think that kids actually feel more comfortable when they know where they will be sitting and what is expected of them. With middle school age children, knowing where they are to sit, where they are to turn in papers and portfolios, etc. is very important for them. My seating charts are done on the computer with a template. Each pupil has a 1 1/4 inch square with the first and last name (important for subs) at the top. Under the name is space for the Enthusiasm points (NEPs & PEPs). The squares are fastened to a color coded folder with POST-IT glue, so if a seat needs to be moved the square just lifts off and is repositioned (like post-it notes). Every nine weeks I create six new seating charts and six new grade book ledgers so the templates save much time. Also, school policy requires all teachers to keep a seating chart and to take attendance every period.
I do incorporate many games in my lessons so the kids have the opportunity to mix with their friends during music. My students work on projects so they too get to mix and socialize as they work. A good combination for middle schoolers. Alphabetical order works great for me, especially while I'm trying to learn 60+ new sixth grade students (in two classes) each nine weeks . Because I word process the seating charts and grade book list in alphabetical order its easy for me to picture each pupil alphabetically as I type in their name. I have their names learned in five days. The children like to be called by their names, not "the girl with the red hair in the third row". And we do, too.
MIDDLE SCHOOL: After letting 6th, 7th and 8th graders 'sit where they want to' for about 2 weeks, you will quickly know who cannot, or must not sit together. I have had kids actually tell me, ' she can't sit next to her', or I myself see that a particular seating arrangement is NOT working. I have used m - f - m - f - seating arrangements quite successfully; at least I don't have to deal with 'cliques' that way. Getting to know the students over a long-time basis is the clue to seating success. I think my music time is far to special to have to deal with different ' friend - enemy-' problems. Getting the student in, seated, and ready to 'do it' is the object of the music game, yes? I am a total believer in assigned seats. I think that kids actually feel more comfortable when they know where they will be sitting and what is expected of them. I do incorporate many games in my lessons so the kids have the opportunity to mix with their friends during music. I assure you that 6th and 7th graders have assigned seats in all their other classes!

Music for me is on the cart but thank goodness that teachers allow me to arrange seating when I arrive(all but 1) . What we do when I come in is get our chairs in a circle (pushing desks towards the wall). This allows for moving around when we have to (I incorporate some Phyllis Weikart movement for openers) When we work on recorders or need to change seating again ex.working in groups of four for rhythms) we can move our chairs around more easily. I feel freer too. I get to know who can/cannot sit together and they're in trouble if they do. K- 2 classes have a rug in their rooms that we meet on. Some of those groups I place boy-girl-boy-girl. Someday, I'll be in a school where I'll have my own music room... But this works for me
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CONDUCT CHART: I also use a seating chart for each class so I look at the conduct chart at the end of class and mark down in my grade book the lowered conduct grade for that week. If the student gets C, 3 weeks in a row, I send a notice home or progress report.
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MUSIC ON A CART - SEATING: When I used to travel I would run into the classroom teacher changing seats each week, so, I assigned "Music Seats". As soon as they saw me come in they would change seats. I would also draw a seating plan according to the classroom teacher's set up. I have never again given a child the wrong conduct grade whether traveling or at home in my music room.
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ALPHABETICALLY: In my classroom I use the alphabet. I have 3 rows in a semi-circle formation. My first row is A-G then H-0 and then P-Z. Before school starts I put each class into a boy/girl seating arrangement onto a transparency. On the first day of class I put the transparency on the overhead projector. The children then find their seats using the overhead. This has helped me tremendously. I used to write each letter onto a piece of paper either laminated or not and tape them to the floor. This became such a time consuming project that I had carpet squares donated. I painted each letter of the alphabet on each carpet square.
TALL TO SHORT: At the very beginning of the year I have the students arrange themselves in a tall to short order. I then look at their arrangement and then sometimes make some changes for behavior purposes. My room is set up in a semi-circle and the children sit in their tall to short order from day one. This has really helped when getting ready for shows because they are already familiar with the voices around them and it's easy to change the long line into 4 shorter ones for the risers. Since they are always in the same order it is easy to pass out recorders (they leave them in my room) and nametags. On "Kids Choice" days (when they've earned 10 compliments) the children often ask to sit with their friends - they see it as a treat. This works for me.
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HOMEBASE A1, A2....I have a seating system that really works for me. The kids enjoy it, the classroom teachers love it because it reinforces a math skill (graphing) and I think it has solved many problems in terms of behavior. There are number spots placed across the front wall of my room, (1 thru 12) and letter spots placed down the side wall (A thru H). They are evenly spaced about every 36 inches. I never assign seats or indicate who children should sit next to. They usually come to music in line next to people they enjoy spending time with. When they get to the door of my room I'm there to welcome them and to give them their "homebase spot" for the day. The first child is A1, the next is A2, etc.
They go into the room and find their spot by lining up on the letter and number I've assigned. They love it because it's like playing the game BATTLESHIP. They all can do this except for my kindergartners. The spots are far enough apart that each child has a good amount of space and doesn't wind up touching anyone next to him. We usually start class in our homebase spots, but never stay there the whole class. We'll do a movement activity, or go to the Orff instruments, or work on the risers, etc. - but when I say "Go back to your homebase spot they are quickly organized and quiet in neat rows. The spacing is the secret - needs to be enough so they don't wind up touching. I know that a nice sized room is necessary for this.
I hope this system may work for some of you. It certainly has for me and I can't think of the last time I had a serious behavior problem. Utilizing a lot of the room for a lot of different type activities keeps them occupied, but we always get off to a good start with them in THEIR spot. (Understand that this spot is different each week, according to where they were in line when they came into the room!) They can still talk to their friends they're near, etc. but don't seem to bother others with the spacing this way.
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My classes all have assigned spots, both block-style (we have spots marked on the carpet), and circle style. We start and end each class this way. What this does for me, is to help GREATLY with learning (and remembering!) names. It also helps WHEN WE ARE AT "MUSIC SPOTS" OR "CIRCLE SPOTS" to keep Jack& Jill, who always mess around when together, away from each other. It goes without saying that it is helpful for subs. BUT we spend MOST of our time at instruments, or doing partner things, dances that are NOT in a circle, etc., where there is no assigned spot.
I suspect that those who "shudder at the thought" probably mistakenly thought assigned seating meant "don't get off that spot until class is over!" It is definitely NOT that wy for me, and I expect not for most others who use a seating chart,also. I would also like to echo the "order in life" fator that someone else mentioned. These kids have so much chaos outside of school that they need this structure to help give order to their lives.
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STORAGE OF MATERIALS
08/04 I put a "caddy" under every two chairs. Wal Mart, K-Mart etc. handle with two sides for things like cleaning supplies and such. Just being cheap. I only have textbooks for grades 3,4, and 5. Three books fit on each side of the handle. There is also a plastic cup with 2 pairs of scissors, 3-4 pencils, and a box of crayons. I also have two white boards, two clipboards and each clipboard has a felt staff clipped on it. I also have one "phonic phone" in each tub. The fit is tight, but I love the time it saves. I really use textbooks rarely, and used to think that it wasn't worth it to pull them out for one quick song, or picture. Now it's no problem. -- Contributed by Linda Barnhart
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STUDENT HELPER
01/07 I just go down my class list-boys then skip to girls. If the child is acting up or isn't "the best behaved kid in the class", I just skip him/her and go on to the next. I just mark a big H next to their name with the date so when I hear-"I've never been the helper" I give them the date they did help. I try to ask if anyone has a b'day so they can be the honored one. If there is more than one person w/ a b'day, they get to choose to share the honors or be selected later so they won't have to share. My helper gets to:
1. Start the class by hitting my suspended cymbal and we sing"Music class is now started"
2. Sit in one of several rolling chairs , the rest sit on the floor.
3. Play the CDs. tape recorder--I have the buttons colored coded-green-play and pause, blue- forward, yellow-back, red-stop, etc.
4. turn on and off lights.
5. Help manage passing out of books, instruments, etc.
6. Anything else
7. End the class, hitting the cymbal and class singing "Music class is now over". -- Millie Webb, Williamsburg VA
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TALKING
10/05 I like the "VIP chair" name. I bought a rocking chair at a garage sale a couple of years ago, and put my floppy bunny in it. I use it at school, and if a class does a good job, I pull a name out of a cup. If the student drawn didn't get any warnings in music, he or she gets to sit in the rocking chair on the next music day. I do let them know of the exceptions: Like if we're getting ready for a program, if we run out of time in class, if the class is too chatty, etc. Worked great last year! -- Karen Stafford
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10/05 I tell the students they have 5 minutes of "game time" at the end of class. Every time they get noisy, etc. I erase a letter, thereby erasing a minute of "game time". I also will add letters, but only for really exceptional behavior, and I don't add them often. It really works to cut down on the miscellaneous noise between activities and songs. Sometimes if we are doing an activity and I need to settle them down I count backwards from 3 and when I get to 1 if the whole class is not quiet I erase a letter. The "games" I play at the end are usually review games, like Baseball, quizzing students on any skills we have been working on (I have a large dice with single, double, triple, home rum and out on it that they get to throw if they get the correct answer), the "Key Game" from one of Cheryl Lavender's books, Encore (without the board, just counting points on the board) or Name That Tune". I usually let the class vote on the game they want. Now that I have 40 minute classes it is very manageable to give them 5 minutes. When I had 30 minute classes I would sometimes "bank" their minutes (they knew this was always an option for me) and use them when we had time. -- Monica in WI
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