Page 7 - Elementary Music Curriculum Bundle Intro

• Keep interruptions to a minimum. Make two copies of your lesson plans and post one outside the door for anyone who might come in to observe. Some principals do not allow the office staff to interrupt classroom teaching with random intercom or phone calls. Interruptions can destroy a moment, an activity that is working, attention is lost and hard to re-gather. Especially with the younger students. I did not welcome interruptions and most people I worked with knew that. I attached an envelope to my door with a "Welcome and Enter Quietly" Note and inserted my lesson plans. Worked like a charm!
PRINTING THE DOCUMENTS
Find a color printer or B/W to print out and laminate all posters, cards, and other items needed for your lessons. Use a heavy card stock for durability and to be able to attach to walls with tape without tearing up the cards. If you do not have access to a color printer, all items can be printed grayscale and will look fine. Also, all PDF files can be shown on a projector or computer screen and the students will love it, even if it’s as small as an iPad.
FINAL NOTES
Each lesson plan is designed for a one-hour class. However, there are more activities listed than anyone can possibly complete in a one-hour class. So don’t freak out, thinking you’re a failure if you can’t get through all of the activities in one lesson! I never did. If you do not finish a plan or activity, just make note and finish in the next class. No two class situations are the same. There is no such thing as laminated lesson plans for the effective teacher. It is not in their vocabulary!!
The dilemma for me was having four classes from the same grade level and trying to keep all of them at the same pace. Otherwise, you create a nightmare for yourself as you plan. If one class in the grade level is ahead of the others, it becomes very difficult to keep up with who has done what! Even though you acknowledge that children develop at different paces, you must maintain your own sanity in the process. That’s where keeping good notes on your lesson plans will be invaluable. That’s also why I always planned extra activities. If an activity totally bombed (and that happens!), I could just move quickly to the next one. No big deal!
Now . . . You are ready to . . . HAVE FUN!!!
© Copyright 2015 by Janis Aston. Revised 2020. All rights reserved.
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