Tying Up Loose Ends - Guide to Instrumental Music

I'm officially not at school this week, waiting for Baby V to make his/her appearance. I can now see why people were recommending that I take some time to rest. I just might get used to daytime shopping and coffee dates with friends, though!  

Last week was insane as I spent any free time at school packing up my room (I had a lot of stuff there) and any free time at home trying to finish marking student work (what I wouldn't give for everyone to hand their work in on time!). On Saturday, I worked like a champ and finished my report cards. 

My poor husband had to unload my full car every day!

I'm thankful for our giant crawlspace. 

I also put together a giant information package for my replacement. Here's what it contained:

Teaching Music is different from teaching a regular class in many ways. I've had to come to terms with the fact that I am leaving a program that I have been working hard to build for the past year and a half. So many of my lessons this year were spent introducing simple rhythms and reading notes on the staff, even with students in Grade 7 & 8, since many of them hadn't been exposed to much music in their previous schooling. I finally felt as though we were making progress and now I have to give it over to someone else. I know she'll do a great job and I know that I will be very busy in the next year but that didn't stop me from leaving a ridiculous amount of information for her. Here are some highlights:

2 Weeks of Lesson Plans

My principal asked me to leave two weeks worth of lesson plans so that my replacement would have something to work with at the beginning. I basically set up two different levels of lessons. I teach 16 different classes and 7 different grade levels and did not have time to come up with some super engaging lessons so I did what I could!

For the Kindergartens to Grade 5s I focused on instrument families. For each family I copied an information sheet, a question sheet, wordsearch, and colouring sheet. The instrument family information and question sheet came from Listening Resource Kit Level 4.  

For the Grade 6s to 8s I used the "Bach's Fight for Freedom" DVD and some accompanying worksheets from the accompanying Teacher's Guide. I also apologized for making her watch this video 9 times!

Introduction

This is where I left her with the names of some helpful teachers and a list of things I'm paranoid about (ha ha!) such as my bulletin board paper/borders being thrown out, losing the remotes for my stereo and air conditioner, throwing out and not reusing student duotangs, and losing the Sterisol bottle with the pump. 

Instrumental Music Overview

I thought it would be helpful for my replacement to know what we had been learning about this term, as well as some helpful resources (like the MusicPlay program) to use with the Kindies and Grade 2s.

I also included information about extracurricular activities she may want to get involved with - Glee Club, Concert Band, Student of the Month Assemblies as well as our instrument inventory, sheet music, and instrument repairs.  

Daily Procedures & Classroom Routines

Information about fire drills, instrument sign-out procedures, dismissal, large group/small group/individual task expectations for behaviour, washroom procedures, storage of belongings/completed or incomplete work/student & teacher resources, and music teams. I totally understand that she will do things differently but I thought it would be helpful to know how the classroom had been running. 

Student Information

This included students with health/safety concerns along with a list of helpful students. I also gave her a list of the instruments each student plays. Some of my little darlings may try to pull a switch. 

Helpful Blackline Masters and Resources

I wanted her to have a copy of the resources I use including the GPS program, Recorder Resource, Ukulele in the Classroom, Instrument Sign-Out sheet, Instrument Assignment Form, Practice Records, Extra-Curricular Permission Forms. 

I also had the opportunity to meet with the new teacher yesterday which gave me a bit of closure!