Wisdom from a Convention

I've been having trouble picking things to write about. I haven't come up with anything revolutionary for the kindergarten and first grade general music class, I don't have huge issues that I feel like I need to write about. I guess my job isn't all that interesting at the moment.  However, I recently went to the New Jersey Music Educators Association Convention and I jotted down a couple things I thought were worthy of posting.  Conventions are great because you get to do great networking, you can go to sessions that make you realize what you're doing right, and some sessions make you see what you should be doing.  

I want to focus on 3 aspects of my teaching that I found out I'm doing right and how I learned to tweak it a little bit for maximum effect.  

• it's important to have a game (even if it's not really a game but a movement exercise you say is a game)
• Learned to: give kids 5-9 seconds after playing each round of a game to laugh/talk/move before getting their attention back because the behavior problems don't happen in that in between time - they happen if that's your whole class
• I used to: get their attention and keep it quiet between rounds

• use time-saving assessment strategies
• Learned to: use call and response to assess if students are matching pitch, keeping a steady beat, playing instrument properly, etc
• Learned that: using checklists of yes/no options are valid assessments and are very quick
• I used to: overthink my assessments and worry that when I collected data in the above styles that it wasn't a valid method

• it's okay to use the same song/game/listening example week after week and year after year
• Learned to: introduce a song/game/listening example briefly one class and continue to expand upon it in the next few classes
• have students dance around the room to a piece one week, sit and listen while answering 2 questions the next, follow and active listening chart the next
• I used to: teach a game/concept/song in the same class then return to the game for fun over the next few classes or later in the year as an extra treat instead of continuing to teach using that song
• Learned to: teach aspects of a song in lower grades then expand on that from year to year because students don't get bored of things each year - they actually enjoy the familiarity of the songs and can reminisce year to year
• K) pat steady beat while listening 1) come up with a dance in small groups 2)  compose and write out a rhythmic ostinato to go with the song 3) write a story about/discuss mood 4) read and count rhythm of the melody 
• I used to: avoid using songs/listening examples in lower grades that are traditionally used in higher grades because I didn't want to step on the toes of the other teachers and so they wouldn't be bored of the songs

I hope that these main three things can help you think about your teaching as much as they did mine. Look forward to another post with some exciting news later this week!!