This is my music classroom.
As you can see, I keep a clear aisle down the middle of the room.
This is especially important when I need to go help a student with an instrument problem.
I set up the chairs to form three rows of five on either side of the room. Each row has three music stands but a few extra stands are off to the side of the room if needed.
I really love this percussion section. The bass drum is huge and a little bit ridiculous. I don't use it very often in my regular music classes because it is so loud and booming. But the drum kit is absolutely gorgeous.
I set up a keyboard section. The closet one belongs to the school, the one in the middle is the first keyboard I ever bought. It is a Yamaha PSR-510 and it cost me close to $1,000 back in the early 90s. Times sure have changed.
I found that air organ at a thrift shop earlier this year for $4.99. It has chord buttons for the left hand and has a great sound. I need to find a more appropriate stand for it, but it works for now.
I've been doing some collaborative improvisation with one of my classes and I also include two xylophones in this section. I will write a post about that unit very soon.
I will also be writing one about the routines and procedures I have in place for my music program. So make sure you come back for more Teaching Tip Tuesday posts!
And don't forget to check the Teaching Tip Tuesday Archive for more great teaching ideas.
I'm jealous that you have a music room. I will start my music units in January and would love to see some teaching tips about teaching music without instruments to intermediate students. I'm in a new school with no music resources.
ReplyDeleteHi Amber,
ReplyDeleteI am extremely lucky to have such a great music room. I love it!
Do you have xylophones or keyboards? If not, maybe you can scrounge some up before January. You only need to have a handful of them to do a few creative projects with your class. I will blog about that later.
Thanks for the comment!
Sadly our board only has one xylophone to borrow and there are no keyboards to be found other than my own personal one.
ReplyDeleteHi Amber,
ReplyDeleteEach school in my board got two toy-style glockenspiels last year. They have a nice sound to them though.
Do you have access to any Orff instruments (rhythm sticks, triangles, tambourines, etc?) You could do a lot with those.
I actually borrowed a class set of djembes (drums) for a month-long unit I will be doing starting next week. I got them from my teacher local. Maybe you should call them or your Arts Coordinator to see if you can borrow something too.