Class Dojo

What a whirlwind the first week has been! Its been such a joy seeing so many familiar faces and a blast getting to know my new friends for the year. This year in Specials, we've hopped on the Class Dojo bandwagon and love it!!! 

There are a few adjustments to how the kiddos typically interact with Dojo but its easy to adjust: Instead of each student having a Dojo monster, the whole class is represented by their teacher's Dojo monster. This way, they need to work as a team to earn or lose points. Across Specials, we are emphasizing the same positive traits and negative consequences. 

At the end of the 9 weeks, the Dojo monster with the most points in each grade level will be rewarded with a comfy casual day of no shoes, fun movie, pillows/couch time, and popcorn!!! Classes don't have to reach a preset point value to get the reward but rather continually push themselves to get points each day and be the best they can be. 

Kids are already loving it and I'll be connecting with classroom teachers so they can log in as the "parent" and see how their students are doing in Music through the year. I'm so excited! 

Back to School

This past Friday was Meet the Teacher Night! It was so exciting to be able to open up my classroom and invite students and friends new and old inside to see what excitement is in store for this school year. I love all the brightness I see when I open up my doors and hearing parents comments certainly made the effort all worthwhile. The bright colors and fun fonts make word walls so much fun!

I have to give my best friend a huge THANK YOU for her help Friday afternoon. She's such a trooper to come right from the airport to my room and start tackling the seating spots arrangements. Plus, gotta love the polka dot duck tape!

 I'm not one to attempt making a lot of Pinterest projects, however I LOVE how my lollipop tree turned out! This year, I found an adorable brochure template to edit with all sorts of music information for this school year. Super easy way to share an overview of this year's performances and ensemble opportunities I can't wait to kick off with this year's students. Percussion, Recorder, and Choir...oh my! 

I can't wait to start sharing all the excitement in the music room this year. Make sure to check back for updates, pictures, and find out how our Thompson Cougars are growing into wonderful young musicians!