Music

I have subbed several times in Music classrooms this year. I am not a music teacher. I can read music, and took violin lessons many, many years ago, but I can't sing well, can't really play any instruments and wasn't sure I could do it.

Luckily all the music classrooms I have been in have been great. I have found a great game/activity that is great to do in music classes to fill in time, or if you are left without plans. One of the first classes I went into had this in the lesson plans.

It is a musical hot and cold game. This class had a little statue of Mozart and called it Mozart Hide and Seek, but you could use anything you have handy. In order to make it more musical you could use an instrument, or something else from the classroom to hide.

First you choose a student, now called the seeker, to wait in the hall, or in a corner --- NO PEEKING! Next pick another student to hide the object, -ex. Mozart. Everyone else in the class has to pay attention to where it is being hidden. The first student comes in and begins wandering around the classroom. Depending on the age of the students you can either have a student pick the songs to sing, or you can have a list of songs for the students to pick from. The students sing and when the seeker gets closer to Mozart they sing louder, and when the seeker gets farther away from Mozart the students sing softer.

I have played this with several classes, of all ages. The students enjoy it, and it gets them singing and practicing songs they know, and learning songs they may not know.

Another fun activity is with rhythm instruments and with it you have the students copy each other. One drums out a pattern, the rest repeat it. You can have the class do it all together, or go around in a circle and have each individual repeat the pattern. We have also done drum mail. Where the first student drums out the syllables in a question-- for example - " what is your fav-or-ite col-or?" Then you go around the circle and each student drums out the syllables in their answer. This is a great game for 1st and 2nd graders who are learning about breaking up words. "La-ven-der"


Take a chance -- teach the world to sing, or maybe just work in a music class for a day.

Subbing -- the First 100 Days

This week is the 100th day of school. I have worked 75 days, and considering I didn't get added to the sub list until the 15th day of school, I think that is pretty successful.

I have subbed in 3 districts, numerous schools, kindergarten through 12th grade. Music, PE, special ed, regular classrooms, behaviorally challenged, adult special ed transition center and more. I have gone into classrooms with elaborately laid out plans, uber-organized teachers, classrooms with no plans at all, unorganized teachers -- it has run the gamut.

And I have really loved it all. I really have loved the kids in every classroom. Sure they aren't always perfect, but I'm not either.


I was really petrified to sub. I thought of all the scary stories I have heard. I was so crushed not to have my own class. I was worried about getting jobs. I worried about kids treating me terribly, misbehaving, not knowing what I was teaching.

I am so glad that I have been able to sub this year. It has taught me so much . My classroom management skills are improving every day. I am still trying to determine if I go into a class and the kids are good for me, is it because of the regular teacher and the systems they have in place? Or is it me? Alternatively, if the class is crazy and I really need to come down hard on them is it the regular teachers lack of something or is it me? What can I do when I am a classroom teacher to have those well behaved classrooms? Or are the kids the variable? Maybe that teacher just has a tough group this year? Or maybe the kids are having a bad day, or maybe I am. I have yet to figure that out.

My motto this year has been taking risks. Stretching, growing, trying new things - taking all sorts of classroom jobs I wouldn't normally try.

When I was student teaching I would get so nervous, sweating, sure I was going to do something to ruin their lives forever. I have gained a great deal of confidence in being in front of the kids too. The biggest thing for me is learning to admit when I don't know something or if I have made a mistake. Being in so many classrooms, where I don't now the routines, the habits, the rules -- I make lots of mistakes. The kids are always very helpful and understanding. Why wouldn't they be? If I see someone makes a mistake, I try to helpful and understanding. I don't expect everyone to be perfect. Why shouldn't the kids see that I am human. It has been a relief.