In my years of teaching music from a cart, along with figuring out how to maximize my cart storage space, I’ve also experimented with different kinds of manipulatives I could easily carry around and incorporate in the often cramped classroom spaces I teach in. Along with the portability factor, I’ve found that materials that I could use for multiple purposes were best...giving you more bang for your lesson buck! Here’s a list of my current 5 favorite multifunctional lesson manipulatives:

Students race to sweep up small, labeled objects (something with a little depth, such as plastic cubes, color tiles, or even folded index cards) based on what’s called out. For example, having students race to see who can sweep up only the string family instrument names scattered on the floor or all of the rhythms that add up to 4 beats. Students might not be crazy about cleaning up their room at home, but a music sweeping game is a whole other story! And, as with the fly swatters, you can purchase just a few dustpans which is plenty for your students to take turns with in small groups.

How about you? Do you have a particular music lesson manipulative that’s your favorite? Have you tried any of the ideas above? Are there any manipulatives you’ve found difficult to store on your cart due to their shape or size? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Encouraging you to rock as you roll,

Have you tried listening lessons before as either a regular lesson plan or a sub plan? Do you have any "go-to" music sub plans that you absolutely love? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below!

Encouraging you to rock as you roll,

1. Toggle Your Lesson Activities

For any teacher who teaches more than one grade level, you have to constantly reset and be "on" for every single class period. That repetition of lessons can take a toll vocally. So what I've learned to do is toggle the activities I teach in two ways: within the lesson and across grade levels. What in the world does that mean? Let's break it down.

Toggle within the lesson

If I have an activity that's a song, the activity that follows it might be a listening one. Or maybe I'll begin with a familiar song that the students are fine singing on their own, then I'll introduce and teach a brand new song that requires more use of my own singing voice. For my younger preschool and kindergarten classes, I'll alternate a song with a listening activity, or finger play spoken by me with a movement activity to recorded music. In the same way I alternate activities that have my students sitting down versus standing and moving, I also alternate singing and not singing to give my voice frequent breaks.

Toggle across grade levels

I may have one grade doing lots of songs, but another grade might be focusing more on a composer or listening unit. One grade might be working on layering instruments parts and vocal ostinati while another is folk dancing. I tier my grade level units so that I'm alternating the amount of vocal activities in order to prevent fatigue. This doesn't mean that there's not any singing at all for a certain grade level (my students still sing while they dance or play an instrument) it just means that singing isn't my main focus of the lesson and I personally am not doing the bulk of singing. Which leads me into the next point...

2. Allow Student Ownership

3. Enjoy Some Lunchtime Solitude

4. Get Sufficient Sleep

5. Water, Water Everywhere!

And address the clutter, I did. However, there was one problem: the speed of my occasional purging wasn’t matching the speed in which I gained MORE materials. New curricula, new conference freebies, new music teaching resources...I relished pouring over new learning materials and the latest releases. While there’s nothing wrong with that (we as teachers should always be learning and growing), I had to ask myself if it was reeeeally necessary to keep every single paper from every single conference session I attended. I mean, honestly, my 4th graders were not going to be singing SATB choral literature so why was I hanging on to it for the mere fact that it was free? And all those extra copies of various worksheets for my students, did I really need to hold onto those, too? It all kept piling up and the overflow was making its way to my house for storage! This paper pile madness had to stop!

I spent a solid two weeks (non-stop, morning to night) sorting, purging, and organizing this 10+ years of stuff. As I kept sorting, I couldn’t help but think, “Man, if only I had thought to organize myself from the get-go, it would’ve been SO much easier to stay on top of things.” And so, if I were to go back in time, the advice I would tell my “first year teacher” self is this:

Now that everything is neatly organized, I can quickly find the references, resources, and papers that I need. A kindergarten concert program from 2011...got it! That really good conference session on folk dancing a few years back, I can find that handout in less than a minute! Going forward into my teaching career, I vow to stay on top of the paperwork and not let all my hours of organizing this summer go in vain. How? Well, at the end of each month I’ll spend about 20 or so minutes sorting, filing, and/or purging papers accumulated that month and in the days after I return from a conference, I’ll only keep and promptly file the most relevant resources.

How about you? Do you have bookshelves full of papers and materials that you haven’t looked at in a while? Do you have an organizing system that you follow? Do you just shove everything into a nice, large storage closet, shut the door, and ignore? Please share your experience of tackling (or not tackling) accumulation in the comments below!

Encouraging you to rock as you roll,

Having my materials organized into binders allows me to easily transport my stuff from year to year AND helps me easily access materials when I need them. One cool item that helps me place softcover music magazines into these 3-hole binders are these: 

Sometimes districts will provide teachers with office supplies, but other times not. Either way, it's a great idea (and I actually prefer) to have my own set of basic office supplies. I utilize the top shelf of my cart as my "rolling office" with my desk supplies quickly at my disposal: pencils, pens, erasers, Post-its, stapler, tape, dry erase markers/eraser, etc. As I'm teaching, I can quickly grab what I need instead of asking the students where their teacher keeps something and having a herd of kids scramble to run and get said item from their teacher's desk or closet. I save lots of time and energy (and student accidents!) by just having my own supply on hand and would suggest the same for any cart teacher. But please remember this one thing...LABEL EVERYTHING!!!  If you don't label things with your name, it WILL grow legs and go missing...trust me!

So, those are a few examples of practical, organizational, and even decorative ideas that you can be on the lookout for in the stores while you’re beginning your cart prep planning for the school year. Are there any *must have* items that you’ve found were quite handy in your cart teaching experience? Are you new to being on a cart and wondering what else should be purchased? Please feel free to share, ask, and comment below!

Encouraging you to rock as you roll,

This has been a very interesting school year. Out of my 10+ years teaching elementary music, this was the first year that I was challenged with all sorts of behavioral issues. And not with just a few classes or one grade level, but at every single grade level that I teach (with the exception of preschool...those little 3 and 4 year olds really had it together!). I’ve truly been stretched and challenged as an educator in attempting to find various systems, strategies, and ways in which to establish, restore, and/or reiterate proper classroom behavior. As I reflect back on this school year and the strategies I've tried, I noticed that there was a common thread. And that’s what I’d like to discuss today.

Now, I’m not saying that this is a magical strategic tool that will instantaneously fix every single behavior issue you’ll face in your classroom (but hey, if you ever find that magical strategy, please let me know), yet as the school year rolled on, I found that this helped….a lot. Simply put, what I’m talking about is this:

During those 10 minutes of self-assessment, I’d circulate around the room, silently read their answers, and have a very brief one-on-one chat with each student (quietly so no one else nearby hears) about the choices and actions they made that day in music. For some classes, once the teacher returned to the classroom, students would hold up their paper and the teacher would give a quick glance and offer an overall comment about the reflections as a whole (and when the comment was positive, boy would we play it up and make a big deal of it!). However, every single time, I required that they put the self-reflection papers in their take-home folders to bring home. If the situation warranted it, I would write a note on the paper asking parents to sign that they’ve read their child’s self-assessment and have it returned back to school the next day. This really helped alleviate a LOT of extra time on my part documenting individual behaviors and helped to alleviate the defensiveness that some parents had because it was their own child who was confessing in their own handwriting how they did in class that day, for better or for worse. The classroom teachers also appreciated it as it gave them an idea of how their students did and they appreciated the extra support in reiterating positive behavior and addressing the negative.

For my upper elementary students (3rd and 4th graders), the above self-reflection sheet I made was too simplistic. Thankfully, I found a really AMAZING self-assessment rubric created by Jessica Zannini, creator of the website "Notes from the Portable." Do yourself a favor and go there now to download it for free!  Although it was formulated for the regular ed. classroom, I found that the behavior checks listed spoke perfectly to what I kept reiterating during music class. Again, I left 10 minutes towards the end of the class period for filling out these rubrics (I used the 3 smiley rubric she created, but there's also a more detailed, numbered rubric in the downloadable packet) along with answering the questions on the reverse side, reminding them that although it’s worded to have them reflect on their day/week in school, they’re only reflecting and filling it out regarding how they did in music class that day. And just like my lower elementary classes, I circulated around the classroom to individually speak to each student about their rubric rating. Taking their papers home was optional unless I wrote my own remarks on the line given for teacher comments or circled the sentence on the bottom that stated they had to have it signed by a parent and brought back the next day. The classroom teacher would place it in my mailbox when the student brought it back the next day, but I preferred (as much as possible) to go the student myself before school or during homeroom to follow up face-to-face, collect their paper, and speak with them the next day. This wasn't limited to only negative behaviors, though. If a student had a spectacular day or did something great in music, I would write a comment in the teacher's spot and circle for the paper to go home and get signed so their parent would know how well they did that day.

Now was this a magical formula that solved all my crazy classroom behavior issues? Unfortunately not...BUT, I found that as I consistently followed through, at the expense of some instructional time, it made a difference in helping them recognize and take more personal ownership of the behaviors they exhibited during class. And really, such a time for teaching personal self-assessment and reflection IS an important part of life and learning anyway...so in actuality, it’s not time wasted, but time invested. Having students write down and then read for themselves in black and white their behavior choices helped them to see patterns and trends from week to week (and teachers and parents were able to see it, too) and my speaking to each individual student, helping them hash out and talk out their choice of actions that day, helped reinforce the personal ownership aspect along with the fact that I was on their side, cheering them on to do great things, but the decision was theirs as to how they would choose to behave.

*Sigh* A tough year indeed, but still a fruitful one...for both my students and for myself. In future blog posts, I'll discuss the myriad of other strategies and classroom management techniques I utilized in conjunction with the above, but this one was the biggest change I've tried implementing so far in my classes this year, so I wanted to share it first. Have you had any successful strategies that you’ve tried in your music classes? Have you had to sacrifice classroom time to reset or reinforce proper classroom behavior? Please tell me that I’m not alone and leave some nuggets of your wisdom in the comments below!

Encouraging you to rock as you roll,

As a ‘music on a cart’ teacher, I’m all about using teaching aids and manipulatives in various ways and for multiple purposes. My cart space is at a premium, and though I can fit a lot more items on my cart than one may think, there will always, of course, be space limitations compared to music teachers with their own classrooms. With that said, today I want to share about one of my favorite multi-activity musical items that I permanently keep on my cart and use often throughout the school year...the slide whistle!

At the mention of a slide whistle, one would probably think of using it for vocal and pitch exploration and that’s absolutely true. However, it’s also great for exploring movement and encouraging composition! Here are severn examples of how I like to use the slide whistle in a way that invites students to engage their voices, bodies, and creative minds in my elementary music classes:

1. Students use their voices to echo the slide whistle pattern while also using “conducting fingers” to visually demonstrate the pitch of the sung pattern.
   
2. Students conduct a pattern (tracing it in the air in front of them) for me to copy and play on the slide whistle. This can be done including their voices or just using silent conducting gestures.
   
3. Students visually draw the pattern they heard using a whiteboard, pipe cleaners, or drawing app on a tablet/iPad. Plain old pencil/crayon and paper can work, too...have your students fold the paper in half two times to create 4 boxes on each side for them to draw 8 total patterns.
   
4. Students listen to a pattern, then find and select the correct pattern from a group of 2 or 3 cards placed in front of them. After they pick the correct card, have them trace with their finger and sing it. A fun compositional tweak would be to have students pick 3 cards and put them in the order of their choosing. They can then take turns vocally sharing their "composition" with a partner, small group, or the whole class.
5. Invite students to stand and follow you as you move isolated parts of the body (ex. elbow, toe, eyebrows, pinky finger, hip, lips, knee, etc.) to the pitch of the slide whistle. Vary between slow and sudden gliding sounds, and utilize different ascending and descending patterns to encourage movement.
6. Have students choose which part of the body they want to move. Give them a few seconds to think of what body part they’ll use before listening to the slide whistle pattern, then have them vocally echo as they physically perform the movement with their chosen part of their body.
7. Beginning at one side of the room, after listening to the slide whistle pattern, a student moves across to the other side mimicking the pattern played. This could be done one student at a time or a small group of 2, 3, or 4 at a time. It’s lots of fun mixing up legato, staccato, fast, and slow patterns all to encourage hopping, jumping, skipping, walking, slithering, sliding, twirling and more using direct/indirect and high/low locomotor movements.
   

As you can probably tell, I like to use a variety of patterns from smooth to detached, quick or sustained, ascending, descending and more! I start short and simple (about 2 beats long, using only 1 pattern) and gradually increase to longer and more complex patterns (4-8 beats long, using multiple, connected patterns) as the year goes on. These activities are great opportunities for vocal and movement exploration and allows for performance assessment in a super fun way. These slide whistle activities also make great “5 minute fillers” for situations like when you're waiting for the classroom teacher to return at the end of the period or for when an assembly has eaten up a large chunk of the music period, leaving only a few minutes of class time.

Looking for some fun and unique pattern cards to use?

Check out the "Exploration Cards" resource in the Cart Closet!

And finally, the slide whistle can also serve as a second voice. In the unfortunate times that I've had laryngitis, these various slide whistle activities have really come in handy. Yet even when I’m in good health, they offer a nice vocal pause and a chance for some vocal rest in the midst of a heavy teaching day.

How about you? Have you ever incorporated the slide whistle into your music teaching activities? Have you ever used it for something other than vocal/pitch exploration? Have you ever considered using it for movement activities? I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas below!

Encouraging you to rock as you roll,

In the previous post, Anatomy of a Cart: Part 1, we covered what characteristics to look for when searching for an optimal, mobile teaching cart. Today, we’re getting down into some more nitty-gritty details by discussing ways to creatively increase storage space on your cart. Being a music teacher on a cart means you essentially take your music classroom with you as you travel around the school building. If you’re going to have all of your needed teaching materials on hand, then you need to maximize ALL areas of your cart.

If you thought your only option was tossing your music teaching items on the cart’s shelves and rolling out, then read on, my friend, to find out some super strategic ways of storing your teaching tools and truly utilizing all of the space on your cart!

Stackable Bins

Let’s start with the most obvious storage solution: stackable bins. These are very efficient ways of storing small instruments. I personally prefer clear bins so I can easily see what instruments are inside, but I also have storage bins with patterns and holes cut out of the sides that allow me to see their contents. If you don’t have transparent storage bins, labels taped to the sides will eliminate the guesswork. If you don’t have time to design your own labels, there are a plethora of music educators on Teachers Pay Teachers that have created labels of various themes, colors, and patterns. Browse and find the perfect kind for you!

These storage bins are also helpful in that once you’ve finished a lesson unit that uses certain containers of instruments, you can easily transfer the bins from your cart back into a closet, stacking them up quite neatly until you need them again!

Small Containers

These multi-pocket holders come with a belt/strap that goes around the perimeter of the projector and would normally be used to hold dry erase markers, erasers, and other projector related materials. On my cart, these projector pockets store teaching items such as my “word wall” and vocal exploration cards, smaller picture cards, and bandages (the see-through pocket and low location on the cart allows students to quickly locate and grab them without my assistance).

While the projector pockets were helpful, I soon realized that I needed more...something bigger and deeper that could hold items such as my clipboard, story books, and papers. Enter the Seat Sack! These chair pockets became all the rage a number of years back and when I commented to one teacher on how cool I thought they were, she gave me one of her extras! In order to attach it to my cart, I took the part that would slide onto the chair and cut along the sides to open it up to just a flap. I tucked this now open flap underneath the mat on the top of my cart, allowing the pocket part to dangle over the side and provide the perfect place for my larger, flatter teaching items. However, after using the projector pockets and chair pocket for a few years, I was still on the lookout for even more storage. On a trip to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, I found it...a car back seat organizer!

I immediately snatched it up along with this awesome organizational gem:

Initially made for college students to drape over their dresser or mini-fridge, this organizer was perfect for me to store my read-aloud books, papers, small posters, water bottles, miscellaneous small instruments (ex. slide whistle, harmonica, a recorder), pens, markers, wires, tissue boxes, and more! If you're unable to find these in stores, look online and use the search terms "car back seat organizer" or "mini fridge caddy" and that should turn up many options for you to look at and possibly order.

These organizers were my chosen method of increasing cart storage, but there are other creative external organizational items cart teachers can utilize. To discover additional ideas, feel free to browse through Music on a Cart's “Rock as you *ROLL*” and “Classroom organization” boards on Pinterest:

Even with all of these options, there’s still one more crucial cart area that many people tend to neglect. I’ll cover that in a future blog post, so stay tuned! Are there any organizational tools you've found helpful for your cart teaching situation that you currently use? Or did any of the above suggested items come as a surprise to you? Please let me know and share your thoughts in the comments below!

Encouraging you to rock as you roll,

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#1 - Size

A natural inclination after finding out you're going to be teaching from a cart is to feel like you need the LARGEST cart possible to fit as many things onto it as possible. Don’t give in to that knee-jerk reaction...bigger is NOT always better! I've found out the hard way that a bigger cart is not always the most useful and in fact, the larger size can potentially hinder and hurt you physically as well as logistically. Survey the classrooms that you’ll be teaching in to get an idea of the width of the doorway and potential classroom obstacles. Create a checklist of the daily instructional items you’ll need. Then, based on those things, select an appropriately sized cart for your needs.

Need some more tips for what to do after finding out you'll be teaching from a cart?

Click the picture below!

If a cart with fixed tiers isn’t working for you, then consider ordering one with adjustable height shelving, an option I had no clue about in my early cart teaching days!

Power Cable

A cart with built-in power outlets with an extension cord gives you one less thing to have to remember to bring. I was quite sad when my built-in extension cord and attached double outlet stopped working (the cart was very old before I acquired it) and now I must use a separate extension cord for the electronic devices I keep on my cart. Not wishing to waste space, I hung two organizers over the broken outlet and the lower left pocket holds my wires and cords when not in use.

If you’d like to view more pictures and see examples of other traveling teachers’ carts, check out the “Rock as You *ROLL*” board from Music on a Cart’s Pinterest page:

Do you currently teach from a cart? Which type of cart have you found most helpful? Were you able to purchase one or did you use what was already available at your school? I’m very interested to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Encouraging you to rock as you roll,

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