Last week I gave you a brief tour of my music classroom. Today, I want to expand that to show you how I store reeds and method books. I got these small drawer units from the dollar store. I also picked up some sticker labels so each class could have its own drawer. Each drawer…

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…

This is one of my favourite activities to do in the classroom. The first thing I do is introduce my students to the genre of Old Time Radio. I want them to understand that before television and movies, we could listen to all sorts of programs on the radio. I share with them some of…

I am in the process of writing my Long Range Plan for the new school year. I divide the document up into 5 sections. 1. Affective Goals I want my students to learn a lot more than the curriculum. As such, my three goals for this section have not changed over the past several years.…

I want to develop integrity in my students. I think it is the most important thing that we can do as teachers. To that end, I have designed large banners that are proudly displayed in my classroom. Across the front of my room, I have a banner that reads . . . It is a…

With All Due Respect: Keys for Building Effective School Discipline by Ronald G. Morrish This book has some great advice for both beginning and experienced teachers. Here are some of the key passages I highlighted and notes I took as I read these two books. Shared Rewards “Whenever possible, use ‘shared’ rewards. Rather than giving…

“Summer” by Buffalo Tom is a great song to use in the classroom at the start of the school year. It’s a song that always make me sad that summer is coming to an end. I play it every Labour Day weekend as I prepare to go back to school. This year, I used the song…