First Year Flashback

Today, I tried to link up with Shelly over at Pitch Publications to reflect on my first year teaching and how far I (and my students) have come! Click her blog name above to read her post.  I am in my 7th year teaching, which may not seem long- but my teaching style and lesson planning sure has changed! I know her post was a while ago and I can't officially link up but I thought it was still fun to reflect. (This blogging with a baby thing is HARD!) :)  Still head on over to her site to check out the other posts of those who did link up in time!

What Subject and Age Were You Teaching??

Luckily, I am still at the same job I started in because I LOVE IT! I hope I can stay at my "Wonderful Wilson School" for my entire teaching career.  I started out (and currently) teach 1st - 6th grade GM and 5th/6th Chorus.  Soon Kindergarten will be added.  At first I had students for a total of 60 minutes a week (bigger kids 1x for an hour, and littles 2x for 30 minutes each).  I now have each group for 50 minutes 1x a week. 

What Was Your First Classroom Like? 

My first room was a normal sized classroom smack dab in the middle of the building.  There was no air-conditioning, but I convinced them to give me a wall unit. It was pretty tight for the big kids and no fun having to be quiet during testing days, etc. Right now I am in a portable and actually really like it because I can control my temperature, be as loud as I want and I have a whole portable (2 classrooms) to myself. In 2 years we are getting a brand new building and it will have a music wing! I cannot wait to see what my new classroom will look like! I wasn't too picky with the plans- I just said there needed to be room to dance, sing, and play (and of course, store all the instruments and equipment I have). 

Were You Given Supplies and Materials?

I came into a WONDERFUL program.  I was given many resource books, story books, manipulatives, music and a full classroom set of orff instruments, drums, and other classroom percussion.  I also had an Ipod given to me- but I never used it. 

What Do You Remember About Your First Day? 

Absolutely nothing.  I do remember a lot of good, and not-so-good moments from my first year though.  I was probably terrified, but excited- as I never student taught elementary (only High School and Middle School Choral). I knew after my methods class I was meant to teach elementary, but I did not have a ton of experience with it- I am so lucky I got this job! The best memory from that year was my first chorus concert- for the schools 50th anniversary (can you tell why we are getting a new building now?) We did songs from each decade the school was open and it was so fun. My parents even came to watch :)  I am sure those 5th and 6th graders thought I was crazy, but I got a lot of encouragement from staff and parents and then I felt like I

could really do this job.

What Was The Hardest Thing About Your First Year?

I was following a music teacher who had retired from over 20 years of teaching at my school. Luckily there was one year of another teacher as a buffer, but there was still a lot of backlash from parents when I accidentally tried to change things (like the chorus uniform, etc.).  There were things no one told me about that I learned were traditions through pages long emails from upset parents. I now finally feel like these kids and this school is mine, as my current 6th graders were in Kdg. my first year.  I am also kind of shy so many it was kind of isolating that first year. I am so glad I wasn't in the modular classroom that year because it would have been so much worse! I remember my 3rd or 4th year being excited about getting a new washer/ dryer deal while eating dinner during conferences and a teacher told me it was the first time she had heard me talk! Crazy! 

What Was The Best Thing About Your First Year? 

Oh man.  This one is hard- there were so many great moments.  It was just amazing to finally be doing what I had wanted to do since middle school (after I had an AMAZING chorus teacher).  I had so much fun singing, dancing, and playing instruments to share the joy of music with these kids.  

What Did You Discover In Your First Year That You Did Not Learn In College or Student Teaching? 

Classroom Discipline looks WAY different for younger kids than it does for older kids. Wow. Having to change gears so often that year from teaching 6th to 1st to 4th, etc was hard.  Luckily now, my day starts with 6th and I have 6, 5, 4 in the morning and then 1, 2, 3 in the afternoon.  I am still working on classroom discipline a lot- and am always looking for new strategies- if you have ideas- please share!  I also realized that while melodic and rhythmic concept planning is a strength, teaching about composers, other more obscure music vocab is something I have to work really consciously about to make sure students get what they need in those areas. 

Where Did You Draw Most of Your Lesson Planning Inspiration From?

I referenced my elementary methods notes SO MUCH during my first year.  I did have great mini-Kodaly training from my college (go Capital!) but I barely ever touched the orff instruments that year- mainly because I hadn't figured out an efficient way to get them off the shelves.  I also was supplied with many great books that were left by the previous music teacher- some gems that are barely sold anymore or out of print- such as the Simple Gifts Resources, Song Garden Books, 150 American Folk Songs and more.  I used these books so much.  I rarely touched our text books (and still rarely touch them).  Still though, look back at many lessons from that year I often wonder "what was I thinking??" 

Is There Anything You Taught Your First Year That You Still Teach Now? 

I use a lot of the same folk songs, but in new, better ways along with a lot of new folk songs as well. I have learned many more ways to make reading and writing music fun with manipulatives, board work, SMARTboard files, TPT games and much more.  We are more active in every aspect of music learning now.  

What Is One Thing You Know Now That You Wish You Knew Then?

I wish that I knew that it would be ok if my students didn't get as far as I thought they should in my sequence.  I felt really "behind" my first year (and 2nd and 3rd) but not seeing my students in Kindergarten AND only seeing them for 50 minutes a week (and sometimes not even that) makes my ideal Kodaly sequence really hard.  I now focus on making sure students are really confident with rhythms, solfege, vocabulary, and composers that we are working on and while I have goals of concepts to get through- I don't stress when a group takes a little longer to get something solid.  My students are already learning more than I learned (or at least remember) in elementary music so I just need to meet them where they are at and push forward- while still making music a JOYFUL experience. 

This was so fun to reflect back on my first year. Be sure to check out the Pitch Publications post as well as all the others who have linked up! 

Music Maternity Leave- Plans for the Sub

My final Maternity Leave post is on the plans I left for my substitute, Katie. 

I only had to leave 2 weeks and I fully trusted Katie with my students, as she has a music degree and seems very organized as well as receptive to my teaching style.  I do know that others have to write plans for their entire leave but hopefully this post can at least help you get started with a few tips!

-Write them early! I had to finish writing plans the week after Henry was born because I wasn't finished.  I had one week done, thank goodness, but still had to write the 2nd week.  Everyone had been telling me to get them done but I didn't think Henry would decide to come at 38 weeks and thought I had plenty of time!

-Make your plans as similar to the way you teach as possible while still leaving room for your sub to make them their own.   This can help ease the transition for students. I was also able to use a combination of the plans I left for Katie my first week back to see where kids were and then I didn't have to worry as much about finding time at home to plan for my 1st week back- I just had to adjust what I had already written.  This made my first week back in my classroom much less stressful.

-Give time limits for each activity as a guide, but also make it clear that timing is flexible.  Especially the first week, when Katie was introducing herself, outlining her expectations, etc. I aired on the side of over-planning and figured whatever she didn't get to in the first 2 weeks she could use later!

-Link all needed files directly to the plans document. Because I was leaving Katie my school computer I was able to link SMARTboard games, youtube videos of dances, etc. directly into my plans so she didn't have to go searching through my computer (though I did leave an explanation of how to navigate my folders as well). 

-Be very clear about what students know and what they need to know so that your sequence and year plan can stay as close to on track as possible.  I made sure to always mention what we were calling rhythm patterns and unknown solfa in every place possible in the plans as a reminder.

-Leave a lot of easy review games to get the sub started.  This way students can get used to the sub, but the sub can get a feel for what my students knew and how successful they would be with each concept at the same time.  SMARTboard games or matching games (like Stacks Of Love or Do You Wanna Build A Snowman from my TPT Store) are a great way for the substitute to informally assess the students. Some concepts had just been presented a week or two before I left because baby boy came early so the review games gave her an opportunity to see what aspects of these concepts really needed to be worked on.  They can branch off as they learn more about your students and use their own musical background to help. I am hoping to learn a few new songs when I return.

-Leave information on where things are located directly in the plans so your substitute doesn't have to search all over the room!

-Give access to all your favorite lesson planning materials.  I made sure that all my favorite books- like 150 American Folk Songs, American Methodology, my Susan Brumfield and Jill Trinka books, Game Plan and more- were all at school so Katie could use them as needed.

One final tip with your plans- be okay with letting go.  It is hard for a lot of us music teachers to let go of our classes and be gone for 2 months- worrying about the pacing of the curriculum, etc.  While I was in contact with Katie my whole leave, I also had to just let her teach (and she did great)!
She was able to focus on what she is really good at teaching, like instruments of the orchestra, rhythms, and vocab and my students did not suffer one bit from her different teaching style.  My students had so much fun with her and are always really excited when she is subbing in the building for another teacher! If nothing else, you want students to LOVE music so that when you come back they are still excited about learning to read, write, play and move- and finding JOY in it all!

I hope these tips help!

Music Maternity Leave- What to Leave for the Sub

 

Welcome back to my 3 part series on how to plan for a Music Maternity Leave.  Post one was on questions to ask the potential substitutes in the interview.  Check it out HERE.

 

This post will be on what to communicate to, and leave for the sub.  I ended up making a binder AND a dropbox folder for my substitute so she had a hard and digital copy of everything. 

 

What I left:

Procedural Information

Schedule- in my IDOCEO App on my IPAD

Seating Charts- in my IDOCEO App on my IPAD

Emergency Procedures- Fire, Tornado, Lock-down, Shelter-in-place, etc.

Bathroom Procedure- this one is important because I teach in a modular classroom so students need a special pass to get back in the building to use the restroom!

Pertinent Student Info like serious allergies, behaviors to watch out for etc.

Music Room Rules and Behavior Management Plan-We use what is called "The Wilson Way" at school so I outlined this plan and shared how I implement it in the music room. 

Phone numbers, emails, etc. of Important people- This includes contact info for people such as the piano tuner, the ordering contact (we have a specific person all orders go through that is not the school secretary), the PTA treasurer for concert accompaniment payments, the accompanist list, etc.

 

What To Teach

What I had already taught-I left her information on where students were including concepts known.

Song Lists- This included songs students already learned this year as well as songs for the concepts they are working on that I typically teach and Master Copies/ Retrievals for them all. There was a separate list for each grade with songs already known and then I also attached my master song list that is an excel sheet with a tab for each grade and concepts the song helps teach marked.

Where students should go- I left very specific information on what I wanted her to teach.  This included an overview, my year plan, and a document called "What we know and Goals For Sub" that went into much more detail.  Check out my quick 3rd grade info below:

3rd Grade: 

    What We Know-

Solfa: m-s-l (working on do but calling it Low) Rhythm: Quarter, eighth, quarter rest, and tika-tika (4 beamed 16th notes- just learned!) Forte vs Piano, repeat sign 

What we need to work on while you are here

1.Music Math (know number of sounds/ beats for each rhythm they know- all are 1 beat, but all have a different number of sounds) 

2.Continue to prep (and maybe even present) do.  –Hometone- need to approach from Sol to do and mi- to do as well as do-sol before they are ready to learn name. Also need to be able to read (both staff and solfa notation), write (using manipulatives), and aurally ID (can you hear it type games) 

3.Practice Tika-tika- just practice practice practice so they can really read, write, hear and sing this pattern really successfully! Jazz Pizzicato and Mozart’s Rondo alla Turka! 

4.Crescendo and Decrescendo, mezzo 

5.Start to talk about tempos (Extreme tempos first- Largo and Presto) 

6.Use classical listening examples when talking about dynamics, tempo, etc.

Needed information for Chorus-Because I not only teach General Music for grades 1-6 but also chorus I left a specific document for chorus with information on our upcoming concert.  I did not plan a lot for this concert because I was gone from one week after the previous concert until 2 days AFTER the winter concert happened.  I started a few songs and left some suggestions, but really I left this concert to the sub and allowed her to make it her own.

Access to SMARTBOARD Game files and other manipulatives- I made sure to leave my school computer and give Katie access to all the game files she might want to use through use of this computer.  In my plans for the first 2 weeks, I even linked the files directly into the lesson plan so she didn't have to search at all. 

Lessons for the first two weeks- I made these lessons basically what I would have done for these two weeks.  I gave time for introductions and added a lot of review games, but also made sure there was lots of singing, games, and dancing for the sub to teach the students and the students to teach the sub.  I hope they worked out!  The 2nd week was planned fairly quickly cause little man came early and I wasn't quite ready! More on my plans will be in the next post. 

 

In addition to the above documents, I also gave my sub access to the Chorus email list (not my email account) and my schoology account (though she hasn't used it).  Communication during my time off has also been key.  Katie has emailed me once or twice a week since I took off and I have no problem responding to those.  Though some may prefer to not be involved at all while on leave, I loved having that little bit of communication to reassure me that my classroom was in good hands.

 

Katie and I also talked a lot about my teaching style, and while one student told her mom "the sub teaches different" I know that Katie is doing her best to respect my teaching style while adding in her own personality. 

 

Comment if you think anything else is super important to leave for a long-term sub!

Music Maternity Leave- Questions for the Interview

Sitting here on Maternity Leave I thought I would make a few posts about finding and working with my substitute (she is wonderful!) because I know I had A LOT of questions when searching and planning.  This will be a 3 part series: 1. The Interview 2. What to Communicate To, and Leave for, the Sub and 3. Planning For your Absence

For me, certain questions in the interview were VERY important and telling.  My principal and I ended up interviewing 3 people for the position.  Obviously things like experience, degree, etc. are very important but I found that I was more interested other, less typical questions, when choosing someone who was going to be with my kiddos for 2 months!

Some of the most important questions I asked were:

1. Sing something for me- My principal and some interviewees were surprised when I asked this - but I am SO glad we did. One candidate, even though they had a music degree, would not have been able to lead a class of elementary students.  This question also shows confidence and preparedness. Only one candidate (the one we hired) had something prepared- and it was actually part of a chorus piece she was hoping to use with our chorus.  Awesome!

2. Tell me about a time that teaching music brought the children JOY- This one was another great question.  I loved the answers I got. You could really tell if a candidate was in the profession for the kids. 

3. What is your knowledge of the Kodaly/ Orff (or whatever you use most in your classroom) ways of teaching??- I definitely live in Kodaly world so I wanted someone who would at least respect that there are often unknowns in my teaching so that students can discover solfege and rhythms organically.  One of the candidates was VERY surprised when I said that I do not name concepts immediately and I felt that they would immediately try to teach all the unknowns as soon as I was gone.  The Substitute we chose, while not super familiar with Kodaly was very receptive and expressed that while she was new to it, she was eager to learn more and would respect my way of teaching, while still putting her own spin on it.  

4. How will I know what you have accomplished upon my return?- While I am not back yet, my sub is very organized and assured me she would take thorough notes, grades, etc. and since we have been in communication the whole time (one or two emails a week) I have no doubt that she will do just that.  She is also planning on helping with our spring musical and other things after I am back so we will be able to discuss her time with my students thoroughly while working on other things.

5. What are your strengths as a teacher/ what are your favorite things to teach?-  If you are interviewing for an elementary GM position and your candidate says they love to teach marching band they might not be the best fit (yep, it happened). I wanted someone who, while I knew they wouldn't teach just like I do, found joy in being with students from 1st grade through 6th.  Who wasn't afraid to be silly with the littles and more serious, yet still fun, with the older kids. 

6. What is the big picture goal of Elementary Music Class (or whatever level of music you teach)?- This one is important because I wanted someone with a similar goal of  instilling a LOVE of all types of music in students so that they can go out into the world with an appreciation of music and be, as John Fierabend says, Tuneful-Beatful-Artful and doing this through teaching music literacy.

I hope that when looking for a long-term sub for your music room these questions help!

Emoji Evaluations



Just a short post here to share a fun activity I did with my students after our Veterans Day Concert. 

Instead of the typical worksheet concert evaluation, I decided to do an Emoji Evaluation.



6th Graders Performing on Veterans Day

I printed out a bunch of emojis (I just googled them) and then laminated them and made them into magnets.  I then wrote a bunch of categories on the board and had students evaluate each song using the emjois.  They had so much fun! I loved seeing how they interpreted each icon (cause I was unsure of the meaning of all of them...) and it was a fun way to bring their every day life into our classroom.  I will definitely be doing this activity again after our Spring Concert (I am on maternity leave for the Winter one)! I may also do an online version in Schoology where they do the same thing but on their own as an assignment to get individual evaluations as well. 
This is also a great activity for a sub in chorus right after a concert! I was out for one of my groups at a meeting and the sub had so much fun doing this activity!

Categories I used for evaluation:
Posture
Diction
Vowels
Facial Expression
Dynamics
Lyrics
Overall Sound
Overall Performance

I promise they had more fun than this picture looks!

Some 5th Grade thoughts

We need to work on Facial Expressions!

In General Music you could use this same activity for evaluating group projects, compositions, and more- the possibilities are endless! Have fun!

Happy New Year! Resolutions for 2016

Wow- it's been a while. 

Here is why:

Image by: Chasing Love Photography

 

Henry was born on November 25 and he is perfect!  I am loving every minute of being a mommy-minus the lack of sleep!  Here's to the little man sleeping more in 2016 :)

 

 

Now for my goals for 2016! I am linking up with Aileen Miracle over at Mrs. Miracle's Music Room to share my 2016 goals. 

 

 

Personal: I want to be the best mommy I can for Mr. Henry.  He deserves the best and I want to give it to him. I want to love him and cherish him and save money for his education. 

 

Health: To help loose the baby weight and help Henry get outside as much as possible I want to do at least 2 or 3 Hike-It Baby hikes a month!  If you haven't heard of Hike-It Baby, check out their website!  Moms and dads get together for fun and exercise all with babies and toddlers in tow.  There are toddler-paced hikes, adult paced hikes, coffee strolls and more.  So fun and a great way to meet other parents around town. I have an awesome baby-wearing coat so Henry and I are ready for the chilly Ohio weather!

 

School: I want to give great 2nd and 4th grade programs this year, despite being on Maternity Leave for 2 months AND having never done a 2nd grade program before.  I am still deciding if I want to do a 2nd grade informance or a program based on a book.  4th grade we always do a multi-cultural showcase with songs and dances from around the world.  I realized last year that many parents didn't know what was happening in the music room during primary years (1-3) because I never showed them! I am hoping this program will help share all the awesome learning that takes place in my room!

 

Blog/TPT:  I want to really get back into blogging/ making and revising TPT products in the new year.  I have definitely been slacking since my 3rd Trimester hit.  I have so many ideas for products- I just need to make them!  Same with blog posts!  Hopefully I can kick my own behind into gear and get back to sharing with you all!  Speaking of- did you know there is an awesome sale on TPT for the new year- select music stores will all be 20% off on Dec 31 and Jan 1! Check it out! My "Do you Wanna Build a Snowman" matching games will be great for your return to school in January! There are solfa/ rhythm levels, a music symbols version AND an orchestral instruments version. 

Link to my Snowman Bundle

Link to my whole store

 

What are your 2016 goals??  Share in the comments!



Formal and Informal Assessments in the Music Classroom

This year I am on the Music Course of Study revision team for my district.  We are starting to talk about common assessments for each grade level so I thought I would share some of our thoughts! 

Our goal is to ultimately have an interactive document where we have unpacked the standards so that we as a general music team are on the page.  We won't have  teach common lessons, but it will be nice to have continuity across the district so no matter what elementary school a student attends we know they are learning the same concepts/ vocab/ etc. at approximately the same time.  In the document we are working on, which will basically be a GIANT year plan for each grade, teachers in our district (new or not-so-new) can click on a specific concept or standard and see ideas for both formal and informal assessments they can use in their classroom.  There will also be one common assessment for 2nd grade and 1 for 5th that ALL general music teachers will be required to give 2x each year (1x as a pre-test in last September or early October and 1x as a post-test in late April or early May).  I am so excited for this document to be finished! It will be so helpful!

I track all assessments in the IDOCEO app on my Ipad.  This app is amazing. Be sure to check it out.

Most of the informal assessments I do are during games or activities in class so students don't even know they are being assessed!  5 of my favorite ideas are listed below :)

1.) I track solo singing (matching pitch) with games like Doggie Doggie, Who's That Tapping at My Window, Cobbler Cobbler (when returning shoes) and more.  Similarly, I track instrument playing assessments in the same way. Any time students are using the instruments.  It is super easy to keep track of who has played and if they are successful, using the proper mallet technique, etc. Another teacher in my district has her instrument playing rubric displayed in her room so it is super easy to remind students of what is expected AND they can also have the opportunity to easily evaluate themselves!

2.) For rhythmic and melodic concepts I often use the "The Vote Game" where I have 3-5 rhythms/ melodies, each circled and numbered- on the board and then I sing one.  Students then vote for the one they think I sang by holding up the right number of fingers in front of their stomach. It is super easy to track who got it right, who looked at their neighbors hand, and who is really struggling.  Similar to the vote game, I also have SMARTboard games that are very similar but in this case the choices change for each example.  Students see on the board one symbol that plays the example and 3 choices. They then have to choose the correct choice.  These are great for subs because the board tells students if they are correct!

Quick "VOTE GAME" with melodies written on the white board

3.) Matching games in centers.  For Music Vocab or Instrument Families or even stick-to-staff I have a lot of match games I use during centers.  Students are asked to match the name of a symbol to its picture and definition or the picture of an instrument to its name and family of the orchestra.  There are also many games where students match the stick notation of a melody to the staff notation of the same melody.  There are so many options and it is so easy to see who is successful while making the rounds during centers time.  Check out my Music Symbols Matching Games HERE or my Orchestral Instruments Matching Games HERE.

4.) Rhythm Football.  In this game, played like Steal the Bacon from gym class, students are split into 2 teams and each given a number.  There should be a "number 1" on each team. Next, I lay a bunch a rhythm cards out in the middle of the room.  To actually play the game, I read one of the cards and then call a number.  The students from each team with that number race to find the correct rhythm card and get it back to their "end-zone".  If they make it without being tagged they get a TOUCHDOWN (7 pts OR 6 pts and the extra point is reading the rhythm correctly)! If a student tags another, preventing them from reaching their end-zone, they get a Field Goal (3 pts).  This is a SUPER Fun game.  Get it from my TPT store HERE! You can get specific levels OR just get the Rhythm Flashcards Mega Set to get the cards from every level at a discount :) Because the Browns won this past Sunday- the entire store is 20% off until 9/23/2015!!!

My students playing Rhythm Football last week!

5.) Fist to Five.  This idea I got from the classroom teachers in my school.  This is just asking students to evaluate themselves on a particular concept.  Fist (or 0) represents that they have no idea what I am talking about.  1= I have heard of it.  2= I have seen it. 3= I know what it is. 4= I can explain it to someone in my own words. 5= I can explain it and use it in my musical writing (either writing about music, or in a composition).  I downloaded this great freebie from TPT and I made a bulletin board.  I use this all the time- the best part it is it literally takes 1 minute or less!

As for formal assessments I still love thing that are quick and easy.  I love to use short worksheets or worksheets with multiple activities that we use over the course of a few weeks. I do not like to take up too much class-time with written worksheets because I only see students 1x a week for 50 minutes.  If I do use a longer worksheet, it is usually during the PRACTICE stage of a concept when we are doing centers.  Two weeks after I present a concept I almost always to centers.  There is one formal worksheet center each time as well as 4 other centers that include many of the informal assessments I have listed above. 

I also will be trying to use Exit Tickets more in music this year.  Exit tickets are great because they are 1-3 questions that students can answer quickly about the lesson they just learned.  They can be about vocab, they can be aural listening examples (circle the example you hear), fill in the blank and more- the possibilities are endless!

Performance tests are also very important.  I love to do it during games where students perform a rhythm or melody during the game and maybe even make up their own.  I do this often with Ida Red.  After each chase round, the chaser reads a rhythm I give them and then makes up their own.  It is also super easy to just have students read rhythm cards/ melody cards on their own or play them on an instrument.  You can do 5-6 students VERY quickly in a class. I typically do one whole row and then move on to the next activity, doing another row the next week.

As for the pre/post tests mentioned at the beginning each of our districts common assessments have both a written component AND a performance component.

For the 2nd grade, students are asked a variety of questions we as a district thought represented the 2nd grade curriculum well.  The 1st page is all teacher directed listening examples.  They are asked which of two sounds is HIGH, which of two songs is LOUDER, which of three melodies they hear  (s-m-l) and which of three rhythms they hear (patterns with quarter, beamed eighths, and quarter rest). On the 2nd page they are asked to identify Quarter Notes, Eighth Notes, and Half notes by circling them on their paper.  They are also asked to listen to a known chant and circle the phrase that is different.    When they are finished with this portion of the test they come up to the teacher to read a rhythm card and sing a short musical example.

The 5th grade test is mostly written. The written portion consists of looking at a piece of vocal sheet music and identifying and defining certain symbols such as time signature, tempo, repeat sign, dynamic markings etc.  They are also asked to fill in the missing solfege on an example and fill in missing beats in a rhythm given to them.  Obviously, because music is so much more than what you can put on paper, students are also asked to sing "America, the Beautiful" in small groups to assess pitch matching, vocal tone, etc. In addition, they have to read the rhythm that they wrote previously during the written portion.

For ALL performance based assessments (formal and informal) our district has come up with great rubrics.  We use a 4 point system because it corresponds with our report card.  4= Above and Beyond expectations (this is just comments on the report card).  3= Meets expectations most of the time. 2= Meets expectations some of the time. 1= Rarely meets expectations.  Each of these 4 categories is really hashed out in different rubrics corresponding to different concepts such as pitch matching, instrument technique, etc.  To get help on our rubrics we used Rubistar which has a ton of saved rubrics from teachers all over the country that you can download and adapt to fit your classroom. The site also makes it really easy to create your own if none of the saved rubrics are exactly what you need.

What are your favorite ways to assess students quickly??