The First Week Of School: Recap

Monday

Posted simple directions on the door asking students to find the seat labeled with their names. Seats were in alphabetical order. The directions told them to read the board for further instructions, which gets everyone used to immediately referring to the board to answer bell work questions as they enter.
On the screen, kids were asked to take a paper note, and decorate it in a way that makes them happy. For more info about this activity, check out this post.
Went over A, B, and C posture.
Began teaching simple warm-ups. I start with a favorite: We Will Fight. I teach this by rote, and it has a super cool body percussion part that goes with it. They get OBSESSED with mastering it!

Reviewed beginning of class procedures with sixth grade students.
Bell work questions reviewed basic procedures that we went over on Monday like:
- What do I do if I need to get out of my seat for any reason? (raise your hand)
- Where do you put your book bags when you enter the room? (under the string lights)
- When do you start your bell work? (as soon as you come in)
Taught/reviewed simple warm-ups, rote songs, and solfege. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that many of my 6th graders already have basic knowledge of solfege!!!
7/8th grade worked on a simple sight-reading exercise. I wanted to see what they remembered from last year, and what I needed to review or re-teach them. Good news! They did very well!

Continued to review procedures.
Gave out the calendar and went over the important dates.
To encourage everyone to actually take their calendars home and show to their parents, I gave them a bonus assignment: Take a picture of their calendar at home, and try to make it as funny as possible. I gotta say, they didn't disappoint. I'll write a full post on that soon!
Reviewed warm-ups, rote songs, and vocal technique. I've been letting 7th and 8th grade students lead solfege exercises this week, and they've been killing it.
Began voicing in 7th and 8th grade classes. I was able to finish voicing in 8th grade, but didn't get finished with 7th grade classes.

Finished voicing in all classes.
Continued teaching warm-ups and worked on vocal technique.
Went over the chorus handbook with all classes. I kept letting other teachers make copies in between because copying handbooks took forever, so I ran out by 4th period. After I ran out, I just showed the handbook on my screen, and made more copies for Friday.

For bell work, I asked each class if they had any ideas for fun assignments they would like to do during the year. We wrote a lot of the ideas up on the board.
After warm-up, I brought out some tennis balls. Each student got one tennis ball, and we worked on feeling the steady beat at different tempos. It was a fun activity to end the week!