Make It Monday: Collecting Center Materials

Happy Monday, all. One of the best things about being a school music therapist is the opportunity to have scheduled breaks set in the calendar a year at a time so I can plan on doing specific things at specific times of the year. For example, I know that I can go visiting California during the winter break, and the last summer break before the fall semester can be used for at-home things. This tends to be the break where I make new things for my music therapy clinic.

This break, only four days old, is no exception.

I am experimenting with a new bullet journal format at work. This started with a free teacher planner (I can't resist something that I get for free). I got the planner, intending on keeping it for a future, as of yet unknown intern, but the more I looked at it, the more I started thinking about my session planning and my bullet journal experimentation of this year.

So, I took the free planner (it doesn't have a grade book, which is good for me - I don't keep grades and my documentation is really enough for attendance purposes at my school) and started to figure out how I would start it off.

Long story short, I have figured out how to use this planner to help me with my session strategy. I use pencil, because I know that things are always flexible, but I am now planning out what I want my very large groups of kids with extremely divergent goals to do during music therapy sessions. I have one word - CENTERS!

Centers were the new thing that I introduced this summer to my clients and my staff members (mostly to my staff members). I have decided to continue this use of centers during the school year, so I am now in the process of figuring out what I am going to offer my clients in addition to the live music TMEs that I already do.

Now, some of you may be thinking, "MJ, why are you going to make it so kids are not with you during the entire session?" Here's the rationale that I have. It is too difficult for some of my students to be with their peers in a large group setting. Just being able to see each other tends to start inappropriate interactions. If I offer them the opportunity to separate from one another through the use of small group centers, they don't engage in those inappropriate behaviors. In addition, centers will give those who do not like making music something else to do. Centers also offer an increase in choice opportunities and a decrease in the need for therapist oversight - I can focus on the therapeutic issues that my clients bring rather than the classroom management issues that plague me in the days of limited staff member support and increasing class numbers.

Now, don't get me wrong. My session strategies will still be as flexible as necessary for my clients. If my clients are not able to handle the independence, I can shape and change my strategy to accommodate them. If they demonstrate that they need the separation, I can accommodate that need as well. 

Okay. Enough of the chatter, let me get into the actual topic for today.

Make It Monday: Center Materials

So, I've been doing a form of centers this summer, and I've found that I am woefully unprepared for running these centers full-time. So, I am making some stuff to use this month.

By the way, I am unashamedly using my sister while I am putting together the materials and the concepts for these centers. She is an expert who uses centers for her second graders all the time. She is excellent at reining in my visions into something practical, but doesn't quite understand the types of students that I see during my day. She gives me lots to think about, and I am using her knowledge and expertise to help me figure out what I am going to be doing.

Strategy - August's musical concept is going to be rhythm. The first week back is our regular music concept week, so we are going to be working with rhythm during the session. The first part of the session, which will be with me, will include using rhythm wheels and instruments to compose short rhythms. We will be focusing on academic strategies of music reading, symbol to movement notation, 1:1 correspondence (matching). We will engage in gross and fine motor movement refinement through playing a variety of instruments. We will be working on our social interaction through making rhythms together as well as through sharing instruments and playing as a group. There are lots of things that we will be doing during our sessions.

The second part of the session will be center based. There will be some file folder activities (these are pictured on this post), some sensory-based rhythm interactions (sandpaper note tracings), and some music listening (I'm going to be composing some rap/hip-hop tracks for some impromptu musicking). Clients will be able to move around the room, trying what they want to try or opting to come back and do more of the first part work with me. If no one wants to try the centers, I'll have copies of all the center materials with me, so clients can still engage in the skill development but with a bit less independence. 

What have I made this week?

I decided to make some multi-level file folder activities for the concept of rhythm. I have both regular-sized file folders and mini file folders. I have two versions of each file folder and each version has two different tasks. I have color-coded each type of task and labeled each folder's pieces so I can keep track of what goes where in a sea of pieces.

At this point, I have the folders assembled, all the pieces (both 1:1 correspondence pieces and symbol to representation pieces for all folders) ready, and am only waiting to laminate everything, cut it all out, and then present the folders to my clients. These materials will be added to my other rhythm materials for our centers this month. 

If you are interested in more about what I am going to do with my centers or how to get your own copies of these file folders, comment below or contact me through the website. 

Happy Monday!