Break Chronicles: Working From Home on Day 1

It is the first day of the last break of the summer - what I like to call my Fall break even though Autumn is still two months away from officially starting. We get to work from home today, so I am going to spend my time putting together a new tool for my music therapy room - a visual schedule.

I have never used a visual schedule for my group sessions because I do not often have a set session strategy for what I do with my clients. I often change my mind when each group walks into the room to accommodate how my clients are interacting with me, with the music I play, and with each other. So, I have never really had a good way of making a visual schedule that covers last minute adaptations. I think I have found a way to do this now.

I am going to use generic terms for the types of things we do in music therapy. This will allow me to have a basic structure while still allowing for changes to occur in the moment. I will also use this format in a general manner for most of my groups. Being general in my terminology allows me to change songs, or music, or therapeutic focus while still providing a visual map for my clients.

The challenges that come up with having a visual schedule displayed include making it accessible for my readers and my non-readers, having something that is meaningful, making something that is easily changed to reflect the session strategy, and making something that I can make over again when things get destroyed. I also need a way to display the schedule where students can see it but not access it. I do not want a linear schedule - think "first, then" - unless that is the type of session that I desire. So, the schedule has to reflect that we might do singing and then instruments and then back to singing without having to change around the pieces on the schedule. As a result, I have to figure out how to make a schedule that is somewhat circular.

This is the type of project that I absolutely live for! I have to think about my needs, the ways my clients think and interact with the world, think about my particular environment, and then design something that I will use - then, I will release it into the wild to see if others use it as well.

At first, I was thinking that I would use a pocket chart to display my words and pictures, but now I am thinking I might prefer some clear adhesive pockets in a circle on the wall. I just do not know, so it is time to focus on what I do know - I want my cards to include words and pictures representing what we are going to do during the session. I want to use different colors and patterns to indicate different things, and I want all the different cards to be easily replaced when needed. I want the system to be self-explanatory so interns can figure it out without much explanation from me. (Not that I won't explain it, but I want it to be simple to understand.

So, now the fun begins.

I see that Target often has some adhesive pockets that might work for what I am thinking. I will go to Target at some point to see if my store has them. I have a pocket chart around here somewhere, and I purchased some heavy duty Velcro to work on my cinderblock walls. I like the idea of having the different session parts with a clear background, but having them on the blue of the chart might make it easier for my clients to see them and then use them for their purpose. Things to think about.

I have some good files that I found on TPT (formally, Teachers Pay Teachers) that I could adapt. Most of them have things that I can use, but they are not made for music therapy sessions, so there are some things that I will still have to manufacture. I might as well make my own.

It is time to get started...