Losing Music Room/Gaining Cart

[nafmeadmin]

I teach in a school that will probably be losing its Music room to accommodate an additional grade-level classroom for next year. Music classes will be taught on a cart. If any of you have experienced this, what recommendations do you have for making music on a cart work?

[nafmeadmin]

🙂 Yep, this nearly happened to me a couple years ago. Instead the PTO fought for me and the principal decided to renovate a storage room into a Music Room. But in my previous schools I taught on a cart. It’s tough, but you can make it work. Get a nice expandable cart parts that can fold out for a keyboard, has an area for a boom box underneath. Put your CDs in a zippered case (those gel cases are so annoying). Put a box for “toys” – a ball for games, small instruments and manipulatives. Put a tall magazine holder for song sheets and such. There’s a book about this on the market for about $30-40. Here it is at Music Is Elementary: http://www.musiciselementary.com/mie2/product_info.php?products_id=2462&osCsid=588jomi69idvogop5a2fihuhv3

Will you have a storage closet somewhere? Having a sort of home base would be nice; you can load up the cart each morning or in between classes with the materials you will need. Also, speak to the teachers (or send an email to ALL) asking for their help with plans for this arrangement. You’ll need to know where the nearest electrical socket is, emergency procedures for each particular classroom (is there a key with which you need to lock the door in Code Red?? this happened to me once, did not know). And you’ll need to know each teacher’s procedures for leaving the room. Some teachers have a book in which the kids need to sign out / in. Maybe the principal will want you to have your own pass and sign out book, depends. I’d say put a 3M hook on your cart and hang your pass on it, easy access. You could easily do the same thing with rhythm cards and other little things you use regularly and want easy access to. (Seriously, 3M is the teacher’s best friend!)

The art teachers in my building do a reward chart for each class. There are two teachers, so the PT person is always traveling. On the sides of the cart she has sticker charts for each class which she sees in their room.

Good luck!

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