Losing Music Room/Gaining Cart
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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?
🙂 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!
Christopher M. Johnson, Professor of Music Education and Music Therapy, is currently the Chair of the Music Education and Music Therapy Department and Director of the Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas. Johnson earned his Ph.D. from the Florida State University.
Since his arrival at The University of Kansas, Johnson has taught courses in Instrumental Conducting, Teaching Instrumental Music, Managing Behaviors in the Music Environment, Psychology and Acoustics of Music, and Research Methods in Music Education and Music Therapy. Johnson served two terms as the editor of the International Journal of Music Education: Research, the research publication of the International Society for Music Education. He is currently serving his second term on the National Association for Music Educations Executive Committee of the Society for Research in Music Education. He also served on the editorial board of the Journal of Research in Music Education, and one earlier term as the Chair for the MENC Executive Committee of the Society for Research in Music Education. Johnson also served as the Chair for the Research Commission of the International Society for Music Education.
Johnson’s research interests include applied research in music education, and basic research in all aspects of the psychology of music. He has published articles in many journals including the Journal of Research in Music Education, the International Journal of Music Education, the Journal of Music Therapy, Journal of Band Research, Contributions to Music Education, and the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, among others. Johnson has also been an active member and contributor to the Research Seminar of the International Society for Music Education and World Alliance for Arts Education.
Johnson received a university teaching award – the Ned N. Fleming Award for Excellence in Teaching and received the recognition for Graduate Teaching Achievement from the Center for Teaching Excellence. Johnson was also awarded a lecturing & research award as a J. William Fulbright Scholar and recently received the Ella Scoble Opperman Citation for Distinguished Achievement from the Florida State University College of Music.
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