Five for Friday

Yay! It is Friday! That means I am linking up with Doodlebugs Teaching!

We only have 5 days of school left!!!!  Summer, here I come!

Yesterday, the kids had a inflatable party for raising money for the Walk-a-Thon! They teachers got to join in on the fun as well! I don't know what I would do without these ladies. Great teachers and great friends. 

I can officially mark program number 8 in the books.  Oh wait, I think this is program number 10 when you count the Veteran's Day program and the Orff Ensemble performance.  Every performance was fantastic, and I am so happy of the musical accomplishments my students have made over the year. 

Here are some of my kinderbabies performing a hand clapping game to 

A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea. 

I have been gardening ,and gardening, and more gardening. I have planted everything this week! Now it is just a waiting and weeding game. 

We have been prepping for recorders next year by heavily reviewing the notes of the treble clef.  My third graders have had a blast reviewing the note names with this fun treble clef relay race. You can find this product in my TPT store. 

Happy Friday! See you next week!

Top 10 Things I want to Do This Summer

Today I am linking up with Mrs. Deanna Jump for the Top Ten Things I want to do This Summer. I know many of you are already on summer break. However, here in Indiana, with our whopping 14 snow days, we still have two weeks left.  It will be here and gone before I know it.  So as I go into these last two weeks, I will be thinking of all these wonderful things I can't wait to do over break!

1. Spend some quality time with these two.  We have both been so busy with school and work lately, I can't wait to have some time off together.  

2. Go to Florida! We are going to Florida this summer for our best friend's wedding. We will be spending 10 days on the beautiful beach. 

3. Finish my quilt! I started on a herringbone quilt over winter break for our queen size bed. I have finished the quilt top, but need to work on the back and quilt the whole thing. I can't wait to see the end product. 

4. Present at Digipalooza. I will be presenting three sessions at the eLearning conference this summer.  With some of my teacher friends, we will be presenting on Teachers Pay Teachers, Pages, and Blogger Basics.  

5. Hang out with my teacher friends! We love getting together to blog, talk, create, and of course, eat! Hopefully, we will have more time this summer.  

6. Garden, garden garden. This photo is from our carrot harvest last fall.  Our garden did really well last summer, but I hope this year, it will be even better!

7.  Visit family.  The majority of my family live about 45 minutes away.  I want to make lots of trips this summer to visit them.  

8.  Create more products for my classroom and my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  I have lots of ideas up my sleeve :)

9. Pack and move two classrooms.  Two of my schools are getting remodeled this year.  I will be moving into a new room at one school and getting a new room at another school! This means new decorations. Yay!

10. End summer classes with a bang! Just started the summer semester at IUS for my Master's degree. I am glad I can get work done with a view like this. 

Two more weeks, and then I can complete some of my top ten things I want to do this summer! Comment below with your top ten! Thanks Deanna for hosting the linky! Now, on to summer :)

Indiana Blogger $1 Sale

Gentleman, start your engines!  Here in Indiana it is time for the Indiana 500!  In order to celebrate, bloggers from across the state are having a $1 sale, yes you heard me, $1 sale. Some of our favorite products will be on sale today and tomorrow. You don't want to miss out. 

There are products on sale for all grade levels and subjects.  

Clipart is on sale, too! 

During the sale, I will have four of my products marked down to $1.  

So race on over to these stores before it is too late!

 Grab that checkered flag and get the deals. 

You can check out all these great deals here! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Milestones Worth Celebrating

Today I am linking up with David Row at Make Moments Matter.  He is hosting the "Milestones Worth Celebrating" linky party. This year has definitely been a busy one, filled with numerous celebrations! I can't wait to share all the things myself, and my students, have accomplished this year! 

School Highlights 2013-2014

• Had 10 successful programs: 4 winter programs, 4 spring programs, Veteran's Day program, and Orff Ensemble performance. The winter program was titled, "The Snow Day," and featured songs and dances about snow day activities.  I think it was my fault we had 14 snow days this year :) The spring program was titled, "We All Go Traveling," and featured songs and dances about transportation. 

• Started an Orff ensemble at one of my schools. This is the first after-school ensemble of this kind in the district. We had 12 students in the group.  We performed at a School Board meeting in the spring.
• Incorporated more technology into my lessons! My 4th and 5th grade students received iPads this year. With these new devices, my recorder students were able to submit videos of their recorder tests to me online. It saved a lot of instructional time and resulted in numerous black belts in Recorder Karate. 
• Received a grant for instruments from the Scott County Youth Council! We go next month to enjoy a nice dinner and pick up the check. 
• The band recruitment numbers greatly increased for the middle school.  Over 50% of my 5th graders are joining band next year.  I can tell that their passion for music is growing. 
• Started a class Facebook page where I am able to share information and photos with parents in the district. 

Professional Milestones 2013-2014

• Received my Level 2 certification in Orff Schulwerk. 
• Went back to school to start my Master's Degree. 
• Attended the AOSA National Conference in Denver. One word: AMAZING! 
• Signed up to teach four sessions at Digipalooza this summer.  Digipalooza is an Indiana technology conference that is hosted in our school district.  It is part of the state's eLearning summer tour. 

Blogging and TPT Milestones 2013-2014

• Started my TPT store where I am almost to 350 followers!
• Began a blog that was beautifully designed by Megan at A Bird in Hand Designs. 
• Started a Facebook page for Sew Much Music. 
• Began collaborating with wonderful music educators from around the world. 
• Attended a blogger meet-up where I gained some wonderful Indiana blogging friends. 

There are so many wonderful things to be thankful for! This year has truly been a blessed one. I can't wait to see what next year holds. 

Five for Friday

Hello! Today I am linking up with Doodle Bugs teaching for my Five for Friday (a day late.)

Wow! I have been very busy this week! I had two elementary music programs, one on Tuesday and one on Thursday! Let's just say I am exhausted...whew! But I am so proud of my students and lucky to have a job I absolutely LOVE! Here is a picture of our rehearsal before the school performance.  The program was called "We All Go Traveling," and was based off the book, "We All Go Traveling By" by Sheena Roberts.  My students performed songs, poems, and dances that were based around a transportation theme.  

Here is a picture during the evening performance! The program featured Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 4th grade.  Each group wore either a red, yellow, or green shirt.  In my transportation-mind thinking, I was going for a stoplight effect with their shirt colors :)  They did so well! I was one proud music teacher after this program. 

Okay, go ahead and wipe the drool away! I discovered a new Italian restaurant in our county.  It is called Casa Mia, and my oh my, it is DELICIOUS! I have a feeling I will be eating there a lot. 

Like father like son?!  Since we don't have children yet, I can definitely say that there is a resemblance between these two!  Both seemed very concerned about the passing traffic.  We were on our way out to school for the second time that night to get the hub's computer that he left. I think I need to enter this into a photo contest.  

Can you guess what I did today?! I got recertified for CPR/AED training. It is a requirement to renew for my Indiana teacher's license. Another thing off my to-do list complete.

14 more days of school!!!!!! Not that I am counting or anything :)

Thank you Doodle Bugs Teaching for hosting this week's 

Five for Friday linky party. See you next week. 

Five Favorite Pins of May

Today I am linking up with Aileen Miracle from Mrs. Miracle's Music Room for my Five Favorite Pins of May! Here they are!!!

Favorite Pin #1:

How fun are these?!  I have always wanted to incorporate a behavior clip chart into my classroom; however, with the large number of students and classes, I didn't think it was feasible.  With this method, I can easily assign a class to each clothespin.  Each class period, the class would either move their clothespin up or down the guitar according to their behavior for the day.  When they reach, "We Rock," the students receive a reward!

Favorite Pin #2:

We continuously use our "hand staff" in our music classroom! I love this idea of actually drawing our hand staff and marking the lines, spaces, and note names on the drawing.  

Favorite Pin #3: 

These wonderful rhythm manipulatives can be found on the Rhythm Band website.  These seem extremely durable and large enough to easily handle with the kindergartners.  I often use popsicle sticks to notate rhythm concepts.  I would love to have a set of these rhythms to quickly grab to demonstrate a rhythm.  I also am glad the rhythms are different colors!

Favorite Pin #4:

I am in LOVE with this jellyfish! Simply cut off the bottom of a 2-litter and add eyes and ribbon. This would be an excellent prop for a movement activity.  Maybe to "Aquarium" from Carnival of the Animals?! I am adding this to my summer to-do list!

Favorite Pin #5: 

With the love of "Let it Go" from Frozen, I just had to repin this pin! It is the boomwhacker version of my students' favorite song, "Let it Go." Enjoy!

Those are my five favorite pins of May! What are yours?! Link up with Mrs. Miracle's Music Room to share!