Reflecting on the good, the bad, and the "gotta do's"....

As this school year comes to a close, remember to reflect on lesson plans, performance ideas, advocacy plans for your program, and professional development workshop notes with great ideas that will keep the juices flowing for the next school year.  Now that my performances have wrapped up for 2011-2012 and I find that breathing is coming a bit easier....I am excited to jot down the good, the bad, and the "gotta do's" for the 2012-2013 school year.  Here are three challenges that I find myself wanting to tackle that may help you start your reflection.  Now grab a cup of hot tea and start writing!:

• Taking a few quick minutes each rotation to educate my students about the music blog for their school.  My goal is that this will help with parent communication, music advocacy, and providing my students educational opportunities that are reachable beyond the four walls of my classroom.

• Commit to putting brain-based research on my paper programs for all performances.  I would also like to put this research into other areas of parent communication such as our newsletter, and possibly at the bottom of any paper activities we do in class.  I usually include research read by students while different performing groups are setting up during concerts.  I recently received an email from a parent stating that she was excited to hear that we work on crossing the midline in music class and this was something that she works on with her son with at home activities.  Every little bit of information helps!

• As always NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK with other great music teachers.  Check out their blogs, workshops, and simply reach out and call! As my favorite mentor once said, "After all, it's for the kids!"  So don't hesitate to pick other teacher's brains!

As always, send your reflection ideas to generalmusicclassroom@gmail.com