The Star Polisher

I am proud to be a star polisher.

The Star Polisher

by Leah Becks

I have a great job in the universe of occupations. What do I do? I'm a "star polisher."
It's a very important job. If you want to know how important,
just go out at night and look at the stars twinkling and sparkling.


You see, I'm a teacher.
The stars are the children in my class.
My job is to take them in - in whatever shape they come -
and shine and buff them and then send them out to take their places
as bright little twinkling beacons in the sky.

They come into my room in all shapes and sizes.
Sometimes they're bent, tarnished, dirty, crinkly and broken.
Some stars are cuddly, soft and sweet.
Some stars are prickly and thorny.


As I buff, polish, train and teach my little stars,
I tell them that the world cannot do without them.
I tell them they can do anything they set their minds to do.
I tell them they can be the brightest, shiniest stars in the sky
and the world will be a better place because of them.


Each night as I look at the sky, I'm reminded of my
very important job and awesome responsibility.
I go and get my soft buffing cloth
and my bottle of polish in preparation for tomorrow
and for my class of little stars.

Hellooooo fun!

I'm not going to lie.  Keeping up with this blog is harder than I imagined! I thought I'd be on here updating all the time...however... that's not the case.  Sooooo.... here is a sampling of what's happened the last few weeks. 

NC Symphony Woodwind Quintet visits Trent Park!  Woo Hoo!  The fifth graders at TPE were recently treated to a concert by the members of the woodwind quintet.  The students were very excited to experience this wonderful opportunity. 
Here's what some of my students said... “I loved the entire thing! One of my favorite things was when they allowed us (the students) help conduct a song. I loved when they played because the music was AWESOME! Someday I would love to be in the band and play one of the reed instruments.”  “Every instrument sounded different and unique. The flute, the clarinet, the horn, the oboe and the bassoon all sound so wonderful together. I learned so many things about the instruments. I would love for them to come back to our school another time.”  "The woodwind quintet was EPIC!"



All grade levels have participated in some composition activites.  Kindergarten made "Snowball Melodies" using High and Low.  First Graders created Valentine's Day melodies using High, Middle and Low.  By third grade, students were composing and playing their Valentine's Day melodies using the notes on the staff and barred instruments. Check out the pictures below!

In general, we love to have fun in music class.  Sometimes we are dancing, sometimes there is singing, othertimes we are playing instruments or even just taking time to explore them.  No matter what happens, we are always having as much fun as possible!  Also, have I mentioned that I frequently pass out  my $200 camera to my students and let them photograph during class.  Here's what happens :)

 

Coffee and Rainboots. The key to a successful classroom.

A friend jokingly (if that is even a word) told me that she thought the key my classroom success is Starbucks.  I'd like to think it's a combination of Starbucks (or coffee in general) and rainboots -- the two things I need to make it through the week. 
A.  Coffee.  I love my coffee.  I will drink it from home, from Dunkin' Donuts, from Starbucks, from a parent, from Port City Java... I'm not picky.  I spread the coffee love. :)  You need a good amount of caffine to do all the random crazy things I do sometimes. 
B.  Rainboots.  I LOVE my rainboots! :)  I wear them in the rain, when there are puddles, in the snow (because we have actually had a lot this year) and sometimes, just because.  There is something about rainbow polka dots that makes a gloomy day just a bit brighter.  I love doing carpool duty and greeting the students in the morning.  There is something special about a high five, a smile and the occasional hug to start your day. 

Despite funny looks I will continue to wear my fabulous boots, crazy hats and mittens.  I'll keep on drinking the coffee and loving life as a Music teacher.

Bright Ideas... A Work in Progress

In the fall, I was awarded a "Bright Ideas" grant to build guitars with my second grade students.  Well... the guitars were a little more complicated than I imagined.  The FABULOUS Fifth graders have stepped up to the plate to help build the guitars.  Both grade levels have been working VERY hard to build the guitars.  The first few steps are finished.  Next week, the students will begin designing and painting their guitars with the Art teacher.  Once decorated we will glue the soundboard/neck on the guitar body and we will be ready to rock'n'roll.  On Thursday, I will bring a guitar with me to the Board of Education meeting where I will be recognized for the grant. 

Here is a look at the process...

 

New year... new fun

Kindergarten:  What can you do when it snows?  Make a snowman or perhaps a snowangel.  Last week we listened to a variety of music about snowy days, read a snowy book and made snowangels!!  Well... we imagined we made snowangels.

Third Graders:  We have been working hard to learn about the staff and reading the notes on the treble clef.
"A, B, C, D, E, F, G
The musical alphabet stops at G.
If you want to name a space, 

think F-A-C-E FACE.
If you want to name a line,
think Every, Good, Boy, Does, Fine.

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

The musical alphabet stops at G."

We used the Promethean Board, individual white boards, pipe cleaners, a giant staff, beanie babies and paper and crayons to drill the notes on the staff. I also had the students create their own poems to remember the name of the line.  The most popular one was "Even Good Boys Do Fart"  yeah.  That one got lots of laughs.  But hey!  If it works, what are you going to do!?!?!?

Fourth Grade:  In fourth grade we have been learning how to play B-A-G on the recorders.  We also spent some time reviewing where B, A, and G were on the staff.  We played "Concentration" (Memory) with snowman plates and two rounds of "Name that Note" on the Promethean Board.  During the first round the girls beat the boys.  But the boys put up a fight the second round won!  Everyone had a lot of fun with the review!

 

 

 

The fifth graders have been working very hard on their latest project -- Composer Reports a la Voki.  You can check them out here.   or Voki Project -- click here!