*This post contains affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you - Learn More - This is the first year officially homeschooling our daughter, she is 4-years-
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Have you ever thought about putting together an Amazon wishlist for your classroom but then just couldn't come up with what to ask for? It's silly because obviously there's tons of things we're lacking and can't get school funding for, but I find often in the moment it's hard to come up with stuff to ask for, especially as a music teacher, because usually the prices and selection for instruments and other elementary music specific things on Amazon are not as good as other vendors. But last summer I finally put together a list, not sure if anything would actually get purchased, and I was shocked to get everything I asked for! Here's a list of things to consider adding to your elementary music classroom Amazon wishlist. This post contains affiliate links that help support this site To keep this list at a manageable length I'm not including any books on this list- I'll share my recommendations for books I love using in my lessons in a future post. This list includes all the other things I've gotten on Amazon for my elementary music room that I love! Carpet Spots These are the carpet spots I use to mark my circle spots- I highly recommend them because they lasted all school year without much sign of wear and tear, and the colors are bright and easily distinguishable (not the case with every set I found) and just the ones I need for my color teams. Carpet Strips I used these when I had students socially distanced to mark where chairs were supposed to go. This set, like the carpet spots, has the right colors and holds up better than other ones I found (although for lines in front of chairs I find they don't last all year like the spots do). Loom Bands This set has all the colors I need for any sort of karate belt system for learning songs on instruments- I give students these to put on the bell of their recorder when they pass each level. It is so much cheaper and way easier than buying yarn, cutting pieces, and tying them onto the recorders like I did when I first started teaching! This set is the most cost-effective way I've found to get all the colors I need even though there are a few extra colors I don't use. Triangle Holders I am a triangle holder snob. In my experience there is no competition here, this type is far superior to any other solution, hands down. And shockingly most music stores don't carry these. If you don't have them, get them. Skin Tone Bandaids Multipack Yes, our school nurse gives us bandaids to keep in our rooms each year, but these are far better quality (meaning I end up with fewer bandaids falling off or getting ripped off and landing on my floor... IYKYK) and I love having the different skin tones to choose from, especially for my older students. They will go out of their way to come to my room and ask for a bandaid rather than take one from their homeroom teacher or the nurse! I call that students feeling cared for. Eggspert Buzzer Set This item is more expensive than the others on this list, and it's the only item I don't already have myself- it's on my own wishlist right now! But it's too cool not to include. I saw a presentation years ago (like over a decade ago) at TMEA where they showed how they use these for games in music class and I have had it in the back of my mind ever since- especially since, again, they match my color team colors, this would be perfect for having teams race to answer questions, name a note, etc. Black Painter's Tape This may seem random but I use black painter's tape A LOT in my classroom. For most of my posters, I staple them to the wall and then put the black painter's tape around the edge. It looks a lot neater, makes them last longer, and helps them stand out against my white walls better. Clipboards I got these from my Amazon wishlist last year and my students and I have loved them! Of course they match my color team colors, but because they are plastic they are much sturdier than the wooden ones I had before and any doodles and marks that end up on them are much easier to clean. Discbound Planner Cover and Discs This is how I set up my teacher planner so I can add and remove pages and customize my cover- this set is super cost effective and comes with clear covers and discs so you can add your own cover inside and it will show through. These have held up well for me but it's nice to have the backups in this set (it comes with 3 sets of covers) so if a cover gets dirty or bent you can replace it. Discbound Hole Punch To add the pages inside the teacher planner with the discs and covers above, you'll need a hole punch. This one is the one I have and the price is amazing! I highly recommend this. What else do you have on your wishlists? I need some more ideas to add for this year so let me know what you have on yours!
Putting aside politics & opinion, let's review the most in-depth charter schools vs public schools statistics so you can make the best choice for your kids.
Imagine if you could just ask for the technology your students need to succeed and then, a few weeks later, it appears. Learn from other ST Math educators on how to attract donors and get grants for school technology.
Today is the first day of Spring so I’d like to discuss school gardens. I always wanted to have a school garden, and I found the perfect place for it, but it never happened, mainly because I just didn’t have the time to add such an undertaking to my schedule of teaching more than five grade levels every year. So when I decided this year to volunteer at a local school, I jumped at the chance to work with the teacher who maintained the school garden there. (Links and info in this post updated on 4/3/21.) Source: The ESL Nexus There are so many benefits to having a school garden! For ELLs, especially those at lower levels of language proficiency, working in a school garden means they can participate just as much as other students because the tasks are hands-on and visual. And if you plant some crops that are used in the cultures of your ELLs, it shows that you value those cultures and gives those students and their families a chance to share their knowledge and make them feel a part of the school community. Read on to find out: a) why a school garden is a good thing, b) resources for creating and maintaining a school garden, and c) where you can obtain funding for your own school garden. Source: The ESL Nexus Benefits of School Gardens 1) Students learn where their food comes from – for students in cities who aren’t familiar with farming, this can be very illuminating. 2) Students interact with nature by spending time outdoors and seeing insects and worms in the soil and as the plants grow. 3) Students learn teamwork because they have to work cooperatively to make the garden a success and students who don’t normally work with each other can be grouped together to develop their social skills. 4) Students learn patience because once seeds or seedlings are planted, they have to wait for them to grow and students can’t force the plants to sprout faster than nature intended. 5) Students learn math and science concepts – they are so many tie-ins to curricula for students of all ages it’s impossible to list them all here but recording observations, formulating hypotheses, measuring units, learning about nutrition, graphing results and calculating percentages are a few of them. 6) Students can do writing activities such as writing poetry, writing a description of a plant, writing how-to pieces about creating the garden, writing personal narratives about their experience with the garden, comparing and contrasting two different vegetables, writing about what a vegetable or herb tastes like, creating a recipe book for the foods that were grown, creating timelines about the growing process, and writing letters about their school garden. 7) Students can develop research skills by searching for information about school gardens, by finding out which crops are best suited to their region of the country, and by reading about how particular vegetables and herbs are used in other cultures. 8) Students can learn about geography and other cultures by planting vegetables and herbs cultivated in other countries. 9) Students from different ethnic backgrounds can share their cultures when crops that are common in their cuisines are cultivated, and this can also help foster appreciation for people from those cultures. 10) Students can develop multimedia skills by creating videos, podcasts, photo exhibits, posters, and oral presentations about their school garden. 11) The student-parent (or guardian) connection can be deepened when the families of the students working in the garden are involved – if some families have gardening experience they can help create and maintain the garden, families from immigrant and refugee backgrounds can share their knowledge of gardening and grow “ethnic” foods in part of the garden, families can show how to cook various vegetables and use herbs, and families can be invited to a feast with the students after harvesting the food. Resources about School Gardens * U.S. Department of Agriculture: Information an all aspects, from planning through sustaining a school garden program. * National Agriculture in the Classroom: Lesson plans, resources, information about conferences, and more. * Slow Food USA: Research-based rationale for implementing a school garden. * KidsGardening: All about designing, starting, and maintaining a school garden. * Growing Minds: Resources for starting a school garden, related lesson plans based on the Common Core State Standards, and information on applying for a grant if you are working in their region. * Let's Move: A checklist for getting started with a school garden. * Western Growers Foundation Collective School Garden Network: Information on the benefits of school gardens, how to plan and fund a school garden, planting a school garden, teaching with a school garden, and harvesting and eating the produce from an edible school garden; also includes grant opportunities for schools in Arizona and California. * Good, Clean and Fair School Garden Curriculum, from Slow Food USA: Lessons for all elementary and secondary students that align with Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. Funding Sources Application deadlines for grants from many organizations for funding a spring garden have passed but the following opportunities are still available: * Bonnie Plants 3rd Grade Cabbage Program: Apply by February 15th. * Captain Planet ecoSolution Grants: Two cycles: a) Apply between September 15th and January 15th; b) Apply between March 15th and July 15th. * Project Learning Tree Green Works Grants: No information about applications for 2021 but the website has helpful info about gardening. * Wild Ones Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education Grant: Program is currently suspended but if it resumes, applications will be available in July with a deadline of October 15, 2021 at midnight. The resources below include lists of the organizations, some of which are mentioned above, as well as many more whose deadlines have already passed. Some of the organizations are included in more than one of these sources listed below: * From Community Groundworks: Links to 18 grant opportunities plus links to resources about implementing school gardens. * From KidsGardening: Links to 20 grants that fund school gardens. Also offers a newsletter with free gardening activities for students. Having worked as an agricultural extension agent in the Peace Corps, I know well the joys of planting something and watching it grow. And although a school garden involves a lot of initial work, the benefits it brings to ELLs and all students is, as Helen Mirren affirms, certainly worth it.
Red Oak Middle School has found a way to fund and stock its PBIS school store, which operates in conjunction with their PBIS program and PBIS Rewards.
Looking for exciting and memorable names for your fundraiser? Keep reading - Future Fund has compiled 30 Creative Names for Your School Fundraiser.
Have you ever thought about putting together an Amazon wishlist for your classroom but then just couldn't come up with what to ask for? It's silly because obviously there's tons of things we're lacking and can't get school funding for, but I find often in the moment it's hard to come up with stuff to ask for, especially as a music teacher, because usually the prices and selection for instruments and other elementary music specific things on Amazon are not as good as other vendors. But last summer I finally put together a list, not sure if anything would actually get purchased, and I was shocked to get everything I asked for! Here's a list of things to consider adding to your elementary music classroom Amazon wishlist. This post contains affiliate links that help support this site To keep this list at a manageable length I'm not including any books on this list- I'll share my recommendations for books I love using in my lessons in a future post. This list includes all the other things I've gotten on Amazon for my elementary music room that I love! Carpet Spots These are the carpet spots I use to mark my circle spots- I highly recommend them because they lasted all school year without much sign of wear and tear, and the colors are bright and easily distinguishable (not the case with every set I found) and just the ones I need for my color teams. Carpet Strips I used these when I had students socially distanced to mark where chairs were supposed to go. This set, like the carpet spots, has the right colors and holds up better than other ones I found (although for lines in front of chairs I find they don't last all year like the spots do). Loom Bands This set has all the colors I need for any sort of karate belt system for learning songs on instruments- I give students these to put on the bell of their recorder when they pass each level. It is so much cheaper and way easier than buying yarn, cutting pieces, and tying them onto the recorders like I did when I first started teaching! This set is the most cost-effective way I've found to get all the colors I need even though there are a few extra colors I don't use. Triangle Holders I am a triangle holder snob. In my experience there is no competition here, this type is far superior to any other solution, hands down. And shockingly most music stores don't carry these. If you don't have them, get them. Skin Tone Bandaids Multipack Yes, our school nurse gives us bandaids to keep in our rooms each year, but these are far better quality (meaning I end up with fewer bandaids falling off or getting ripped off and landing on my floor... IYKYK) and I love having the different skin tones to choose from, especially for my older students. They will go out of their way to come to my room and ask for a bandaid rather than take one from their homeroom teacher or the nurse! I call that students feeling cared for. Eggspert Buzzer Set This item is more expensive than the others on this list, and it's the only item I don't already have myself- it's on my own wishlist right now! But it's too cool not to include. I saw a presentation years ago (like over a decade ago) at TMEA where they showed how they use these for games in music class and I have had it in the back of my mind ever since- especially since, again, they match my color team colors, this would be perfect for having teams race to answer questions, name a note, etc. Black Painter's Tape This may seem random but I use black painter's tape A LOT in my classroom. For most of my posters, I staple them to the wall and then put the black painter's tape around the edge. It looks a lot neater, makes them last longer, and helps them stand out against my white walls better. Clipboards I got these from my Amazon wishlist last year and my students and I have loved them! Of course they match my color team colors, but because they are plastic they are much sturdier than the wooden ones I had before and any doodles and marks that end up on them are much easier to clean. Discbound Planner Cover and Discs This is how I set up my teacher planner so I can add and remove pages and customize my cover- this set is super cost effective and comes with clear covers and discs so you can add your own cover inside and it will show through. These have held up well for me but it's nice to have the backups in this set (it comes with 3 sets of covers) so if a cover gets dirty or bent you can replace it. Discbound Hole Punch To add the pages inside the teacher planner with the discs and covers above, you'll need a hole punch. This one is the one I have and the price is amazing! I highly recommend this. What else do you have on your wishlists? I need some more ideas to add for this year so let me know what you have on yours!
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Adopt-a-Classroom found that in 2023, the average teacher spent $860 a year on his or her classroom during the previous school year. I read this number and laughed. While I am blessed with a pocket…
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Donors Choose is an on-line charity that allows others to help students in need. Public school and Head Start teachers in the U.S. can submit projects to Donors Choose to for everything from basic classroom necessities to books, iPads, and more.
Public funding or mini-grants for Homeschooling/ Money for homeschooling from the government that people seek in order to help them with cost
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The Pentagon said on Wednesday it would pull funding from 127 Defense Department projects, including schools and daycare centres for military families, as it diverts $3.6 billion to fund President Donald Trump's wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
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Looking for a school grant program? Impero Software has released a new white paper on digital citizenship and launched a grant competition for school tech.
Do you know another language? Then you can start working from home as a translator and use your skills to make money online.
A couple of years ago, I made the decision to apply to MFA programs in creative writing. Compared to medical school or law school, the application process for an MFA can sometimes feel like a crapshoot, with the odds of getting into a fully-funded program hovering somewhere below four or five percent (and some programs like Iowa, Michigan, Michener—gulp—even less!). Still, it seems that every year, a few applicants manage to get admitted to a handful of programs, which brings up the question of whether the process is as random as one might initially think.
