Oops...I Did It Again! Linky Party

So after participating in two of them this week, I thought I'd start a Linky Party of my own and maybe see who else is reading my blog!

I feel like Britney Spears was part of the beginning of my (maybe misguided) music education, so in her honor I'm hosting a party called "Oops...I Did It Again!" to show a successful teaching idea that has carried over to the next year. Please link up below if you are interested in sharing your multi-year successes!!

My "Oops I Did It Again" success is creating a medley of pop songs for 5th grade promotion. If you want to check out 2013's medley, click on this link. This year, my group is a bit more manageable, however they are into that end of year mode where they really are ready to move onto 6th grade...3 more weeks- oof!

So just like last year, they made suggestions of what songs we should put into our promotion medley and I combined them into one song about 7 minutes in length. The songs included are:

Wing$- Macklemore (I changed the words of the rap at the beginning and used the chorus part)

Neon Lights- Demi Lovato

Best Day of My Life- American Authors

Pompeii- Bastille

Brave- Sara Bareilles

Let It Go- from Frozen

Cups- Anna Kendrick

Some of the songs have short solos in them, which I just held auditions for this week and assigned this morning- we will see how they react- I think I was too nice, I gave most people who tried out a solo or a duet, but hey, it's elementary school!

I'm excited to see how this one turns out, but feel free to watch my video of the medley yourself! The karaoke is included for everything except the rap at the beginning, but here are the lyrics to that:

I was eleven years old, when I got to this school
And I stepped inside,
And I was like, Momma,
this school right here, it's gonna make me fly
I hit those halls, and when I jumped, I jumped, I swear I got so high
I touched the net, Momma I touched the net,
This is the best day of my life

I look forward to hearing back from any of you about your "Oops...I Did It Again" moments! Add your link below!

Happy Friday

~Ms. Patrician

Ten Things I Want to Do This Summer

Hi again! I'm loving these end of year linky parties, so I'm latching onto all of them now that I'm in the home stretch of my school year!

Here are 10 things I want to do this summer:

1) RE-LAX!! I just moved into a new apartment with an awesome balcony and pool and I cannot wait to sleep in and enjoy my time off!

2) Spend time with friends and family and in new places- starting with the Poconos and ending with a trip to Spain, I am planning on making the most of this summer and seeing everyone and everything that I can!!

3) Be a presenter at Arlington's Festival of the Minds. I am presenting two workshops, one Beginning GarageBand and two sessions on Reflective Teaching in the Technological Age- focusing on using blogging and Pinterest as reflective teaching tools. I'm excited to be the one imparting some of my knowledge for once!!

4) Add some new summer recipes to my list! Last year my roommate and I made some interesting pasta salads and fun meals while we had our summer time off (she is also a teacher), and I am looking forward to doing that again!

5) Figure out how to integrate more of my resources into my teaching next year. I use SO many things: Spotlight on Music, Game Plan, and countless SmartBoard and iPad resources, plus whatever I have gained from Pinterest and reading other blogs, but I haven't mastered the ability to really make them all work together. I want to try to do some of that this year.

6) Plan next year's 3rd Annual All School Show. I want next year's to have a literacy theme, so I'm already pondering what we will be doing. :)

7) Try to figure out if I am actually creative enough to open a TeachersPayTeachers store next year- who knows!

8) Figure out some fun date nights for my boyfriend and I around the D.C. Area!

9) Read some of the books I've been dying to read, but always fall asleep before actually picking up!!

10) Come back to our in-service week in August feeling refreshed and excited for a new year of teaching adventures! :)

I'd love to hear about what you all are planning on doing with your summers! Link-up by clicking the picture at the top of my post or comment on my post here!

Milestones Worth Celebrating Linky Party

Hi everyone! Today I am linking up with David over at Make Moments Matter to celebrate some of my teaching milestones this year. :)

1) I finished my second full year of teaching in March (I graduated in December, so I taught for half a year before my first September)! I am so happy to be teaching music for a living, couldn't imagine my life any other way!

2) I was able to blog more, though I plan to be more diligent about it next year. I also gained SO much knowledge and lots of exciting resources by reading other blogs and taking advantage of TeachersPayTeachers!

3) Started a Faculty Choir at school! We met every Wednesday for a half hour and had a blast- a great way to get through the middle of the week. They performed at both the Winter and Spring concerts and did such a great job- can't wait to continue this next year!

4) My 5th grade chorus performed at the South Arlington Pyramid Concert in February and rocked the house with a Hoffman-Boston favorite- Zombie Style!!

5) I put on my 2nd Annual All-School Show, encompassing grades PreK-5, called Science Rocks! Just as it was last year, this was a great success and such a wonderful way to build community in the school between students, staff, and parents!

6) I will be presenting about the advantages of blogging and Pinterest at an All-County Professional Development Week- Festival of the Minds! I'm excited to share what I've learned and to talk with others about their experiences. :)

We still have 3 1/2 weeks left, but I'm already excited to see what next year brings!!

~Ms. Patrician

Songs for State Test Pep Rally!!

Hi everyone!

     So our VA state tests (called SOLs- Standards of Learning) are coming up at the end of the month and our younger grades are going to cheer the older grades on at a pep rally next week. This means that each class will present a musical excerpt or video montage for one of the older grades (K paired with 3rd, 1st paired with 4th, 2nd paired with 5th).

I, of course, went a little overboard when planning what the 3 grades would prepare for their musical selections, but they are:

Kindergarten is doing a version of Do You Wanna Build a Snowman? from Frozen, 

called Do You Wanna Pass the Test?

1st Grade is doing a version of Roar by Katy Perry, 

called Rock the Test.

2nd Grade is doing a version of Let It Go from Frozen,

called Do Your Best.

Please feel free to comment if you want the full lyrics to any of the songs, but I've uploaded all of the songs to Vocaroo for your listening pleasure (sung by yours truly)- just click on the links above to listen! You are welcome to use any of them, but please let me know how they turn out for you!! I'm excited to see how our performances turn out next Friday!

Have a great weekend!

~Ms. Patrician