Five for Friday 4-3-15

Two posts in one day! Here's my Five For Friday (linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching):

This is a link-up where you share 5 random things from today or this week- click on the link above if you're interested in joining in!

I am excited to begin working on chorus music this coming week with 4th and 5th grade chorus, and continue working on it with All Star Chorus and Faculty Choir! I have been familiarizing myself with the music this week! Our theme for our May 5th concert is "America!"

Thanks to my friend Karlyn, I have fallen in love with the music of James Bay. His music has been a perfect addition to my Spotify playlist this week. If you haven't listened to any of his music, you should go do that now!

Are you still not listening!? Okay okay, here's a sample of one of my favorite songs of his:

Hold Back the River- James Bay

I have not participated in one Twitter chat this week. I have truly unplugged in that way, and it has been semi-refreshing, however I am excited to get back to chatting with my friends next week! On the subject of Twitter, I can't wait to see my very first published article in the Virginia Education Association Journal in June!! I was asked by editor Tom Allen to write about my experience using Twitter as an educator, as well as the process of getting my staff and county more involved in the Twitterverse. I started writing on Monday morning and I couldn't stop writing for 3 pages. I hope that the article influences some other educators to embrace Twitter as a communication and professional development tool!

This is the cover for the April 2015 issue of the Journal. Click on the picture to read the current issue.

My boyfriend and I had my family over for dinner on Tuesday and he made a delicious burger recipe for the 2nd time: Basil Pesto and Feta Burgers. He just made up his recipe, but click that link to find one online. They are SO good- I highly recommend them! 

My 5th graders are working on a Soundtrack of My Life project. My teaching partner and I are collaborating with the art teachers at our school. This will be the culminating project of 5th grade that will be displayed at their graduation in June. The art teachers are working with the 5th Graders on their iPads (I think using Sketchbook Express?) to create an album cover incorporating their faces, as well as words that express their personality. In music, each student has linked a song to 6 events, starting with birth and ending with graduation, from their lives. They will use the app ThingLink to add these events to their personal channels, which we will convert into QR codes and then attach to their album covers for our big graduation display!

I am super excited for this project, since it is very individualized and it utilizes the iPads in many great ways! Let me know if you're interested in learning more!

Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend!

~Ms. Patrician