Summer is almost over for most. You are getting ready to get back into the swing of the busy school year and remembering all the things you wanted to prep to be able to do with your new school year. Maybe you wanted to incorporate centers, maybe more work with Chromebooks. Or you might even have a brand new curriculum that you wanted to plan with and just haven’t had enough time to go through everything you wanted to do. So what do you do? Do you dump the ideas altogether? Or do you jump on the opportunity of the new school year and still give all of you amazing ideas a shot?

The answer should always be to step outside your comfort blanket burrito and try something new. It might not go as planned, but really what does ever goes as planned? You just need to follow the simple steps of integrating new ideas into your classroom in order to start something new. I usually pull out a very familiar framework to help me integrate new ideas into instruction.

Dr. Ruben Puentedura’s SAMR framework (https://www.schrockguide.net/samr.html.) Lays it out in 4 simple steps to really implement new ideas in the classroom.

S is for Substitution. Instead of copying all of that sheet music, project those warmups on the board instead.

A is for Augmentation. Take that PDF copy of the sheet music you are projecting on the board and put it into composition software like Noteflight or Finale. When you click play, students can follow the pitches along with the computer.

M is for Modification. Share that music and have students be able to access it from individual devices to read by and notate on their own.

R is for Redefinition. This is where you can have students take what you did in the composition software and add or change the piece to transform it into something new that they can share with the class and school community.

Those 4 steps took me from a simple projected image to a brand new innovative project where the students were in control of the activity and showing off their creativity. I could do all of those steps while school was going and it didn’t take up a bunch of my time planning it all through.

So take those ideas and make them a reality, why not try something new at the beginning of the school year to make it more interesting?

Need some help? Follow me on Twitter! @musiccargirl14

I am here to help coach you through new innovations and ideas.