Sunday, May 20, 2012

Line Leader

My classroom door opens into the room rather than into the hallway. I would constantly get annoyed when students would line up too close to the door and then I had to make them scoot back so I could open the door.   Some people put tape spots on the floor to show where the line leader should stand, but I decided to hang something from the ceiling.

I have many music notes hanging from my ceiling to help provide a warm, welcoming atmosphere. I used to have the treble clef in the center of the room. Now, I have placed the treble clef near the door to show where the line leader should stand. Now, I have plenty of room to open the door without hitting anyone or asking them to move.



At first, this was just a simple solution to solve an annoying problem. But, later, I realized that it was helping reinforce some music vocabulary. When reading pitch notation, the students made the connection with the treble clef at the beginning of the staff and the beginning of our line. I had never even thought of that before! Now, when introducing the treble clef, I always refer back to the line leader spot.

3 comments:

  1. How did you make the treble clef?

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  2. I did not make this and unfortunately I cannot help you find where to buy one. It is a plush decoration that was in the bottom of a filing cabinet when I acquired the job 8 years ago. Perhaps you could make one out of poster board or perhaps foam sheets.

    Since my first year teaching, I have hung the big black notes and the plush treble clef on the ceiling to create a welcoming atmosphere. I used to have the treble clef in the center of the room. Before our renovation, our doors swung out into the hallway. Our new doors swing into the classroom. This caused a problem when students would line up too close to the door and not leave enough room for it to swing open. The treble clef was originally placed there to just solve that problem. I used the treble clef because it was plush and looked different that my other hanging notes. (The other notes are stiff card stock. A few years later the light bulb went on to make the connection to the staff.

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  3. I Love this idea. I have a treble clef from a bulletin board set that is now taped on my floor for the line to begin. I had one cut out of black foam board, but I was told it had to come down. I was told it was a fire code violation, very sad!!! But I would love to have a plush one anyways.

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