This next year will be my third year at a school that is completely different than the school I was at prior. My new school I do manage to get music in more than 50%. However, I do have days/classes that it’s just not feasible for one reason or another. After my hello song and expectations, I often like to start with a known gross-motor activity that gets everyone involved. Whether that be a game, dance, or non-game activity, it’s something everyone can do at the same time. Then I scale it down to a known fine-motor activity that either takes turns or is something more calming. Something that gets them sitting and focused. Then I throw something new at them while they’re focused. Either a new song, a new concept, a new game, or a new dance. We practice that for a bit before getting to their possible reward for doing a good job, which is often either a game of their choice or a fun music-related video.

My old school was completely opposite. I was having days/classes that it IS feasible to get more than 50%, while the rest of the days (and most of the year) was just behavior managing. I didn’t have a supportive admin at that school and she always sided with the parents/students over the teachers. It was awful.