Preparations Underway!

Yup, this is it.. the final weeks of summer!  Two weeks from tomorrow I'll be back to school with all the requisite meetings required.. oh the meetings!  Ugh!  We have a few hours to actually get classrooms ready, but the majority of our time is taken up with discussions and meetings. Some of it is useful and thought-provoking, but then we have the other.  You know what I'm talking about.
I am going in this week to start setting up my classroom- I got new carpet over the summer and had to pack up my ENTIRE room.. and we music teachers have a lot of stuff.  Every shaker egg, drum, book, etc. had to be put in a box!  It was actually a wonderful opportunity to edit my room!  I found more books and "stuff" from 20+ years ago that I don't use or were horribly out of date.  So my room should have a sign like this right now:

  And if I could paint an image of my head it would look like this right now:

 I feel like there are hundreds of songs, games, and activities that I want to use this year that I've never used before.  It's a bit like embarking on a journey; opening up to the unexpected and unplanned.  I don't plan out my year in detail.  Shocking, isn't it?  I open myself up to possibilities!  I am very excited about starting our new COE: Cougar Orff Ensemble. No, not cougar because I am an older female.. bwah ha ha! School mascot, of course!  I will also be working on Volume 2 of my book, Hands to Hands, Clapping Songs and Games.  This one will feature mostly American clapping games and songs.  I'm possibly more excited about this one than the first one! I'll be posting a few beginning of the school year ideas in the next week or so! Check back soon!