Originally Posted by The Orffsite Webmaster on Monday, August 2, 2010

Some new teachers get concerned when they hear that a principal wants teachers to concentrate on rules and procedures the first week of school. Chill. Rules shouldn’t take long.No more than 4 or 5  classroom “rules” , and they could be along the line of: 1. Keep hands and objects to yourself (Head and shoulders knees and toes song) 2.Raise your hand to speak and wait for permission(Chicken on the fencepost can’t dance Josie) etc. Start teaching these as just spoken ostinati, then add body percussion, then move to non pitched percussion. Combine them when they are able either all at once or as a rondo.. Finally, drop out the words and you have a new music piece.
Procedures are just the way you do things in class like lining up, moving to their “own” spot in the room and then back “home”. I do this with younger kids as they sing “The fish lives in the brook, the bird lives in the tree, but home’s the very nicest place for a little child like me”. I can think of easily a half dozen procedures that have to do with handling instruments properly, moving about the room, lining up, making a circle, proper way to clap hands etc. These are all procedures but are also important in making music.