MacJams.com - Song: Stand Up, Sit Down by kristyjo

Stand Up, Sit Down
by kristyjo

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Guest profile visits: 1232
Member profile visits: 1
Song comments: 42
Tokens: 0
Plays: 269
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Downloads: 59
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Submitted on: Jun 08, 2007 - 10:20:09 PM
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Keywords kids (28), sing (12), follow directions (1), stand (2), sit (1), kindergarten (1), first grade (1)

Description I improvised this song out of desperation last year. Today, the last day of school, I asked my students to request favorite songs. THIS was at the top of the charts of both first grade classes! Who knew? The students remembered the words and (kind of) the melody, and then I remembered the chord progression. I set up the laptop to record really quick, and now, you are the first lucky persons to hear 'Stand Up, Sit Down' outside of the primary wing of Nasonville school. If you have noisy kids who need a little movement & music, try this song out and see how it works for you.

Lyrics Stand up, sit down,
Stand up, sit down,
Stand up, sit down,
Stand up, sit down,
Pretend you're asleep,
Pretend you're asleep,
Stretch your arms and wake up,
Stretch your arms and wake up,
Stretch your arms and wake up!
Stand up, sit down,
Stand up, sit down,
Stand up, sit down,
Stand up, sit down,

Hardware PowerBook G4
internal mic

Software: GarageBand

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	Axgrinder said 541 days ago
	This is a cute little song! You also have a lovely voice and must be an amazing teacher as well. Thanks for sharing.

	kristyjo said 541 days ago
	Thanks for stopping by, I've found that I sing better when I have a guitar in front of me for protection. Also, when I have 45 first graders hopping up and down and shouting in front of me. The kids really do enjoy doing all of the actions in the song, and it is fun to watch them and listen to them do this song.

	said 541 days ago
	Thanks for the big smile this morning before I go do my weekly chores!

	peacepiano said 541 days ago
	Energy The kids sound like they are really getting into the song. This must have been very fun for them. Sounds like just the thing primary kids. Do you have something for High School Seniors? Thanks for sharing.

	RickW said 541 days ago
	Wonderful fun! I can tell that both you and the children had a lot of fun with this song. I wonder how many of them will be influenced by their experiences with their teacher, to some day pick up a guitar. God bless and thank you for sharing this gem, Rick

	kristyjo said 541 days ago
	Hi, Rick, Yes, we had a lot of fun with this. Before I saved it to iTunes, we listened to ourselves singing with the 'mousevoice' 'helium breath' and 'deeper voice' vocal settings in GarageBand, which was a real hoot, too. Great school year ending activity all around. Thanks for listening and commenting!

John Stebbe said 484 days ago

Me too
I've done that too, with GarageBand on my MacBook. A year ago I bought my MacBook to do all the things that were either forbidden or hard to get permission for, or hard to get support for. Like GarageBand, iMovie, iPhoto. It was money very well spent. And I spent a week last spring demoing GarageBand on our overhead "TVAtor" in my classroom. I think I sold a lot of kids on Macs that week. I especially enjoyed showing them PhotoBooth on the overheard TV. What fun!

---
My NEW 2007 jazz piano CD on the iTunes Music Store.

	said 541 days ago
	desperation improvisation now THERE's a genre! how nice to hear your voice! the kids are great, with the amazing energy that only kids have. good job of riding herd on their enthusiasm - and giving us something we don't normally get. enjoyed the song - anne

	kristyjo said 541 days ago
	desperation improvisation - is actually what I spend a great deal of my life doing. You're right, there should be a category with this name! I'm actually a pretty darn good herd rider, but I need to do something novel with them on the last day to keep them tamed, and this was perfect. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

	Dharma Logos said 540 days ago
	I can't help but smile. I wish I had had more teachers who were musically inclined. You do have a great voice. And you must be doing something right with those kids musically speaking because rhythmically they are right on the money!

	Roxylee said 540 days ago
	What a great teacher you must be! Not only teaching them music, but writing songs for them that they will remember all their lives. They'll probably sing that to their own children someday. The last day of school... If you can do that, you can do anything. Kristy, you have a very lovely voice. :-)

kristyjo said 540 days ago

Thanks, Roxy,
I'm glad you got to stop by and listen. I really am lucky to work in a school where there is a climate that lets kids enjoy learning. It's not about prizes, or ease, or even 'fun'. but learning is valued by students, parents & staff. I know there are many schools like that, but I also know there are many schools that AREN'T like that. This climate lets us feel comfortable creating and performing for each other - teachers as well as students. I just hope that comfort level travels with the students as they move on.
Thanks for the lovely comment on my voice. I had some problems with it over the last year and a half, and truly thought it would never come back, but little by little, it's getting stronger, and tuning accuracy is coming back, too.

	Peter Bauckham said 540 days ago
	Wish you'd been my music teacher - When I was that age I had a middle-aged lady who played the piano and Seekers records (well it was a long time ago I guess - and the fact I can remember her so well shows how important music is at this age). Sounds like all the kids are really enjoying themselves. Love the tune too! Peter

kristyjo said 540 days ago

Times have changed -
I'm a middle-aged lady who plays piano and my iPod for the kids. (hint - if you're looking for instant 'cool status' for any kind of audio, put it on an iPod and plug it into a stereo system to play for the kids. It works for me.) I've branched out a lot, though, and do drumming and Orff with the students, too. The guitar is always a fave, but they get into singing with recorder, too. I think students will get 'into' any kind of music that is presented intelligently with enthusiasm. Thanks for your your listening ear and your comments.

	Peter Bauckham said 539 days ago
	I can imagine a teacher with an iPod must be really cool - all we had was an ancient mono record player - but then it was 1967...!

	said 540 days ago
	Hey! Where were you when I was in grade school Kristine? My teachers were all drill sargeants! Way to go! Lucky kids... Be well!

kristyjo said 539 days ago

Hey, Michael -
Let's see - when you were in grade school, I suspect I was that little girl in my new icon pic. I really hope I'm a better elementary music teacher than the music teachers I had; one was a nervous older woman who had an alchoholic husband, the next two or three came and went within a year or two, the next one was an extremely immature man who mysteriously left after he showed more attention than necessary to a Jr. High girl. It's a wonder I can carry a tune in a bucket. Oh well, that's the past. Thanks for listening & for your comments.

	guitapick said 540 days ago
	Wowwww... ...how could you not absolutely love this, Kristy? So sorry it's the end of school and you can't go back to your class and tell them how much I enjoyed this... Thanks, Kristy. And enjoy your summer. Sounds like the kids love you...

	drakonis said 539 days ago
	ToTY What a fun piece of interactive music to focus their attention... thank you for sharing this bit of "musical-exercise" with us! Sounds like it was a lot more fun than Hanon exercises! ttfn, Drakonis

	Brian Weiland said 538 days ago
	Hello! I feellike I should send you money! I just tried this song with a bunch of Kindergarteners and they LOVED it! You truly have a gift for composing children's music. ~Brian Weiland

	kristyjo said 538 days ago
	Glad you tried it with a 'test audience' just wondering - did you play and sing it with them, or did you use the recording of me & my kids? I'm glad the kids enjoyed it. I'm sure you made them do the actions, right? Thanks for letting me know that they had fun with it!

Brian Weiland said 537 days ago

Kristyjo (of the amazingly cute new picture!)
I played the guitar and we sang it ourselves. And oh yeah, did we ever do the motions! They just LOVED it!

Two things that as a music teacher you may be amused/intriqued by: I did this song with two classes yesterday and both times when we got to the "pretend you're asleep" part there were some students who tried to "sleepwalk" and keep moving. This reminded me of Jim Gill of "The Sneezing Song" and The Washing Machine" fame. He deliberately writes movement songs with fast and slow sections because he works with autistic children for whom switching from big moveements to small movements or from movement to resting is a huge challenge. I think your song would also be great for that purpose.

Also, the second time I tried the song they didn't want it to end so, in the great spirit of "desperation composition" in between "stand up/sit downs" I threw in "pretend you're a frog" and they had such fun hopping around that we went through a bunch more animals, including butterfly and crab and dinosaur. 'Twas great fun!

~Brian

---
Peace Through Music

	Doadars Uncle said 537 days ago
	Rock on! Really nice, Kristyjo! What a great way to "warm up" a room of kids! Nice dynamics. Nicely sung! Doug

	SmokeyVW said 535 days ago
	childish, perhaps, but... this is deep. speaks volumes about the human condition! thanks

paul f. page said 533 days ago

Stand up...
...What a blessing for your students to have a teacher who writes music for them that they can actually perform. They must love coming to your class. The more of your things I hear, the more I understand how you "imagine" your music. It all seems so very accessible and that's where the magic lies. ... I just left a note for you on "Organic Silk" as well. Another well-conceived number with some really great percussion orchestration as counterpoint. ... Take a look... I am really enjoying the breadth of your work. There's always a surprise waiting...and a delightful one at that.
Paul

	John Stebbe said 484 days ago
	This is great! Kristy, this is a great track! I love hearing your kids sing. This is a home-run song. It is inspiring me to try my own little variation of it this fall. Wait a minute -- August is not Fall, last I checked. Oh well, "Fall" is a euphemism for August 13th (first day of kids), I suppose.

kristyjo said 483 days ago

EEK- August 13th!
Wisconsin passed a state law not allowing us to have students in classes before Labor Day. Right now, I like that law!

I'm glad you enjoyed the song - and that you have your new Mac laptop available to use in class. We have a Bondi blue imac and a G3 snow white iMac in the music classrooms I use, so the laptop comes with me to school a lot. I'm not allowed to get on the internet with it at school, though. (Our technology director is one of those guys who sees his job as 'don't let them try anything new', especially with technology that he doesn't personally use.)

Have fun in school this year!

	timothy devine said 479 days ago
	;) What a nice find. I love kids singing. I can feel there enthusiasm! Refreshing and honest,both singing and playing. thanks for sharing, this is a treasure! I'm gonna learn it to me for to play for my chilrens They are going to wov it. They can be loud and shout n stuff. peace

	estellie said 441 days ago
	Genius When I taught preschool, I think it was... soap and water, scrub, scrub, scrub soap and water, scrub, scrub, scrub... hee hee.

	said 366 days ago
	Hehehehhe ( 8 ) REAL NICE !! Great to hear this ! impro ? WOW...... : ) Tx lena

	said 366 days ago
	: ) What first struck me was Your beautiful voice ! I bet the kids had this as a Fav ! 6yearolds? In Sweden a Musicteacher started using hiphop in his class/lessons with GREAT success - for the Kids developement ! Amazing what Music can do & does to People . How fortunate for the Children in school to have You as a Teacher -not only of Music perhaps ?

	kristyjo said 541 days ago
	hey Mungo! Thanks for sharing your big smile. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

	kristyjo said 541 days ago
	It is great to be able.. to channel energy that might otherwise explode into chaos. I've been teaching this age group for 14 years at this school. I'm not sure I could handle high school seniors in the same way, but you never know! Thanks for listening and commenting.

	kristyjo said 541 days ago
	the photo Thanks for noticing the 'stunning' new photo. My grandma had this hanging in her house 'til she went into the nursing home, and I just found it while cleaning out the attic. I took my cue from the two of you!

	kristyjo said 538 days ago
	Hey - you enjoy your summer, too! I'm teaching a couple of three week summer school courses. (Drum circle for kids and Make your own drum for teens). but otherwise I muck out the house, play in civic band, and generally re-energize for next school year. I'll tell the kids next year that you enjoyed it!

	kristyjo said 538 days ago
	I love songs with motions, So I guess it makes sense for me to write a song that's almost all motion. We did it today sitting on the floor, so it was a long way up and a long way down. I'm glad you enjoyed it more than the Hanon exercises, and I hope you did the actions with us! Thanks for listening!

	kristyjo said 537 days ago
	Thanks, Doug! This is about as 'rockin' as I get:) Glad you enjoyed it!

	kristyjo said 534 days ago
	Wow, Smokey now I feel like some philosopher, but, you're right, by gum, it does remind me in a subtle way of what life is like, sometimes. Thanks for listening!

	kristyjo said 479 days ago
	Thanks for stopping and listening. I'm nearing the end of a summer break, and am starting the preparation for next year's classes. It's nice to know that you enjoyed the song, and will be sharing it with other kids, too.

	kristyjo said 441 days ago
	Cool- I thought ALL preschool teachers sang, because kids learn so much at that age by singing. Your 'Soap and Water' song is a good example. But, I found out that many teachers don't sing, and that is kind of sad. I'm glad that YOU have been carrying on the tradition!

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