I would like to apologize for the one day delay some of you will have in receiving your orders. The delivery person did not arrive at the high school until 3:00 today, making it impossible for me to package orders and get them back to the middle school by 3:05. All orders are at the middle school as of this time and will be sent home on Tuesday!
Sorry for any inconvenience.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Practicing Tips/Suggestions
I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I put something up here--my apologies. As the school year rolls on, lots of things pull and tug for time and this has been moved to the back burner.
I am going to use this post to talk about practicing. While not always fun, it's the main way in which students improve. During our lessons, we discuss new ideas/concepts and this is the time students get to "practice" these skills. It really is like homework. Or maybe it would be better if we called homework "practice."
Making practice effective comes partially in it's regularity, not necessarily in its length. 10-15 minutes a day, 3 times per week is considerably more effective than one 90 minute marathon practice session. The reinforcement is repeated, which promotes the retention of the information.
Set a regular schedule for practicing, the same time each day of practice. Maybe even set the timer for 10-15 minutes. While it should be fun most of the time, it's not all the time. Sometimes it takes encouragement to get started. Once practice has begun, that fun will, more often than not, appear and the time will fly by.
I am going to use this post to talk about practicing. While not always fun, it's the main way in which students improve. During our lessons, we discuss new ideas/concepts and this is the time students get to "practice" these skills. It really is like homework. Or maybe it would be better if we called homework "practice."
Making practice effective comes partially in it's regularity, not necessarily in its length. 10-15 minutes a day, 3 times per week is considerably more effective than one 90 minute marathon practice session. The reinforcement is repeated, which promotes the retention of the information.
Set a regular schedule for practicing, the same time each day of practice. Maybe even set the timer for 10-15 minutes. While it should be fun most of the time, it's not all the time. Sometimes it takes encouragement to get started. Once practice has begun, that fun will, more often than not, appear and the time will fly by.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
More than an election
Along with yesterday being election day and my wife's birthday, I had the opportunity to take 3 students to the South Central Iowa Bandmasters Association (SCIBA) Honor Band in Johnston. Nicholas, Michael and Kathryn spent the afternoon working with guest conductors and students from about50 area schools working on music they received a couple weeks ago. Last night, they put on a concert--absolutely wonderful. It is amazing how talented students can come together and make such great music.
For the CM students, it was a great chance to see what it is like playing in a band of about 100 students! Quite a different experience than what they are used to doing. The top 8th graders in the auditioned "Blue" band were selected to perform as part of the All Iowa 8th Grade Honor Band in May at the Iowa Bandmasters Conference. Lots of hard work and preparation goes into something like this, but the end result is awesome! Hopefully this experience will remind all those involved of the importance of the arts in education!
For the CM students, it was a great chance to see what it is like playing in a band of about 100 students! Quite a different experience than what they are used to doing. The top 8th graders in the auditioned "Blue" band were selected to perform as part of the All Iowa 8th Grade Honor Band in May at the Iowa Bandmasters Conference. Lots of hard work and preparation goes into something like this, but the end result is awesome! Hopefully this experience will remind all those involved of the importance of the arts in education!
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