Lessons and Practicing

So, I didn't get around to getting the pictures up and I left the camera at school, so that will have to wait until next week.

Lessons will start on Monday and each student should have a lesson schedule! I'll try to get that up on the website soon. I still don't have network access on the machine it is on at school, so I'll try to get it out there some other way! It is really important that students practice each week for at least 45 minutes. In the September edition of the Des Moines Register's Moms Like Me section, there was a great list of "tips to motivate your young musician." I list them here because I think there are some great ideas!

• Ask to hear old favorites as well as new, challenging songs.
• Have your child perform a few tunes at a "concert" for the family.
• Have your child practice with someone else.
• ask your child's band teacher for suggestions for alternate, fun sheet music to play for a change of pace.
• Go to concerts, buy music CDs or listen to the radio. Ask your child to pick out his instrument sound from the group you are listening to.
• Attend your child's performances.

One day down

I would call the first day back a success! It is always great to see all those students coming back to school. Almost everyone comes with a great attitude and is patient while they sit through 8 periods of classroom rules and expectations. I figured by the time the 7-8 choir got to me 7th hour, they would be tired of that--so we started right away with warm-ups, range checks and a new song called Gloria in Excelsis. Hopefully by the time next week rolls around, everyone will be assigned a part (soprano/alto) and we can really get going. I am really excited because we have 34 people in choir and 8 are guys!!!! We are in store for some fun music!

I'll try to post some pics tomorrow (if I get a chance)! It's good to be back!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow

The summer is officially at an end with students arriving tomorrow! After being refreshed on the teacher evaluation procedure, we had scheduled time to work in our rooms until noon today. Of course we could stay longer, but it was officially compensation time for hours spent on back to school night/open house. Many people did stay at the middle school, working to get things ready for tomorrow. I am still without email and Internet access in the band room, so the best way to contact me might be the telephone! Hopefully that can get worked out soon.

From a teaching perspective, I am eager for the year to begin. Everyone always has such high hopes as we start the new year--teachers, students and parents. It really gets me motivated to see what we can all accomplish together this year. My plan is to put more pictures in this blog and on the website. Along those lines, if there is anything you would like on the website, relating to music or other things, don't hesitate to let me know! I am really looking forward to good things this year!

Getting Back to Work

We have survived one day of inservice. So far, I have spent a lot of time working to get both of my rooms ready to go for the year. It always seems like double the work. :) Trying to get things all lined up for 4 different performing groups is always interesting. I have been spending a lot of time making sure we can hit the ground running. I still do not have access to the computer network, so no email or Internet for the time being. Hopefully that will all get worked out soon, so that I can communicate with all of you! Today's inservice is going to be spent in different clinic sessions--hopefully I'll find something that I can use!

Summer News

Summer is starting to wind down for me as I look to the next school year. Seems hard for me to believe teachers report in under 4 weeks! I have a lot of work to do as far as listening to, selecting and ordering music for the next school year.

I am a little behind for a couple of reasons this year. The first is the fact I didn't have power in the band room for a large part of the summer (still might not--haven't been there for a while). It makes it hard to go through music and instruments without lights! But that brings me to my other news. We welcomed Caelyn Marie into the world on July 15th! Nights have been short and she has lost about 11% of her birth weight, but she has really started eating well the last couple of days. I love spending time with her and wife! I can't imagine her being born during the school year and having to go back to teach.

One more note, even with the things keeping me busy over the summer, I am still seriously considering doing marching band with the 7-8 band next fall. We would only march in the homecoming parade, but I think it would be a good learning experience and a lot of fun.

Enjoy the rest of the summer!

News, News, News

A couple of things as we wind down the month of June and the summer lesson program.

1) I have really enjoyed doing lessons this summer and am really looking forward to having some down time before the school year begins again! Planning music selections, spending time at Riemans looking for choir music and preparing for our first child in about a month!

2) In Sunday's Des Moines Register, there was a great article about the DCI (Drum Corps International) show on Thursday this week in West Des Moines. It's a great show--go see it! The article talked about a study done about the physical nature of these drum corps. It's a great read. There was another piece of info yesterday.

3) I never met the head coach at Aplington-Parkersburg who was shot and killed this morning, but from what everyone says, he was a great guy. It makes me, and many more teachers, think about how dangerous schools can be and the steps we need to take to make sure students are safe.

Summer fun--weather??

Well, I started lessons this week and I really enjoy doing them. It is more laid back and relaxed than the regular year and students are ready to do some learning!

I made a trip over to Mingo after lessons today and discovered the storms of last night left a lasting impact. Below are some pics I took with my phone. Needless to say, I won't have electricity in the band room for a while, so that means no email as well.