Fingers, bows, and neurons are flying!
TLDR version (Too Long, Didn't Read):
1. We have a website now where you can find this blog, our calendar, and more.
kulshanwhatcom.wixsite.com/kulshanorchestras
(Soon to be added through school website)
2. Our first concert is coming up!
December 12th, 7:00pm, Kulshan Commons (Students arrive by 6:30)
3. Practice expectations for students who may still not know... At least one practice in between each class, 20 minute session, although quality counts more than quantity - try not to watch the clock, practice what's hard, not what's easy; practice slowly. We are all busy, but if students truly cannot find 15-20 minutes of time in between classes, they can report up to 3 sessions of weekend makeup points at the start of each week. Studying another instrument? You can report that to put you above standard, too! But only if you practiced your orchestra music as well.
Full version:
Director's Message:
Greetings Orchestra Family!
In the spirit of "publishing beats perfection", I am sharing what is the barebones of what I hope to be a seed that will grow into a great source of communication, support, and joyful learning for our orchestras. On this site, you'll find this blog where I will share newsletters that will also go out to the emails associated with your student through Skyward, but also feature periodic articles about music and then pages with our calendar, resources, and more to come. Sorry for the long address, it will be added to our school website soon. http://kulshanwhatcom.wixsite.com/kulshanorchestras
In a perfect world, this would be our October Newsletter, but reality and the learning curve conspired against me. Please forgive me, digital professionals, skilled amateurs, and natives alike, as in retrospect, the work that took hours upon hours, really boils down to just a few afternoons, once you know what you didn't know. (One example is how I learned that one shouldn't delete a wix site until after it has been accepted by another site owner when transferring it from my personal email to a school-only email, as my site disappeared!)
My goal is to share a blog post here and email it through Skyward each month with a Director's Message, Calendar Information, and a Classroom Connection. Thank you for your commitment to instrumental music study, we are on our way to kicking off a brilliant set of concerts!
Calendar:
Our first performance is right around the corner, invite your friends and relatives and please let me know of any unsolvable schedule conflicts. If you are reading this on our webpage, you can click the "Calendar" tab to see a Kulshan Orchestra Calendar with other community music events, and the district calendar all overlaid on one calendar. As of this writing we only have our December, March, and June concerts listed so far. (There is a separate link to the Kulshan Orchestra Calendar only, so that one can add it to a other digital calendar)
Kulshan Orchestras Winter Concert
December 12 - 7:00 pm
Kulshan Commons - (Students arrive by 6:30)
Classroom Connection:
Our students should be well aware of their practice expectations, but I know that one can never communicate often enough of with enough clarity, so I'll make sure we hear it one more time. :)
At least one practice session in between each class
Students are expected to practice at least one session in between each of our rehearsals. A session of practice should be about 20 minutes. I discourage students from focusing on a timer or clock, unless you or they feel it is needed it to be productive and consistent. Playing with an amount of time as our primary goal is just about the worst form of practice we can do. Play a warmup scale or rhythm, play through a piece, then do some focused training. Maybe we could find a piece you really love and force yourself to play the music that is less fun first!
How we practice is much more important than how much we practice
Students should be focusing on playing the music that they don't know. And if we feel like we've mastered any particular piece, look again, because there is always room for improvment. Enjoy playing through the parts you know, but spend the majority of your time repeating small sections that are giving you trouble, focusing on clarity and memorization. Imagine all the practice strategies we use in class and see if one of them applies to your work.
Daily Five Points (And Weekend Three)
At the beginning of each class, we report our Daily Five - (1 point for your instrument, 1 point for your music, and 1 point for your attitude, behavior, and effort; then 2 points available to report for up to 2 practice sessions.).
Students reporting "3+1" each day are meeting standard ("3" Grade) and those that find time for two sessions report "3+2" are exceeding standard ("4" Grade).
Points are recorded in a spreadsheet and can always be checked at the end of class for inaccuracies or to discuss any possible adjustments. Sickness, travel, family emergencies or commitments, and instrument repair can excuse students from that day's points, of course.
Students with schedule challenges are able to make up for their whole week's practice over the weekend with up to three extra weekend points available on top of our regular Daily Five. But we all know that a lot of evidence points to regular small practice is better than "cramming". If we can't find even 10 minutes for our instrument every other day, then we will probably not be growing as strongly as we could be...Weekend makeups should not be our standard practice, but a flexible way to respond to life's demands.
Students who study another instrument can report that practice session on that instrument only if they have first done their work on their orchestra music and instrument.