Music notes for 1-18-14
Good afternoon parents,
Before getting to this week's schedule, I needed to make you aware of a situation that will be coming up soon. On Thursday, February 13th I will be having a brain tumor removed. If everything goes well, I will return to school in approximately 6 to 8 weeks. I believe I have secured a retired band director and former school administrator to fill in for me while I am gone. It is WILDLY important to me that I find someone who can work with my kids and allow them to continue to grow and mature as players. I am confident that we will be able to do that.
One of my weaknesses is that I find it extremely difficult to ask for help when I need it. This is a situation where I am going to have to get over that feeling that I am burdening someone and ask for help. I am going to be asking some of the students to take on a bit of additional responsibility to make sure things run smoothly. I am also going to be asking them to be working ahead on things that will come later in the year. I have been getting out concert music months earlier than usual so that we can get a jump start on it. From parents, I will be asking for help mainly with our spring Band Boosters fundraiser that will begin at the end of February. Recruiting is also going to be difficult this year. I may need help from parents in delivering recruiting materials to our feeder schools.
The biggest monkey wrench in all of this falls to my sixth graders who were interested in moving to a specialty instrument in February. Right now, I do not know the status of morning group lessons. I am going to go ahead and let people know if their application was accepted or denied on Wednesday and Thursday. We may have to delay the beginning of that program until later in the year but these hardworking kids WILL get the opportunity to move to the new instruments at some point. I might have a more definitive answer by the time I see them on Wednesday or Thursday.
Parents, I am letting you know about this before I talk with students next week so you can help to reassure them that there is a plan in place to ensure that they continue learning and growing. Middle schoolers generally do not like changes of routine and hate feeling overlooked. With everything going on, they are still very much at the front of my mind. One of my biggest struggles over the last few weeks has been making sure my kids musical experience is not harmed because of my leave.
Well... Let's see what is going on this week in the band room.
Congratulations to 8th Grade Flute player Sam Barnhardt for being named as an alternate for the 2014 All District Honors Band. She, and five other Bradley Band students, were among the over 1500 students who auditioned for the All District Bands. This is quite an honor and we are very proud of her accomplishment.
Monday- MLK Holiday- No School
Tuesday- Teacher Workday
Wednesday- B day- Last day of 1st semester
Thursday- A Day
Friday- B Day
All Classes- There is not practice card due this week. Practice Card #13 is due on Monday, January 27th.
8A- (Thursday)- We will continue to introduce Spring music including music for the Fine Arts Festival, Carowinds Music Festival and Spring Concert. No quizzes this week.
8B- Beginning Band (Friday)- This is the first time we have been able to offer beginning band in any form after the 6th grade. It should be a fun experiment. Current band members may take this (in addition to 8th grade band) to explore a secondary instrument if they have room in their schedule.
7A- (Thursday)- We will be taking quiz #25 from Essential Elements 2000 Book 2 that was originally scheduled for Friday the 17th. Home Smart Music users will take it by Wednesday at 10pm or be prepared to take it Thursday during class.
7B- (Wed, Fri)- We will continue working out of book 2, sightreading Spring Concert pieces and doing makeup testing for absences last week on #7 and #11.
6A- (Thursday)- We will be taking quiz #65 from Essential Elements 2000 Book 1 that was original scheduled for Friday the 17th. Home Smart Music users will take it by Wednesday at 10pm or be prepared or be prepared to take it Thursday during class.
6B- (Wed, Fri)- We will continue working out of book 1 and sightread our first Spring Concert piece.
I think that is it for this week. I hope everyone has a great rest of their weekend!
Thank you,
Rick Owens
Director of Bands
Bradley Middle School
NBCT EAYA Music
980-343-5750
[email protected]
http://bradleybands.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/
Before getting to this week's schedule, I needed to make you aware of a situation that will be coming up soon. On Thursday, February 13th I will be having a brain tumor removed. If everything goes well, I will return to school in approximately 6 to 8 weeks. I believe I have secured a retired band director and former school administrator to fill in for me while I am gone. It is WILDLY important to me that I find someone who can work with my kids and allow them to continue to grow and mature as players. I am confident that we will be able to do that.
One of my weaknesses is that I find it extremely difficult to ask for help when I need it. This is a situation where I am going to have to get over that feeling that I am burdening someone and ask for help. I am going to be asking some of the students to take on a bit of additional responsibility to make sure things run smoothly. I am also going to be asking them to be working ahead on things that will come later in the year. I have been getting out concert music months earlier than usual so that we can get a jump start on it. From parents, I will be asking for help mainly with our spring Band Boosters fundraiser that will begin at the end of February. Recruiting is also going to be difficult this year. I may need help from parents in delivering recruiting materials to our feeder schools.
The biggest monkey wrench in all of this falls to my sixth graders who were interested in moving to a specialty instrument in February. Right now, I do not know the status of morning group lessons. I am going to go ahead and let people know if their application was accepted or denied on Wednesday and Thursday. We may have to delay the beginning of that program until later in the year but these hardworking kids WILL get the opportunity to move to the new instruments at some point. I might have a more definitive answer by the time I see them on Wednesday or Thursday.
Parents, I am letting you know about this before I talk with students next week so you can help to reassure them that there is a plan in place to ensure that they continue learning and growing. Middle schoolers generally do not like changes of routine and hate feeling overlooked. With everything going on, they are still very much at the front of my mind. One of my biggest struggles over the last few weeks has been making sure my kids musical experience is not harmed because of my leave.
Well... Let's see what is going on this week in the band room.
Congratulations to 8th Grade Flute player Sam Barnhardt for being named as an alternate for the 2014 All District Honors Band. She, and five other Bradley Band students, were among the over 1500 students who auditioned for the All District Bands. This is quite an honor and we are very proud of her accomplishment.
Monday- MLK Holiday- No School
Tuesday- Teacher Workday
Wednesday- B day- Last day of 1st semester
Thursday- A Day
Friday- B Day
All Classes- There is not practice card due this week. Practice Card #13 is due on Monday, January 27th.
8A- (Thursday)- We will continue to introduce Spring music including music for the Fine Arts Festival, Carowinds Music Festival and Spring Concert. No quizzes this week.
8B- Beginning Band (Friday)- This is the first time we have been able to offer beginning band in any form after the 6th grade. It should be a fun experiment. Current band members may take this (in addition to 8th grade band) to explore a secondary instrument if they have room in their schedule.
7A- (Thursday)- We will be taking quiz #25 from Essential Elements 2000 Book 2 that was originally scheduled for Friday the 17th. Home Smart Music users will take it by Wednesday at 10pm or be prepared to take it Thursday during class.
7B- (Wed, Fri)- We will continue working out of book 2, sightreading Spring Concert pieces and doing makeup testing for absences last week on #7 and #11.
6A- (Thursday)- We will be taking quiz #65 from Essential Elements 2000 Book 1 that was original scheduled for Friday the 17th. Home Smart Music users will take it by Wednesday at 10pm or be prepared or be prepared to take it Thursday during class.
6B- (Wed, Fri)- We will continue working out of book 1 and sightread our first Spring Concert piece.
I think that is it for this week. I hope everyone has a great rest of their weekend!
Thank you,
Rick Owens
Director of Bands
Bradley Middle School
NBCT EAYA Music
980-343-5750
[email protected]
http://bradleybands.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/