A days- Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
B days- Tuesday and Thursday
Updates/Information about my medical leave: We have been working since early August to ensure that orchestra students get to continue their learning while I am absent. I am happy to let you know that as of today, all but one day of my absence is being covered by a substitute that is either a retired orchestra teacher or is an experienced substitute with violin experience. Students need to bring their instruments EVERY day that their class is scheduled to meet (with ONE exception for 6th grade, which will be clear in the weekly emails that I pre-schedule to send out). Obviously sometimes life happens, but as long as one of these three teachers is in the room with students, the students will be allowed to play instruments! I am encouraging students to embrace the opportunity to learn from other orchestra professionals.
Ms. Booth will be the main substitute who covers a majority of my leave time. She is a retired CMS orchestra teacher who has also substituted for orchestra teachers many times since her initial retirement. I am so very thankfully that she is coming out of her retirement from substituting to work with the Piedmont students.
Mr. Lajoie will be covering at least one day of my leave. He is a recently retired CMS orchestra teacher with experience at the middle school and high school levels, including some time at an IB middle school.
Ms. Burns-Monroe will be covering several days of my leave. She is an experienced substitute who knows Piedmont very well. All three of her children were also a part of the Piedmont Orchestra!
GRADES/WORK- All students have completed two playing tests (perform grades) for 1st quarter. An retests (only for perform grades below 80%) need to be submitted to me by the end of the day on October 10th to ensure that I have time to regrade the assignment on October 11th. Tests resubmitted while I am absent won't be regraded until part of the way through 2nd quarter when I return. Any currently missing assignments (currently listed as zeros in PowerSchool) also need to be submitted to me by the end of the day on October 10th to ensure that I have time to grade them.
If students are in the classroom with a substitute other than the ones listed above, the worksheets that they are given will be due at the end of that class. Mr. Forbis and Dr. Barone will be grading worksheets and those will appear in PowerSchool as they are graded. If students are dispersed, they will have an assignment on CANVAS that will be due at the end of that class. The assignments will autograde, but Dr. Barone will have to enter them into PowerSchool. Hopefully neither of these situations occurs, but I put together plans for both situations for the extent of my absence.
All grading questions and classroom concerns while I am absent need to go to Dr. Barone.
6th Grade Bow Licenses- SOME students may receive their bow licenses early this week. I am looking during class for students to consistently demonstrate proper bow hold and bowing technique with very little reminders/assistance before I give them a license. Students who DO NOT get their license before I leave will still be able to get theirs from Ms. Booth as they show progression and growth. I want to make sure that all students have a fantastic set up and learn good habits before they use their bows at home. I remind them regularly that it's harder to re-learn something when they develop incorrect technique.
CMS Honors Orchestra students- I will send out another email later today or tomorrow detailing the information about the club on Monday, the auditions, and the CMS orchestra teacher that will be your contact with questions about CMS Honors Orchestra while I am gone.
Thank you again for all of your kind words and thoughts. This will be the last large email from me that I can respond to. I am working on presetting a weekly email each week reminding everyone of when classes meet, etc.
A days- Tuesday and Thursday
B days- Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
6th graders are over halfway through the steps to earn their bow licenses! They should not be using their bows at home yet but will be using them at school this week. Sixth graders DO have their second playing test this coming week and MAY take it at home on Canvas PRIOR to the day it will be given in class if they want!
Thank you for all of the kind emails this past week. I have not been able to answer most as I continue to work on the plans for the substitute teacher(s) during my absence, but I appreciate them all.
A days- Wednesday and Friday
B days- Tuesday and Thursday
6th graders are continuing to learn more about the bow and SHOULD NOT be using their bows at home yet! Both classes are getting closer to using their bows AT SCHOOL. They will show you their bow license once they are able to use their bow at home!
A days- Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
B days- Tuesday and Thursday
A day students DO NOT need instruments for the Early Release Day on Wednesday. Mrs. Thornburg has provided us with a different lesson to cover during our shorter class on Wednesday.
6th graders are continuing to learn more about the bow and SHOULD NOT be using their bows at home yet!
A days- Tuesday and Thursday
B days- Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Sixth grade students should NOT be using their bows at home yet. They will receive an actual "license to bow" once they have completed all of the preparation steps and checks (it will take a few weeks).
All classes have their first playing test this coming week (7th Grade A day took their test today). Grades will appear in Canvas as I am able to grade each student's test.
A days- Wednesday and Friday
B days- Tuesday and Thursday
Thank you for a great first week of orchestra classes. All students should bring their orchestra supplies each day that they have class (book, folder, instrument and accessories). I send out emails every weekend with the schedule for the upcoming week.
Sixth grade students should NOT be using their bows at home yet. They will receive an actual "license to bow" once they have completed all of the preparation steps and checks (it will take a few weeks).