Practicing at Home

Lessons are important for learning new information and skills. Rehearsals guide students to put everything together to prepare for performance with other students. Practicing at home is necessary for students to strengthen new skills and gain confidence in note reading and instrument technique.

I recommend practicing outside of school a minimum of 3 times per week for about 20-40 minutes each time. Just this small amount of practice (as little as an hour total each week) makes a huge improvement in success and enjoyment. Any less, and it can be extremely difficult to make steady progress. Practicing for less than 20 minutes is often too short to get into a productive mindset and see true benefit.

Assignments

Assignments are usually due on E days for all students. There is roughly one assignment each week, though the type of assignments and difficulty varies from week to week. All assignments are posted with links, instructions, and due dates in Google Classroom. The Classwork Tab is the best place to view past and upcoming assignments and feedback. Grades and missing assignments are also available to view any time in Infinite Campus. Please reach out to me if you have questions or believe their may be a grading error.

Practice Assignments (5th & 6th Grade)

Practice Assignments are Google Forms. These walk students through steps and materials for a single effective practice session. These are designed to be about a 20-30 minute practice session. Students should open the Google Form assignment, set up their instrument, and follow along. They should use links to enhance their practicing with audio, visuals, and other supplemental materials. They need to respond with reflective feedback and submit the form at the end of their guided practice session.

Playing Quizzes

Students will be asked to record themselves playing specific exercises using the Essential Elements Interactive website. They will receive immediate feedback from the computer based on accuracy. They can retake their recording as many times as they want until they are satisfied. There are several steps to saving and submitting recordings, which I can review in class or assist students who are having technical issues. I will listen to all recordings, and provide personalized feedback and scores through Google Classroom.

Playing Assignments (6th, 7th, & 8th Grade)

Playing Assignments allow students to choose exercises, warm ups, or pieces of music that are interesting to them, or their preferred level of challenge. Rather than focusing on standardized achievement, these assignments are intended to encourage individualized selection of practice materials and ongoing progress. Full scores on Practice Assignments are based on clear progress on learning music and technique, not accuracy.

Practice Plan & Logs (7th & 8th Grade)

Practice Plan & Logs support students' development of effective practice routines. In particular, the act of planning when and what they are going to practice involves customization based on personal schedules, preferences, and upcoming events. Students are then asked to follow through on their planned practices, documenting when they stick to their plan and when they alter their plan.

7th/8th Grade Band Project

Students have a wide variety of interests and experiences with music outside of Band. They also have various preferences for different aspects of Band at the Marsh. This project emphasises creativity and indulging curiosity. Students are asked to design their own long-term project. Any project that is associated with music (not necessarily Band) is welcome. Students might choose to compose, learn a challenging piece, perform something for their class, record something for me to hear, collect research notes, present on a topic, etc... Students must submit a plan toward the end of Term 1 for approval. Projects will be due toward the end of Term 2.