Dear Gregory Chorus Families,
Now that we are a little over one month into the new school year, I wanted to let the dust settle a bit and have everyone get acclimated to our new learning situation before reaching out in regards to some of our more important talking points for our young vocal musicians. I have been excited to see students’ faces (albeit through a Zoom screen) and seeing them singing, and it has been my first and foremost goal during all of this to keep everyone singing as much as possible. After all, that is at the heart of what we do in chorus!
Speaking of singing, here are some important points of which I wanted you to be aware:
- PERFORMANCES/CONCERTS – Obviously while we are remote, there will be no official in-person performances of music ensembles. The district is currently in the planning stages for some virtual music sharing for our students to be able to share their learning and musical growth with their families and the community. As soon as we have some more information about that, we will be sure to inform you of our plans. In the meantime, once we do return to in-person learning and are given the green light to pursue some more traditional concert formats, we will be sure to get you those dates so you can put them on your family calendar!
- #LIFTYOURVOICE – At the beginning of the school year, though, I did ask our chorus families to reserve the date of Saturday, October 10, at 6:30pm. This is not an in-person performance, or even a Zoom meeting; this will be an opportunity for our singers (and even YOU, if you are interested!) to share their music with the world around them. We have been learning the traditional Shaker tune “Simple Gifts” in class, in anticipation of this event, in which singers and instrumentalists from around the country will perform this song “together” in their own individual spaces. Our chorus students have been encouraged to sing the song at 6:30 that evening, and can choose the venue in which they perform—their yard, their kitchen, on a nature hike, for a family member, in the bathroom, or anywhere they are comfortable performing it. If a student would like to record their performance and share it with me, they can receive extra credit for doing so, otherwise there is no formal expectation other than to share their singing and reflect upon their “gifts.” For more information about this project, visit: https://liftyourvoice2020.weebly.com
- ZOOM/CAMERAS – Because chorus is so performance-based, and because so much of what we work on in class is improving our techniques, it is really important for their success that students’ cameras remain ON at all times during synchronous instruction. Most students have been really great about making sure they are staying connected and engaged visually, but we do have some students who are still a bit shy in this regard. Parents, PLEASE have a conversation about this with your child, and ask them about how they have been doing with this and their overall comfort level during remote learning. If there is a special situation or circumstance that precludes the use of the camera, I understand completely. Otherwise, please encourage them to make sure they are fully engaged in our class instruction.
- EXTRACURRICULAR OPPORTUNITIES – During in-person learning, we have historically offered three vocal groups at Gregory that meet outside of the school day, for students who are looking to enhance their curricular, in-class vocal instruction with some additional repertoire and more singing time: Concert Choir (auditioned, honors-level treble choir) and Men’s & Mixed Ensembles (pop/jazz/musical theatre vocal ensembles). While we are remote, we are going to offer some “vocal clubs” that offer many of the same experiences as those groups, but catered more toward our remote-learning environment. Details and a schedule are currently being finalized, but we have asked students to express their interest in these (and our band/orchestra extracurricular ensembles) through a Google Form starting today. Parents, if your child has mentioned these to you but has not had an opportunity to fill out the form yet, please have them click on the link in their chorus Google Classroom page to officially submit their interest. We will reach out soon with more information!
- ILMEA FESTIVAL – A virtual version of the ILMEA (Illinois Music Educators Association) District IX Junior Festival will be taking place over Zoom on the morning of Saturday, November 14. Any interested 7th or 8th grade singers have been encouraged to enroll in our special ILMEA audition Google Classroom page in order to prepare an audition to be submitted by video. Deadline for video submissions is Friday, October 9, so interested students should be working this week on rehearsing their audition material and creating their video.
A final important note:
- GRADING/ASSIGNMENTS/ENGAGEMENT – Grades for all assignments that have been submitted or missing are now current in ParentVUE/StudentVUE through at least September 27. Parents, please check your child’s chorus grade and assignment completion. If you have a question or concern about any grade, please inquire first with your child and have them check Google Classroom for the corresponding assignment/assessment. Missing assignments have been temporarily entered as zeros until a submission is received, and late work will be accepted for full credit. For our class assessments, grades of 70% or lower are eligible for a retake assessment; students interested in completing a retake must reach out to Mr. Pfenninger via email to request one. Our Monday quizzes are designed to gauge retention and understanding of the prior week’s class content; if a student is engaging fully and appropriately in the class instruction, and is writing down our brief guided notes on the main topics of the day, students are generally very successful on these assessments. Our assignments are based on concepts or skills that are points of focus in class as well; chorus-only students are given time in class during our asynchronous ‘personalized learning time’ segment of the period to complete these, while our combo students have been instructed to complete these during their open “unlunch” period. As such, a student should rarely have traditional “homework” to complete for chorus class; the expectation during our “camera off” asynchronous class time is that students are working on and finishing their assignments. Students should also use this time, if they have questions or need assistance, to reach out and ask for help. Many of our students have been very successful navigating this self-regulated remote learning environment we are in, and I have been incredibly impressed with their engagement and desire to participate and learn. Please continue to encourage your child to stay on top of their schedule, stay consistently engaged in class, and use their class time appropriately for completing the day’s tasks so that they do not fall behind and create unnecessary amounts of work for themselves later. Together, as a team, we can make sure our students continue to learn and grow as musicians even while we are remote. Your efforts in this regard are greatly appreciated!
As always, I am just an email away if at any time you have any questions. It has been an interesting start to a school year we will all remember, but we are still accomplishing great things, thanks to the efforts of our terrific Gregory singers and their families. I appreciate you all very much!
