Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Concert time is here!

Has it really been almost a month since I've written a post??? Things got crazy busy here very quickly. Congratulations to all of the 5th grade band members from both schools! The concerts this week were outstanding and I'm just so incredibly proud of both groups! This was the first year in a while that I was not nervous about how the concerts were going to go, because the groups were so prepared!

I will hand out the January/February schedule when I'm at school on Tuesday, December 20. I start the day at SGS and then come to RGS for the afternoon. I will not be at either school on Wednesday, December 21. If your child will not be at school on the 20th, I will sure to post the schedule on my website, so you can access it before we all start back up in January. Just a head's up: the first day back to school for students in 2012 is a Wednesday (January 4). I will be at RGS on this day for the whole day and will see all of the band students for lessons and full band that day. The next day, Thursday, January 5, I will be at SGS for the morning and I will see all of the band students for lessons that morning. I know it will be a different day than usual, but I don't want to miss another whole week of my SGSers. I will be emailing reminders once we get closer.

I've just recently gotten access to a projector at each school and we've been able to project the Smartmusic program on the board and play along with it! It is SO cool! The students get a kick out of seeing the green cursor moving along the music, showing them where they should be playing. And after we play a song, green and red notes pop up to show them if they made any mistakes. There is even a percentage "grade" they are given to show them how well they did! They like to try and beat their last grade! How much fun would your bandling have if they could use this program at home?? If you're still looking for things to get your children for the holidays, a subscription to Smartmusic would be GREAT!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday break! Be sure to request that your bandling plays some holiday music at your family gatherings! They love to show off their talents!

Amanda Storer
678-6726