A Really BIG Band!

Did you notice the title of my first blogpost of the year? I titled this post "A Really BIG  Band" because between the two schools, I have over 105 band students!! That is a number I have not seen in a long while! Maybe even ever! It's going to be a great year!

Depending on which school your child goes to, you may have had over a week of new bandling sounds in your house, or you may have just started to have the beautiful sounds of beginning band practicing in your house! Whichever is true for your household, I hope your child(ren) have been enjoying themselves! First lessons at SGE went really well on Tuesday! Most students are supposed to be practicing page 4 in their books. You can find out what their homework is by looking at their practice record. Every week at the end of the lesson, each student marks down the date and what their homework is on their practice record. They are then required to keep track of how many minutes they practice each night and get that row signed each week before their next lesson. Most RGS students had their practice records signed and ready to go during their second lesson this week, but some did not. I do check practice records each week and record how many minutes and whether or not it was signed in my gradebook.

I'm sure you have, but please take time to talk to your child about their band lessons and how it's going. Any encouragement and positive comments you can make to your bandling about their progress is going to pay off exponentially in their attitude and motivation! I try and be as positive and encouraging as I can be, but I do only see the bandlings one time a week! I need your help to keep them going the rest of the week.

Once we start working on page 5 in the book (most the RGS students are practicing page 5 & 6 THIS week!) the students can start using the CD's that have come with the books. This usually makes practice sessions more exciting. You can even load the whole CD onto an ipod or a tablet and then they can take the device and use it with headphones and play along! Playing with the CD is great because it gives the student help with intonation (playing "in-tune") and a good sense of steady beat.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call or email! I'm happy to talk with you. Enjoy yourselves this weekend!

Mrs. Storer
678-6726
www.mrsstorersbands.weebly.com