Final Returns and Final Grades

Dear CMS Band Families,

I am about to approach my final week of teaching middle school band. What a year to be doing this.  We didn't have a final concert or any final trips, but we did have a wonderful 3/4 of a school year in person, followed by making a major and abrupt adaptation to a new normal for awhile. After dialing in lessons and figuring out what works best, I ended up with more students completing their work online than my best ever week of practice logs!  If we can succeed in music through distance learning, just imagine what we'll accomplish when we come back to playing in band classes! Even though things are rather tough right now, the future for our students is bright.

ITEM RETURNS

We have just 2 more days of returns:

• 26-May T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z 9AM - 2PM
• 27-May MAKE-UP 9AM - 2PM

Here are the reminders from last week:

• School-owned instrument with all reeds and other personal items removed. Leave instruments lined up neatly by instrument type (this will be labeled) on the floor.
• Complete uniform, cleaned, in garment bag (Advanced Band and Jazz Band). Hang your uniform on the garment racks in the hall. If you still have marching shoes, remove them from the garment bag and line them up against the wall.
• Music folder with all personal music, flyers, and pencils removed (Advanced Band and Jazz Band). Return music folders to their assigned cubbies. 

SHIRT PICK-UPS

Students who ordered special shirts may pick those up on their drop-off date or the make-up date this week. The shirts are just $10 and I will announce what we have left after Wednesday for those who did not pre-order the shirts.

AUDITION DEADLINE EXTENDED
I extended the Advanced Band and Wind Ensemble audition deadline to Monday, June 1. Results will be posted on June 3.

THIS WEEK'S ASSIGNMENT
This week, students will complete a final survey, which will require them to log into InfiniteCampus and check their grade, look for low/missing scores, and tell me if there is anything they need to make up.  This survey will be due on Thursday, May 28, and counts as this week's attendance. All make-up work will be due on Monday, June 1.

I will have one more update early next week and we'll be finished with this crazy school year. Thank you for your flexibility and your willingness to try new things.  We're almost there!

-Mr. Jacques-

The Return of the Items...

Dear CMS Band Families, 

This week, I have a couple of updates that include a timeline for instrument, uniform, and music returns, as well as our weekly assignments and auditions. 

ITEM RETURNS

The time has come for students to return to school and return any school-owned items and collect things from their lockers.  Here is what they need to return, along with some important directions:

• School-owned instrument with all reeds and other personal items removed. Leave instruments lined up neatly by instrument type (this will be labeled) on the floor.
• Complete uniform, cleaned, in garment bag (Advanced Band and Jazz Band). Hang your uniform on the garment racks in the hall. If you still have marching shoes, remove them from the garment bag and line them up against the wall.
• Music folder with all personal music, flyers, and pencils removed (Advanced Band and Jazz Band). Return music folders to their assigned cubbies. 

RETURN TIMES

Here is a list of the return times, sorted by last name.  Please be sure they make it to the band room during these times. If none of these times work, please contact me. 

18-May A, B, C 9AM - 2PM
19-May D, E, F, G 9AM - 2PM
20-May H, I, J, K, L 9AM - 2PM
21-May M, N, O, P 9AM - 2PM
22-May Q, R, S 9AM - 2PM
26-May T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z 9AM - 2PM
27-May MAKE-UP 9AM - 2PM

THIS WEEK'S ASSIGNMENT
This week, students will complete another lesson on Peardeck. To receive full credit, students must finish the slideshow and complete the quiz. There will be $10 gift certificates to Absolute Music for the top scores! The assignment is due on Thursday night at midnight and the winners will be announced on our weekly Zoom show on Friday at 10 AM.

ZOOM SHOW
Our weekly Zoom session has become more of a "talk/game show" where we wrap up our week with fun conversation, virtual games, and even a pretend spring trip. I encourage all students to attend this fun and interactive show. This week's theme: Disney, in honor of our spring trip that would have been taking place starting tomorrow.  The Zoom show will take place Friday from 10:00-10:45 AM.  Parents, feel free to watch.

AUDITIONS
Virtual Advanced Band (grades 6-7) and CHS Wind Ensemble (grade 8) auditions are now up and running! There is no Jazz Band audition requirement this year.  I posted the audition instructions in Google Classroom, and they are due on May 29.

I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe (and sane). Have a great week!

-Mr. Jacques-

New Week, New Lesson...

Dear CMS Band Families,

Back to it again! This week features a different kind of lesson and a change to the Zoom schedule.  I am also working on audition information and a schedule for when students can return to campus to return instruments, music, uniforms, etc.

WEEKLY LESSON
This week's lesson is a complete re-design of what we've done in past weeks. All students will have 1 assignment: a slideshow that helps them review all music fundamentals and guides them through how to compose their own melody. All of the information is in a self-contained and interactive slideshow that automatically saves their work.  Since some of us are left with extra free time these days, I invite any parents to also check it out. Here's the link: https://app.peardeck.com/student/tlhhvpcfh

This assignment will be due on Thursday night, May 7. I will grade it on Friday morning. This will also double as their weekly attendance.

ZOOM FRIDAYS
I will no longer be holding Zoom sessions on Monday-Thursday.  Instead, I will have an optional weekly Zoom meet-and-greet on Friday at 10:00 AM.  This session will be a fun place for us to all gather at the end of the week to share how we are doing.  I might also surprise students by playing games, reading to them, or who knows what else!

ADVANCED/JAZZ BAND AUDITIONS
Auditions are right around the corner! I will post the audition information on Friday.  In the meantime, students should review their Band-O-Rama music and study all the scales they worked on in class through March. Audition will take place through Flipgrid, where students will video record themselves playing through the audition. For students who prefer to audition in person, we are tentatively planning to offer live auditions on the week of May 18 at CMS.

HIGH SCHOOL BAND INFO (8th grade parents only)
Here is what I'm currently planning for the high school band classes:
Jazz Band: No audition necessary this year.  This class is also during "0" period and is open to any student with prior jazz band experience at CMS.
Marching Band: No audition necessary. In high school, this is its own class. It meets on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from August-November. There will also be a mandatory band camp from August 3-7 and 10-14. We may also add a freshman-only orientation to band camp on Friday, July 31.  I will have much more information about this class in June.
Cadet Band: No audition necessary. Open to any student who just completed Beginning Band or any experienced student who wants to learn a secondary instrument.
Concert Band: No audition necessary. Open to any student currently in Intermediate Band or Advanced Band.
Wind Ensemble: An audition is required. This is the top-performing group at Carson HS, much like our Advanced Band at CMS.  I will post audition information shortly.

If reading this gave you more questions than answers, please feel free to email me and I will help guide your student to the correct class.  I will also know more once we finish the end of the school year and I've completed the transition over to the high school.

RETURNING ITEMS TO SCHOOL
As of now, we are expecting to begin the process of returning instruments, music folders, and uniforms beginning on May 18. This will also be the time your student may visit their locker, return any library books, and pick up medicine from the nurse's office.  Once I have specific times, I will share that with you.

As always, thanks for reading, and have a great week!

-Mr. Jacques-

Spring Update

Dear CMS Band Families,

As you have all heard, we just received word from Governor Sisolak and the state superintendent of education that Carson Middle School is closed through the end of the school year.  This newsletter update outlines what I know about our new schedule and grading. As always, we may need to make some adjustments as we work together to navigate these new situations and conditions.

GRADING
We are now on a "pass/fail" grading system.  Students with an overall semester grade of 60% or higher will receive a "P" at the semester, indicating a passing grade.  Students with an overall semester grade of 59% or lower will receive an "F" at the semester, indicating a failing grade. All weekly assignments completed before spring break will be re-assigned a grade of 100% if they were completed and "missing" if they were not. This week, students are responsible for completing the following by Friday at noon:

• 2 assignments on Quizizz
• At least 30 minutes of practicing on at least 1 play-along video.
• Weekly survey

All these assignments are on Google Classroom. The weekly survey also asks students to report their band workload.  I will continue to make minor adjustments weekly to be sure that students do not become overwhelmed with the amount of online instruction we provide. 

WEEKLY SCHEDULE
We are also making a modification to the weekly schedule. Next week, I will maintain our Zoom video lesson schedule. Beginning on May 4, I will switch to providing pre-recorded video lessons that students can view on their own. We will also have no formal instruction on Fridays. This time will be used for teachers to lesson plan, collaborate, and finish grading. Next week, I will also provide Zoom office hours on Friday for any students who would like to visit with me, ask questions, etc. I will announce a formal outline of all this information once we are closer. As for this week, all assignments are due Friday at noon.

INSTRUMENT SUPPLY KIOSK
Once again, I will be operating my instrument supply kiosk in the parking lot adjacent to the district office.  I will be open from Thursday from 11:00 AM-12:30 PM. Please stay in your car.  *Note: I'm out of stock on alto saxophone cleaning swabs*

Please know that I miss your students dearly. I miss making music. I miss all the festivals and trips that would typically be taking place this time of year. Take this time as an opportunity to bond with your kids. If the workload is too stressful, take a break and let us know. We are here to support you, and we know that we will all emerge from this situation stronger and more resilient than ever.

Onward!

Nick Jacques

Spring Break Play-Alongs

Dear CMS Band Families,

We have made it through a few weeks of unprecedented times, and we have all adjusted to a completely different way of learning.  Now, it's time to take a step back and enjoy our spring breaks. Since many students will have more hours of free time than they may know what to do with (get those chores done!), I have put together a list of play-along tunes.  These videos have the notated parts, along with backing tracks, as well as videos of musicians playing the music so students can practice the proper techniques. This is meant to provide students with hours and hours of unlimited musical entertainment from home.

SPRING BREAK PLAY-ALONG VIDEOS

Have a wonderful spring break, and stay happy, healthy, and safe.

-Mr. Jacques-

April Showers...

Dear CMS Band Families,

You know the saying, "April Showers brings May flowers." We are now on our 3rd week of distance learning and we have all discovered that this month will be spent at our homes, with the updated return time being after April 30. Hopefully the old saying will come true and we can all be reunited with a little bit of normalcy in May. We shall see. In the meantime, here is this week's plan, along with a minor attendance and grading update.

ZOOM VIDEO LESSONS - Students should attend at least one. Both are highly recommended. Below is the schedule.

I am also adding a little fun: Zoom theme days! Monday and Tuesday: Pet or Stuffed Animal Day. Wednesday and Thursday: Crazy Hat Day.

THIS WEEK'S ASSIGNMENTS
All students with internet access and instruments will complete the following lesson:

• Practice anything for at least 30 minutes. I will also still accept Flipgrid videos.
• Complete at least 1 Edpuzzle assignment while following along on your instrument.
• Complete the end-of-week practice survey.

GRADING
We are awaiting further guidance from the district and the state board of education about how grading will look. For now, band students will either earn a complete or a missing for their weekly assignments with no letter grade attached.  Once I have more details, this will change to a "pass/fail" or letter grades and I will make changes accordingly.

ATTENDANCE
Finally, I'm going to clarify attendance and update you on the cutoff for attendance each week. Students earn attendance for the week by communicating at least once with their teachers in any given week. Acceptable forms of communication include email, Google Classroom, appearances on Zoom, or phone calls. My cutoff for attendance is 2 PM on Friday. Any late check-ins count for the next week of school. Thank you so much for your patience as we take this journey together. I appreciate you all!

-Mr. Jacques-

Reflecting on March Madness...

Dear CMS Band Families,

It was a month ago that I wrote a newsletter update with the title "Leaping into March Madness" as a way to say that March gets pretty busy. Little did we all know what we were truly in for.  I have to say that I am finding myself quite sad that I cannot teach. During a time of year that's usually filled with events, I feel it even more.  I miss your kids dearly and I hope they are doing okay at home.

ZOOM VIDEO LESSONS

I will hold Zoom lessons at the following times this week:
Concert Band: Monday and Wednesday from 10:00-10:30 AM
Advanced Band: Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00-10:30 AM
Intermediate Band: Monday and Wednesday from 11:00-11:30 AM
6th Period Beginning Band: Tuesday and Thursday from 11:00-11:30 AM
7th Period Beginning Band: Monday and Wednesday from 12:00-12:30 PM

All students in all classes will meet on Friday from 10:00-11:00 AM to wrap up the week.

THIS WEEK'S ASSIGNMENTS
Several students expressed confusion with the PDF I posted and mistakenly completed that assignment when they didn't have to. Please only ask for a PDF assignment if your student is unable to practice or access a computer.  Here is the preferred assignment:

Practicing + Flipgrid Recording - Students will practice for at least 30 minutes for the week and complete the practice survey on Friday. They will then record themselves playing through one of their pieces on Flipgrid while listening to a backing track through their headphones. Directions will be posted in Google Classroom on Monday and I will walk students through this process in Zoom.  I will then take all these recordings and edit them together to create a virtual band performance!

Alternative assignment: Practicing, EdPuzzles, and Quizizz - If students cannot get Flipgrid up and running or they're struggling with the tempo in the baking tracks, students will practice for at least 30 minutes for the week and complete the practice survey on Friday. Then, students will have an assortment of videos with questions in EdPuzzle, as well as some quizzes (through a program called "Quizizz"--not a typo). Detailed instructions will be posted in Google Classroom.

Just a reminder: students do not need to complete Flipgrid AND the alternative assignment. These assignments are due on Friday at noon.

ATTENDANCE
Finally, just a reminder that we now track attendance weekly. Students are to communicate with each of their teachers at least once per week. Any communication through Zoom, practice surveys, or emails will count towards their weekly attendance requirement.

Are we beginning to get the hang of this new normal? It has been a learning curve for us all. We as teachers are constantly adjusting and adapting to do what is in the best interest of you and your students.  Thank you so much for your patience as we work to smooth things out. I appreciate you all!

-Mr. Jacques-