December S-Cubed Sight Singing Giveaway!

🚨TPT GIVEAWAY🚨

I've got a holiday gift for one lucky teacher!🎁🎄 The S-Cubed MEGA bundle includes lesson plans, activities, and assessments that are proven to work! Enter to win this $400 value prize that you can use for your music classes!

⭐How to enter:

Enter name and email address into Rafflecopter

Complete one or all of the tasks given to you to get entries!

Tasks include:

Following my TPT Store

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Remember you can enter more than once! For example, if you share this post on Twitter one day and get a point. Then, you can share the next day and get another point!😀

The giveaway ENDS at 11:59 PM EST on Tuesday, December 14th!

Even if you don't win this bundle, I'll still have a special offer for everyone who enters this giveaway. 😉

Good luck!🎁 

Click the link below to enter!

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Preparing for the Holiday Concert of 2021

It's November 5, 2021.

On November 5, 2020, I was teaching chorus virtually with no end in sight.  

There were no holiday concert preparations.

Remember the Virtual Choirs?  

I never felt spiritually connected to that genre.  For me it went against everything the choral music art form is supposed to be, and I knew it was temporary.  To spend that much time learning something that was valid so momentarily seemed like a waste of time.  

For the students and teachers who got to be a part of some of the viral versions of the virtual choirs that came about, it certainly wasn't a waste of time, and I admire the commitment of the teachers who tried (some successfully!) to learn how to do it, and to create an opportunity for their children to perform in that way.  

Like all of us, one year ago, I was getting up every day and trying to interpret the latest day to day information about the twists and turns pandemic and how long it would continue to impact the art of what we do.  

When would the vaccine be available to us?  Did that mean the pandemic would end?  If not, how long before life would be "normal" again?

And now...today, we are closer to normal than we were one year ago.

I'm teaching ALL 300 of my students "live".  I've had three shots (two Moderna/one Pfizer).  I don't feel afraid to teach 84 students indoors at once in my classroom without social distancing and with no limits on the amount of time we get to sing.  Yes...we are all still masked.  Yes...I am ready to burn mine...when the time is right...and that time isn't here yet.   

All of my students are now eligible for the vaccine.

So, we are closer now to Covid 19 moving from being a pandemic to having it become endemic.

That means that we are closer to the end of this difficult period for our profession.

My motto all along has been "This is temporary."

And it is.

I'm sure that during this short period of time, there have been choral music educators who have entered and left the field.

There have probably been choral music educators who've been around as long as I have (since 1989) who've decided to leave the profession.

I totally understand it.

We didn't sign up for this.  

And also, there are NEW teachers who are just entering the profession who are hungry for the return to normalcy in choral music programs across the world so they can make their magical, beautiful mark on the art form we all love.

...What a difference a year makes.

The last holiday concert I did with all of 300 of my students together at once was in 2019 when I ripped my pants 2 minutes before the event  Those who follow my work probably remember the photos.  

Good times!

----

So, it's November 5, 2021, and we are about to perform our first holiday concert in 2 years!  It happens on 12/10/21.  

We will be in masks.

We will be on "YouTube Live".

We may have a small audience of students from the school so it feels "live".

It will be performed during the school day rather than at night.

Parents will not be allowed in the building to watch, but I will supply the YouTube Live link in case they are able to watch it "live", and I will send the link of the performance to them afterward.  

The kids need it.

So do I.

We have been working diligently on the music since the first half of October, and we are doing some of our favorites.

We will open with "Here Comes the Snow" by Teresa Jennings.  They LOVE it.

I am having all 300 students sing it.  Normally, it would be a 6th grade song, but I feel like it will sound better with all 300 singing it at once, and I've never met a middle school child who doesn't love that song.  

We will follow that with the 8th Graders singing "Carol of the Bells".  They remember hearing the 8th graders sing that song in 12/2019, and they couldn't WAIT to sing it.  It's a tradition.  They've been diligently working to master it.  I've been carefully teaching it since we lost so much ground last year.  I am taking my time so they feel successful each step of the way.  

No middle school concert is complete without something from Roger Emerson!  We will follow Carol of the Bells with "Light the Candles The Hanukkah Song".    It's upbeat, and we can use it to teach syncopated entrances and syncopation in general.  All 300 students will sing this one as well.  It's unison, so I have been using it to help re-align the ability of my students to sing in octaves in tune since I have so many changed voices.  I have really simplified my rep choices this year to help my students rediscover the art of quick self-assessment/self-correction of tuning.  

We will also include one of my favorites, Light Up the Tree by Hank Beebe.  Again, I will have all 300 students singing together.  

We will follow that with with Greg Gilpin's Silent Night/Stille Nacht.  Verse 4 is silently performed with American Sign Language.  It's powerful.

We flow right into the final piece of the program with our candle lighting ceremony with all 300 students when we sing Light the Candles All Around the World by Teresa Jennings.

Normally, my 7th grade boys would have their own song to perform, but not this year.  I decided to focus on getting them out of the basement as well as singing in tune in octaves (changed/unchanged voices are in the same classroom.)

They will be performing only with all of the other groups.  

Actually, the ONLY group that will do a song by itself is my 8th grade group on Carol of the Bells.  I just didn't feel like the rest of the groups would be ready.

Although...my 7th grade Treble Choir is killing it!  They are going to be amazing next year once I get my 7th Grade Boys caught up and ready for the Mixed Choir.

I feel like I am rebuilding a home that was severely damaged in a terrible storm.

And in many ways, I am.

Going slowly and teaching thoroughly and carefully has been my approach.  I didn't want to overwhelm myself or my students.  

I've had to reconsider all previous choices I've made over the years so that I can help my students enjoy the process and have a greater chance of success.

In November of 2022, things will look even better, and I'll report back about the progress we've made.

I hope you are able to see the light.

It's there.

Week 11 of the 3rd School Year Impacting Choral Music Classrooms

This is my 30th year teaching public school choral music.

I've seen some stuff and have weathered it.

In March and April of 2020, I watched as the choral educator community melted down on social media.

"I'm changing my major.  Choral music has no future."

"Singing in groups is over.  Anyone who thinks otherwise is a delusional optimist."

I watched choral music educators attack each other because of their varied approaches to dealing with something none of us has dealt with. 

The attitude of some in our community was similar to one I saw long before the pandemic...

It was the "I have all of the answers" group...the "I know how to do this, and my way is best" group.  

I saw people who think that way back in 1981 when I was in Allstate Chorus in North Carolina when I was 17 years old, and I was sure I never wanted to be them.

So, when I saw choral music educators attacking each other at an epic level starting in the early days of the pandemic and far beyond, I decided not to participate.

It's so easy to attack people you don't know from behind a keyboard.

It's not brave.  It's the opposite.  It is like road rage.  For many years, regarding road rage, I've said under my breath, "Go take your anger out on the person you are really angry with. 

You might get resolution."

People who follow my work already know my motto about the pandemic.

"This is temporary."

Music and arts have survived for thousands of years and through many pandemics.

People who think/thought that this momentary world event would steal that away from our human spirits permanently are short-sighted.

Broadway is open.

Live Concerts are happening right now.

Europe is opening.  I've had a few friends who've traveled since Labor Day to Europe, and they were surprised at how easy it was in many of the countries.  While Europe got off to a slow start compared to the USA, many European countries have reached and surpassed the USA in vaccination rates and are living their lives fully. 

Remember Japan during the Olympics?  They were panicked.  

Look at them now.

This is today's covid graph for Japan.  

I am in week 11 of my school year.

We are singing in masks.

I definitely don't like it, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be.  

Those little 6th grade voices were always small, and now they sound smaller.  So, it makes me work on diction and rhythmic execution and precision more than I've ever done.

We did our first mini-concert in late September.

I created a YouTube LIVE link for my parents so it would feel "live" since they can't come into the school building yet.

The kids needed that experience so much.  So much of their world has been erased.  So much of what they expected has been cancelled.  

Can you imagine dealing with that on a world-wide basis at age 11?

I am working to rebuild the confidence of my students...Confidence in their singing, but more importantly in building their confidence in the fact that things that we say will happen will actually HAPPEN.

Right now, I am preparing the holiday concert, and we are planning for our biggest event of the year, our spring musical revue.

I am working on it the same way I would work on it pre-pandemic except that I am wearing a mask while I teach it. 

I am certainly hoping the mask situation ends soon...as we all are...but we need to be smart while we are deciding the best ways to give our students some sort of version of what we know choral music education is supposed to be.  

They don't know any different.

This is temporary.

Hang in there.

Sight Reading Factory and the Google Classroom!

Many of you know that I partner with Sight Ready Factory.  (If you purchase any teacher or students subscription from Sight Reading Factory, use the promo code "scubed" to get a 10% discount...it doesn't matter whether you are an S-Cubed user!) 

Here is how I use SRF with my students- Once my students finish S-Cubed Sight Singing Course Level TWO, I jump right onto Sight Reading Factory where they soar using their well-developed skill sets that they get from completing the full S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners..  

So, I was excited today to get this email from Sight Reading Factory, and I wanted to share it with you. 

SRF is now integrated with Google Classroom! 

Sight Reading Factory & Google Classroom Integration

Hello Google Classroom Teachers! We’ve been hard at work over the last several months working on a Google Classroom integration and we’re excited to announce that it is ready! Features of the Google Classroom integration at SRF include: Teachers and students can use Google Single Sign-On to log in to SRF with their Google account. (Teachers and students don’t need to remember/manage separate logins to SRF now!) Teachers can create or edit assignments in SRF and those assignments are automatically added to Google Classroom. Students can launch SRF assignments directly from their Google Classroom accounts. Teachers can quickly grade all student submissions in SRF and those grades are automatically sent to Google Classroom. Students can see their feedback and review their SRF assignments from Google Classroom. All users can launch SRF practice sessions from their Google Classroom account. Below are 3 important points to understand before getting started with the GC integration. Below those three points are the instructions to use for getting started! If you have already signed students up for this school year, we can help you revoke the student code usages for those students so that you can use that student code to import your Google Classroom students. Keep in mind that these classes you will be importing will be new classes in SRF. You can duplicate assignments from your old classes into your newly imported GC classes. However, the class will be a clean slate with no practice log data and no assignments. If some of your students already have a SRF account and their SRF account is using an email address/username that is not the same as their Google Classroom email address and you import those students, they will essentially be using a brand new account. If you want them to be using the same account (so it has their practice data and assignment data history), you should make sure that your students that already have accounts in SRF are using their Google Classroom email address as their email address for their SRF account before you import the class. Check out this article for updating a student's email address/username. Check out the links below for instructions you can use for integrating Google Classroom with your SRF account: How to Import a Google Classroom Class How to Create and Edit SRF Assignments for Google Classroom How to Manage Google Classroom/SRF Enrollments Students and the Google Classroom/SRF Integration Check it out and let us know what you think! The Sight Reading Factory Team

Acceptance in the Choral Music Classroom-A Podcast

I was a guest on the Choral Connectivity Podcast last night, and we talked about the important of acceptance in the choral music classroom.

Here is the heart of my message -

"Sometimes it is that thing about you that some believe to be your greatest weakness that could quite possibly be your biggest strength...and that if you can learn to love that thing about you that others perceive to be as odd or different, you can find the light that will illuminate the path that will help you move in the direction of becoming exactly the human being you need to be to leave your permanent, positive, life-changing mark on the souls in the universe who need your God-given gifts the most."

If you'd like to give it a listen, here is a link- It's episode 5!

I shared many personal stories that shaped my approach towards not auditioning my students to be in choir and toward creating a climate and culture of acceptance in my choral music classroom.

My truth-as I've shared my journey teaching public school choral music.

This is probably one of my most honest and open moments that I've shared.

https://youtu.be/HUaNSFG1c4w

September 2021-S-Cubed Sight Singing Program MEGA Bundle Giveaway!

It's a new school year, and we are slowly moving our way toward the ways we used to teach and experience choral music.

I have my first masked "mini-concert" this Friday!

My students are on Lesson 7 of S-Cubed right now, as I work toward rebuilding their skills toward participation in future Large Group Performance Evaluations and helping them become literate, competent, self-sufficient sight singers.

It's time to think ahead!

So, I am giving away the MEGA Bundle of the program on 9/29 to one lucky winner ($369 value).  I'll be notifying every single person who enters, and for two days (9/29 and 9/30), you will have the opportunity to purchase several of my most popular bundles at a steep discount.  I will explain how to do it in the email you will receive on the morning of 9/29.  ONLY those who enter will be notified!

So, scroll down to the rafflecopter, and enter up to four times by choosing the various ways I've allowed participants to enter. a Rafflecopter giveaway   

8 Weeks into 2021-2022-Continuing to Rebuild and Re-energize!

Tomorrow is Monday, 9/20/21.

It is the start of Week 8 of school for our students here in Atlanta.

It's flown by.

I've been very intentional and committed to my rebuilding efforts after my choir, like so many, shrunk during the 2020-2021 school year.

I started sharing what I was doing to rebuild in January of this year in this post.

Here is where we are and what we've been doing during this 8 weeks and some information about the things that are coming up soon.

#1-

I started over with S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners with ALL of my choirs.  I knew the 7th and 8th grade boys whose voices had dropped would be a challenge, and I wanted them and me to be able to focus on getting their pitch in line and their ears trained.   It felt like "back to basics" was the space I should be in, and it is working.   

My motto has been "low stress with maximum results".

#2-

The week before the kids came back to school was when the Delta Variant caused the CDC to change the guidelines.  I had already planned my concert calendar, and so far, I'm sticking with it.  Of course, I am carefully navigating the changing landscape regarding audiences.  Read on for more info...

#3-

Back in mid-July, I decided to bring a cast member from the National Tour of Hamilton to my school to do a masterclass since the show was in town starting August 22 to help "jump start" the year.  We were able to secure Stephanie Jae Park, who plays Eliza, and I knew the students would lose their minds...and they did.  It stoked their passions in a way I haven't seen since before Covid.  Here is a video of the masterclass.  We had to move mountains to make it happen...especially with the Delta surge...but we did it, and it was 100% worth it.  

It was outside on a tennis court.  

I timed it for 9/13/21 because I knew that by week 7 of school, the kids have settled in, and they need a shot of something special. 

#4-

Our first "mini-concert" happens this Friday.  

This is a sample of what it normally looks like pre-covid.

That's not happening. 

Parents aren't even allowed in our building yet.  

So, I'm airing them on YouTube "LIVE" unlisted, and I've sent the links to the parents.  

They need this.  They need the goal.  They need to remember what it's like to perform.

Instead of 3 songs, we are doing two.  For the 8th graders, I simplified the rep.  For the 7th grade boys, they won't do a song alone.  They just aren't ready yet.  

...But they will all get a performance experience that the parents can watch.  I think that is SO important.  They listen to their parents even though they pretend they don't.  So, when their parents say "This is awesome...".... Or, "Wow...you guys have been working", the kids hear it, and the dots connect in all the ways that are good.

I wanted to make sure the kids had a "novelty" piece as one of the two songs, so we are doing "Dweller of the Cave" by Teresa Jennings.   

#5

The auditions for our spring musical revue that we custom build around the talents we have each year happen 9/27...three days after the mini-concert and two weeks after the masterclass we hosted.  I displayed the sign up sheets for the audition times on Friday, 9/17, and allowed students to begin to sign up...the Friday after the masterclass.  I intentionally left 5 minutes at the end of class so the sign up would be "public".  I intentionally left two weekends between the start of "sign ups" and the Monday of the auditions so the kids who might be on the fence had time to jump off.  

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I am carefully and methodically building the momentum to get back what these kids deserve to experience.

----

I hope that you are doing ok.  

If what I've written here inspires you to do X, Y or Z, then great.

If you don't have the resources or even the energy to do the things I am doing, do NOT beat yourself up.  

This is definitely the hardest thing I've experienced, and I have taught for 30 years.

Just get up tomorrow and do your best for the kids.  

Make sure you leave space, time and energy to be who you need to be for your own children and for your spouse.  

Forgive yourself when you fail to meet any of the high demands and expectations you place on yourself.

I've had to learn that, so I am speaking from experience!  :-)

Have a great week.

Sending love and light.

Two weeks into the new school year..."Post Covid?!?" Sort of, but not really...

Tomorrow, August 16, 2021, we start week 3 of the new school year.

July 26th was out first "teacher day" back.  

It's called "summer break", yet we start school before summer is half over...

...but I digress.

I know that I/we are "ahead" of the curve, and that a lot of you are facing the start to your school year in the coming weeks.  

So, I'm going to share my journey so far in hopes of helping those of you who face what lies ahead.

Prior to July 26, I was so excited about the new school year.

I am vaccinated, and in late May, the CDC (and my school district) said that vaccinated people didn't have to wear masks.  

Teaching chorus is hard work.  Teaching chorus in a mask???  Getting air???  6 classes per day?  To 84 kids in a class? 

I watched the Covid case numbers rising throughout July, and I knew in my gut what was coming.

So, during the week of July 26, when the CDC changed the rules, honestly....I was devastated.  

My head started racing.

"Should I just teach general music?  Cancel all performances?  Singing in masks as we prep for concerts?  With these little middle school voices?  They can barely project with proper head voice in 6th grade without a mask."

I felt like I was carrying the weight of the world.

Then, I pulled my head together.

This is better than a year ago.

Last year we faced things we never expected to face as we navigated teaching online/concurrently, etc.  

...and we made it.

So, I fixed myself. 

I planned my performance calendar and placed all of it in my syllabus.

I'm committed.

I am watching the business world.

Broadway is opening.  National tours are opening.  In fact, I am going to see Hamilton at the Fox Theater in Atlanta one week from today.  It's the first day of their tour, and I wanted to feel the electricity of Broadway caliber performers "live" when they are starved to feel what only performing "live" can make one feel.  

I am 57 years old.  I've taught public school for 30 years.  I've lived a minute.  

I know in my gut what the CDC is doing with these new guidelines.  Number 1-they are protecting all of us...but when they changed the rules this time, they are, mostly, trying to wake up the people who still haven't gotten vaccinated for whatever reason.  

I'm not worried for me.

The numbers are clear.  It's math.  

Breakthrough infections are rare, and when they occur, they don't cause the issues that we see in those who aren't vaccinated.

My school district requires masks for everyone (vaccinated or not).  

In my class, we are singing.

And it really isn't that bad.  

I mean...it isn't ideal...Singing is not intended to be done in a mask. 

But, it's doable for now.  

First day-

My first class was 84 kids in one room.

Yup.

It's allowed here.  I guess that somehow, magically, Covid doesn't happen in specials?  :-)

Anyway...I digress...again.

I didn't expect this, but the first week was magical.

The first day was a goose bump situation.

I did what I always do...

I taught posture and Forbidden Pattern.

This was an 8th grade class, so I knew they could do Follow the Hand.

We did it in three parts Day 1, and when I heard the harmonies, I literally almost cried.

Some of them did too.

It was truly magical.

They want to be there.

I feel them appreciating school in a way that I've never felt since I began teaching in 1989.

I know middle school children, and I know the honeymoon will end, but, for now, so far, it's been pretty magical.

They are hungry/starved to be together.   

I am feeding them and myself by giving them the interaction and the energy that made us all become choral music educators in the first place.

We didn't sign up for Zoom Chorus...

We didn't sign up for concurrent teaching while more than half of our students aren't there.

And as you expect, the Covid cases are popping in the 6th grade.  The emails come daily, but it isn't just because of chorus.  If you are an unvaccinated person (and 6th graders can't get vaccinated yet), and you are continuing to live your life and see people/go to school, Covid is probably going to find you.  So far, none of the cases have been traced to chorus, but when it happens (and it probably will), I am going to receive the information and move forward.

We are in school.  The experts decided that we should be in school.

I'm teaching.

I'm planning for concerts, and I will follow the guidelines of the moment.  

Right now, I'm team building.

I'm helping them read octavos (it's been a minute).  

I am aiming my energy at rebuilding, and my numbers have recovered quickly.  https://youtu.be/Ng2cdO8kuD8

I started doing that in January (see my rebuilding blog series), but at the end of the day, it was when we were in person again with EVERYONE three weeks ago that the children came back to chorus.  

So, that is what is happening.

I'm ok.

The kids are ok.

They need what we offer more now than EVER before.  

I mentioned earlier that Hamilton is coming to ATL.

5 weeks ago, one of the people affiliated with Hamilton contacted me to try to organize a masterclass with one of the stars of the show.

I asked for a phone call and pricing. 

Out of my chorus budget for sure...Ridiculously expensive.

But the kids need it, so I escalated.

And it's happening.

September 13.  

I am ready to kick start this.

Life is too short to be stuck.

I'm just not wired that way.

I'll get up tomorrow and start teaching them the music for the first mini-concert!

Get vaccinated.  

Take care of yourself. 

Do what you can do.

...And don't beat yourself up if you can't.

Sending love and light.

So, I got this question today about S-Cubed on TpT...

When I first started sharing my work online, I had no idea what I was doing. 

I just wanted to share the work and get it out there because I thought it would help some teachers.  

I wanted to create something I wish I had when I started teaching this age group.

------

Back then...

People would ask honest, open questions about sight singing or about how to handle a classroom management situation in the middle school choral situation or how to build their choral programs...I would answer. 

Sometimes, I would even answer a question that I'd seen on social media and then post an answer as if they'd asked me personally.

...all on my little blog...probably 12 people saw it...but that's ok with me.  

I'd post things on my blog with no photos...nothing but information I'd gleaned from teaching this age group for the last 432 years.   :-)     ...mostly because I didn't know how!

It's gay camp...I can't resist.  

On August 3, 2021...hopefully toward the end of the pandemic (???), I decided it was time to get back to my roots and do it again...

....because this happened today...

-----

The question-

I've been reviewing a lot of your freebies! My solfege is NOT as strong as my ability to use scale degrees (numbers) and I'm wondering if this is something that is easily adaptable to using scale numbers (1, 2, 3) instead of solfege or if there is a lot of written material that would need to be revised. Totally understand that solfege & Curwen are utilized by choirs; but I'm vocal and instrumental and my Music Theory background really emphasized numbers. Willing to use a hand signal (the American Sign Language handsigns for the numbers) instead of Curwen. What do you think? Would using numbers instead of solfege & Curwen create a lot of extra work? Or is it more or less just a straightforward switch? Thank you for taking the time to respond to questions!

Here is my answer-

Thank you so much for your interest!

Let me just tell you a little bit about why I created this the way that I did…

When I entered music school as a freshman, I had no sight singing ability at all.  In college when I needed to do well in my sight singing  course, I knew that I couldn’t sight sing, so I played them on the piano and put them on recording so that I could just listen to them over and over and over.   Then, when I was in the test, I usually was able to recognize the motion and the skips and rhythms of the examples, and I was able to sing it.  

Voila…while I watched my Freshman peers drop out of music school because they couldn’t sight sing either, I got an "A” in sight singing simply because I figure out a way to get an A. 

But I couldn’t sight sing. 

When I created this program, I aimed all of my energies at making sure that what happened to me did not happen to other students.

  

How is it possible that I… a person privileged enough to have had piano lessons as a child… Could graduate high school and enter his freshman year in a music school and not be able to sight sing? 

I had never used solfege in my entire public school K-12 education before it was introduced to me at my university.

I had not even used numbers.  

I had never used and did not even know about the hand signs.   

I did not use the hand signs until I took a Kodaly course at NYU in 1996 because my husband and I happened to move nearby for a few years.  At the time, I was 34 years old.  

I had been teaching since 1989 at that point.

So I incorporated them very slowly through a game… (lesson 1-forbidden pattern).   …Mainly so that I could get used to using the hand signs with repetition with my daily classes because I was so uncomfortable using them.  

And then one step at a time I developed each of the processes that you’ll find an S-Cubed.  

They are designed to take you and your students step-by-step… 

And the results are really worth the patience and the effort.  

The results are profound.   

Once I figured it out with my own students, I heard and saw the results and the empowerment they felt by they abilities, and it was amazing.  

Every time I hear from teachers who are just learning about this program for the first time, I say to them…If you purchase it, just take it one lesson at a time. When you have purchased it, you have purchased something that, if you stay committed to, will change your teaching and change how your students respond to you…

And it will stick with your students forever. 

They will not enter music school… If they choose to do so… Unable to sight sing.  

If they choose to sing with a Community Chorus, they will have an enormous number of tools to help them take the music off the page without the help of the piano.  

----

So… Yes… That’s my answer… Numbers can work for sure, but I don't know of any program that anyone has created that takes one step by step through the process… That's was I aimed to do with S-Cubed.  

This program is not designed for numbers…

I have laid it all out step-by-step and all you have to do is to trust it, and take it one step at a time. 

It's not new.  I've been using it since 1996.  I started sharing it in 2013 here on TpT because I couldn't get any publishers to take a look after trying for 3 years.  

It's had hundreds and hundreds of reviews on TpT, and I've shared emails here.  http://inthemiddlewithmrd1.blogspot.com/p/reviews-of-s-cubed.html

From 2009 until 2012, I tried to get the major publishers to accept this program, and my calls went unanswered.

It's happened the way that it should happen, and I'm grateful.

The path that I found is documented all on the web for years now, and it can work for anyone who commits to 10 minutes per day 3-5 days per week.  

If you have any other questions, email me-

inthemiddlewithmrd@gmail.com

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This is my truth.

Hoping it helps you, your fellow teachers and your district.

Best,

TpT's Big Back to School Sale 2021!

Dear Followers of Music in the Middle with Mr D!

Can you believe it?  It's already back to school time for many teachers and students...including me!  My first day with students is tomorrow (Monday, August 2).

So, TPT is having it's annual Back to School Sale on August 3/4 this week.  

Are you new to teaching middle school chorus and need a taste of S-Cubed without taking the full plunge?  Try the Middle School New Chorus Teacher Starter Pack-https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Middle-School-New-Chorus-Teacher-Starter-Pack-2271103?st=d438c6803e47ae9d3a12de65405545e5. It's filled with items aimed at helping you from the very first day of school, classroom management, building your program and much more.  Read the product descriptions!  This is a LOT of stuff in it.  To me, this is the best value for the buck if you want a true taste of my work without taking the big plunge into full S-Cubed Bundles.

Last year, we created the Distance Learning Version of S-Cubed.  Since I won't be teaching virtually this year, I'll be using it as "sub plans".  You can do it too!  Here is a link to the big bundle of distance lessons-https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Distance-Learning-Version-COMPLETE-BUNDLE-LEVEL-ONE-S-Cubed-Sight-Singing-5802934

Of course, all of the individual lessons are available in the store for separate purchase as well if you don't need the full bundle. 

For those of you who WANT IT ALL with S-Cubed INCLUDING the Distance Version/Sub Plans, I bundled Levels ONE, TWO and Distance Version into one package.  Here is the link-https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/MEGA-Bundle-PLUS-Distance-Bundle-5930386

If you teach elementary level, and you want to get them ready for middle school, I bundled the first five lessons of S-Cubed just for you-https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/S-Cubed-The-Elementary-Music-Sight-Singing-Bundle-Lessons-1-5-1224685

If you teach high school or if you want to take you middle school students including your changed voices all the way with S-Cubed, the MEGA Bundle is for you-https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/S-Cubed-MEGA-Bundle-How-to-Teach-Sight-Singing-and-Sight-Reading-to-Beginners-2371260

If you have mostly treble voices only, Level ONE is for you-https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/S-Cubed-Sight-Singing-Program-Level-ONE-How-to-teach-Sight-Singing-to-Beginners-1208701

Do you have multiple teachers in your school or district who want S-Cubed or ANY product from any store on Tpt?  Take advantage of the Multiple License Discount offered by Tpt.  The first license is regular price.  All subsequent licenses are 10% off!

Want to teach your students to watch you better when you conduct?  Try this-https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Keep-Your-Eyes-On-Me-4-ideas-to-help-your-choir-watch-you-934210?st=0b6ad710f06140e2debe28eff0b7814f

Are you looking for guidance with classroom management?  Try this- https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Classroom-Management-in-the-Middle-School-Choral-Music-Room-2690302

If you have any questions about what the right product is for your teaching situation, please don't hesitate to email me-  inthemiddlewithmrd@gmail.com.  Subscribe to my email list so you don't miss new blog posts, YouTube posts, Facebook LIVE/Zoom events aimed at helping each other, and many special offers that I share only with my followers.  Simply email me and write "SUBSCRIBE" in the subject line.

Collaborate with other Middle School Chorus Teachers on Facebook by joining "I Teach Middle School Chorus" where we SUPPORT each other and build each other UP!  https://www.facebook.com/groups/349229248864102

Follow my YouTube Channel-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuSvE1y-FTytuFfndvTVUtQ

Follow my Facebook Page-https://www.facebook.com/InTheMiddleWithMrDBlog/?ref=pages_you_manage

Follow me on Twitter-https://twitter.com/inthemiddlewith

Follow me on Pinterest-https://www.pinterest.com/inthemiddlewith/_saved/

Thank you for following my work for the past 8 years.  Without teachers on TpT, nobody would know anything about S-Cubed or any work that I've done.  I am enternally grateful.

Have a great school year!

Mr. D!

So...you're teaching middle school chorus next year?!? 2021 Summer Facebook LIVE with Mr. D

Are you ready for your new beginning for the 2021-2022 school year?

I know that I certainly am!

Let's meet on Facebook LIVE on Wednesday, July 7th at 3 PM EST!

Here is the page where we will be! Click the link and scroll down to find us "LIVE" at the time of the event.

I'll be there to chat with you "live" about any subject related to teaching this age group so you can get off to a good start!

Anyone is welcome to attend...

*Teachers who have just graduated university and are headed into the classroom

*Teachers who are moving from elementary to middle or from high school to middle

*Teachers who've been out of the classroom for a while and are returning

*Veteran teachers who want to share their expertise or who need a little shot in the arm and some collaboration

You can guide the conversation with your questions, but here are some items we can certainly cover if it meets your needs-

*Changing Male Voice

*Classroom Management

*Recruitment and Rebuilding

*Song Choices

*Parent/Student Communication 

*Incorporating the best technologies we learned in 2020

*Approaches to planning your year post-covid

*ANYTHING you need...I'll do my best to share my ideas with you

And as always...Special offers during/post event...

Whenever I do Facebook "LIVE" events and Zoom events, I always announce some specials in my TpT Store on my most popular S-Cubed Bundles, and I also make at least one lesson free.  The specials start during the session and end 2 hours after the session.  

I hope to "meet" some of you there!

Rebuilding Your Choir 2021-2022- Part Five

Today is Mother's Day.

That's my Mom in all of her glorious essence.

She left the earth 15 years ago on May 12, 2006.  She passed away on the Friday before Mother's Day that year.   

When people ask a question like..."If you could have dinner with anyone in the world tonight, who would it be?"   

My answer is easy...Mom.  

As an old gay man who didn't have children of my own, I can't imagine what it must be like to carry a human being inside of your body for nine months, deliver the human being and then tend to every need of that human while the person is completely dependent upon you in every possible way.

She was diagnosed with Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer just before my birthday in March of 2006.  She decided that she would not fight the disease with chemotherapy.  Without treatment, they told her she had six to eight weeks to live.  

We were in the middle of our annual musical production in addition to our annual Choral Performance State Evaluations.  She lived in Durham, NC, and I was in Atlanta, GA.  I drove the 6 hour drive back and forth several times during those hectic and emotional weeks.  Our musical production was saved by a parent with a strong musical theater background as I tried to balance being a teacher and a son to a dying parent.  

In retrospect, I should have canceled the show, but hindsight is always 20/20.  

In 2005, I won Teacher of the Year, and she was very proud of me and my work.  She was my biggest cheerleader.   She married my father at age 18 and six days later, during her senior year of high school, he was in a hunting accident and lost his leg.  She didn't graduate high school, and she regretted that deeply. 

Seeing her children, all three of us, become happy, successful, and productive members of society was her greatest joy.  

I miss her so much.  

What on earth does this have to do with rebuilding our choirs after this pandemic?!  

Yesterday, we finished our Musical Revue Film Documentary, "Brand New Day".  

Every year, when we finish the annual spring musical revue, (which really is, I believe, the biggest reason my program has remained consistently large over the years) I say..."The baby is birthed."

The grammar is bad, and there really is no comparison to real childbirth, but it makes everyone giggle...

So, yesterday, the baby was birthed.

And this year was like no other...for all of us.  

I had no idea what I was doing because we didn't know if and when we would ever get back to "in person" teaching, and we definitely weren't going to be able to sing in groups without masks.

There was no road map for how to teach chorus during a pandemic caused by an airborne virus.  

We have all lived it, so I don't really need to explain.

Everyday, I just got up and took in the new information and made decisions based on the information of the day.

I decided to focus on what I knew was certain as I made my decisions daily.

Here is what I knew for certain as my heart guided me-

*I was 100% committed to creating an opportunity for the students who wanted it.

*In August of 2020, I asked the two people who've staged and choreographed my shows with me for the past several years if they were on board for doing something with me.  The two of them were on board whether it was going to be "live" or on film.

So, we started the journey...9 months ago...just like we always do.  

With so much loss, sadness and darkness all around us, I knew that I needed to try my best to create "light".   

I have always chosen the light, and I will always choose the light.

I started teaching in public school in 1989.  I grew up gay in small southern town in the 1960's and 1970's.

This isn't my first rodeo...not my first time dealing with darkness.

So, this project...this "baby"...is possibly the most important piece of my work with middle school students.  

I felt like a first year teacher the entire year.  

I think we all did.

Our school district was virtual until March 2021.  Rehearsals for this production always begin in January.

Normally, we rehearse before school at 7:30 AM in the gym.

Our school district wasn't allowing anyone...not even parents...into the building...even NOW...May 9, 2021...people who aren't employees of the county can't come into the building.

That meant that the stage director and choreographer weren't going to be rehearsing the students inside the school.

I had to create all sorts of waivers and forms for everyone to sign.

We did Zoom rehearsals...then, we moved to outdoor rehearsals...

Normally, I have 120 students audition to be in the show.

This year, back in September, I had 40 who auditioned.

Would they show up?

Would they stay with it so that we could keep the momentum going and finish this project?

...At a time when they'd experienced nothing but loss and disappointment over and over at age 11-14, how could they actually believe that we were going to make this happen?

I had to figure it out.  

I suppose I could have done a Virtual Choir experience of some sort.  I'm so impressed with everyone who did those.  The amount of time and commitment to your students is amazing.

But, for me, virtual choir wasn't the answer.  

Choir is a "live" group experience and it has been for hundreds of years, and I believed with all my heart even back in August of 2020 when school started that we could pull something off that had some level of the "live" group rehearsal experience for the most committed student leaders and begin the return to what choir is supposed to be.

The stars aligned.

In late January, it became clear to me that there would be no "live" performance by May 2021, and I decided it would be a film documentary.  I wanted to give the students and the community something they could watch 10, 15, or 20 years from now and share with their children.  I wanted performances mixed with realness of what we were all experiencing together.  

The weather cooperated for every single outdoor rehearsal and filming.  

Thank you to the universe...seriously.  

I wanted to involve the entire chorus because normally, they are always involved even if they don't audition because they sing as the "background" singers supporting my students who are trying to dance/move and sing at the same time for the first time in the lives.   So, I created chorus assignments about the pandemic, and I let them express themselves.

Using FlipGrid, Kahoot, EdPuzzle, Screencastify...none of which I had ever used before 2020...I assigned things to the chorus like...

"Without speaking, find a way to express how the pandemic has made you feel?"

"Without speaking, find a way to express what you are most looking forward to once the pandemic is over?"

Their creations were powerful, magical, amazing, real and funny.

Sure...some didn't do the assignments...Some didn't show up to our virtual classes...

I don't teach in a Utopia.  I have the realness just like every teacher.

But, I didn't focus on that.

To myself and the people closest to me, I always said, "This year...everyone gets a Covid pass for all of the balls they drop."

This applies to my students, my family, and my friends...everyone.  

And then I proceeded to focus on the students who showed up, and I made sure to work hard for them so that we could create this magic that we have created for everyone...even if they checked out this year.

This morning, on Mother's Day, right after my brother sent me the photo of our mother standing in front of our home after the divorce, I watched the final draft one last time.

I knew everything that was coming.   

I created it.  

----

I cried.  

I laughed.  

I began to heal and to look forward to all the art that is going to come out of this darkness.

Last night, I had a gathering with my musical staff, and they asked me how and when I was going to release it.  

Of course I'd thought about it, but I hadn't decided because, like this entire past 15 months or so, I have realized that I just have to wake up and go with it. 

So, this morning, on Mother's Day, I decided.

I am going to release it on my YouTube Channel Monday, May 10, 2021 at 7 PM EST in a premiere. 

This is for the students I teach...for the community I teach in...for the teachers I teach with each and every day.   

And this is for the people who need it as they figure out the next obstacles we inevitably all will encounter in the days and years ahead.

There is always a solution.  

Just follow your heart.  

Regarding Rebuilding my choir...

We have three weeks of school left, and I wanted to get this video out and into the community so that it could "soak".  

I wanted to help the community heal.  

I wanted these students who have put their trust in me to get to feel the pride and the reward that comes from finishing something...even when the obstacles seem insurmountable.  

I wanted the kids to know that things actually do really happen...At their age, with this combined worldwide experience, it would be easy for them NOT to believe that.

And not only did I want to help them believe that good things really do happen and that they can be a part of something good, I wanted to help them FEEL again.

Thank you for all of your support over the last 8 years.

Let's stay positive and keep looking for the light.

If you missed this series, and you want to go back to the first installment, click here.

If you want to see the full performance, click here.