Rebuilding your Choir for 2021-2022-Part Two

Today, I sent this email to every music teacher and counselor of every feeder school for my middle school.  I individualized the letter rather than send it in a large group.  I also sent it to all of the counselors at my school plus the two AP's who are involved with rising 6th graders:

Happy New Year!


I hope you are doing well and staying safe and navigating the world of online teaching/learning.


I am working hard to make sure that as many students as possible will sign up for chorus for the 2021-2022 school year because I want to rebuild and give as many students as possible the experiences they deserve and have missed out on during the pandemic.   No audition is required to be in chorus.  The only requirement is that they sign up and have the desire to learn.


To help expose elementary students who are headed to middle school to some information about what the Henderson Middle School chorus experience is all about and will be all about as soon as it is safe, could you please consider sharing some videos with your students and community members as a part of my recruitment efforts?  I would be very grateful.  Next year will be a rebuilding year, and I want to hit the ground running.  


These videos are ones that we’ve made over the last several years for fun and some of the videos are performance videos that give a good idea about what we work on in chorus at HMS.  All of the videos “star” the HMS students who are in chorus.


Auditioning for the HMS Chorus Musical Revue:

https://youtu.be/VxQVatlG7p8


To do’s and not to do’s of HMS Chorus:

https://youtu.be/0cX8CydvThY


Performance of “The World Will Know”  (All HMS Chorus Members)

https://youtu.be/hVtGZPwUmnk


Performance of “Light the Candles All Around the World” December 2019 (all chorus members)

https://youtu.be/Im1vy4SJV9k


Final performance of 8th grade before the shutdown March 2020:

https://youtu.be/Lrr6c6FeYeg



If you have any questions, please reach back to me.


Thank you for your help!


Dale Duncan

Chorus Teacher at Henderson Middle School


Click here to go to Part THREE of this series-Rebuilding Your Choirs







Rebuilding Your Choir-Post Covid-Building the Foundation NOW








Our choirs have taken a huge hit, and I am already planning for the rebuilding phase because I can't wait to make magic with them again.

Here are the specifics of what I am doing-Perhaps it will help you re-frame a bit and think about how to bridge this transition smoothly. 

1). I am laser beamed focused on teaching literacy with S-Cubed this year with all of my 6th and 7th graders.  I want to get through all of Level One before May.  Normally, I am done by late February because our adjudication happens in early March, but this year with the virtual schedule, we meet less frequently, and I am a bit behind.   Next year, I want to hit the ground running with preparing for performances assuming everyone is vaccinated and we have gotten over the herd-immunity hump.  Having them armed with the tools in the toolbox with sight singing through S-Cubed will really help.  

2).  I am not participating in any virtual Large Group Performance Evaluation.   It was a difficult decision, but the virtual way of doing this just doesn't feel right.  Choral music wasn't intended to be performed virtually.  It is a "live" phenomena.  So much time will go into preparing a sub-par version of it that doesn't feel authentic for me personally.  I'm grateful for people who create those opportunities for students/teachers, but I didn't feel that participation for my choirs was where I wanted to spend my energy as I prepare for the 2021-2022 school year.  

3).  Normally, we do a gigantic musical revue at the end of the school year that is our major fund-raiser of the year.  It involves the entire chorus of 300 with a core group of about 130 students who audition and are involved in the various songs/choreography/staging.  About 1500 people attend.  The 130 "core" students pay a fee (sponsorships are available for those who can't afford it) to cover the cost of the stage director/choreography.  This year I had to re-imagine how to collect the money and how to do auditions and so much more.  The PTSA graciously agreed to help me digitally collect the money, and I am constantly thinking and re-adjusting the plans for rehearsals, performances, etc.

This show is the engine that cracks the tractor of my program (...does that sound southern or what?).  I custom build the show around their auditions.  It is critical that I create this performance experience especially since it will end the year.  My own chorus students who are not officially involved with the show this year will watch it and be inspired which will re-ignite their fires to audition and participate during the 2021-2022 school year.  

This year, I've reframed the whole musical revue, but we are still putting on a show.  I have no idea what it will look like.  It could be filmed and edited...it could be performed "live" in a parking lot.  I'm not sure, but I do know that I have got to create a performance experience that is powerful and meaningful for my most passionate performers.  I know that going through the rehearsal process will be hugely important for these leaders.  They need it.  They will learn from it.  We will start virtually outside of school time with the stage directors I hire each year, and we will pivot to "live" rehearsals" if and when things allow.  We are going to be flexible.  

I opened up auditions as normal.  Interested students submitted the auditions on FlipGrid.  I had no idea how many would audition.  So many students are disillusioned, but at the end of the audition period I had 50 who auditioned, and I considered that a huge victory.  Some of the auditions were amazing.  We are going to have some powerful material because so many of the kids have so much to express that has been bottled up during this unbelievable moment in our human experience together.  Even the auditions that weren't "amazing" from a talent perspective were amazing because they showed up for it.  

That's half the battle.  

Normally, I have the entire chorus sing "back up" for all of the ensemble songs in the show.  This year, I will not do that since making that happen would be so challenging because they've missed so much of the standard curriculum.  I'll spend my time engaging the students who aren't involved in the musical with S-Cubed, with talent shows and with many other activities that allow them to enjoy and experience and learn in ways that I don't even know yet.   For the musical revue, I will use "click track" vocals when I can find them legally, and when I can't, I'll decide if the song is going to work without the back up vocals and go from there.  

The show will be shorter than usual.  

When the show is ready for performance in whatever form, I'm going to invite my elementary feeder schools to come see it if we do it outside, and if we video it, I'll send them a copy so I continue to connect with the elementary feeder school teachers.  

Having a smaller cast means more of the students get to do meaningful things and feel valued, and that will work in my favor.  Those students will be my leaders next year.   Those will be the ones who know that no matter what happens, I will deliver what I say I am going to deliver.  

People need it more than ever.  

This performance, whatever it looks like, is going to help re-ignite the excitement that we will all experience as we get closer and closer to getting our choirs back.

I want the end of the school year to be the spring board into the beginning of what we all hope will be a more usual school year so that we can all bring back the magic of the true "live" choral music experience for our students.  

I've decided not to spend my time and energy on creating a virtual choir experience.  When I listen to them, I hear all of the mistakes and lack of synchronicity, and I can't get passed it.  I don't think "Virtual choir" is going to be a thing that lasts, but I certainly admire the teachers who have spent so much of their time and energy creating a performance opportunity for the students who wanted it.  

At the end of the day, this school year for me is about using the remaining days/weeks/months for two things:

1).  Laying the strongest possible foundations of musical literacy and ear-training
2).  Re-igniting the passions of performance through whatever it is we are able to create with our musical revue performance 

Here is a copy of two auditions that have resulted in casting:

Top Secret Personal Beeswax.  I love this one because we can "stage" the ensemble students into the song and give them chances to be on stage...whatever it looks like this school year.  

Our past musical revues had performances that look like this.

That isn't happening this year, but it doesn't mean we can't re-imagine and find what make our hearts sing even though our voices have been silenced for the moment.  

And it is only a moment really...a blip...an important one that has lasted longer that we thought, but in ten years, it will be just a blip that provides us with a common experience/memory that changed the world in tectonic ways.  

If we can't be flexible...if we can rethink our normal ways of doing things when an obstacle appears...then we are paralyzed...and I believe unnecessarily so.  

Teaching middle school children, I've had to pivot almost daily for 29 years...

...but definitely never this sort of pivot.  

This is new....

...but it is still pivoting...just a WAY bigger pivot that usual.

That's the understatement of the past 11 months, right?

Keep doing your best.  It's all we can do.  


----

For the rest of January, the MEGA Bundle+Distance of the S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners, normally $399 in my TpT store will be $199 in case you want to have all options covered for all of 2021 while teaching sight singing and ear-training to your students.  This offer is only available in my TpT Store, not JW Pepper.  It has all of Levels 1/2 of the original program and all of Level ONE of the Distance Learning Version of the program that we adapted in order to help you survive the pandemic and Distance Learning with your choral music students.  Once you purchase it, you have it for life...that includes all future pandemics (please no).  

The distance learning version is perfect for "normal years" for your subs.  

Stay safe and healthy and be kind to yourself.

We are all first year teachers this year.

This is temporary.  












January 14, 2021-Continuing to Navigate and Motivate


I've promised that my blog will always be a place of realness for teachers who teach middle school singers, and this is my next deposit on that!

Here is where my district is at the moment:

1). We were supposed to start with students Tuesday, January 19.  Our superintendent decided to postpone based on the Covid numbers...highest deaths, highest positivity, highest cases per 100,000 in the history of the pandemic.  I think she is trying to move toward in-person learning option because of parent pressure, but she is watching the science for the sake of the staff and community spread.  

2).  She's gradually transitioning us (teachers/staff) toward getting back to normal, but she is doing it with compassion.  She's offered "hardship waivers" to teachers who need it (childcare issues, health issues, etc.).

3).  Districts around the Atlanta metro who have been "in person/hybrid" are losing teachers to death and the press is on it.  Yesterday, our largest school district went all virtual for next week only.  Private schools are hiding their cases from the press because the parents pay, and they think they should be able to send their kids to the building.  Public school districts in GA are trying the "close this school because we had 20 cases" approach, and it's not working well.  

4).   It appears that my district is leaving the virtual learning schedules (even though we are still virtual) and we are headed toward mimicking the regular daily schedule the students will encounter when they return.  

The situation is obviously dynamic and evolving...thus is life during a pandemic.

What matters to me is the kids.  They are children.  

We have to give them the comfort they deserve by providing structure in a world that isn't structured at the moment.  

So, I sent this to my them today via the Google Classroom because today is Thursday, and I have no idea what Tuesday holds because I don't have the information.

Here is what I wrote:

Hey chorus kids! I am thankful for all of you and how hard you've worked to navigate all of the unpredictability we are all experiencing. And if you haven't done such a great job at navigating it all, do not beat yourself up. We are all doing the best we can. If you aren't happy with how you have done so far, then wake up tomorrow and try to do better. I believe there are some changes coming next week to the schedule which will impact our meeting times. I don't know exactly what they are yet, so I placed a general "zoom" link in everyone's classes to cover my bases since I don't actually know when we will meet next week. You will use that link for now when we find out when we are actually going to meet. Here is what I think/know about next week- Tuesday-I think we will all meet at the times you would normally have my chorus class if you were in school rather than at the times we've been meeting...but I don't know that for sure. Wednesday-I think Wednesdays will stay free of scheduled meetings. I am pretty sure about that. Thursday and Friday-I think we will all meet at the times you would normally have my chorus class if you were in school (similar to Tuesday). But again, I don't know for sure. I will get more information today and tomorrow, but I can tell some of you are stressed and worried about missing something so I wanted to send this out. My advice-Keep up with the HMS Parent Newsletters that the PTSA sends out. That is a reliable source of information. Ask your parents about that or go here: http://www.hendersonms.dekalb.k12.ga.us/ I'll add the link as an attachment as well. I have completed all of my lessons for next week. They are ready for you...I just don't actually know when you'll get to do them. Miss you all...Let's keep hanging in there and meeting the daily challenges.




Note to my students-January 4, 2021

I sent this to my students today.  I posted it in Google Classroom and sent them a notice on "Remind" to read it.


Wishing all of you the best for 2021 as we face the continued roller coaster ride. 





Happy New Year Chorus Students!    


We have been on a roller coaster ride since March 13, 2020 when our schools shut down.  


The next few months will continue to be a roller coaster, but it’s going to be different. 


It is like we got onto a roller coaster we didn’t choose and the twists and turns and hills were scarier than we could have expected...


But now, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  


But there are still some hills left and our stomachs still get queasy because of it.  


I want you to know that I’m on the ride with you and that my stomach feels the same as yours.  


...but we will get to the end of the ride together.  


Personally, I never want to get back on this ride....just saying...and that comes from a person who adores roller coasters!   I’ve even jumped out of a perfectly good plane before (to skydive with a trained guide).  Here is a preview.


But when we finally get off of this ride, we are going to use the experience of being on it to be better, stronger and wiser than we could have ever been before.  


We will sing together out loud in person (when it is safe), and it will matter to us in ways it didn’t before because we took it for granted.  


Until that happens, please hang in there.   I can’t wait to make the magic of choral music with you again.      


And I’m going to need you to teach me stuff to keep me current because I’m o....ol......ol.....d.     I can’t write it.  :-)


Let’s be human together.  


Let’s be kind together.  


Let’s learn together.   


Take care!