Dear Students and Parents --
Welcome to another tremendous year for the Windsor Middle School Bands and
thank you for being part of our musical community! I am looking forward to once again achieving our primary
goal: to have as much fun as
possible, and to reap the many benefits of music education by creating
outstanding performing ensembles!
This document should provide all of the information that you will need
to have a rewarding and fantastic year!
What is
Honor Band?
Honor is defined as “high respect,
as that shown for special merit; esteem.”
We are happy that WMS can offer two sections of “Honor Band” this
year. The Honor Band is a
specially selected group of 2nd and 3d year players. Each group was carefully chosen to blend ability and
instrumentation. A great deal of
effort was put into this process which will allow students to play in high
quality groups while still taking advantage of the many other outstanding
programs and course offerings at our school. It is an honor for me
to have you as students. I know
that you will honor me with your outstanding attitude, behavior and effort!
Attitude
Attitude is the most important
thing in life, and certainly the most important thing in our bands. Attitudes are contagious: bad attitudes tend to spread to others
and can ruin a group and the experience for every member. Similarly, good attitudes can sweep
through a group creating a feeling of connectedness and loyalty that can make
good groups great. As Charles
Swindoll said, “The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on
life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than
the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than
successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than
appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company...a church (a
band)... a home. The remarkable thing is
we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.
We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act
in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is
play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude...I am convinced that
life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with
you...we are in charge of our attitudes.” Your attitude and your behavior account
for 1/2 of your grade in this course.
Please be here because you want to be here and participate in all of the
fun things that we will do this year.
Students who develop an unacceptable attitudes or behaviors will be
removed.
Community
Band classes are different from
other classes. In Band, we learn
by working together to create something that none of us could create on our
own. Every person in the group
affects every other person to a much greater extent than in other types of
classes. Each person’s behavior
and performance directly influences both the quality of the music that we
produce together, and the amount that we can learn. Because we perform in public and represent Windsor Middle
School, the quality of our work reflects the quality of our WMS community. Each
person in the group has a responsibility to every other person, and to the
school at large, to do their best,
in class and in performance.
It is critical that we work together to create the best possible
experience for ourselves, and an outstanding impression on the community. You are a member of our team, and every
other member of the team is relying on you to be there and to do your best
every time we are together.
Behavior
Behavior in instrumental music
classes presents a unique challenge for both students and teachers. Think of it this way: the goal of our
class is to create sound - beautiful, artistic sound hopefully. We have large classes full of students
who have instruments that can make a great deal of noise. Because our classes are “electives”,
students are more likely to be in groups with their friends. (This is good, because we are
creating a community, as noted above.)
The challenge is to enjoy the company of our friends and to create an
environment that allows everyone to learn. It is imperative that students have
outstanding behavior in the classroom and in public performances. Please
see the “Rules” sheet for specific rules and consequences. Parents can help by
supporting our efforts to maintain high standards for behavior and performance.
Calendar
Here are the important dates
for the 2018/2019 School Year
Sonoma Jump Start 9/28
to 9/30 2018
Analy Fall Festival 10/26
or 10/27 2018
Winter Concert 12/13/2018
Windsor at Weill Hall TBD
(3/19)*
Discovery Kingdom 5/11/19*
Spring Concert
5/23/19
* This date has not been
confirmed.
It is my hope that with this
advance notice you will be able to keep these dates in mind as you plan your
other activities. The Winter and
Spring Concerts and the Fall Festival are curricular events and are considered
part of the student’s grade. Unexcused absences to the Concerts
including Windsor @ Weill will cause a student’s final grade to be reduced by
one letter grade for that term.
Failure to attend the Fall Festival will result in a 250 pt. fine. Bonus points will be awarded for
attendance at our important cocurricular events that take place outside of
school hours. It is important to
remember that our ensembles are communities in which every person contributes
to the work that we produce together.
Performance
Attire
We ask that students wear black long pants, or skirt a
white long sleeve button down shirt or blouse that will be tucked in (for guys), and black shoes.
Grading
Fifty percent of a student’s
grade is based on behavior, attitude and participation in class. These will be listed as “Behavior”
points. Fifty percent of their
grade is based on work they do outside of class, or on demonstrated service to
the group. These points will be listed as
“Academic” points. Options
for earning “Academic” points include documented practice time, written reports
on composers and performers, written music theory assignments, musical or
concert reviews, directed composition projects, music careers research
projects, solo and small ensemble
performance projects, extra or cocurricular performance or fundraising opportunities. There are points available for playing
in extra curricular ensembes, serving as a Band Officer or other service to the
“musical community”. There are 900
points per term available for behavior and participation in class and 900 “Academic”
points available for work that is done outside of class, or for extra service
to the group. The final grade is
calculated as an average of the two scores described above. Students who earn less than 540 points
in the “Academic” category, can still get a “C” if they have outstanding
classroom behavior and participation.
Students who earn more than 900 points in the “Academic” category will
not be able to subsidize poor scores in the “behavior and participation”
category. Student scores are
posted by “code name” in the room, so students will know how they are doing at
all times. The Academic portion of
the course is “self-directed” in the sense that students choose which
assignments they would like to do and when they would like to turn them
in. This gives students the
freedom
to plan their homework around
their individual schedules, but adds the responsibility of making sure that
they have the points that they need for the grade that they want to earn by the
time the term ends. The grading
rubric is as follows:
Grading for Windsor Middle School
Bands
Behavior Points available per quarter: 900
Behavior points available per day: 20
Academic points available per quarter: 900
Your grade will be based on the “Average” of your “Behavior”
and your “Academic Points”
810
- 900 = A
720
- 809 = B
630
- 719 = C
540
- 629 = D
below
540 - does not earn
a passing grade
Ways to earn points:
- Practice during flex – 200 points
- Practice – 1 hour – 100 points.
- Playing tests – 50 – 100 points depending on
difficulty.
- Research papers on Composers or Performers – 50 –
250 points depending on quality
- Performance Review – 50 – 250 points depending on
quality
- Composition projects – 50 – 250 points depending
on quality
- Music Theory worksheets - 50 points per sheet (4
available per term)
- Music Careers research projects -50 – 250 points
depending on quality
- Band Officer – 500 points (President, Librarian,
Treasurer, Sound Tech)
- JB or EC ensembles – 50 points per session – 250
pts. per performance
- Fill an Instrument vacancy (low brass/low winds)
– 500 – 750 points
- Numerous other incentives that make it easy for
you to get the "A" such as "signing bonuses",
"character bonuses", bonus questions offered.
If you have less than “540 points” in the “Academic”
Category on the last day when the grading period is over, 539 points is added
to your “Academic” score. This
will bring your average up. If you
have more than “900 points” in the “Academic” Category, your “average” is
calculated based on 900 points and not your actual total. This keeps well behaved students who
have not done enough work outside of class from failing, and poorly behaved
students who get a large number of “Academic” points from automatically earning
a good grade.
Instruments
Windsor Middle School has been
fortunate to be able to loan instruments to students over the last few
years. As our program grows,
though, it has become increasingly difficult to provide instruments for Honor
Band students while continuing to supply our Beginning groups with adequate
numbers of instruments to play. It
is sometimes possible to buy used instruments at very reasonable rates. I frequently buy used instruments off
of Craigslist to add to the WMS instrument inventory. In addition, there are reputable dealers who offer good
quality refurbished instruments at reasonable rates. Please be careful about buying poor quality new instruments
that are often available at Costco, Sears or online. If the price seems to good to be true, then the instrument
is probably not worth the money you are going to pay for it. (These cheap instruments have come to
be called “Instrument Shaped Objects” by music teachers. I often ask the repair techs at Stanroy
for advice about instrument quality because there are so many instruments out
there with so many different names.)
If you have any interest in buying a new or used instrument for your
child to use, please let me know.
I can give you more information and suggestions about how to go about
it. Also, if you or anyone you
know has an instrument they would like to donate to our program, we are always
happy to give generous tax deductible donation letters.
Thanks again for encouraging
your child to play music and thank you for supporting music at Windsor Middle
School! As always, you can reach
me at 837-7737 ext 8134 or by mail:
smitchell@wusd.org
Thank you very much for being
part of the Windsor Middle School Honor Band! By participating in our group your are demonstrating that
you are a person of character and depth who cares about your education and your
future. Every year, the WMS
performing groups draw the finest individuals in the school and this year is no
exception. Thank you.
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