Student: "Mr. Wilson, I got a 20 out of 40 points? Why did I fail???"
Me: "You did not fail!"
Student: "Hungh??? How??? "

Oakridge School District uses Proficiency Based Grading, on a four (4) point scale. There is a good description of these on your Syllabus, but I want to describe how it is used on Google Classroom! Please do not read them as a 20 out of 40 points earned you a 50%, which is failing.

Google allows me to give feedback directly to the student, with a grade that they can see. Unfortunately, the assignments are based on the old 100 point system, while we use a 4.0 Proficiency system recorded on the software app Jumprope. For a student that reaches Proficiency, they would have earned a 70% under the old system, which gives them a GPA of 2.0. Under the Proficiency, that assignment would be assigned a 2.0 for the grade, which the student earned! Another student may have earned a slightly better grade, a 2.2 or a 2.3, and Google Classroom does not allow me to use decimal points for grades.

I have attempted to work around this by making assignments worth 40 points. For every assignment that a student has earned 40 points on Google Classroom, it translates into a 4 on Jumprope. For an assignment that a student earns 20 points on, their Jumprope grade will show a 2, which is at the Proficient level.

For any student that turns in an incomplete assignment that demonstrates effort, or has a complete assignment with a majority of incorrect information/answers, then they will earn 10 points, which their Jumprope grade will show as a 1.0, which is Not Meeting, or In Progress.

If students do not turn in their assignment, they will earn zero (0) points, and Jumprope will show an "X," which means Missing Assignment, and affects their GPA as if they earned zero (0) points on the assignment.

If students turn in a blank assignment, or show minimal effort, they will earn zero (0) points. Their Jumprope grade will show a zero (0), which affects their GPA.

Hello Students and Families,

Things are going well here at school so far! We have iPads, a Laptop, and access to Internet and Printers! Mr. McCool is doing a great job getting our technology setup! Our teachers are working hard to get out new curriculum, new classrooms, and settling your students into the new school year.

In our Music Classes (Concert Band, Choir, Intermediate Band, Music Appreciation, and OES Band) I use a resource called Google Classroom for Assignments, Videos, Class Announcements, Information, and student communication. Students upload any assignments, recordings, answer question, and more on this site! 

To access this at home, go to the following address:    classroom.google.com
The Login name is their student number, followed by our domain: "######@ohswarriors.net"
If you the student are struggling to login at home, my first guess is that you used the suffix ".com" instead of ".net"
Teachers all know your student number - is should be on your transcripts and class schedule. Noone, not even your teachers, are supposed to know your password.

I hope this helps with any Classwork and Project information. Please ask if you have any questions!

Hello everyone! We are having a great surge of interest at the 5th and 6th grade levels, and a lot of continuing musicians in 6-9th grades! I am looking forward to officially announcing a field trip coming up, and preparing for more Symphony Trips and Tour 2020!

This website will take on more importance for the Elementary Music Students as I work to duplicate videos and messages from Google Classroom onto this source. Youtube is currently unavailable on your accounts (at home or at school) so I will try to put resources here also that you may miss out on!

Construction is coming to a close for the summer, with a few loose ends to tie up. The lights are soon to be fixed at the high school, and when our extremely busy (and awesome!) custodial/maintenance staff had a chance on Friday's I look forward to the Elementary Portable getting our technology and whiteboards set up.

Thanks for your patience, and for your high levels of musical Desire and Effort!!!

​-Wilson

#1) After applying through the Eugene Symphony we have been selected to receive five lessons from Eugene Symphony Musicians for the Concert Band and Intermediate Band! I will try to select a number that represent our musicians (Flute, Clarinet, Trombone, Tuba) and some that are different (Violin, Viola, Bassoon, etc).

#2) We have been asked to perform two times in November! On SUNDAY November 11th, the Capitol Christmas Tree is being harvested in the Willamette National Forest, and will come through town. I am looking for Choir and Band students to perform Patriotic Music and Holiday Carols.
The next day, MONDAY November 12th is the Annual Veterans Day Luncheon held at the OJSH Cafeteria. I am looking for the Choir and Concert Band to perform here, at this Volunteer performance.

#3) Thanks to the Eugene Symphony Board, and their desire to help rural schools, our Band Members have been invited to watch the Eugene Symphony perform, for FREE!!! Mr. Chapman says we will have a bus available, and dinner is an optional time for us (Sack Dinner or Fast Food). There are two options to watch a performance: November 15th and December 6th. Either one is after school, though I advocate for November 15th. I want to have good weather, and make sure our student-athletes not miss a potential Basketball game in December. If NOONE is able to go that day... which is shaping up to be a busy music week... then I will take a first come first served basis for the December performance.

Today your young ladies and gentlemen made the first decision towards picking their instruments. After trying Flute, Clarinet, and multiple Brass Mouthpieces they are deciding on what they would like to play. Tonight, I will go through the paperwork and put my recommendations as to which instrument may bring the best success for your child.

On Wednesday night I would like them to come to you and talk to you about which instrument they would like to start with. This selection is for the year, as we work toward building a great foundation. Be aware that when selecting Clarinet or Saxophone, your musician will need to purchase reeds for the year. As we enter the holiday season, any student may wish to purchase their own mouthpiece.

If you look under each of the classes: Concert Band, Intermediate Band, and Choir, you will find the syllabi for this school year. Today students should have turned in their Signed Acknowledgement Forms.

Hello everyone, and welcome to 2018! We will not be using Facebook as a main method of communication since we cannot use it at school.

Parents, we did not get to fill out the form together today (seem's someone's classroom clock is five minutes slow.... Sorry Gay and Eileen!!!

Costs for Reeds are, per set of 10 Reeds:
$20 for introductory Clarinet Reeds, $24 for intermediate Clarinet Reeds, and $28 for upper level brand reeds.
$25 for introductory Alto Sax Reeds, $30 for Intermediate Reeds, $38 for upper level.

Here is the instrumentation for this year:
Flutes: Alexis, Christopher, Danica, Kaitlyn
Clarinets: Aaliyah, Evie, Kaylee, Sarah, Shane
Alto Saxes: Eli, Kayden
Horn in F: Katrina
Trumpet/Cornets: Ayden, Emma, John, Jonavin, Josh
Trombones: Miya, Sharahya
Tuba: Kaleb

Letter Home Oct 23, 2017

Good Morning Parents and Students!

As we near the end of the first quarter, remember that we are on our way to proficiency! For those that strive for the A+ and a perfect score, we as Proficiency Musicians are continuing to practice our skills and develop new tools. The better we get, the higher level of proficiency we can demonstrate.

Music Department Updates:

High School Students - our Voces8 field trip is fast approaching. Make sure to dress well, and comfortably, bring money for dinner or a sack meal, and remind your parents that we will arrive home late (10:30pm or later).

This past Friday I got to go to Corvallis for a State Inservice Music Conference. I saw many great things to do with Elementary Music (Movement, Stop-Go Games, Spacial Awareness), Band (Student Led rehearsals, Involvement in Musical Decisions), and Choir (Singing as a Community of People, Warm Ups, Techniques). Unfortunately I have a little-one home sick today, so I look forward to sharing tomorrow!

General Music.... the PVC has arrived! I am in the process of gluing together a rack that we can play our Boomwhackers and Rhythm Sticks on. It is a rough draft, but looks promising! Now, to spray paint it in our School Colors for a concert...

Technology:
With Google Classrooms, our class is doing even more, and transitioning to online documents and feedback. This will not replace paper entirely, but saving on resources and paper can be a great thing. When we have a device resource such as an iPad... we need to use it. As we record ourselves for assessments, students need to be sure to upload those videos so that I may provide feedback. This year our class has a set of 15 iPads! Each student has been issued an iPad for use in the Music Room, and is to be shared with one other student. Mr. Wilson will NOT be emailing, or mass sharing, our video assessments to others. It is a safe, comfortable way to learn and grow. Occasionally in class I will ask students if I may share their solo or group recording to the class... and no means no.

Students will be recording with the iPad's video feature, and the camera may be pointed at the wall, or a copy of their sheet music. What is important is that they play near the microphone and can hear themselves. The next step is to upload the video to Google Classroom when assigned, or to their own Google Drive for practicing and record keeping. Each OJSH student has a Google account for just this purpose. The third step is that they share that video with me (Mr. Wilson) so that I can view, assess, and give feedback. This way students can record during, or after class, and share that with me without it being send over email or being shared with other students. 

This will help speed up the process of assessment, and be an accurate record of: Did I do it? Did I play the correct song? Did I really miss that note? How fast did I play it?

There are many more steps and awesome things that we can do with Videos, and I look forward to implementing this and using it during second semester!

-Musically Yours,
Mr. Wilson