I'm sorry that I can't yet give you final decisions about what everything will look like since what I am able to do will be affected by the numbers of in-person students. I can tell you a little about what I'm planning, however.
Regarding the choir class, I do not believe that it is safe for us to be singing full choir songs together in the classroom as usual. We will still be singing individually or in smaller groups, but I'm happy to say that I believe that our music team has new ways to explore the music education standards that are exciting and engaging. I'm very excited about a suite of software (accessible through Chromebooks) that we will be using to make music together. I'm trying to structure things in such a way that if we are in class or if we are all locked down again, we should still be able to do the same things.
We won't just be doing 90 minutes of Music Theory every day; while we will still reinforce the skills we learned before, we will be adding elements of composition/songwriting, music creation with Digital Audio Workstation software, etc.
I'm hopeful that since I'm structuring things this way, I will be allowed to fully involve remote learners in this curriculum as well. I can't promise that, however. It is possible that new guidelines will mean that students electing to do remote learning will not be included in these activities. Please know that I will be advocating for our remote learners, and doing my best to help them grow musically.
Chromatics and show choir will be largely virtual as well. Students interested in show choir should see this note from Miss O'Neill.
Please know that I completely understand how difficult it is to choose between in-person or remote learning without full information about what will be done. I understand how tough this decision can be; Mrs. Barsch and I are still deciding what we are going to do with our 7th & 8th-grade children.
Please feel free to reach out to me by email at peter.barsch@bps101.net and I will do my best to answer any questions you may have.