Hi, everyone:

 Welcome back to band!  It’s going to be a unprecedented way to do band, and I struggled on how to make this work.  If you have your instrument with you, great.  I’ll let you know individually what I would like for you to do.  Generally speaking, I want you to play through the rest of your red or blue books.  I will not grade it, though.  It will require self-discipline that you may have never used before.  If you don’t have your instrument, I generally can’t retrieve it for you.  Call me at 850 258-2497 for some possible alternatives.

Every period should have already signed up with Microsoft Teams by now.  That will be the primary way I will communicate with you. If you're having trouble, contact the help desk at helpdesk@leonschools.net 

 I finally decided that the rest of the year will be involved with five music theory packets.  They range from very simple notation to terminology that you'll need to know for high school.  It’s all pencil and paper work, so the question becomes how to get it back to me.  The answer is:  Any way you can!  If you have no printer, then do it on regular pencil and paper,  take a picture with it on your phone, and send it back to me through Microsoft Teams.  That should work for everyone, but if not, call me for an alternative.  if you are computer savvy, you will know how to take the PDF files, write on them, and send them back.  If you contact me through email, each one of you has a school email.  You need to start getting used to using it.

 Students do not need to work on my stuff more than 20 minutes per day.  You have enough other stuff to do, so don’t kill yourself.  I’m probably going to send all five units to you at once, including the tests.  We will work on the honor system as far as the tests go, so I trust you to take the test without looking at your worksheets.

 I will invite you to meet with me on Teams at certain times.  My office hours are daily between 9-11 am.  Contact me through either Teams, Remind, or email. 

 I miss being together!  We can make the best of this by being the most knowledgeable middle school in the county on music theory!!

 See you soon and relax!

Mr. Shipley