Sammy Salvador - Dr. Augustine ramirez intermediate school

Last year I was on a virtual track teaching a study skills class from home the whole school year. My favorite thing about being in-person this year is just that....being in person! Being able to make music and sing together as a choir again has been a huge improvement compared to the previous year. One of my biggest hurdles are all those students who literally don't want to sing since they didn't sign up for choir. Since I'm in middle school, I've sometimes found it easier to run with the chaos and let them go a little wild if it means they'll actually sing. For example, we're in the middle of doing our regular old warm-ups, when a group of trouble-maker boys start singing (more like screaming at first) the Bob the Builder theme song...this is now one of our favorite and most highly requested warm-ups!

Another thing I love doing with all my classes are our Friday videos! This has been a great way to ease into the weekend and give them a little break from rehearsal! Every Friday, we start off class with a video, often a random performance I love. Choir, Pentatonix, Voctave, etc. I also try to make them relevant to what's going on in the world or what time of year it is. One Friday in February, I showed them two performances of the Star-Spangled Banner, one by Destiny's Child, and the iconic Whitney Houston performance. This worked two-fold since it was the Friday before the Super Bowl, and it was Black History Month! My students always look forward to our Friday videos and it's a great way for me to expose them to music they might never have heard!
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Last year I was on a virtual track teaching a study skills class from home the whole school year. My favorite thing about being in-person this year is just that....being in person! Being able to make music and sing together as a choir again has been a huge improvement compared to the previous year. One of my biggest hurdles are all those students who literally don't want to sing since they didn't sign up for choir. Since I'm in middle school, I've sometimes found it easier to run with the chaos and let them go a little wild if it means they'll actually sing. For example, we're in the middle of doing our regular old warm-ups, when a group of trouble-maker boys start singing (more like screaming at first) the Bob the Builder theme song...this is now one of our favorite and most highly requested warm-ups!

Another thing I love doing with all my classes are our Friday videos! This has been a great way to ease into the weekend and give them a little break from rehearsal! Every Friday, we start off class with a video, often a random performance I love. Choir, Pentatonix, Voctave, etc. I also try to make them relevant to what's going on in the world or what time of year it is. One Friday in February, I showed them two performances of the Star-Spangled Banner, one by Destiny's Child, and the iconic Whitney Houston performance. This worked two-fold since it was the Friday before the Super Bowl, and it was Black History Month! My students always look forward to our Friday videos and it's a great way for me to expose them to music they might never have heard!