Updates for March 28th

It's time for an update, to make sure that we're all on the same page with everything at school, in all classes, bands, choirs, etc. Here we go!

- All band practice charts for March are due BEFORE the Easter break. Please have them to me, with your minutes totalled at the top and a parent or guardian signature, by Wednesday, April 4th @ 3:30pm

- We have been joined by several of our Japanese students in senior music classes. In Senior Choir we have been working on the Japanese children's folk song, Hotaru Koi. I would like to look at Seasons of Love shortly in Senior Choir... stay tuned (no pun intended).

- Jazz Choir is working on Can You Feel the Love Tonight from The Lion King, in 4-part SSAA a cappella. It will be beautiful! And, for something completely different, get ready for a toe-tappin', knee slappin' good time with our newest piece, The Pop Bottle Hoedown. Yeehaw!

- IP 20/30 is submitting our Work2Live and SaskEnvironment video contest submissions before the Easter break. We will be putting them onto a DVD (using the iDVD program) next class so that we can mail them with the release forms, etc. before their respective deadlines (April 20th for Work2Live and April 29th for SaskEnvironment).

- IP 10 will be beginning a new project today.... the long-awaited MUSIC VIDEO! This will be a major project and will take several classes to complete. Given the time allotted to this assignment, it will also be worth a substantial portion of this term's grade. It's also going to be a lot of fun - and of course, there will be a "movie night" at the end of it all!

- Computers 9I are compiling the video footage for their news broadcast, which is due on Monday, April 23rd. We have had many class periods to plan, film, and edit this project, so no extensions will be permitted (unless extenuating circumstances require one, in which case, see me to make a plan).

- We have been doing some African drumming in Music classes this week. Rivier students have got rhythm! Our theory classes will turn into African drumming classes as we get closer to the end of the school year. That being said, those that have theory to do will need to use that time to complete all assignments and quizzes before the final June report card. Stay tuned for an African drumming ensemble sign-up sheet for the final concert!

- Rivier is in charge of putting together a choir for the Celebration of Life mass on Friday, April 20th (evening). I will be there to sing and play the piano, and I need as many of you with me as possible. It is a great opportunity to represent our school and our music program, and our talents are always so appreciated by everyone. There will also be a pizza party for all singers who are involved in this mass..... added bonus! I will be posting a sign-up sheet on my homeroom door asap.

- We (the IP 20/30 class and I) are looking for yearbook photos from ALL grade levels. We want candid shots of you and your friends and classmates, either on the outside school grounds or in the classroom, hallways at lunch, etc. If you want to be represented in the yearbook, please submit photos to us asap! We will do our best to represent everyone, but it is difficult to do without the help of the student body.

- Computers 8M is almost finished the photo editing unit. Soon it will be time to develop our photo editing e-portfolio by compiling our best work into an iMovie presentation, complete with titles, transitions, and background audio. When this assignment is complete we will be having a "movie night" class where we can see each other's work (maybe we'll even watch the iMovies that you made in Grade 7 Computers class that we ran out of time to watch!).

- Just a reminder that Parent-Teacher Interviews are tonight (Wednesday) from 4-7pm and tomorrow (Thursday) from 4-6pm. There are no interviews on Friday!

- Choral/Vocal Jazz 30 - there has been talk about doing a Grade 12 number for the final concert. At this point it is looking like "For Good" from Wicked. I may have a lead on an SSA version so that we can get a bit of extra harmony in there vs. the duet music that I have currently. We will work out a time to get together and learn it. It shouldn't take long at all.

- I will not be here on Friday, so Mrs. Moon is subbing for me. Choral 10/20/30, she will be teaching the music for Celebration of Life with you during your 3rd period rehearsal. Please consider signing up for the mass. I know it is a Friday evening which is a lot to ask, but your leadership and talents are so appreciated. (Plus, free pizza!) :o)

Whew! Lots to think about. I'm glad we are getting things organized. We only have a couple days left until Easter break! Time is really flying by. Before you know it, we'll be tightening up loose ends for our June concert, and then it will be Grad.... YIKES!

I'm thinking about an "Around the World" theme for our final concert. What do you think? So far we have:

- 3 Russian Folk Songs (Russia, of course!) - Senior Choir

- Pop Bottle Hoedown / Can You Feel the Love Tonight (USA) - Jazz Choir

- O'Leary's Ceili Band (Ireland) - Senior Band

- Walkabout (American swing jazz) - Level 3 Band

- Sakura, Sakura (?) (Japanese folk song) - Level 1 Band

- Cha Cha Del Sol (Spanish) - Level 2 Band

- African drums (Africa, of course!) - Various students

- Hotaru Koi (Japanese children's folk song) - Senior Choir

- Seasons of Love (American Broadway) - Senior/Jazz Choir

- The Steppes of Russia (Russian folk) - Senior Band

- The Happy Wanderer/Val-de-ree (USA) - Senior Band

- She's Like the Swallow (Canada) - Chandra, Quinn, Rebecca, Miss Campbell

- Prayer of the Norwegian Child (Norway) - Cassidy and Shea

This could be a lot of fun! Your thoughts? Any song suggestions?

*Edit* - I just thought of some more good ideas. O Canada for band (any level), plus possibly Pokarekare Ana (New Zealand) for any number of voices. It's easy, I've taught it to most of the senior students already (3-4 years ago, mind you), and it's a song near and dear to my heart, as I learned it when I was teaching on my internship in NZ in 2007. Also, when I was interning and singing with the Wellington Youth Choir, I did a really cool arrangement of O Canada with God Defend New Zealand, their national anthem. I arranged them as partner songs, meaning that they're both sung at the same time.... AND it would give us an opportunity to sing in the Maori language! That might be kind of cool for senior choir I'm thinking.

So many ideas! :o)

Comp 8M photo edit checklist

Hi girls! You have been asking me in class which photo edits you are missing. For report cards, I am counting all of the edits up to and including the Rivier edit. So, here's what I need (if your name is here and you have your edit done but it's saved on your own account, never fear! The server is back up and running as of today! Hand them in asap next week and we'll be good to go.):

Flower - Suraishnee

Colour and Quote - Kristen

Selective Boost - Kristen, Cheyenne

Shadows and Sunshine - Hannah

Nature Quote - Sarah, Suraishnee

Friendship - Amanda J, Sarah, Amanda L, Suraishnee

Subtlety - Grace, Sarah, Suraishnee

Art and Colour - Amanda J, Sarah, Suraishnee, Summer

Self Portrait - Grace, Amanda J, Sarah, Amanda L, Meghan, Hannah, Suraishnee, Kaitlyn, Mackayla, Jessica, Summer

Rivier Edit - Grace, Braylin, Amanda J, Sarah, Hannah, Cheyenne, Kaitlyn, Mackayla, Summer

8M photo editing highlights - Public Market/Flower

Here are some of the stand-outs to me in your first 2 photo editing assignments (Public Market/Flower - selective colouring technique). Good job ladies!

Computers 8 Picnik intro

Hi Computers 8! Here is the order of business for today (and continuing):

1. Begin editing the "PUBLIC MARKET" sample picture from www.picnik.com that I showed you on the "Share Screen" feature. Remember, we are practicing our selective colour painting techniques, which means that we want to change the entire picture to black and white and then paint back on the red lettering by using the circle brush tool. If you try to paint back on the original red and it's not working, chances are you accidentally saved it mid-process and now the computer thinks that portions of your original are black and white. You may have to restart this project.

Please save your work as Last name, First initial, Public Market and submit to the hand-in folder (drop box).

For next class:

2. Choose a picture of a brightly coloured flower from Google image search. Daisies work well for this effect, as there are some great photos out there of high quality close-up images of vibrant daisies. If you would rather choose a different flower, that's ok too, but please choose an artistic photo rather than just a snapshot of a garden. Using selective colouring again, paint back on the most vibrant colours (likely the petals, and depending on the composition of the photo, maybe some green as well). In this instance, often less is more. Once you have finished the selective colouring, use the text adding feature to add the name of the flower pictured (i.e. Daisy, tulip, chrysanthemum, etc.). You may choose the font, colour, size, and positioning of the text, as long as the text is clearly visible. Be creative with your choices - choose a font that complements your photo. Also, remember that you can increase the saturation of colour on the original photo before you change it to black and white so that the vibrance of the colours is more intense against the black and white. Try playing with colour saturation and/or the "Boost," "Orton-ish," or "Lomo-ish" effects. You can also alter the percentage/fade of the effect by using the sliding bars if it's too strong (or not strong enough).

3. If you have any time left over, choose another photo from Google image search to edit using the same techniques (selective colour effect painting, and text addition).

****** MAKE SURE YOU ARE SAVING YOUR WORK!!!! You will hand in these photos to my drop box when you are finished, so please label them with your name as well. The easiest way to submit your work may be to save the file to your desktop and then drag and drop from there to my drop box. ******

4. Bring a favourite picture from home or from Google image search for next class. If you want a photo that you have on facebook, you must put it on a USB before class, as we will not be signing into our facebook accounts to retrieve pictures.