1st Set of Weekly Announcements!

Hi everyone! And welcome to the Chesapeake Choirs Family!

My name is Megan Louder, and I'm the director here.

But more importantly, I'm THRILLED to be back and to work with your kids. (Virtual, in person, and every medium in between.) Thanks in advance for letting me borrow them for many hours a week!

As with most back-to-school information blasts, there's a lot here. I recognize that, and I'm very conscious of the fact that we're only human...I'm likely to forget some things, you're likely to misread/misinterpret or completely forget/miss something I've said. It's okay and I've prepared for that 😁👍 I have created a Google Form where you can ask those questions! You can also go to our website, hover over the "Mixed Choirs" tab, and select FAQ from the drop down menu.

There are lots of systems in place (both for me and for every teacher, honestly) that you're trying to keep straight, and I get that. So to be very clear, here is what I'm using:

• For student assignments: Google Classroom

• To meet during class: Google Meet

• To communicate one-on-one with students and parents: mlouder@aacps.org OR 302/404/0250 OR a private comment in Google Classroom. (You can also talk to me in the "chat" of our website, but I am much less likely to see that & respond in a timely manner.)

• For weekly announcements (you'll get them every week on Friday): an email blast with the link to our website. (You can make an account for this website if you'd like, but it is not required to view the announcements.) ✨I have already made my contact groups for every class. I took every primary and secondary email listed in PowerSchool and added them. Therefore: if you would like one of those emails removed, fill out this form. I will also post the weekly announcements to Google Classroom every week so students can read them.✨

Most of this information can be found in the signature image of the emails I send. I try to get you all the information you need to know, but I think it's even MORE important to make it clear how you can FIND the information you need, should things be forgotten or unclear. (I apologize for that in advance. Like I said, I'm only human. ) With that said, let's get started with some specifics!

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What we did this week in class.

Monday students: you're welcome for the sneak peek at my lesson plan 😎

In every class,

• I introduced myself

• I learned everyone's names, how to pronounce them correctly, and if they prefer to be called something different than is on my roster. (I am very passionate about getting people's names correct. I gave said schpiel to every class...you can ask them for a recap 😅)

• We went through the BitMoji Classroom presentation. (Go through it yourself when you get a chance, if you'd like more information!)

• We made a folder in Google Drive for all choir-related materials.

• We made copies of our Interactive Notebooks (will be used for taking notes during class).

In a few classes we had time to walk through the Choir Website, but not every class. Feel free to explore!

What do students need to complete before the next class?

• By next time we meet, aka FLEX: nothing! During the upcoming FLEX period, I plan on reviewing how to make a new folder in Google Drive for our class, I want to make sure everyone has a copy of their interactive notebook, and then we'll go over a few more details. But no new content will be started during FLEX.

• By our next "official" class: also nothing! The original plan was to have the handbook signature page due, but you'll have to read on to see why that's not the current plan.

There was a handbook...

...that I wanted to be able to send out today, but alas, technology issues. (I know not a single person is surprised by this.) When I'm able to complete it, I'll send it out to everyone with instructions on when & how to complete/return the "hey-my-child-and-I-read-this-and-think-we-understand-it-and-will-make-every-effort-to-participate-in-this-program-to-the-best-of-our-ability" contract page. 😊

Where do I go for answers?

If you ever have a question, check a few resources, and then reach out to me one of the ways listed above. Those resources are:

• Go to your child's Google Classroom for this course --> select the Classwork tab --> scroll to the Resources topic --> Click on "Ms. Louder's BitMoji Classroom" and double check the slides there. I will update that document as often as necessary so everyone has access to specific how-to instructions.

• Check the most recent set of announcements (or maybe go back two weeks, if you feel like being extra thorough.)

• For logistics like Google Meet codes for class, read the most recent announcements on the Stream in your child's Google Classroom for this course.

• Go to the choir website, hover over Mixed Choir, and navigategte to the "FAQ" page from the dropdown menu that appears.

THEN email/call/text/send a carrier pigeon. 😁 Allow me to be vulnerable for a moment: the area that needs most growth in my professional life is consistent communication with families of the students I teach. Not because I don't want to - quite the opposite; I LOVE getting to know the families of my favorite humans on earth. But, I am very bad at setting boundaries for myself in terms of work. I'm obsessed with my job so I'll do a lot all at once, get burnt out, and then everything after that suffers. It's my personal commitmentment to be better about that every year. All I ask is that you double check your resources before coming to me, because if no one double checked and I got multiple emails about information I've already covered...then I can't keep my personal commitment to doing all I can within a certain number of hours in a day. All this to say: my top priority is to support your child's education and serve your family in whatever way I can. Please help me help you 😊

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I did say at the beginning of this that there was a lot of information. I think I delivered. 😳

Seriously though, right now is a great time of transition. There will be even more information (from me and all things school-related, not to mention in your personal lives) and even more CHANGES to said information. My goal is to view this year as an opportunity for growth of how & when I give grace to other people. That's just it: we're human. Trying to make the best lemonade out of the SUPER questionable lemons this year has given us.

Have a wonderful & restful weekend - everyone deserves it.

All the best,

Megan