Hello!

Again, PLEASE PLEASE, don't mess with the sharing settings! Let’s keep it open and editable for all! Thank you! :)

Edit March 18th:

Thanks again everyone. The sharing settings have not changed, which is great! A few of you are finding yourselves blocked from the page...my guess is that is because of your school district’s limitations on your Google accounts. You may want to try accessing this doc via your personal Google account. You can also Make a Copy to your own drive by choosing File->Make a Copy and indicating where you want it to be saved in your own drives.

I’d also like to say a big “YOU GOT THIS” to everyone in this trying time.

Happy remote learning, all! Lauren

Edits, March 17th:

Good afternoon. Thanks to everyone who’s contributed to this doc. Best of luck to all you in your remote learning endeavors. As you roll things out and notice how things work (or don’t work!) please continue to update. Thanks! Lauren

Edits, March 13th:

Good morning!  

Please remember this is a shared doc, and is currently editable for all. So...there are a few rules with a shared Google Doc, and a few other reminders too!

1. Please don’t change the sharing settings. As long as it works, I’d like to keep this doc open to all and editable for all. It would be great to keep  that sharing setting the way it is. Thank you.
2. If you’d like to copy it to your own drive, you can “Make a Copy” by clicking File-> Make a Copy. Just know it will continue to be updated as people update it… so you may want to just save the link to return to it later.
3. I’m excited that people are finding this helpful! While I would love to vouch for every resource   here...I just can’t. I have a day job and two small humans I manage at night. So please, use at your own risk...but I do think there’s a lot of useful stuff here!
4. If you include a resource here, please feel free to also list your contact information. Many of you are now days or weeks into teaching remotely...if you feel comfortable leaving an email for people who have questions, please feel free to do so. I’m adding a section at the end for anyone who wants to leave their contact info.

This is fantastic Lauren—thank you!! (Thank you! L.P.)

Original text, March 11th: This is intended for choral teachers of all levels to share best practices, links, hyperlinks, and whatever else might help us all through this crazy time. Please feel free to add to this doc, and to share the link with other directors. Headings are provided to help organize thoughts. If you’re comfortable sharing your contact info in case folks have questions, you can add it to your thoughts/post. Disclaimer added: don’t forget to follow your district or institution protocols for online tools.

Let’s help each other help each other!

Lauren Peithmann

ONLINE LINKS AND RESOURCES

1. Noteflight Learn: free to all through June 30th, Noteflight Learn
2. Sightreading Factory: free student accounts to schools closed for COVID, https://www.sightreadingfactory.com/ (just send them an email at support@sightreadingfactory.com , and they’ll take care of you from there.)
3. MusicTheory.Net: free all the time, exercises and lessons, www.musictheory.net
4. Audacity: Free, downloadable recording audio software, (I’ve used this for a pm podcasting assignment) https://www.audacityteam.org/ <-Audacity is not currently supported by the newest MacOS (Catalina 10.15) Use soundtrap.com instead!
5. ChoirBites: blog with articles about choral singing, https://www.choirbites.com/
6. FlipGrid: Sharing videos, https://info.flipgrid.com/
7. This great list of resources from Washington ACDA! https://waacda.org/distance-learning/
8. Musescore: Free music composition software, https://musescore.org/en 
9. BAND: free app for communication in groups, https://band.us/en
10. Choral Tracks: pre recorded tracks for choral singers, https://www.facebook.com/ChoralTracks/  also: https://choraltracks.com/en/
11. Padlet: Free, create online content in groups, https://padlet.com/
12. Seesaw: Online, free teaching tool, seems to be good for elementary, AND the upper grades.  Create Activities for play/sing tests, Journal Entries, upload practice "tapes", draw pictures/diagrams https://web.seesaw.me/
13. Explain Everything: Online “whiteboard”https://web.seesaw.me/ teaching tool, https://explaineverything.com/
14. Acapella: App to collaborate and sing with others in small groups, https://www.mixcord.co/pages/acapella
15. Little Kids Rock “JamZone” vocal lessons: http://jamzone.littlekidsrock.org/instrument/vocals/
16. Khan Academy: online, free tutorial videos, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/music
17. SmartMusic: offering free access through June 30th for COVID affected schools. Also has sight-singing practice. https://www.smartmusic.com/ 
18. Rhythm Trainer — rhythmic dictation practice. There is a “B Mode” for modified (multiple choice!) The Rhythm Trainer
19. Google Meet
20. Appcompanist: can be used for secondary school solo and ensemble practice, Appcompanist gives you full control over thousands of beautiful piano
21. Kahoot: Online quiz games, free account through end of the year, https://kahoot.com/coronavirus-remote-offer/
22. Music Play Online: looks to be Elementary friendly, free one month subscription, apparently includes student log (user name: snow  PW: 2020) ins: https://musicplayonline.com/
23. Quizizz: Online quiz games in various subject areas, https://quizizz.com/
24. Join the 2020 World Virtual Choir: https://musiceducationsummit.org/2020-virtual-choir
25. Chrome Music Lab: free interactive music making website

https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com

26. Two Minute Music Theory (YouTube channel)

https://www.youtube.com/users/the1564studios/playlists

27. Music Tech Teacher (theory games)e

http://www.musictechteacher.com/music_quizzes/music_quizzes.htm

28. uTheory.com (online theory, rhythm, & ear training video lessons, exercises & practice -- has teacher interface, individual student logins) -- now free for schools affected by coronavirus, see
29. https://blog.utheory.com/free-access-for-covid-19-affected-schools-dc5cb797395a
30.  https://www.musicfirst.com Online classroom with various apps for different kinds of musical training.  Free subscription if you are closed.
31. Tunelark: Free online music games that can be organized by class.  You can post assignments and work on scales, pitch recognition, intervals, etc.
32. Online music courses that are free! https://www.springboard.com/blog/30-best-free-onlin*e-music-courses/
33. Resources for Elementary folks: https://mustech.net/2020/03/when-you-have-to-teach-elementary-music-from-home/ 
34.  Online theory and ear-training exercises: https://www.musictheory.net/exercises
35.  Elementary - folk songs around the world: https://www.mamalisa.com/?t=eh
36. Elementary: Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Website is full of stuff for kids: https://www.mydso.com/dso-kids
37. Dallas SO also has a part of their site for older kids too: https://www.mydso.com/educate/studio-dso
38. Open source  software Jitsi is a great alternative for Skype or Zoom, for the people who wants to give online lessons and video conference:

https://jitsi.org/

39. BEST free APP for scanning: Scannable - converts immediately to beautiful PDFs or jpegs.
40. Quaver music: curriculum resources K-8, more available for now due to COVID, https://www.quavermusic.com/info/
41. Beth’s Notes https://www.bethsnotesplus.com/find-songs, folk songs, chants
42. Voice Science Works - fantastic lessons and explanations of the vocal mechanism and how it functions. TONS of resources.https://www.voicescienceworks.org/vocology-toolbox.html
43. Music First learning management system for K-12 music ed: https://www.musicfirst.com/?fbclid=IwAR3i7S19nFMbzu0vgyeMLhbeZjQw5P9AfHC64RWvsKHfGh_w8lNWiA5D2Ow
44. Free music theory flashcards and games: Free Music Theory Lessons, Games, & Resources | Music-Theory-Practice
45. Online Drum groove/polyrhythm breakdown https://apps.musedlab.org/groovepizza/ 
46. Bandlab music production: http://www.bandlab.com
47. Collaborative music Notation: http://flat.io
48. A fantastic fun way to learn about early music sources and practices--from simple to advanced concepts: https://www.earlymusicsources.com/
49. Little Kids Rock - NOT just for little kids. Check out amazing information on performing, learning new instruments, improv, composing, and more
50. The Metropolitan Opera: I have heard that they will be offering free streaming operas starting 3/16. It does not say this on their site yet: https://www.metopera.org/
51. BalletNova - free dance lessons are supposed to be offered beginning 3/16: ps://www.balletnova.org/http
52. Arts Council of of Mendocino County: lots of fine arts links to teacher, parent, and student resources: https://www.artsmendocino.org/programs/curriculum-resource-library-a-gasp-resource/visual-arts-resources-websites/
53. Cleaning your musical instruments: NAfME - this is emerging information that is a work in progress. Updates are being posted at:: https://nafme.org/covid-19/
54. Fredonia Ukulele - one of my FAVORITE sites. Over 1,000 video tutorial songs. Teaches all the chords needed. SOOO FUN for all experience levels!! https://sites.google.com/a/fredonia.edu/fredonia-ukulele/home
55. There have been whispers that https://www.broadwayhd.com/ may also begin a free stream of some shows during the shutdown.
56. Berliner Philharmoniker has free streaming and archived concerts also:
57. Virtual Ensemble Rehearsal Toolkit by Jake Sandakly- Use soundtrap to create a virtual choral rehearsal! You create a rehearsal track as if your students are there. Students can then log on and create their own track and follow along to your recording. Gives them immediate audio feedback and you don’t have to deal with video editing or sound lag.  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KQFPbKuMmdpxHkGyPF51uDJ5Qn7NmE49?usp=sharing <-updated link
58. Music Theory & Ear Training - If you do not already have a ToneSavvy account and your school is closing due to the coronavirus, you can have a premium account at no charge for the duration of the closure. If you have an active ToneSavvy account and need to increase the number of students on your account because your school is closing due to the coronavirus, I will upgrade the remaining months of your current subscription at no charge for the duration of the closure.Feel free to contact dave@tonesavvy.com for any questions or help. www.tonesavvy.com 
59. Breezin’ Thru - This is an online music theory program that is offering FREE accounts  https://breezinthru.com/ 
60. Sheet Music Scanner app (https://sheetmusicscanner.com/). Allows you to take pictures of your music, turn them into PDF’s, and play it right back at you in the instrument you choose. You can adjust it to hear one part at a time, change the tempo, or even change the key! Great for creating accompaniment tracks to practice with.

HYPERLINKS: LESSONS/WORKSHEETS/ASSIGNMENTS

1. Make a list of handwashing songs? (half-kidding) → there are a bunch of these on BuzzFeed, actually! (Imperial March is one of them haha)
2. Someone’s amazing doc! Chorusimo E-Learning Plan
3. This great list of resources from Washington ACDA! https://waacda.org/distance-learning/
4. How COVID is affecting Choral Events: Fill out to have access to everyone’s answers: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc_HBykuxBNI_aisUsD7yi7a7f9qPoWul3SIcvkoG3nBhp0SQ/viewform
5. Don’t forget about the National Core Arts Standards Cornerstone Assessments. Ideas in there too: https://www.nationalartsstandards.org/content/music-mcas
6. Resources for Music Ed (not specific to choral, but good ideas here!) https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/1SoERjaLMA1Tro1FTf5i8iLckaL03bL8Xuugr7el77Iw/mobilebasic?fbclid=IwAR1Vcx139WlUKMEittzyQdJ9DiBFkydP2CNM18sDK8eQ8bYccL6ceMcu-Kw
7. Practopus: Online practice tracking app, https://www.practopus.com/
8. Full lesson plans for elementary students: https://www.mrsmiraclesmusicroom.com/2020/03/music-lessons-during-school-closures.html
9. Bingo board of activities for students to do over break (sub in your own rep): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DGa3B-QCQWne87MfhUzTAza04KLR4qhAK6lqPrJrJ-4/edit?usp=sharing
10. Create/Plan your own concert.

1. Step one: Plan the music via Jwpepper. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GSidGsd_xz6VRW0LB8oo_ec-R7wmhGEVDOXpILQoinU/edit?usp=sharing.
2. Step two: Plan your Budget. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AUhbPIWRIvAQkc5fcGOtuNOoARAlouB0UDFWvxNPlEg/edit?usp=sharing 
3. Step three: Create your Concert Program https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eZeOFeun5vfcN1KGoLXgQ97S0uXYzvem_ya1cPM_8ds/edit?usp=sharing 
4. (If you have questions, please email me Abby.Pagryzinski@ftcsc.org)

11. Lessonmate.org allows you to send one-way messages with assignments and resources for students. Works for private lessons and group classes.  

BEST PRACTICES (TELL YOUR STORY!)

1. Video or audio record your group BEFORE they close.
2. Don’t try too many new things. Use apps and platforms that kids already know how to use. If you do use something new, include a tutorial or troubleshooting guide, and be  prepared to answer lots of questions.
3. Be careful about requiring student-identifying information (names, emails, etc.) in your apps or platforms. There are laws about this...please check with your IT manager in your district/institution before requiring that students use an app where they have to create an account.
4. I saw on another post that kids stop watching videos at around the 5-minute mark. Make your video moments short and sweet.
5. Remember that images, sound files, and other pieces of intellectual property may not be labeled for reuse or for modification. With the speed that some of these things are coming out, don’t assume due diligence has been done. For safety’s sake, make sure your files and other resources are in a password protected online district/institution approved learning management system, and not searchable.
6. “Release yourself from high expectations right now, because that’s the best way to help your students learn.” - https://anygoodthing.com/2020/03/12/please-do-a-bad-job-of-putting-your-courses-online/?fbclid=IwAR217ZU8IIDSbyVaX2fzlY5tbZ0wjZkEQcozzoFcW9-W5BCs8Emz5ALvZzo

VIDEOS OR DEMOS

1. Sing that Thing!: PBS choir competition show, full episodes available on WGBH’s website, https://singthatthing.wgbh.org/
2. Canadian Opera Company TEDx talk/demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO0s-H3NcNQ.   Video Viewing Guide
3. Jocelyn Hagen TEDx demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5UEH89pdVs     
4. Craig Hella Johnson TEDx: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPR60WFHKXc
5. Oldies but goodies...all the “Robert Shaw: Preparing a Masterpiece” Videos (please preview for HS and lower grades) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42diMGHG_Z0
6. Broadway or Bust: PBS televised Jimmy Awards. It’s not the most recent (2012) but my students love watching the high schoolers as they compete in the Broadway competition/prepare for performances https://www.pbs.org/video/broadway-or-bust-episode-1-casting-call/
7. Craig Hella TEDxAustin:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwgjGgzBKsA
8. Berlin Philharmoniker - Digital Concert Hall (Free)- https://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/titelgeschichten/20192020/digital-concert-hall/?fbclid=IwAR0ZKb_c5RvhDE27u6SaIWLFhg8TIvDPNDSIFQGCAmBNcQMtu_SgYUxmHfc
9. Met Opera free live stream schedule as reported on Playbill https://www.playbill.com/article/metropolitan-opera-after-shutting-its-doors-will-offer-free-streams-from-live-in-hd-catalog?fbclid=IwAR0RFHjXZM1mKkTJY2O9Ep0KPybvfK7zrpdyvtF32R55Agajf47ny_NxXvw 

ASSESSMENT IDEAS

1. Write program notes for pieces in your repertoire.
2. Use Screencastify or other tool to have students make recordings and send to you for grading/scoring
3. Record yourself conducting so they can practice their parts along with you.
4. Assign a solo song to the entire chorus to learn (Italian Arias, anyone?)  Caro mio ben https://artsongcentral.com/2007/giordani-caro-mio-ben/
5. Plan a choral concert project. Give them a budget, time frame, links to JwPepper and go!
6. Book Club: Assign readings to your students and then meet online in Skype or Zoom to discuss/reflect
7. Compare/contrast youtube performances of the same work/different choirs.
8. Virtual recital: have students learn solo pieces, share a “performance” on an online platform like Zoom or Google Meet
9. Just seen on another site: Prepare with your students a “virtual variety show” for local senior centers by preparing songs, skits, jokes, etc. and posting a video or compiling online. (side note: if your school has a WeVideo account, that might work well here…) Most likely these centers are shut down and would appreciate a little recorded entertainment!
10. Have your students research vocal warm-ups. Each student can make a video of themself teaching a vocal warm-up. After this, students will watch three student’s videos and choose three that interested them. They will commit to practicing three warm-ups during the week There can be a follow-up/ reflection activity, asking the student to write about how the warm-up worked well for them.
11. The flipped classroom (the flipped choir rehearsal): Record the lines that your choir needs to learn, but not just the notes, with a little explanation, asking to repeat some points, as we do while we are rehearsing, upload it on SoundCloud and share with the singers. We are doing that with The Seal Lullaby https://soundcloud.com/coral-utfpr/sets/coral-utfpr-the-seal-lullaby 
12. Open a Padlet so the singers can create a concert from scratch, they can share ideas and collaborate with the decisions about the repertoire : https://padlet.com/coraldautfpr/22fhl15kxrul
13. Project idea: Investigate careers in the Fine Arts

OTHER

1. NAfME website statement: https://nafme.org/covid-19/
2. Very helpful blog post about how to deal with cancelled concerts: https://blog.chorusconnection.com/what-to-do-when-your-choral-concert-gets-canceled?fbclid=IwAR0J6P0YqMp92ssoQaQ609UnlQwMJ2daSnJGfyXARlZRQh5rGX9W-XKKN0o
3. Eric Whitacre’s virtual choir sings “Sleep” (because you know you want to see it again) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WhWDCw3Mng
4. Guidelines for Online instruction (not music specific, but great resources): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1B_2jw_eVtSRgrTTJy_ZVn_D2ZqDOVNfee26aPusXiu0/edit
5. Tools and information from Torrey Trust, UMass, discussing the need for Universal Design for Learning in your remote lesson planning, includes tutorials on various online learning tools. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1j7gr-wD18yF4kTwS3H7pwQSsy_E1ee125S3jnEMNLR8/edit?fbclid=IwAR0VD0wit0BM4W3iixZu3UXF0kByvDHSXVoKhVNKVU4y3abTuzfnh1MjRVw#slide=id.p
6. E-Learning in Music Education Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/elearninginmusiceducation/?fref=nf
7. E-Learning for Choir Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/312558063036726/?notif_id=1584051406305415&notif_t=group_r2j_approved
8. Blog created by a teacher for music education resources: https://bnweidner.wixsite.com/musicoutsideschool/online-apps
9. Free websites where students can create their own music: incredibox.com; Beepbox.com; musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/song-maker; loopslabs.com; audiotool.com

CHORAL RELATED CONCERNS/QUESTIONS:

1. If students are going to sing their part using GarageBand (or whatever) we also need to scan the section of music we want them to sing in advance. Many programs don't have students take their music home, so it's up to the teacher to provide sheet music for their Distance Learning needs. But because of copyright issues, we shouldn't send students the entire score… Teachers should prepare for sudden school closures by having repertoire available online in some form.

• Good point! Kami is a good Google extension for this. Students can also highlight and mark scores with Kami
• Also important to note that any copyrighted material you use should be an internal source, not searchable and accessible to students and teachers, not forward-facing to the community.
• BEST free APP for scanning: Scannable - converts immediately to beautiful PDFs or jpegs.

2. If students are making recordings meant to be synchronized later, they need to be taught how to get a clean audio signal and also be singing with a pitch and rhythm reference track that they are monitoring through headphones.

• This links to BMCC CUNY’s Virtual Choir website, which outlines some how to’s for recording for later synchronization: hts/faqs.aspx tps://virtual choir.bmcc.cuny.edu/vc/page

3. Don’t forget about your freelancer gigging friends who are most likely out of a job at the moment somewhere. They may be up for doing a video or demo, or a master class/lesson virtually for you and your students. And if you can throw them some $$, do so!

4. Don’t forget to bring resources home with you! I have PDF scanned all of my music into my Google Drive to have it available to post or take with me at all times. Kids will not have their folders with them in the event buildings close suddenly, and I also needed to have music from my choirs/voice classes to use for practice tracks at home, etc.

5. If this is your last day, or you think this may be your last day for a while and your school uses Google Classroom, GET YOUR STUDENTS TO TAKE OUT THEIR PHONES AND MAKE SURE THEY ARE IN YOUR GOOGLE CLASSROOM AND ALSO DOWNLOAD THE GOOGLE HANGOUTS APP AND THEN TURN ON PUSH NOTIFICATIONS! If you forget to do this all together, it makes it ten times harder to get them to see your posts and messages while you’re all apart. This generation DOES NOT check their email regularly, they rely on individual apps that send notifications to their phones.

6. Does anyone know of any SA or SSA pieces that may be easy to piece together through virtual learning (practice tracks, etc) for when we come back as sort of tribute to lives lost/affected by this outbreak?

1. I Ask For One Day - Jim Papoulis https://www.jwpepper.com/I-Ask-for-One-Day/10519315.item#/ 

7. Some composers have offered Skype or Zoom sessions for directors who have programmed their music. You should reach out and see if the composers you’ve programmed might be willing to record a Skype session with you!

CONTACT INFO/PEOPLE WHO CAN HELP!: If you add your contact info here, just remember that this is a shared doc and currently “out there”. However, we’d all love to know if you can be of help! Please share your name, contact email or whatever, and what you think you can offer in terms of help!

Kevin T. Padworski, DMA

kevin.padworski@coloradoacademy.org

Currently online teaching 6-12th grades through April on multiple platforms