SuperBand’s performance on Friday, May 10th, 2013 is now online at Vimeo.

Bravo to you all for an absolutely fabulous performance.

Click here to view the embedded video.

From the LLAC Box Office:

Dear Parents & Students,

The professional DVD is now available for $50HK at the Box Office (Mon-Fri 8am to 4pm) till the end of June. We accept cheque cash VISA and Mastercard at the Box Office. We can’t take telephone orders. Another option is to send a note with a cheque with your child to school.

Should you have any questions – contact our Box Office directly at 2518-5877

Here’s an inspirational Vimeo clip showing what this group of people in Paraguay do to turn trash into music.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thank you to Mrs. Murray for sharing.

Dearest Parents of my Performing Arts students,

I am leaving the Canadian International School of Hong Kong after 7 wonderful years of working at such a fine international school.  The parents, students and teachers have been supportive and enjoyable to work with; certainly, a highlight in my career.

I will be completing my Master’s Degree in Educational Technology, as well as a few exciting activities that have always fascinated me.  App development and music composition/technology are a few of them.

I have established a personal email (and eventually a website) for any parents and students to keep in contact, as I will be remaining in Hong Kong.  I am happy to give you ‘second opinions’ about any aspects of your child’s education, as well as keep you informed of educational and technology trends that may be of value to your child’s future as they progress through their next school year.

I will be offering private one hour per week tutoring sessions starting in October until June, in the following areas to a small number of students:

1. Music Composition for the Digital Age – any level

GarageBand (and Logic Pro/Studio)

This class will include introduction, basics and advanced techniques to fully utilize this powerhouse application for music, video, and integration with other software, and, if desired,  use with school assignments.  These applications make superb presentation tools, e.g., podcasts, project videos, multimedia presentations, animating.  Students will be confident to use this application to help prepare themselves for the 21st Century adult.

Music Composition with Finale, Finale NotePad, or Sibelius

Basic to advanced levels of composition to foster the student’s inner expression of music.  Composition programme will be personalized to the interests of the student, integrating all aspects of music theory as needed.  The goal is the get their ideas flowing, to screen, to .mp3, print, and onto a digital portfolio (SoundCloud, for example) for others to enjoy and comment on.  Sample activities will include theme and variation, commercial and advertising jingles, ring tones, theme writing for presentations and scoring for video presentations, gaming music.  This course will give students who have an interest in music an opportunity to channel it into short term projects that build from each activity.  No specific piano or instrument experience required.  These activities will better prepare students for any school music programme expectations.

2. Grades 4 – 7 tutoring in all subjects

In collaboration with the classroom teacher, students will receive modeling, guidance, and tutoring using a variety of multi-media and traditional methods to build confidence in areas of curricular concern.  Individual programmes will encourage making connections across disciplines, and how to use skills and strategies to transfer knowledge effectively to develop higher order thinking skills.  This promotes a deeper understanding of how to use their knowledge in a variety of contexts; another important skill of the 21st Century adult.

If you are interested in this, please email me at the email below to discuss the specific needs of your child.  I can provide more details about venue, cost, etc. at that time.

New email address:  marshallshawtech@gmail.com
Please feel free to forward this email to anyone that would benefit from this type of opportunity.

Thank you for opportunity of working with your child.

Sincerely,

Marshall Shaw

New email address:  marshallshawtech@gmail.com

Just in case…

SuperBand members need to be in my room at 6:15 p.m. on Friday, May 10th to warm-up, tune, and go over our music.  The show starts at 6:30 p.m.  We will be on stage at approximately 6:50 p.m. for about 5 minutes.

Following this, we will return to the music room to put away the instruments and proceed to the LLAC auditorium to watch the remainder of the show.  It should end at approximately 8:00 p.m.  There are buses provided to Causeway Bay and Admiralty MTR Exit A.

This will be the last time SuperBand will be together this year.  Thank you for the opportunity to work with such fine, young musicians with so much talent.  The pleasure has been mine!

ScoreCleaner Notes

I discovered this App about 4 months ago and forgot about it until one of our Performing Arts teachers, Ms. Hodgson brought it to my attention today.  I had tried the demo MacBook Pro version and felt the price of $139 US (normal license) was a little high, as I can do the same thing on Finale 2012.

It’s called, ScoreCleaner Notes, for iPhone/iPad and at the grand price of 8 HK dollars, it’s worth a look.

Here’s what the company says:

Have you ever wanted to notate a melody when there is no pencil or paper, no instrument or computer around – just you and your iPhone? Are you curious to know how the song your are humming would look in music notation?
With ScoreCleaner Notes you can play, sing or whistle any melody and instantly turn it into music notation.

I’m curious about the accuracy of this App.  Please let me know if you try it.  I certainly will.

4C’s Spotlight will be held on Tuesday, May 28th at 9:30a.m. in the Alan Dick Forum.

The Unit of Inquiry is here.

Students have a Google Doc. where they can sign up for the various activities we are offering for this Spotlight.  This includes tech arts (video and GarageBand), music composition (Finale), drama, dance, and visual arts.  There is also a place to sign up for the role of MC.  Students should make their selection early this week so we can begin this Friday in class.

Students choosing to do work with computers will need to back up their work to a USB thumb drive or memory stick.  They can complete their work on the various school computers, as well as at home.  All group work will need to be completed by Monday, May 20th in preparation for our dress rehearsal on Friday, May 24 at 8:30a.m. in the forum.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Grade 6D Spotlight will be held on Wednesday, 8 May at 10:10am in the forum.

Students will be performing as a band the following selections from their book.

Student are encouraged to practice the above pieces over the next week and a half.

Mr. Shaw

Grade 6C Spotlight will be held on Thursday, 9 May at 8:30am in the forum.

Students will be performing as a band the following selections from their book:

Student are encouraged to practice the above pieces over the next week and a half.

Mr. Shaw

Grade 6A Spotlight will be held on Friday, 10 May 2013 at 7:50am in the forum.

Students will be performing as a band the following selections from their book:

Please practice your music!

Thank you,

Mr. Shaw