Music With Mrs. Iltis

Hello Everyone,

Welcome back to my blog and another school year at LCS.  Hopefully we won’t have to use this too much going forward (in person teaching has been SO much more enjoyable!) but it is a handy place for kiddos (and their parents) to access musically related resources.

So far, we have had a great start to our year despite the restrictions that have had to be placed on our music program.  Yes, we all miss band and chorus, but middle school students have really stepped up as we learn to use Garageband to score short films, and 4th and 5th grades are already so well versed in the music literacy they will need to succeed on instruments when we CAN play and sing at school again! K-3rd grades are just plain fun!

So… I’m optimistic and I continue to thoroughly enjoy teaching your children and being part of such a supportive school community.  Please feel free to reach out to me at any time with questions or concerns as we continue to navigate this school year together.  Stay well!

Mrs. Iltis

 

Hello Everyone,

This will likely be my last post for this school year.  What a journey!  Never thought I would have a blog.  Didn’t even know what Zoom was before this year.  But I have, and now I know, and I feel like I’ve grown and that’s always a good thing, right?  Thanks to all of you who have hung in there with me and persevered through all my attempts at online music education.

While some things have worked better than others, I think we can all agree that there’s no substitute for the real thing.  I hope you all have an amazing summer and I look forward to seeing you and your kiddos in person in the fall (Yes, I’m thinking positively!).

Stay well,

Mrs. Iltis

 

Hello Everyone,

Ready for a new week?  Sometimes it’s just a matter of getting started, and then things start to flow. Things probably seem to me moving slowly from day to day and yet suddenly here we are, one week from Memorial Day! How did that happen?!

Thanks for hanging in there and all that you’re doing to support your children in their education.  I realize that music may not always be at the top of the “to do” list each day, but thanks for doing what you can when you can.

Music quote of the week…       

Have a great week!

Mrs. Iltis

…so maybe I was a little hasty when declaring the end of the snow.  But, really?? It’s May!!

I hope you all had a good week with your family and I hope all you mothers out there were able to enjoy your special day yesterday (Even though it was STILL cold!).  You ROCK!!

As always, please feel free to reach out to me with questions or concerns about anything musically related and I will do my best to help.  If your child is in 5th grade and beyond, encourage them to sign up for a Zoom lesson with me.  I typically reserve Wednesday afternoons for MS chorus, Thursdays for 5th Grade Band lessons and Friday for MS Band lessons.  I send out sign up sheets via Google Docs every Monday.  We also continue to Zoom a MS Band and Chorus check-in every Wednesday at 11:00.  These are all great ways to stay connected and progress vocally and instrumentally!

Music quote of the week…

“I’ve always thought people would find a lot more pleasure in their routines if they burst into song at significant moments.” –  John Barrowman

So, go ahead, burst into song and have a great week!

Mrs. Iltis

 

It’s finally happening and the black flies are in agreement!  I don’t think we’ll be having any more snow storms.  I hope yesterday gave you the same lift that it did me.

Weather aside, I’m proud to be a part of this school community!  Everyone is doing such an amazing job of caring for and lifting each other up.  That is what will get us through this time and help us to grow in the process.  I’m also incredibly proud of students who are reaching out and asking for help (of all kinds) when they need it.  That takes a special kind of maturity.  

Quote of the week…

…

Can’t argue with that!  Please stay safe and have a good week.

Miss you all!!

Mrs. Iltis

Hello Everyone,

I hope that you enjoyed your week and were able to do some fun things with those that you love.  I began a bathroom project which is not yet complete (and may not be for some time 🙂 ) and my daughter and I embarked on various smaller home improvements as well – moving furniture around, cleaning, painting.   It is a good time for projects in our house.  I hope there are some silver linings for all of you as well during this strange time that we’re living in right now.

As we move forward with music together this week, I want to encourage you to do what you can, but not to feel stressed if you can’t do it all.  I’m giving you a lot of suggestions for activities on the blog pages each week, but do what feels right and comfortable for you and your child right now.  I don’t want anyone to feel overwhelmed.  If paper packets are easier for you, please communicate that to me as well, and I will make sure that you get those.

Please have a good week and remember to listen to some music…

“A great song should lift your heart, warm the soul and make you feel good.” – Colbie Caillat

Take good care everyone!

Mrs. Iltis

 

 

OK, so maybe I was just the teensiest bit premature when I was singing the wonders of spring in my last post – that’s Maine for you.  One of these days we’ll get a generator!

All that aside, I hope you’re all recovered and getting back to it (whatever “it” is).  Things have changed again, and yet they haven’t.  We aren’t going back to school this year, BUT we’ll keep working and learning and improving with an eye toward being the best we can be.  And when we go back to school in September, we’ll be ready to play and sing together like never before.  That is my hope.  Don’t stop learning and practicing.  Don’t give up!  Make the most of this precious, uninterrupted, focused time that you have right now to improve and grow.

                                                                                     Mrs. Iltis

Hello Everyone,

I hope you’ve all had a chance to get outside and enjoy some of the beautiful weather!  It really helps, doesn’t it?  No matter how bad everything else seems, feeling the sun, seeing green things beginning to peak out from the earth, hearing the birds – it does us good!

I’d love some feedback from you about how things are going with the activities I’m suggesting.  Are you able to access them, would you like more or less, are they too easy or too hard?  If you have a minute, I’d love it if you could you send me an email and let me know.

Thank you for all you’re doing to keep things moving forward musically at home.  Here’s a new quote to ponder…

“With music, one’s whole future life is brightened. This is such a treasure in life that it helps us over many troubles and difficulties. Music is nourishment, a comforting elixir. Music multiplies all that is beautiful and of value in life.”  – Zoltan Kodaly

Stay well!

Mrs. Iltis

 

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to Week 3!  I hope you’re all staying well and positive.  It can be challenging, I know.  I finally have all grade specific pages updated for this week outlining assignments going forward.  Please feel free to let me know what is working and what isn’t.  This has all been a bit of a learning curve and one of the things I’m learning is that there are so many people doing things online right now that sometimes specific websites are simply getting bogged down.  Let me know if this is an ongoing frustration with any of the resources that I’m sending you to.  If so, I may need to change course a bit and try some new things.

Quote of the day…

“If you pour some music onto whatever’s wrong, it’ll sure help out.”     

– Levon Helm

So… go ahead and pour some music into your life right now, dance around your living room,  and I promise you’ll feel better!  Here’s something to get you started!

Mrs. Iltis