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Barbara Retzko
Oct 10, 20142 min read
Friday October 10, 2014
It’s Friday afternoon. The Dance Collective is practicing in my classroom and I am reflecting about the week gone by. My thoughts...
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Barbara Retzko
Oct 1, 20142 min read
Wednesday October 1, 2014
Good Morning! Well, we have Back-to-school Night number 2 tonight…Jealous? Our administration blames limited parking so we already saw...
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Barbara Retzko
Sep 23, 20142 min read
September 23, 2014
It’s a quiet Tuesday here at Ridge. Here’s what’s has happened this week… I have distributed school-owned Performance Apparel to my...
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Barbara Retzko
Sep 19, 20141 min read
Friday September 19, 2014
Today we ran the voting for our Choir Officers. I created a multiple choice Google Doc as a ballot and the students came up to my iPad...
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Barbara Retzko
Sep 18, 20142 min read
Thursday September 18, 2014
MY CHOIR ROOM: In the sixth renovation of Ridge High School, I got a choir room…a ginormous choir room – I can fit nine sets of 4-step...
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Barbara Retzko
Sep 14, 20141 min read
September 14, 2014
The week came to a close with QR codes (for attendance) on the choir’s new iPad Air for all singers and music in every folder, Choir...
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Barbara Retzko
Sep 7, 20142 min read
Sunday September 7, 2014 – Lesson Plans
Ridge HS is a Danielson School. Last year, I decided to put the Four Domains in my lesson plans with a brief supporting statement for...
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Barbara Retzko
Sep 4, 20141 min read
September 4, 2014 – The First Day of School
The first day of school has officially ended and we all survived. My focus today was getting info out to the ensemble classes and in...
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Barbara Retzko
Sep 1, 20141 min read
September 1, 2014
Tomorrow we will start a new school year with two days of In-Service. The kids start on Thursday. I have attached three documents to...
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Barbara Retzko
Aug 30, 20142 min read
August 30, 2014
I am about to enter year thirty-five in teaching…thirty-six if I count my first part-time job. My first two years of employment for the...
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Barbara Retzko
Jun 24, 20142 min read
A class for the iPad…
Today I took a staff college class for the iPad. I never know what to expect from these classes because it is rare to find apps that are...
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Barbara Retzko
Jun 20, 20142 min read
The end of Marking Period Four…
I began this blog to chronicle and share the various activities and lessons I have used in my high school choral classroom. Today was the...
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Barbara Retzko
Jun 12, 20141 min read
A Safe Place to Sing
I printed this and placed it on the music stand where the singers scanned in for attendance every day. In a safe place, people are kind. ...
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Barbara Retzko
Jun 10, 20141 min read
SPRING CHORAL CONCERT
Tonight is my Spring Choral Concert and I am so excited to share the work of these young singers with their friends and families. After...
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Barbara Retzko
Jun 8, 20141 min read
Choir Retreat
At the start of the 2013-2014 School year, I arranged to host a retreat for my select choir – something colleagues had spoken favorably...
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Barbara Retzko
Jun 5, 20141 min read
Waxing Philosophical…
It’s June. In choir-land, it could mean that your concert season has finished or your concert season has yet to be completed. Over the...
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Barbara Retzko
Jun 5, 20142 min read
WELCOME TO MY BLOG!
And THANK YOU to Chris Russell for giving me a shout out from his blog! I am a public high school Choral Director looking for like-minded...
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Barbara Retzko
Apr 18, 20142 min read
A Choral Director and an iPad go into a Bar… (November 2013)
At the start of each school year, I ask my singers to complete an information sheet in two ways. The first is through a tinyurl into a...
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Barbara Retzko
Apr 18, 20143 min read
The Internet, iPhones, Ipads, Laptops and a Choral Ensemble’s Quarterly Assessment (November 2013)
Our high school has restructured its cumulative testing by removing final exams from the schedule. In place of exams, we have been asked...
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Barbara Retzko
Apr 18, 20141 min read
Choral Assessment – Listening Assignment (December 2011)
Once a semester I record the singers in the Voorhees Choir at Rutgers University and create a listening assignment for them. They are to...
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