2022 Practice Olympics
Leaderboards
Intermediate/Junior Orchestra Leaderboard
Guidelines
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The practice challenge is an important annual event for the DGSP and is required for all students. The teachers use this time to train students how to practice effectively and assess how their students are progressing. We make this exercise fun by offering prizes and using a popular theme, with this year’s being Winter Olympics. Click Here to view past challenges
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There are five divisions in this year’s practice Olympics. The DGSP teachers will assign and adjust which division is appropriate for each student.
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Beginner division: Beginner classes and first year traditional private lesson students
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Intermediate division: Intermediates/Junior Orchestra and traditional private lessons students in their second+ year of study
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Advanced division: Dorothy Gerber Youth Orchestra and Highschool Orchestra students
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Pretwinkle division: Pretwinkle Suzuki students (before Perpetual Motion)
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Suzuki division: Suzuki students
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This year we will have a series of practice events. Please see the events tab for more detailed information and guidelines on each event.
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Check back to see your progress in the scoring section or Facebook to see progress.
Events
Biathlon: January 31–February 5 | Students take aim at good practice habits by taking a test on the basic principles. Points will be given for the number of correct answers. The quiz will be administered on the Practipus app, so be sure to register before the games begin!
Cross-Country Skiing: February 7–26 | Students demonstrate the ability to sustain their practice efforts over a longer period. Everyone will keep a log of their practice time for three weeks and will receive points for the number of minutes/hours practiced as well as the number of days (rewarding consistency).
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Student should record every practice session through the Practipus App which should be downloaded by January 31.
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Practice time does not include classes, lessons, or rehearsals. Practice, for the sake of this challenge at least, is defined as time playing the music individually assigned by the teacher.If a student takes a break of atleast three minutes, they should pause their practice record.If a student or parent has questions about this definition, please contact Dr. Reimer
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The official scoring for this event combines total minutes practiced and total days practiced. It is more encouraged to practice a little every day than a lot on one day.
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Parents and Guardians, to be fair to all, please help your child to be accurate in recording the times that they practice. Rarely will a student be instructed by the DGSP to practice for more than 30-40 minutes at a time, so lengthy times on their log will raise concern and potentially prompt an inquiry from Dr. Reimer.
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Be sure to support your child’s efforts by entering the parent pin for the practice log by the end of each week. All parent pins default at 0000, but can be changed for security. See the Practipus App section for additional details.
Snowboarding–Half-pipe: February 28–March 5 | Students demonstrate the results of good practice by performing a scale. Teachers will score based on string skills accuracy.
Figure Skating: March 7–12 (Advanced Division Only) |
We are down to the final event of this year’s Practice Olympics! This round is for the High School and DGYO level only. Each student should record a video of a 10-minute practice session and send the link to Dr. Reimer by Saturday, March 12. Guidelines for the video are attached.
It is important to treat this as PRACTICE, not as PERFORMANCE. What matters for scoring is to demonstrate an understanding of how to practice efficiently and effectively. That includes taking small chunks apart and solving difficulties along with repetition and also includes attention to a specific technique, ie. working on bow arm/hand, vibrato, shifting, etc. Students should work on a scale and one section of a piece of music. If there are any questions, please talk with your teacher and/or Dr. Reimer.
Practice Log App
For this year’s Practice Olympics we will be using the app “Practopus” for various events, including to log our practice. To prepare for the upcoming games, download the app now. Events will begin on January 31!
Download Practopus
Download Practopus from the App Store, Google Play, or go to www.practopus.com and click Sign Up to create your student account. Be sure to select "I am a student" above the sign-up form and fill in the DGSP email address (tberquist@greatlakescfa.org) in the form under “Teacher’s Email”, which will automatically connect your account to the Dorothy Gerber Strings Program’s account.
For more information: practopus.com/help/#students
Practice Tips
Prizes
Winners of the challenge will have the opportunity to earn exciting prizes generously donated by local businesses. Keep checking back as prizes get added!
