Student-Led Performances

Below are the resulting performances after our 6 weeks of Student-Led Rehearsals. Each ensemble selected their pieces from a short list of appropriate level music literature. Once selected, students needed to navigate how rehearsals would be run and make collective musical decisions in order to be ready to perform each piece for our Winter Band Concert on December 12, 2018.

Although the list of challenges has been great, my band director heart is so full from hearing the musical progress these students made on these pieces. A full write-up based on our experiences both from the student and director perspectives are forthcoming.

SCHS Concert Band- Beyond the Highlands, Benjamin Yeo

SCHS Symphony Band- Albanian Dance, Shelley Hanson

SCHS Wind Ensemble- Queen City March, W. H. Boorn/arr. Lafferty

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Student-Led Rehearsals Day 1: Identifying Potential Problems

Today I introduced the task at hand: Each class will be selecting, as a group, one piece to perform for our Winter Concert-- without my direction. The Goal: To perform this piece to the best of our ability; to make it "YouTube"/Social Media worthy, something that everyone at the end of the experience would be proud to share with their friends and social circle. Surprisingly, it did not scare them as much as it does me. But, I did see my fair share of skeptical eye rolls. The first step towards our goal was to identify possible problems/roadblocks in accomplishing our goal. Each class was asked to create a list on the board of potential challenges we may face before we begin. It was very interesting to observe the dynamic of each class as they navigated even this first step, communicating with one another to complete their list. Sometimes, they chose to continue the "teacher/student" paradigm where one person wrote on the board and called out to others with their...

Innovator's Mindset in the Band Room: Student-Led Rehearsals

It all started when this happened... George Couros came to Rochester Community Schools yesterday, inspiring hundreds of teachers in his wake. If you are not familiar with George Couros (@gcouros), he is the author of the widely recognized, highly regarded educational manifesto entitled "The Innovator's Mindset" as well regularly writing on his blog, The Principle of Change . There are many aspects of the "Innovator's Mindset" that I find appealing. We agree on many, many points: the power of positive connections, cultivating passion, and the need for teachers to give students space and voice to take charge of their learning. This tweet though, sums it up for me: When you have a compelling reason, you can learn ANYTHING. #RCSInnovate — Kristine Balinski (@MathTeacherMrsB) November 5, 2018 If students have a compelling reason to connect, they will put in the work. Teachers are the resource, students direct their own learning. As educators, espec...

Student Led Rehearsals: My Lessons Learned

So what have I learned from all this? How will this effect me and my teaching? Probably more than I can begin to summarize here, but I'll take a shot with some of the main changes I've observed and acted upon since we began our Student-Led Rehearsal experience... Do you hear what I hear? Observing our student-led rehearsals has helped highlight for me some of the things I would like to emphasize more moving forward; Listening, especially. When students have something they are listening for, they are rehearsing at their best. We just need to work together so students always know what exactly it is they are listening for. And listening for the full package, not just "dynamics" or "rhythm" or any other singular musical concept. After all, if we don't like what we hear, then why are we doing it? This isn't "band hero". It shouldn't be about "making it right", it should be about making something beautiful. It isn't enough to...

Notes from the Cougar Band Room

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