Notes from the Cougar Band Room

Ah, midterm season. The time of year when I end up doing more grading than at any other point in the school year. Just the thought of it makes me.... via GIPHY Is it worth it? Absolutely. But have I been spinning my wheels when there is a better way? Also absolutely. For what it's worth, I'm writing down my thoughts here to make sure I do it the better way when this season rolls around again next year. Will you be my accountabilibuddy? Context: For the last 4-5 years my middle school colleague, Amy Rever, and I have teamed up for a year-long chamber music project. It starts with me teaching the basics of chords, harmony, and progression to my HS students to create warm-ups and mini-chorales early on in the year, and makes its way to a composition project where each of my HS students composes a short (16-32 measure) piece of chamber music to be learned by the MS students that feed into my HS. These pieces are due at the midterm mark so that they can then...

Hello blog-sphere! via GIPHY If I'm being honest, getting back into blogging after maternity leave has been intimidating. I have so many ideas for blog posts jotted down on my Google Keep that the thought of logging back in to blog has been an overwhelming ... from Student Led Rehearsals 2.0 to working through post-partum depression, our exciting new Jazz Band collaboration with Jesse Elder from Postmodern Jukebox to a food-for-thought piece about multitasking and everything in between.... But after this past Tuesday's first leadership meeting of the year, I have found the inspiration to push through and get some thoughts down! Our leadership meetings are open to all, and those who are seeking a leadership position with the Cougar Marching Band are asked to come as a part of their training. I knew Tuesday's meeting was going to be a great one before we even began when 37 students came to participate!  Last year, we worked on developing handbooks for both le...

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...

So...what did students think of our Student-Led Rehearsals? Wind Ensemble (1st hour; Audition-Only Group) Generally speaking, Student-Led Rehearsals well-received in this ensemble. Many students expressed appreciation at building teamwork, and felt the topics they rehearsed "stuck" more quickly when they were able to direct their own learning. They also expressed a heightened accountability to self and one another, deeper engagement, and enjoyed giving/receiving constructive feedback to one another in respectful ways. Frustrations included lack of organization/unclear goals, time management concerns, starting/establishing procedures, and wanting more rehearsal time. Question: Where did you hear our efforts pay off? Question: Was there a difference between Student-Led and Director-Led Rehearsals? If so, what? Question: Was there anything challenging about Student-Led Rehearsals? Question: What are some of the ways we can improve rehearsals, no matter who is leadin...

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

See that big gray cloud? The one that feels like falling into a pit of question marks? You don’t need to know what’s in there. All you need is the vision you’re holding, the clarity it takes to find the next spot to step in, & the willingness to keep walking. #emilyonlife pic.twitter.com/H39LBNM3AW — Emily McDowell (@emilymcdowell_) November 16, 2018 Although our student-led rehearsal experiment started out feeling a bit like that, I must admit, it is exciting watching and listening to these students as we head into the final stretch! Working hard in our final rehearsals before Wednesday’s big concert! 7pm, right here in the SCHS auditorium- join us for an evening filled with festive music and great aural feats! #RCSArts #RCSPride #WeAreSC pic.twitter.com/NDaRFOCC8Y — SCHS Bands (@SCHSBands) December 10, 2018 Our Winter Concert is tomorrow and all three ensembles have not only some great music to perform, but have made some really remarkable progress.  Musi...

One of my biggest frustrations as a band director is students playing their instruments but not actually listening. "Band Hero". Once I push a button/make the sound, I'm no longer responsible.  Listening to each other, listening to feedback, LISTENING to the information around you to derive the information we need to really learn, adapt, and be highly sensitive in our music making. This simple level of awareness is at the root of so many ensemble problems: Balance. Intonation. Matching styles. The list could go on and on. I noticed something while observing one of the student led rehearsals and taking notes on their rehearsal process: [Scene: Student-Led Rehearsal] Ensemble plays through excerpt/piece. Ensemble stops playing. Ensemble members raise hands as moderator asks "what did you think?" [/Scene] WAIT. STOP. There was no turn and talk. There was no checking phone notifications. there was no sneaking of homework being completed whi...

One of my favorite band director sayings is "Excuses are like dirty gym socks... everyone has them and they all stink." Well today, not only were we able to debunk the "I'm not in choir, I'm in band" excuse regarding singing during rehearsals, but did so with an enthusiastic (!!) response.  Here's how it happened... In honor of the 200th anniversary of the classic holiday tune Silent Night , all three concert ensembles are currently working on Mannheim Steamroller's Stille Nacht for our upcoming Winter Concert. It's a beautiful arrangement by Chip Davis of this timeless melody; I've enjoyed both playing it and directing it with many ensembles. The last time I directed it was during my first year at SCHS as our very first "megaband" piece (meaning all three concert ensembles learn the piece and then we perform it together for our concert grand finale). It was during that performance that our headlining picture for our website was s...

We've anticipated problems. We've brainstormed solutions. We've established our norms, and selected our pieces. (We can rebuild him. We have the technology.) The only thing left to do is to start doing the thing itself... Student-Led Rehearsals: Weeks 1 & 1.5 (November 12-16, 19-20) Everyone in the room (myself included) felt a degree of awkwardness upon my stepping off the podium. The palpable weight of freedom and space hung in the room until broken by the bravery of a few students to lean into it. Inevitably, a few students in each class period stepped up and began by inviting other students to speak their mind: Does anyone have an opinion on what we should do? How should we start? Is there anything anyone needs?                                                                        ...

After identifying possible problems earlier this week, we moved on to discussing possible solutions and processes for how to collectively make decisions... We had lots of great discussion on who/how rehearsals should work, information they would like from me (a schedule for the week of how much time they can have on each piece was almost agreed upon by everyone), as well as brainstorming ways to make sure everyone's voice is heard-- even if they do not care to speak up in class. (I especially loved the idea of using technology so everyone in the group, no matter where they are from, can type out/give each other feedback to read through and use for future rehearsals!)   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We also finished out the week by introducing the short list of pieces from which each group will choose and reading through each selection: Wind Ensemble: Queen City March or Men of Ohio March (We perform a special concert for 5th graders in our district in December...

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...

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...