Band Director's Book of SecretsThe Band Director's Book of Secrets (eBook)

Charles R. Jackson (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2017 | 1. Auflage
200 Seiten
C.L. Barnhouse Co. (Verlag)
978-1-945980-39-8 (ISBN)

Infos

The Band Director's Book of Secrets serves to provide guidance for the music educator searching for strategies useful in organizing and administering a successful music program in a public or private school setting with emphasis on placing student needs as the top priority. Questions such as * Now that I am awarded the job, what do I do first? * How do I get started? These are not uncommon questions asked by many music educators immediately following the appointment to a new teaching position. This book is less about the actual research but more of a practical handbook on how to plan and proceed through an academic year while putting the results of research into practical daily use. Ideas are shared to stimulate creative thinking, leading to the development of a uniquely personal approach for each music educator. Topics and ideas expressed in this book are often neglected and/or difficult to find by the inquiring music educator searching for a practical approach needed to structure the academic year. Templates are provided for communications that might occur during the course of an academic year. By simply using the find/replace function common to word processing programs, the templates can be quickly edited by inserting the appropriate school name and director's name. Having the templates as a point of departure will help stimulate ideas for additional editing, resulting in a document specific to the reader's personal teaching situation. Additionally, the templates are useful in stimulating ideas for creating new communications documents. Each of the 8 chapters serves to focus on a topic often expressed as an area of concern for inservice teachers.

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The start of each new school year welcomes graduates from music education programs across the country as they enter the work force after completing an undergraduate degree. These novice educators depart their undergraduate schools with confidence, ready to share the gift of music with the world. Prior to graduation, these students are heavily involved in searching for teaching positions. Then comes the exciting day when notification is received announcing the offer for that very first teaching position! The first year as a professional music educator begins with preparation for that first day with students. Then reality rears its ugly head and these new music educators begin to realize that they do not know what to do to get started. They have just been appointed the new Director of Bands...now what? This is when my phone begins to ring and the E-mails begin to poor in. I feel certain that many veteran music educators have a similar experience; young and/or new music educators seeking guidance and survival tips from veteran educators. New teachers mainly generate these phone calls and E-mails, but at times, veteran teachers beginning a new position in an unfamiliar setting seek guidance. This book is dedicated to the many educators who have chosen to teach music and are still seeking answers to countless questions. It is designed to help guide educators through strategies that contribute to the development and maintenance of a successful band program by addressing topics not easily found in other sources. Although band programs are the main focus of this book, there is information useful for all music teachers. Some of the topics covered in this book address strategies that are general in nature and can be useful for teachers of other academic subjects. Within the pages of this book, I have attempted to create an atmosphere similar to having a casual chat session between colleagues while seated in a coffee shop, seeking answers and solutions to the daily issues faced by music educators. The many calls I receive focus on the need for help with classroom and behavior management, band program administration, recruitment, instrument selection for beginners, music literature for young instrumentalists, scheduling, and countless other topics dealing with teaching strategies. The novice music educator soon discovers that the actual teaching of music to be the most enjoyable part of the day while realizing a disproportionate amount of time outside the classroom focuses on the non-musical aspects associated with their teaching position. The title of this book, "e;The Band Director's Book of Secrets"e; is appropriate because the answers to many questions are already out there but are not always shared with the preservice music educator during undergraduate studies, almost as if these answers were secrets. The information presented in this book is gleaned from trial and error over the course of my 39-year teaching career, and information shared by colleagues who were so kind as to serve as my mentors. After 34 years serving as a director of bands, and five years as a college professor, I am still learning new ways to help students realize their full musical potential. This is one of the many wonderful aspects of being a music educator- no two days, two, years, or two students are the same, and there is no end to learning new ways to approach challenges. It is my hope that the information shared in the following chapters will inspire dialogue between colleagues as they share experiences and strategies, seeking ways to better serve the needs of the students in their charge. Serving students as their music educator is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling career choices one can have...but don't tell anybody...because it's a secret!

Textauszug

Chapter 2 - Recruitment:

The Secret to Inviting New Members to Join the Program

 

Congratulations! You have just received your very first appointment as a band director! Now what? Wherever there are people, there is music. Music is one of the common bonds uniting all humanity in a unique way. Those who find themselves fortunate to be an active participant in the music education profession have a responsibility to develop and encourage the musician in all students. Before beginning to teach and develop musical skills and concepts, the band director must first recruit students to select membership in the program-a multifaceted endeavor. This chapter will focus on the importance of recruiting and welcoming all students while creating and maintaining a balanced instrumentation. To be an effective recruiter, the band director needs to be aware of the reasons that motivate students to join the band program and the role of the parent in the decision-making process. Several methods of recruitment will be discussed along with how the focus on recruitment evolves throughout the school year.

 

We can’t teach without students. Although music educators might not want to admit it, the fact is that we must actively seek recruits into the program. The Math teacher will not visit the feeder school in an attempt to entice students to take Math. Math is usually required of all students. In an ensemble consisting of at least 15 different instruments, there must be adequate numbers to create depth in each section. Without adequate depth, it will be difficult to properly approach the study and performance of music literature in a way consistent with the composer’s intent. The numbers recruited in the beginning band must be at a level that will guarantee the numbers needed for continued meaningful study and experience as students enter the high school band program, taking into account those who might discontinue participation or move out of the school’s attendance zone between the beginning year of study and the 12th grade.

 

The band program must be welcoming and open to all students if the band director truly believes in music for all. No student should be excluded from the opportunity to study and enjoy music. Students must receive approval from a parent or legal guardian before joining the band program, requiring the music educator to focus recruitment efforts toward two diverse target groups-students and parents. Some students may choose to join the program based on the social aspects that are an inherent component of being in a band. Parents may appreciate more evidence of the overall educational benefits before supporting or encouraging their child’s decision to join the band. A student may join simply because a close friend has joined the band. Others may join because an older sibling or parent was involved in a band program. Still others may join just to try something new for a while with no intent to remain for more than a year or two. Finally, we have those who have been looking forward to the opportunity to study a band instrument and are committed to remain active through the 12th grade and beyond.

 

For some parents, the financial obligation involved with the monthly rental or purchase of a band instrument may prove too heavy a burden, discouraging their children from expressing an interest to join the band, and having a negative impact on recruitment efforts. The band director must inform parents that a variety of school-owned instruments are available for student use. Acknowledging the existence of schools unable to provide any school-owned instruments, I would guess that most programs throughout the United States provide some of the larger, more expensive instruments such as the tuba, bass clarinet, baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone, French horn, euphonium, bassoon, and oboe, for student use, and often free of a rental fee. Some band programs also provide flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, trumpet, and trombone. Parents are more willing to encourage their child to participate in band if they are made aware of the options available in securing an instrument. There are children who find themselves in homes where grandparents, other relatives, or close family friends are the legal guardians. For this reason, the term “parent(s)” is used when referring to any legal guardian.

 

The recruitment process is not just a one-time event occurring at the beginning of the school year or in late spring. In actuality, recruitment is an ongoing, never-ending process. For the sake of discussion, consider the recruitment process beginning one month prior to the start of the school year, with the understanding that some school systems, or individual band programs, will recruit new band students in the spring prior to the end of each school year. The grade structure for public and private schools varies throughout the United States. Reference to “middle school” in this book will refer to grades 6, 7, and 8, with the 6th grade identified as the first year of study in the band program.

 

Recruitment Communications During the Summer Months

 

Students and parents begin planning for middle school during the summer months. The excitement of a new school environment, new teachers, and for many, the first opportunity to select elective classes can be exhilarating for some and can be a source of apprehension for others. Parents are aware, for the most part, that band is one of the elective classes offered in middle school, unless the program has been recently added to the curriculum. Even though most band programs recruit new students in the beginning year of middle school, some school systems offer Band at the elementary school level. With attention given to preparing for middle school, the summer months are an ideal time to communicate with parents and students who have just completed the final year at a local feeder school. In some school systems, all students from a feeder elementary school enroll in the same middle school. In this scenario, a list consisting of student names, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses is easily compiled by requesting a copy of the student database maintained by the local school administration or by contacting the pupil personnel clerk. In other situations, a single elementary school may send students to different middle schools within the attendance zone, making the information-gathering process more complicated. Regardless of how a specific feeder pattern is designed, the director may find an individual at the central office level with the resources to create a data file containing the needed contact information for all students scheduled for enrollment. Check with the central office or other school administrators to locate a resource person with access to a centralized database before beginning the data collection process.

 

The band director can use communication systems already in place. Invitations to join the band can be posted on school websites, blogs, Parent/Teacher/Student Association (PTSA) electronic newsletters, and automated phone-calling systems. I recommend using all available methods of communication with the understanding that any one single method of communication cannot reach 100% of the target population. Be aware that even though a recorded message is sent, a notification posted on a website or blog, or letter mailed to a parent, that there is no guarantee that communication is occurring unless someone has received, read/heard, and understood the information. Even when presenting recruitment information at a parent meeting, there are some parents in your target population who are not present. I have found an increase in the number of students entering the public-school system from local private schools during recent years due, in part, to a weak economy. Parents of students currently enrolled in a private school, but planning to enroll in the public-school system, are often excluded from recruitment communications because their child’s name is not included on the public school’s database. Maintaining an updated band website that includes an easy-to-find link for new students may be the only source of information for parents moving into the attendance zone for the coming school year.

 

It may be difficult to persuade local newspapers to publish the success stories and accomplishments of band students during the school year. I recommend creating a newsletter, specifically designed to share the many great accomplishments of students in the band program with the community. An annual newsletter is a practical method for presenting information highlighting the activities, successes, and recognition of current band members. I have chosen to name the newsletter for my middle school band the “Dodgen Band Gazette”. The band director can create a file to collect newsworthy stories for publishing in an informative newsletter, complete with pictures, to be mailed out one month prior to the new school...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 6.9.2017
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Pädagogik
• ISBN-10: 1-945980-39-7 / 1945980397
• ISBN-13: 978-1-945980-39-8 / 9781945980398