Hello everyone! How are we doing? Did we survive the marching band season? If yours was like mine it was EXTREMELY busy. I would also say that mine was extremely rewarding as well (on most days haha).
As we are finishing up, or finished up, our marching band seasons, I want to remind everyone to take some inventory of the season you just had. What went well? What do I/we wish would have gone better? What do I intend to keep doing? What do I never want to do again? What can I start to put into place now to help next year be even better?
I started to say "What can I put into place now to help next year be easier." Then I realized the years don't really get easier. As I, the people around me, get better we just challenge ourselves more. It is always hard...just a different kind of hard.
I believe that self-assessment is huge in our growth, and the above questions are ones I ask myself at the end of every season. Sometimes I ask right away, sometimes I take some time. Going from fall to winter, the questions usually start before the season is even over. The reason for that is because of the quick turnaround.
The students at my "home" school got a week off after circuit championships, but I kept going with a couple other programs for BOA Grand Nationals. So that week off for them was a normal week for me. On top of that, my seniors went to PASIC to perform in the Chamber Concert Competition. If you do concert percussion ensemble, I HIGHLY recommend this competition. You get feedback from 3 adjudicators and your students get to experience PASIC. They had a great time, roamed the exhibit hall, had a great group dinner and got to see So Percussion perform. I will definitely be taking a group to do that again in the future!
On top of that, we just started our winter percussion clinics/auditions. All of this forced to me accelarate, and make time to think about those questions above. I will continue to evaluate over the next few weeks as the winter season gets rolling. My take on still asking the questions, even after teaching for almost 18 years, is that I believe I can still do things better. Not only do I believe I can do things better, but I feel a need to do things better. I have things I want to do, create, challenge,etc. I can't do most of those things were I currently am. So I assess at the end of every season what I believe needs to happen to help me accomplish what I want, which will help me give my students better opportunities to accomplish what they want.
Hopefully you find these questions helpful in your journey. Do you have any questions you ask yourself at the end of a season that I didn't list? I would love to hear if you do. Maybe I need to be asking myself different questions.
Before I get out of here I just want to shout out the band programs I was fortunate enough to work with in 2024.
Campbell County HS (Front Ensemble Instructor)
Dixie Heights HS (Audio Consultant)
East-Syracuse Minoa HS (Percussion Design)
Hamilton HS (Percussion/Sound Design) John Gleen HS (Percussion Design) Kings HS (Front Ensemble Instructor)
Marietta HS (Percussion Design)
Newark HS (Percussion/Sound Design)
New London HS (Percussion/Sound Design)
New Philadelphia HS (Percussion Design)
Olentangy HS (Percussion Design)
Pittston Area HS (Percussion Design)
West Clermont HS (Percussion Director)
Zanesville HS (Percussion Design)
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