A New Year Begins...

Well, the new school years has started up and it's hard to believe that so much time has pasted since my last published post. I had a few that I never finished writing, but there's no point in posting them now. So, much has happened in the last six months and I really feel like I've grow within my position as a band director. Well, what I really mean to say is that I've gained a certain sense of self-confidence that I've not yet had up to this point. Last year really had so much to do with that because of what we accomplished and what the program was able to do.

When I recall all of what we accomplished, it all seems a blur and almost doesn't feel like it happened. But it happened and we did it. What did we do?

08-09 Accolade and Accomplishments
- We bought new concert band uniforms.
- Straight Superior ratings at the FBA Marching Festival in October.
- We were awarded the 2008 Class 4A State Marching Band Champions
- We won overall Most Outstanding Music in Class 4A Marching Band Championships
- The winter concert was the best winter concert I've had in my years teaching.
- We had almost 75 Superior Ratings at the FBA Solo & Ensemble Festival in March
- The Wind Ensemble AND Symphonic Bands received straight Superior ratings at the FBA Concert Band Festival for the first time in school history (I've been told).
- The Wind Ensemble attended the Music For All/Bands of America National Concert Band Festival in Indianapolis, IN for the first time in school history.
- The Winter Guard made finals at the WGI World Championships in Dayton, OH.
- The Wind Ensemble received straight Superior ratings at the FBA State Concert Band Festival in April awarding the school the Otto Kraushaar Award for the first time in school history (I've been told).
- Then we ended the year with 3 outstanding performances of our Encore! show.
- And we finally bought and received our new marching band uniforms (to premier in the fall).

HOLY SHIT!!! That's a year if I've ever seen one. And who wouldn't want to be apart of that. Well...several as it turns out. We worked our asses off, and it paid off. We did such a great job, that I passed out the day after school got out for the summer and I woke up about two weeks before school start again at the end of the summer. At least that's what it seemed like. Now the questions that rise from all this...

Was it worth it? Was the stress worth the payoff? Would I do all that again? Am I pleased with the outcome of the year? Did the kids have a good time? Did I make the students work to hard? Did I demand too much of them?

So, many questions that I thought about over the summer (as I was sleeping) and I wasn't ever able to answer all of them. Maybe blogging about all this will help.

So man wonderful events and accomplishments, however, the effect that all this had on the program was very interesting. Students quit. Parents complained. Administration questioned. Students struggled with practicing and balancing school. Parents struggled with fees and volunteering. Administratively it was hard to organize all that we needed to through the school.

So, what now? The first major effect this had on me was that I no longer feel that I'm not good enough. Musically speaking, I know that I am able to get an ensemble to the level that I would like them to get to. I even enjoy listening to the recordings. I have nothing more to prove. I've done all that I've set out to do way back in my college years, minus one. Be a great band director.

Being a great band director has nothing to do with the performance level of the program. Yes, that is an element of being a desirable "band" director, but to be a director of bands...of a program. That's different. This year, I am trying to approach things differently. This year I'm attempting to take a more positive approach to teaching. I'm trying to be a bit less demanding without lowering my standards. I'm trying to have fun with the students and talk more about the music rather than the performance level. I'm trying to engage the students more in their own learning rather than telling them what they need to learn. I don't want to overwork them. I want them to realize they are able to balance their work load and still accomplish so much AND find time to be a kid or a human being. But I really just want them to have a good time and stick around. I don't want to loose anymore students. I want my students running to the middle school talking up the program and how much they've learned, how much fun it is, and that they get so much out of it.

Things that are now on my list to improve....
Retention, communication with parents, engaging the parents, making it cheaper to participate, recruiting more students, getting involved in the school more, and finally getting the students to love music for music and getting them to think creatively.

Still so much to do and all I really want to do is educate students about music.