Streamlining Band Rehearsals with Procedures (with time for coffee!)
We've all been there. It's 4:00 p.m., you have a thousand things still on your to-do list, the phone in your office is ringing, three kids are trying to tell you why they can't be at the rehearsal that was supposed to start, like, NOW, five more kids are asking for sheet music copies (gasp! copyright!) because they can't find their folders, only one child has their band trip forms, all your percussionists have magically lost the ability to tune the timpani, no one is tuned because half are talking so loudly that the other half can't get the tuner to work, and WHY is my coffee mug always empty?!
Okay, so maybe that's just me.
Anyhoo - the point is, that WAS me for a solid two rehearsals when I first started teaching before I took a proverbial deep breath and made a change. I like to make my daily classes heavy on automated student procedures because I find it creates a calmer learning environment. If I'm relaxed and moving at my own pace I interact much better with the kiddos and more learning will actually happen. The bonus, of course, is that students learn to work independently, to self-start tasks, and ultimately to have more ownership of their education. Maybe it's a high school thing, but my students often tell me that they think I'm the strictest teacher in the school but that they never realize it until someone asks who that teacher would be... I have the most structure to my classes, rules, and routines, but they don't feel restricted because they are the ones carrying them out! Win/ win, I say.
So, I figured, how do I apply this lovely teacher-brain-preserving structure to after-school band rehearsals? The main challenges for me were:
My concert band is made up of several senior grades and several classes within each grade (plus a handful of exceptional players from younger grades as well) so communication is an issue for two reasons: (a) these students don't see each other all day long so there is a lot of socialization potential while setting up the rehearsal space (b) If I (in my infinite teacherly wisdom and get-it-togetherness make announcements in the senior classes, I invariably forget the younger classes.
My students are overachievers and take on tons of extra-curriculars so there are many, many scheduling conflicts throughout the year that have to be recorded.
Every child everywhere forgets everything. Seriously, it's a law of the universe.
Our program requires a lot of forms to be collected throughout the year, no matter how hard I try to streamline this process.
Percussion looks easy but is the most organizationally demanding section. These musicians often feel that they are ready when they are most definitely NOT.
I insist on being in your chair, warmed up, and (THEN) tuned by the start of rehearsal. (Yes, this challenge is entirely of my own making but I'm a purist. Shhh.)
I REALLY need coffee by the end of the school day but I didn't have time to deal with everything in the band room AND go upstairs to the teachers' lounge for refueling.
Oy.
My solution was two-fold. Step one: get help. For me, this was adding an extra section leader that was responsible for ALL the paperwork. I call this position the 'Ensemble Resource Manager' and he/ she handles intake of all forms and notes, taking attendance (including lates, which includes people who have been in the band room for the past 20 minutes but STILL have a clarinet in four pieces), and retrieving sheet music for any lost souls. This last bit I made easier by storing the pieces we are currently playing in a special spot in my office - it minimizes the amount of time spent looking for parts. I also have a basket of pink clothes pins that get clipped to any parts borrowed to remind kids to give the parts back before leaving the room. (No photocopies, and no copyright infringement for us! Yay!)
Step two: automate procedures (i.e.: make them student-led by spelling out expectations). Here's where the flipbook comes in. I've experimented with various band handbooks over the years (traditional text-only, stapled packages, digital-only, parent signatures, etc.) but none of it really stuck. We've played games with the information. We've spent time reading it all together, we've tried having section leaders enforce it, none of it really stuck and I think the reason is that I was still trying to lead the procedures myself instead of making it their 'problem.' The classroom I thrive in (and therefore, that my kids thrive in) is one where I am not the enforcer of rules - I am simply the pointer-out of consequences which are separate from me. Nobody in my room blames me when they screw up and have a detention because of this culture that YOU, my friend, are responsible for you - you knew what would happen if you did/ didn't do it so I'm just going to shrug and let you fall... that way, I have the energy and patience to help you try again and you don't blame me for your 'mistake.' (Is it really a mistake if they learn from it? I dunno... I digress...)
So I made this and plugged in all my standard procedures, rules, and dates. I handed them out along with scissors and pencil crayons, turned on the stereo to play our band pieces, and let them construct, color, and read all together the information provided. The flipbooks went into their band folders and everyone got a binder clip to attach it to the folder. You know what happened at the next rehearsal?
I got a mug of hot coffee and I drank it all while greeting kids entering the
room before stepping onto the podium at exactly 4:00 p.m.
with a fully-tuned and quiet band in front of me.
Yeah I know. I nearly fell off the podium, too.
Give it a try! Too often, I think, we believe that high school kids are beyond visual appeal in their learning materials - that they don't care about clip art or interesting fonts or a different layout but one stroll through the stationery aisle at Target should tell us that that's just not true. Adults need beauty and visual appeal just as much as 5-year-olds... maybe even more, since today's teenagers are pulled in so many directions. Content has to be first, there's no question, but maybe, just maybe, we can meet them halfway and both get what we want.
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