Almost Everything I've Learned About Teaching Band

We all wish that each and every one of our students practiced two hours a day every day, but is this possible or even realistic? It depends. In my 21 years of teaching I've tried it all. Surprisingly I have found success by trying something different. Perhaps it will work for you.

I've been teaching for 21 years, but I still HATE it when a student asks me if he can switch to drums. Why doesn't anyone want to switch to tuba? Can we control the number of drummers in our bands (yes, we can)? Can we shape the culture of our band to minimize this (yes, we can)? Will some students quit over this (yes, some will, but not as many as you think)? Six tips to minimize students wanting to switch. Percussive Arts Society page for rudiment download, www.pas.org

Believe it or not, in my early days of teaching I did not know how to use this time properly. I actually ran out of things to do! Now I know better. This is a repost from an episode several years ago in which I share tips on how to use your warm-up time, what to do, what NOT to do, and even preparing yourself mentally. And remember, performing at a festival is all about getting FEEDBACK. Don't be overly concerned about your score (be a little concerned, but that's not your main focus).

In this episode, I bring back Lori Schwartz Reichl from last week. With contest season coming up, we discuss the how to prepare your band to be adjudicated. What are the goals with adjudication? How can directors prepare themselves in the weeks, days and hours beforehand? How can we prepare our students for the experience? As a music educator, Lori is an active adjudicator, clinician, guest conductor, private instructor, speaker, and writer. She is the author of the series "Key Changes: Refreshing Your Music Program" published monthly in the teacher edition of In Tune Magazine where she provides resources to enhance the music classroom/rehearsal space. She is also a journalist for Teaching Music Magazine. Visit her at www.makingkeychanges.com

In this episode, I interview Lori Schwartz Reichl on getting administrators on our side. We discuss what's important to admin, the biggest challenge young and old directors face with admin, and some tips on how to handle the relationship if it becomes adversarial. We also discuss the importance of the three Ps... Preparedness Positivity Persistence As a music educator, Lori is an active adjudicator, clinician, guest conductor, private instructor, speaker, and writer. She is the author of the series "Key Changes: Refreshing Your Music Program" published monthly in the teacher edition of In Tune Magazine where she provides resources to enhance the music classroom/rehearsal space. She is also a journalist for Teaching Music Magazine. Visit her at www.makingkeychanges.com

We all develop those ideas - those hacks - that make our jobs much easier. In this episode I share 12 of them - most that I have used myself and a few I'm going to try soon. See the pictures of some of the hacks at www.jamesdivine.net.

The students get bored. I get bored. But we need to review the exercises we've worked on. Here are some tips to make the review a little more interesting.

This is THE question I hate the most as a teacher. I'm very strict with it and my policy is "No/Never." I also want to answer like my 5th grade teacher did..."Yes you can, but you may not." Oh how I hated that. Here are some strategies for dealing with this age old question.

When tragedy strikes the band room, either through accident, natural causes or suicide, how do you handle the grief? Is it ok to cry in front of students? What about counseling? A few years ago we had several tragic events in a row at my school. Here are some ideas for dealing with it and processing it. And please get help!

Do you ever feel like you are teaching a STADIUM full of students? There are tips to manage them a little better. Join me as I share 11 tips that I and others have used to make teaching a large group of beginners more manageable.