Some Venting!!!
Alright, I am going to do some venting on this post. This is your fair warning. Look away if you don't want to see it. Ok. So this weekend was filled with band stuff. I was at the church Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday - all day, and yesterday with a big Christmas pageant and the fruit came in Saturday morning but I have to say that I was not alone. There were two parents with me the entire weekend and one student as well. I really appreciate their dedication. There were also many students at the Christmas pageant and they were all great. All that was fine. It just goes with the job. Time away from home and family is nothing new. Here is where I have some problems. Today was the first official day for band exams. I have the students play their scales and the solo for their level from the all-state list. I let even let them use their scale sheet. They don't even have to memorize their scales! They have had this information for a long time. I have to say that this may be my most disappointed day at Dutch Fork so far. Some of the exams were awful. Some students obviously were sightreading their solos. Some only played 3 scales. It was bad. I take it as this "I must be a really bad band director because I have been at DF for 5 months now and I can't motivate or teach them better than this." I take it very hard and personally. It would be different if I just sprang this exam on them but I did not. I will even give them a recording of their solo by a professional player if they bring me a blank CD. I can't do much more for them. The exam is 20% of their semester grade so many have dropped from an A in band to a C. I have very little sympathy for them though. One student even said "I didn't have time". For 2 months?
Band is not an exam you can cram for and I am glad. If we are to become the premier band program in the Southeast, we must change the mind set from making excuses and get to work. Perhaps some students will decided to quit band because of the challenges I put to them but maybe...just maybe there will be enough people that will rise to the challenge and find the true rewards of hard work. A student that I have come to respect said something to me today. He said " Mr. Brady, there is a silent majority that is with you all the way and we like what you are doing." Well my suggestion is to quit being silent! To sit and watch things that are not good or fair is to do nothing. To action is what I say.
I would say that the exam was too difficult if not for the fact that many, many students received A's. That shows me that it was just a matter of priorities to the students. We do have a great core of students and parents in our band program and it is upon them that we will build the band programs others will envy. It is not a matter of "if" but a matter of "when" and "who".
posted by Jon Brady at 4:36 PM
7 Comments:
If my kid can study for 4 AP exams, do the Christmas pagent,date and do her own church and still make an A on your exam, let's just call it what it is....LAZYNESS! It would be the person I would wonder if that is who i would want to be on marching band or not. Mr. B you will be able to inspire and give them the love of music for the rest of their lives, others will just think band is an easy A. NO MORE!
Thank you for your dedication to our band! We love you! Parents can't wait til Marching season!
You are still in the WEEDING STAGES of this program. You will eventually not have to WEED and you will have cultivated a beautiful Day Lilly garden once again. We, the parents, must help you weed and the they,kids, will bloom once again.
Thanks for your hard work!
It is hard.
It is possible some kids don't have the same drive of the daughter or perhaps they have parents down their throats that they have to perform at that level.
Some may get sick, be going through personal problems or things unforeseen that can't be helped. Some kids, also don't perform well in a one on one situation and their nerves can get the best of them.
Marching band is the only thing that some of these kids have and look forward to. How harsh is that to take that away from them if they are "weeded" out?!
Kids today have more possiblilities than any other generation. Keeping kids focused are parents responsibility. Even at 18 yrs they don't get what is coming ahead of them in life. I am very happy that my child is self motivating because I keep talking to her. I dont push her but remind her of the possiblities that is before her in life.
In order to have pure gold even the goldsmith has to skim off the impurities off the top before he can say he has pure gold.
These kids, individually, have to decide if they want to be skimmed off or be of pure gold. Mr. B can't do it for them, parents cant do it for them. However, each parent should want GOLD for them and lovingly be their biggest cheerleaders. This means being apart of Region band, marching season and do whatever you can to show your kid you are there for them...even if they don't want you there.
So the question is set... Do you want to be GOLD or not. What are you, parents and students, willing to do to get there?
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and hear the music coming from your kids room even through the holidays...Region band is just around the corner.
Please keep in mind that to have a successful marching band you need to have a successful band PROGRAM. If all the student wants to do is be a part of marching band and not prepare for the other aspects of band then ultimately, they will weigh down the whole program. In order to succeed in any area of band, you must have a complete music program. That’s why I think the marching band will be even better next year…because the students will have learned so much in concert band arena. And…I do feel that each student does have to take responsibility for their individual success. This is what will make them triumph as a whole. These students have known about their final exams for 3 months, have been given the tools they need to prepare for the exam, were allowed to use their scales during the exam, and had an open door to their director for any questions they may have had. If they chose to be unprepared then I think it’s a good sign that band may not be that important to them. After all, I doubt that many of those who were unprepared for this exam were unprepared for all their exams. They have to treat it just like another class and make it a priority. Band shouldn't be a class they get an easy "A" in...
Thank you Cindy!
Post a Comment
<< Home