5 1/2 Teaching Toys to Improve Tone

Just kidding... not these kinds of toys!

One of the big changes we've made this year is that we wanted to find a variety of ways to tackle embouchure and tone, including using various toys and tools to keep things fresh and hopefully give them something to relate to when switching over to the instrument. I've wanted to do some of this stuff before, but just never got off my butt to go get the stuff. This year was going to be different, and while some of these things are just small stuff, I think it's made those classes memorable for the kids while "tricking them" into learning. Enjoy!

Motivate Students With Long Term Goals

Welcome back to my series on student motivation. The first post shared thoughts on motivating students by creating structure, and the second discussed motivating students by achieving short term & daily goals. This time we're looking at a few of the long term motivation factors. The two I'd like to touch on are programming and high profile performances. Programming strategically helps the students grow musically on a daily and long term basis (helping to create intrinsic motivation) while preparing for high profile performances can motivate them to achieve new heights of musical excellence.

Journal Entry - "The First Year" 05/25/12

I've officially survived my first year! I feel like I saw an "Achievement Unlocked" pop up earlier, or at least felt one. I know I was in the middle of a series about student motivation, and I do want to finish that, but I also want to take a post to reflect on this past semester. Combined with some of my other entries this year and we'll have a pretty decent record of my experience this year: I Found a Job!, Thing Are Getting Better, Three Tips to Make Your Next Concert a Hit and Journal Entry 3-24-12.

In the last journal entry I talked about how I believed the band was hitting a major turning point. At UIL we made a 2 in Sight Reading and a 1 in Concert. The concert rating was significant because it was the first 1st Division in Concert Contest since 2009 for this group, also because we got a 3 at Marching Contest, and also because that meant they would get to perform at the UIL State Wind Ensemble Festival. It generated a lot of excitement, not just for the kids, but for the community as well.