Huh

 In regards to having a strong teaching philosophy in competition,

what happens when a student is not motivated by competition
because it leads to them comparing themselves to others?
Competition can bring out the best in people and motivate them but it
can also force them to look and judge themselves in comparison to
others and not like what they see.
 Group tests are sort of questionable in who did what work and who
did best but this could be altered in a music classroom. What would a
rubric look like for this and how would the weight of the grade be
judged with ensemble and individual work?
 Should these positions be used every day as a way to give a wrap up
to class or should they be used in different situations like sectionals
or on certain days when we work through a lot of the material? I think
they would be useful when we are doing many sections and drilling
them but leaving them so that the students should drill a few more
times on their own and there are people to sum up what we did.
These would have to be different people each time so that I know
everyone knows what’s going on.
 How are sectionals meant to be run when there is not technically a
section "leader"? I would assign a student for each sectional and it
could be different or the same, but it would not necessarily be the
person who is up front at the time.
 Does the festival mentality have to do with the mentality of the old
teacher? therefore is it something that could be changed or altered to
focus on the musicians rather than the festival?
Ah
 if we use competition to better our playing rather than comparing
ourselves to others it does a better job. groups should be striving for
a better score than they got the year previous rather than trying beat
out a school that has gotten better score the previous 5 years.
 I know that competition should be used to motivate students and
make them see their potential. I need to show them competition not
as a comparison to see who has done better and what not but how
can we improve; it should always be a process of looking forward
rather than looking back at what we could have done.
 Group test taking could be put in the form of small ensemble tests.
This could be done in a "unit" or it could be done to check the
students understanding of a difficult passage in one of their larger
works. There would need to be a balance of individual improvement
 and overall ensemble playing and that is where the grading would get
a little unbalanced depending on the make-up of the ensemble.
 These roles would work well in a high school setting and could be
shuffled around to give all of the students’ responsibility and allow
those that don't feel important to play what they might see as a bigger
role in the ensemble.
 Some of this has to do with culture and some of it has to do with the
culture that the school and the administration have put on the teacher
and the department. It is important to explain to admins that the
actual teaching going on is more important than the competition.
Schools with strong athletics programs might find that more difficult to
understand because the teams don't have a problem with
competition.
Teach
 I want my students to see competition as a way to better their own
playing rather than a comparison to others. They should be self-
assessing and be given ways to improve their own playing and the
playing of the whole ensemble rather than competing with each other
for an arbitrary ranking in a section.
 As a professional I think it is completely out of line to assume that
everyone will have the same priorities, competition in some cases,
that I have. A director cannot and should not colleagues to share
whole heartedly the same philosophy because everyone has had a
different experience and contributed to that philosophy. It would also
be wrong to force this philosophy on students.
 If I were to use group test taking it would be in the form of small
ensembles and would not be limited to a "unit" of chamber music but
instead of playing test each ensemble would do a performance of a
short excerpt that they have been assigned. I should not group the
kids based on their ability because if I put all of the hot shot kids
together all the time because that might not motivate the other kids to
succeed. I would need to vary the students’ groups so that they all
have a sense of community as well and not like people are being
excluded from certain ensembles.
 Sectionals is a great way to establish leadership and collaboration
within a section. At the beginning this might require more guidance
from the conductor of what to practice but once students see the goal
of sectionals they should be able to pinpoint spots and need less
direction.
 LOVE THIS STATEMENT. (“When I was in college, all I wanted to do
was be a band director. Now that I am a grown up, I want to be a
music teacher. There is a difference.”) Don't know who this person is
but I want to be their friend. there shouldn't be a difference between a
music teacher and a band director because as a director you should
want to make musicians and audience members. I want my students
to love music and their instrument and if that means we get 2s at
contest I am ok with it as long as its their best effort