Serving Teachers, Students, Parents and Professionals Virtually Anywhere
John Gardner
19 yrs experience as a high school band director. 14 yrs as college adjunct faculty. 30+ yrs in the fundraising industry and 24 yrs as a small business owner. (Don't add all those up.). Experience in both the fundraising sales and education worlds give me a unique combination of perspectives in both. I love working with the youthful enthusiasm of today's teenage achievers and with those who work with them.
Also 6yrs as proprietor of VirtualMusicOffice.com, which offers a wide variety of virtual services including web/blog design/hosting/managing, social media management (scheduling posts/tweets for maximum impact and brand enhancement) and small business consulting - specializing in school product fundraising.
In 7th grade, attending a band clinic at Morehead State University, I made the definite decision that I wanted to be a band director. No one on either side of my family had been to college, so I was clueless in many aspects of what it would take.
My band director, James Copenhaver, pulled me aside one day to explain:
You want to be a band director. That means you’re going to need to go to college, but your family can’t pay for you to go (My parents were divorced and my polio-surviving mother was raising five children.)
Your grades are okay, but not good enough for academic scholarships. You’re not athletic, so that is out.
The best chance for you to get to college is to become good enough on that clarinet that by the time you graduate, a college will pay for you to come. You’ve got four years.
I was looking for something else and stumbled across this…. the narrative portion of a teacher eval on me about a year after they tried to pink-slip me. It was likely a scheduled observation and one of those times you find out what students think of you — because they can make it go really well or horribly wrong. Not sure why they insert the name so often. I find that distracting. Apparently, this was early as we were learning the piece, “Africa: Ceremony, Song, and Ritual”. I should point out that the artifacts passed around and the email read came from David’s summer studies in Ghana.
VIII. NARRATIVE (March 2007)
As I entered Mr. Gardner’s class, I immediately noticed the projector displaying announcements. Specifically, the following were scrolling: Leadership Truths, Characteristics of Quality, Birthdays, and the agenda for each day of the week. In addition, Mr. Gardner used the speakers in the band room to play audio of the African piece that has been the focus of instruction. When the bell rang, Mr. Gardner turned on the lights; students immediately became quiet. Mr. Gardner began to lead students in a warm-up activity. He used the projector during this time. Mr. Gardner’s band room is orderly and conducive to learning. During the last warm-up exercise, Mr. Gardner requested that a senior conduct. Next, Mr. Gardner assigned the following exercise: students were to submit five suggestions that could improve the African piece. He allowed students to make suggestions regarding his performance, as well. Next, Mr. Gardner shared some African artifacts with students. They passed the artifacts around the room while Mr. Gardner read aloud an email message from a study-abroad student in Africa. Students were very attentive during this time. Next, the band started performing the piece; this piece is relatively new to the students. Mr. Gardner balanced praise with constructive criticism. Mr. Gardner transitioned into a rhythm exercise. He allowed students to choose the object they were to use to demonstrate rhythm. Students enjoyed the exercise. Mr. Gardner uses modeling to support his direct instruction. It should be noted that when there are students talking during Mr. Gardner’s direct instruction, other students remind those who are talking to be quiet. Mr. Gardner led students again through the piece. At the end of the period, students were quiet and attentive during announcements. Mr. Gardner praised students as they left, and he reminded them to submit the “suggestion sheet.”
Other good points will be listed below.
1. Mr. Gardner’s class is engaging. Students enjoy the learning environment and are
clearly motivated by the instruction and varied strategies.
2. Mr. Gardner has a passion for teaching that translates into excitement for the students.
Almost every year that I taught, I had variations of the same conversation, usually during a spring semester, when a normal realization from some talented, top quality, mature bandsters are sadly realizing that some of their friends and the ensemble’s leaders are (or will be) gone…. During their band lives, they had tended to ‘hang out’ with those in upper grades.
This is a call for NEW leaders to step up.
If this note is speaking to you it is a compliment. As you think back during your earlier years, there were upper-level students who accepted you into their friend circles, right? Those became strong and meaningful relationships and you gained from their experience and insight – and from their friends.
Some of those friends have graduated or will before you do, and that saddens you. They are moving on and you’ll miss them. You look at those in younger classes who maybe don’t (yet) show the qualities you admired in your older friends.
Now it is YOUR TURN to be the mature mentor for those younger, including incoming newbies. You know what it takes, better than they. So my question for you is, what are you going to do about it?
Perhaps you feel a little inadequate like you’re not as ‘good’ as your mentors. You know what I think? I think you ARE. As you step into the leadership role, you know what I think? I think you CAN.
If this note seems like I’m writing it specifically to you, then you probably have already been a “step it up” kinda person. That’s one of the reasons you’ve been comfortable around those older. Now it is YOUR TURN to step into major leadership; to replace those who are leaving and to set the tone for those coming in and for those who are already looking up to you. NOW IT IS YOUR TURN! YOU’RE READY. BE A LEADER. BE A MENTOR. BE A FRIEND….and we’ll all be the better for it, including YOU!
To borrow from a Facebook status type, my relationship with my dad was “complicated”. I devoted a chapter to him in my “Stories Throughout My Ages” book. Read it HERE: Philip Lawrence Gardner
Instructions from a Field Tech person explaining how to do a horns up.
One director started his band camp number (upper 30’s), but talked about it being “Day 1” for many members. The start of Band Camp is challenging because, in some ways, it is the hardest part of the season. At Band Camp, when the weather can be bright sunny and super hot, bandsters spend uncomfortable amounts of time learning how to stand up, stand still, hold a horn (the difference between playing position and “to the box”, for example), or when and how to do horns up/down. The questions are; When do you want to have your fun? Pay now or pay later?
Band Camp is usually hot. Hydration is vital. Fast and often water breaks.
Because they are in hot heat so much, marching ensembles must always have water with them.
One challenge at the beginning of Band Camp is to prevent “newbies” from quitting after the first hard, hot, long day of rehearsals.
I tried to have the following conversation with the band on the first rehearsal. On at least one year when I did not, someone quit after rehearsal #1 — so the conversation happened during rehearsal #2.
Veterans, some of you share with us what you think is one of the better parts of marching band? Why do you do this?
Answers might include:
bus rides to/from competitions (the longer the better)
competitions, watching other groups, the down time together, performing
football games
the reaction of the crowd – the thrill of the performance
friendships – band is family
Newbies, I want YOU to notice some things. Every veteran here has been through what you are about to begin. And they all came back. But also, note that all those things mentioned as the best parts of the band happen, mostly, in the Fall….long after Band Camp. And….did you notice that none of the veterans mentioned that camp is their favorite part of marching band? Do you know why?
Because band is hard. Band Camp is hard. Marching Band is hard work. The fun will come, but before the fun you have to pay the price. There is no shortcut. There is no cheap way.
We want to give you some fun times, even during band camp and the summer….but make no mistake, you can either have all your fun now (laugh, talk, put in minimum effort) and pay the price later (bad experiences / results in competition) … or you can pay the price now (hard work) and enjoy the results of your work when you hear the crowds and what the judges have to say.
The fun will come, but only after you pay the price. You’re going to hear from Seniors, Section Leaders, Drum Majors, Staff Members and Directors that you are not doing something right. Listen to them because they know what it is going to take.
For those of you coming from Middle School where you’ve been on the top of the heap, you’re now the Newbie. You need to learn and that can be hard and frustrating.
Do it anyway.
You’ll experience the best parts of marching band, but only after you get through band camp and the summer rehearsals. One day of camp is worth a week’s rehearsals… and by the time you go home at the end of the day you’re going to be exhausted, sweaty, stinky and sore.
Do it anyway.
Don’t go home after your first day and tell your parentals that you can’t do this. There are very few people who really cannot do this, and we can find a job for them too.
You CAN memorize drill, and music, and marching in step because you’re going to march and play every set and phrase hundreds, if not thousands, of times. That is the price.
I’m going to ask you to stay — and pay.
Stay — and play.
Stay — and work hard, and pay day will come.
And now….let’s go to work and get better than you were yesterday.
Freshman and Newbie Survival Guide
All first-year participants in Marching Band are Newbies. Consider the terms rookie, freshman, and newbie to be interchangeable. The following is an abbreviated marching band Freshman and Newbie Survival Guide.
The biggest challenge is for newbies to grasp the concept. Some come to us after being big, bossy 8th graders in Middle School…and now they are….rookies, with little to no marching band experience and at the bottom of the chain-of-command.
In some cases, there may be a freshman who is musically more proficient than an upperclassman, but the one thing freshmen and newbies don’t have is experience. You need to listen and learn and experience Marching Band.
Some advice for newbies to enhance their rookie year experience:
Be quiet and learn. Do not talk in rehearsals. Other than asking a question or asking for help, speaking should come from directors, staff, drum majors, seniors or section leaders. The upperclassmen with experience know what we expect and know what it takes. Newbies do not…yet. You will become experienced, but you are not there yet.
Respect your elders, including your upperclassmen. Marching Band does have a chain of command type of hierarchy and newbies are not at the top – yet.
Come to a drum major or director if you ever think someone is harassing or mistreating you, because that is absolutely forbidden. It just doesn’t happen here….and it won’t.
Never, EVER confront a director in rehearsal. We will make mistakes and perhaps even falsely accuse you of an error in rehearsal. The best thing you can do is cooperate at the moment and come talk to us during a break – or privately. If we are wrong, we will admit it and apologize to you publicly, if appropriate. Remember, though, that in a rehearsal, a director cannot lose an authority-questioning or disrespecting battle.
Don’t take it personally. We do a pretty good job, I think, of showing all band members that they are important to us and that we care about them individually. We want to hear about what is happening in their lives, including outside of band. It is okay to come to talk to us about boy/girlfriend issues, job situations, and even something where you want a sounding board in addition to or outside of home. BUT WHEN WE ARE IN REHEARSAL, think of yourself more like an important part of a big machine. The machine only functions properly if each and every part is working. If you are out of line, out of step, out of interval, out of horn position, are playing something incorrectly or not playing…..we WILL point that out to you because you affect the machine. A judge’s eye is always looking for something different, so the best thing is NOT to draw attention to yourself. If you ever think that we are ‘picking’ on you, please come say something. That is never the intent.
This info about my grandmother is from her ancestry file. A couple of things to note. Her father spelled his name Phillip (2 L’s), but she named her son Philip with only one. Not sure why. Also note that she outlived her husband and both her sons before moving in with us. More about her in my “Stories Through My Ages” book. To read more about her CLICK HERE. Warning — there are childhood pics of ME in the story.
In my first summer of teaching, I was only 3-4 years older than the seniors in the band. Just before school started we spent a week at Camp Crescendo Band Camp. There were normally 6-10 bands in the camp any given week. Directors were responsible for ensuring all their students were in the proper dorms at the appointed time in the evening. When I would approach the girls’ dorm, they would tease me by calling me ‘dad’.
The ‘dad’ thing continued because they could tell it embarrassed me. It was not disrespectful, in fact, the opposite.
I was concerned that I’d get to school for the first week on the job on site and get called into the office because my students were calling me dad. But no, it seemed to be a “for band’s ears only” kind of thing.
This picture was taken at one of my first parades. With all the fun and games that we had, I do like to point out that they are all in step…..all….of….them.
Yes, I am in step….and so are they….. all of them.
Today is the 45th Anniversary for wife Joan and me. Tomorrow is Father’s Day, which was mentioned in today’s podcast from Morning Wire. They mentioned the difficulty of those growing up without a father in the house, especially when it comes to later maintaining a marriage and family. I come from a broken home. So does Joan. We talked about that during college as we had heard the statistics of what sounded like our marriage would be doomed. And yet, here we are. I attribute our 45yr marriage success to three main things.
We were committed Christians and stayed active in the church, raising our family in the church.
Because we both experienced parents divorcing and the devastating effects that has on the children, we were committed to never letting that happen to our children. We were both at nearly every swim meet, baseball game, theater performance and concerts. There were a few times where we had to split because both boys would have something going on at the same time and sometimes in different cities. But we never just sent them off. We were there.
That we spent so much time working together in small office environments, the types of temptations that seem to creep into a lot of marriages were never present in ours. Neither of us ever considered anyone else. In our first three years of marriage, we taught at the same school and shared an office. Later, after John left education, we shared a business office for over two decades at QDP Corporation.
And we never let anyone tell us how to raise our children. We left education to start our family. Joan wanted to be a stay at home mom. My freedom of schedule allowed me to be at almost every t-ball, baseball, swim meet, and concert that either of our sons was in. I’ll never say we did everything right, but our sons are both successful in what they are doing. They have always, as have we, self-sufficient.
Are we experts? No. But ours has been a successful family for 45 years.
It is Flag Day. Enjoy some quiet, patriotic music…. “America the Beautiful” played on one of the two (this is the 7000 pipes organ) chapel organs at Duke University. Both the organ and the pictures of the inside of the chapel are stunning. There is some crescendo toward the end, but it never opens up the power that is there. Be quiet for 7 minutes and enjoy.
UPDATE: Be sure to read the parent comments at the end of this article.
Over a decade after high school graduation, he told his parents he was bullied as a high school freshman, not telling them at the time because he feared they’d make a big deal of it.
He DID go to a teacher who ignored or brushed aside his emotional plea. In his valedictorian speech at graduation three years later, when he listed the “Top 10 Things I Learned in High School”, one of them was…..
“….that my head really does fit in a gym locker.”
Still no response. This was before all the more recent publicity of the terribly negative lifetime impact that bullying can have….but
…there is no excuse for inaction. EVER!
Fortunately, this story doesn’t end tragically…. but that doesn’t make it right.
In 7th grade, attending a band clinic at Morehead State University, I made the definite decision that I wanted to be a band director. No one on either side of my family had been to college, so I was clueless in many aspects of what it would take.
