Recipe for
Success “Adopting” the Text for Your
Next Concert Randall Coleman
One of the most important tasks we have as music educa- tors, and more specifically band conductors, is selecting the music that we perform with our ensembles. If we were English, math, social studies or science teachers, our cur- riculum would be chosen for us. Teachers in those areas have little to no control over what materials that are used in their classrooms. Outside of serving on the textbook selection committee (loads of fun, right?), teachers in those disciplines are required to use the mandated text- book and other ancillary materials that are selected for them at a higher level of the “educational food chain.” How lucky we are as ensemble conductors! We are able to choose and select our own curriculum every day in our classrooms. We don’t have anyone “higher up the chain” telling us what materials to use. Yes, it is completely up to us. What a tremendous job before us! Now that we’ve realized how lucky we are, let’s examine the tremendous responsibility our “luck” brings our way. If you can imagine, for a moment, the time and planning that goes into selecting a textbook for an English course. It’s much more involved than going into a storage room, taking a look at several different books on the shelf, think- ing something like “I haven’t read this story with my class in a few years; I’ll try it”, and then heading into the class- room with the book under your arm "armed" and ready to read the text. (Does that scenario sound familiar?) Quite the contrary, when selecting a text for an English course, months, sometimes years, of planning goes into this important process. Input is gathered from numerous con- stituencies, and meetings are held with selected teachers, administrators, and community members. Textbooks are put on display for days on end for the community at large to examine. Research is done as to the availability of ancillary materials for each text, and learning benchmarks are matched to objectives in the textbooks. In addition, countless questions are asked and answered for each series of textbooks that are under consideration. How does this textbook enable our students to attain a higher level of success in the classroom? Now, for a moment ask that same question of the literature that you program.
The literature that we program is our “textbook.” It is the vehicle that we use to enable our students to achieve a higher level of success than they had before they entered
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our classroom. Needless to say, none of us go to the lengths that state mandated textbook adoptions require.
On the other hand, how many of us have gone into our music libraries ten minutes before class and pulled some- thing off the shelf because we had nothing else planned for the rehearsal? I am as guilty as anyone of this misstep. When we realize what an important part of the education- al process literature selection is, we will all agree we need to spend much more time planning the “curriculum” for our ensemble classes.
When planning the literature for our ensembles, we must consider several issues. Selecting our literature should take time, as the planning of work for the school year should be an ongoing process. Let me encourage you to move away from thinking about the school year in two “seasons.” I challenge you to think about the school year as an integral part of your students' musical development and offer them as many opportunities as possible to grow as musicians. Far too many band directors view the school year as marching “season” in the fall and concert “season” in the spring. Hearing the term “marching sea- son” doesn’t sound as strange as hearing the term “concert season.” Shouldn’t it ALWAYS be concert “season”? Don’t get me wrong. I understand the importance and necessity of the marching band. I quite enjoy it! Putting quality rehearsal time toward quality marching band per- formances is a necessity (and material for another arti- cle!). However, I hope that the first concert experience that your students have each year isn’t in December! Maintaining a quality marching band AND presenting a concert in the fall is possible. Not only is it possible, it is in the best interest of the students as we work to assist them in becoming the best musicians they can be.
Planning a year’s curriculum can be quite challenging, but if you give enough time to this important task, accom- plishing it will be a beneficial learning experience for you and your students. One of the most important things band directors can do is to listen to other groups’ performances. As you are listening, make notes on programs about the pieces that are interesting to you. In addition, visit the websites of the music publishers and distributors and lis- ten to new recordings. Finally, keep a list on your comput- er of the pieces that you like and reference the list often. I
October 2007
News Features
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