I've got an interesting problem that I've never had to deal with before. I started teaching at the high school I am currently Percussion Director at 3 years ago. The program was in shambles. Over 3 years, me and my small staff have built a program from the ground up. We instilled our philosophies and were always able to motivate the students to be better than 'last years drumline'. Well, last year they won outstanding percussion. While I think that they have miles to go before they can stop working, the general feel with the students is that they're already the best. They have a nonchalant attitude at practice and attendance is sketchy on any given day. I had to cancel my first rehearsal in 2 years for poor attendance this week. That's why I'm coming here for help.

Me and my staff have given the speech that last year was last year and this year is this year. We've drilled into their heads that if they don't put forth the same work ethic this year that they're not going have the same success or the same feeling of accomplishment at the end of the season.

I've never cared too much for trophies. My goal in teaching is more to get my students to as high of a level of cleanliness and proficiency as possible each year. I'm afraid for my kids this year. The attitude they are displaying is not one that is conducive to a successful percussion program. I am hoping that some of you here may have experience or advice regarding what I can do to get kids who already feel they're 'good enough' to want to get better and give this season all they have. I don't wan them to realize they're not nearly as good as they thought come fall when they see their first judge and then have it be too late to fix the problem.

Thanks for any advice you may have.

Well sounds like they could use a "humbling" experience. I don't want to say that you should send them to the nearest drum corps/indoor auditions, and hope they come back with the feeling you get from the first realization of where your really at. But something along those lines might have to be done. That, or have one student exceed expectations of him/her self and their peers. They have that "good enough" attitude, and they just need to motivation to want more.

Unfortunately it's something we cannot instill in our students directly, but it has to be wanted by them as much as you do. Maybe have a guest performer? Do a clinic of some type? Perform yourself? Anything that you can do to get someone with greater hands and more experience than they've yet to achieve. Something to get them to talk about for awhile, and from there things should move along.
I myself actually have done that through personal performance. I was teaching at a small 1A high school with a reasonable percussion section, but they had no real drive because they didn't have a bar to reach. After maybe two rehearsals I decided to bring in my drum, and throw down my personal skills to try and get them to practice more so than they already were. Not every student was moved, but it was enough to get four or five to start working. And with that, I hoped to start a ripple effect that could spread from snare to bass to trumpet to guard.

Hopefully if I ever get the chance I could check those kids out again to see how far they've progressed, and maybe something like that could work for you? Get one, and start a revolution in how they good think they can be! I sincerely hope that you find something to get them started man! Good luck!

I'm still learning a lot myself so I'm not sure how much I can help you here, but here's my thought:

It might be a good idea to have a sit-down-session and have a formal talk with all of your students. Let them know that learning and practicing is not something that they can seize after one or two success; it is something that builds on top of one another until the day they stop being a musician. Once you stop learning, that is as good as you will get --- there is nothing more daunting than knowing that you will not get better than you are right now, in my opinion. Winning or being "outstanding" is great, but what truly motivate a performer should be performing a great show --- which never comes without diligence, integrity, and good character. I'm sure this is all the stuff you try to instill in your student, but they may not be aware of this philosophy --- which is why I suggest doing this talk with them. As long as you display good character and sincerity (and as long as your students respect you), I'm sure this will get the point across to them.

If you have good information to offer and know how to challenge them, they should never feel like they don't need to rehearse more. Call them out on every tick you see and make them feel like they need to work harder. I'm not saying you have to be negative towards them, but you can definitely be realistic and let them know they can be better.

With that said, I think it's always a good idea to review your rehearsal structure to make sure you are utilizing your time 100% efficiently. A well structured rehearsal always lead to productive outcome --- if your students know that they will miss a whole lot, they wouldn't dare missing rehearsal. It's our duty to engineer a good rehearsal and if that doesn't happen for any reason, we should always see what we've done wrong --- never blame the students.

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Another thing I would suggest is emphasizing good character principals. Often times, as music educators, we get lost in the music and forget to realize that we are dealing with young, delicate human beings. They are easily influenced by their environment and I think it's part of our duty to influence them positively, not just with music, but with good life skills. It could be as simple as being on time or managing time better, and of course, you can get into more depth with things like respecting others regardless of rivalry and seeking the right meaning to perform. I think these principles would help you create a group of students that respects you and respects music as a whole, which should lead to students with better attitude and work ethics.

If you display these character principals yourself, I'm sure they respect you --- which can lead to more effective leadership through your instructions. Part of being an educator is being highly motivated, passionate, charismatic, and being a role model. Kids see through bull poop and people that are not prepared or respectable pretty quick, and that can easily deteriorate the integrity of the group. I'm not saying you don't have these qualities, but maybe there are some stuff you can work on yourself to improve the group morale?


I hope that helps. I apologize if anything I said was offensive. I understand how tough it is to work with students, especially when you have issues like yours. I sincerely hope everything works out. Cheers for being a driven educator!

-Scott

Not at all offended. I very much appreciate your input. I do believe that the issue ALWAYS comes back to the staff. It is my job, as an instructor, to find ways to motivate the students in a positive way. We have established a rigid rehearsal model and plan out our lessons well in advance. We've made it very clear that playing well and learning the intricacies of each instrument far outweigh success in the form of trophies. I think, I've focused a bit less this year on personal responsibility to the ensemble. I know that last year, the students knew that we expected them to give everything they had to get better and that as long as they were always trying to be better, that we'd never be upset.

Reading your comments and looking at how we've approached the line this season, I think I can see that we have focused more on the playing and technique than things like character and responsibility.

I'm really think a slight redirect in our approach will really help.

Thank you for your comments, I truly appreciate them. If there are any other suggestions, I'm always happy to hear them. The best way we get better as instructors is to share ideas and experiences.

My pleasure.

It's always a delight to be able to help a fellow educator, especially now a days when teaching kids how to hit stuff is so darn difficult.

-Scott

At the beginning of the season, I've found that it's truly beneficial to take some time with my drumline and ask them to set goals for themselves as both individuals AND as a group.

This is obviously going to take the basics like "Win top in our class," and "Take Best Percussion," but it doesn't mean that you can't point out the other things, for example, you could set goals based on grids - be able to play the flam drag grid by the end of the year, or learn all of your PASIC 40, never have someone miss a day of rehearsal, etc. When you have them set these goals, you can have them type them up, and then tape them on the inside of the top lid of their drum case. Every time before a competition, they see their set goals, and it SHOULD help them to push for that much more.

When you don't set a goal for you drumline that's higher than what you've already achieved, then the job's not being done correctly by the students or the staff because it means that no one is planning to make progress, but is just planning on meeting a standard. Don't get me wrong, I can tell that you expect more out of your guys than they're expecting out of themselves, but you have to help them to set goals that they can all achieve, but make sure that it's something that they haven't done before. Make these goals difficult, but not impossible. It can help them to truly make the season feel like a success by the end, and it does wonders when it comes to making your line better.

Hope that helped some in addition to some great posts already up here. Happy teaching!
B