Goals! (A Working Document)

As promised, here they are. The only problem I had with getting these goals on the page was that my handful of goals turned into about one hundred, since I kept telling myself that I should be and can do more. Kinda defeats the purpose. I did some whittling and got some basic ones down. They have sub-goals under them. I realize there is so much more that can be done, always, but part of managing my anxiety is picking reasonable goals, achieving them, and then improving next time around; it's not trying to save the world at once. Here are a few of my most important goals. Perhaps I will add or revise as I go along.


Have concerts.

Sounds silly, but aside from the annual in-school Christmas program, there are no concerts. Hence, having multiple concerts is really darn important.

This involves:

Put on fall and spring concerts for instrumentalists
Doing some advertising in the community, inviting family, friends, and elderly and/or small children.
Have receptions after said concerts to celebrate, IHS-style
Involve the students in promoting the concerts and writing invitations
Have a spring general music concert that features unique class projects or themes, preferably project-based learning projects that produce meaningful answers to real-life questions.

Hold the students to the highest of standards. Quality over quantity. Work with them like I'm trying to train a puppy (Alexis shared this analogy with me, and I love it!).

The better I can help set them up now, the easier it will be later. I have been so focused on if we can play great rep and "how far we get" that I totally brushed over some really important foundational items. I also took a rote-to-note approach that did not go as smoothly as it did in junior student teaching. Hence, we are behind on reading. Next year I will do things differently, but for this quarter and the rest of the year, I am going to focus on setting every student up with the best habits possible. Where we get, we get. If we didn't get "as far" as I would've liked, then we create a Band B next year that is essentially a level .5-1 beginning band that picks up where we left off.

How will this look around concert time? If it is possible, I want each group to do one sheet music piece in the spring for each group in addition to one creative project (teach your parents to play your instrument, a composition project, etc. and some method book work.

I did not focus on procedures and expectations as well as I did in literature and glee, and I'm feeling it now. Tomorrow is the first day of the second quarter, and it's a fresh start for me - we are going to discuss these items again, see what the students want to get out of this experience (they teach me so much everyday), and lay a solid foundation for a successful quarter. No rushing.


Try everything. Find out what works and what doesn't for SJV at this time. Nothing is a failure, it is all an experiment.


Get the feedback of students twice a year - student feedback is really, really important. This is an easy one, I just have to remember to do it.


Go on at least one field trip this year!



Have every instrumentalist reading their clef successfully by the end of the semester. This is because my rote-to-note experiment did not work. Big deal, I already have a better plan for next year. :). As for the older students, the band can read music, the strings can't. Strings have this goal while band students have four major scales to perform by the end of the quarter.

There are many other mini goals that I have that don't necessarily need to be on paper. For example, send students to the honor band, have a composition project, etc. I already plan on doing those anyway. For the record, here are some of my successes thus far. I totally tend to discount these, so they are here not in any effort to brag (they are very minor, anyway), but to remind myself that much has been done.

Incorporated a point system into rehearsals
We made t-shirts! They rock.
5 x enrollment as last year and previous years - 80% of our instruments are rented out, some are being used for the first time.
The school's first instrumental concert in 15-20 years is on the calendar.
More rehearsal time - the groups used to rehearse 1-2 times a week for half an hour at a time. Now they rehearse 3-4 and there are sectionals.
Parent communication - created a website and email regularly with the parents to communicate rehearsal times, expectations, and other information.
Grades for band and orchestra - there haven't been grades for these courses in years. Granted, they are S+-type grades for now, but that is due to a policy for all specialty classes. I'm just glad it's on the report card!

Student excitement and interest - the kids seem pretty pumped! I want to continue with more of this by hosting a social night and having t-shirt spirit days.
Instrument petting zoo - many kids showed up in chaotic fashion to pet and play ze instruments. Lololololzzz that was nuts.

There it is. School starts tomorrow. I had been working through a bit of anxiety (and a cold) in recent days, but I am very excited to return to work tomorrow! Super pumped, akshally. Too much idle time is bad for me, and great people are good for me. Looking forward to a moderately relaxing first day back, where I can get much done and return to the routine.

Holla!