• Home
  • Articles
    • Instrument Pedagogy
    • Concert Band
    • Beginning Band
    • Theory & More
    • Motivation
    • Recruiting & Retention
    • Band Director Jobs
    • Collaborative Posts
    • Seasonal
  • Resources
    • Beginning Theory
      • Aural Skills
      • Musical Symbols & Terms
      • Note Names
      • Rhythm
    • Books for Band Directors
    • Brass
    • Cut Time
    • The Garner Ensemble Project – Rhythmic Ensembles
      • The Garner Ensemble Project – Set 2 (2021)
    • Instrument Overhauls
    • KHS America/Jupiter
    • Method Books
    • Music Stores
    • Percussion
    • Travel – Green Light
    • Woodwind Resources
  • Newsletter
  • Distance Learning
  • Freebies
  • Shop
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Bloglovin
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

Band Directors Talk Shop

4 Ways to Get Band Students Excited About Leadership

9 May

Sometimes it feels like even our top students are dragging their feet. News flash! Kids aren’t machines and they’re not factory workers either. Defining their roles and responsibilities is not enough.

If you want your top students to be jumping at every opportunity to contribute and help the band program, read on and apply these strategies.

1 – Ask Their Opinion

Ever had someone “higher up” ask you candidly for your opinion in a one-on-one conversation on how things are going or how your peers felt about something. Felt good huh?

That kind of respect feels good to adults, but to kids, it can be a life-changing event. It could be the first time in their life that they realize that their opinion might be valid or that others might want to hear it.

2 – Perks (But be careful!)

First of all, avoid giving explicit perks to student leaders. If anything, you might just encourage a culture of entitlement. Leadership comes with perks naturally as a consequence of the sacrifices that student leaders accept when they take on their role.

For example, some upperclassmen have been given the responsibility of filling the water coolers and bringing them out to marching band rehearsal. As a result, they miss a few minutes of the stretch block before rehearsal. They are doing hard work, yet envy fills the eyes of the freshmen at the stretch block, watching upperclassmen joke around with each other in the distance.

Be aware of these types of subtle perks and see if you can create more water cooler filling moments that make the younger students excited to take on responsibility.

3 – Hype Them Up (the right way)

Don’t pick favorite students. Pick favorite actions. When you give praise, praise actions instead of praising the students who make the actions directly.

Instead of:

“Wow, great job Brittney, that Bb was right on pitch every single time today. I can tell you’ve been practicing!”

Try:

“Did you all hear that? Every single time Brittney played that Bb today it was right on pitch. That is the kind of consistency we want to aim for in all our rhythms as well.”

When you praise a student directly, the message to the other students is that you have a favorite student. And that students who don’t regularly get praise are not favorites. That does not encourage students to aspire to be one of the favorites. Instead, it tends to create an “us vs. them” dynamic between favorites and “others”.

When you make the action the subject of your praise, the message becomes one of empowerment. “Anyone who does            is worthy of praise.”

4 – Awards

Not all students strive to win leadership awards, but for a select few, it is something they will strive for year-round. You can also have awards for musicianship and perhaps one for each section or ensemble in your program.

Award them at the spring concert or end-of-year banquet event if you have one. Students will go on to proudly present a leadership award like that on their resumé for college and part-time jobs.

 

Conclusion

Assigning responsibilities and roles are important, but to have effective leaders who are chomping at the bit to help and contribute, takes a bit of psychological ninjitsu. The real key is understanding your students and knowing what makes them feel empowered and motivated.

 

John Filippone teaches the leadership and drum major program at Genesis Drum & Bugle Corps and puts on drum major clinics for high schools from time to time. He has created a free online course along with the Genesis conducting staff and drum majors called Drum Major Essentials.

Facebooktwitterpinterestmail

Filed Under: Motivation, Recruiting & Retention Leave a Comment

Previous Post: « Teaching Breath Support
Next Post: 5 NEW Ideas for your Band Students During the Last Few Weeks of School »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Sign up here for our newsletter




SEARCH ANY TOPIC HERE

Categories

About Band Directors Talk Shop

Band Directors Talk Shop is all about helping you be a better band director so your students can be better musicians.  It is a collaborative effort of band directors, former band directors, private lesson teachers and fine arts administrators. Learn.  Posts will strive to teach you something you can use in your classroom today. ... Read More about About Us

let’s connect

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Featured Articles

band director

What Is The Most Meaningful Piece of “Band Director Advice” You Have Been Given?

Whew! What a year! Summer Break is Here! Relax, Reflect & Recharge

COPYRIGHT © 2023 BAND DIRECTORS TALK SHOP, LLC · Website Design By Jumping Jax Designs