Implementing Change in Your Program

If you are looking to implement change in your band program next year, this post is for you!

The TBA Archives refer to the Texas Bandmasters Association archives of clinic handouts from past conventions. Conventions are one of the best ways to learn new things, spark new ideas, ask questions and be inspired. The only problem is all of that new knowledge is thrown at us in about a 48 hour window and it’s hard to retain much of it.

The TBA archives are a great resource on-line that can be beneficial to use when you have time to remind you of things you learned at conventions. It can also give you some ideas you may have missed out on if you weren’t able to attend convention.

In these posts on BandDirectorsTalkShop.com we will choose a clinic handout that can give you good ideas even without the actual presentation. We’ll highlight a few great points we noticed and give you the link to the full handout. Clinicians spend a lot of time preparing the handouts and they can be a wonderful resource if they don’t get lost in a pile on your desk.

Today’s Highlighted Clinic:
Implementing Change in Your Program
by Dr. Matthew McInturf

Here are 6 of my favorite things:

Positive and Pro-Active Engagement
Commit to the Current Students
Always Persuade – Never Coerce
Be Flexible – Correct Mistakes Fast
Involve Student Leaders
Nothing works Efficiently the First Time

There is also a list of recommended books – I just put 2 on hold at my local library and am looking forward to reading them! I suggest you look at the list and pick a book that looks helpful to you.

For a link to the full handout, click here.

The outline doesn’t go into specifics as much as the handouts I usually choose, but it is a comprehensive list of things to consider. Normally I don’t comment much on the TBA archives, but in this case, I’d like to make a suggestion. The remainder of this post is just a suggestion and not related to the actual TBA clinic…

Pick 5 things from the handout that speak to you and come up with concrete action steps you can take next year to implement the ideas.

For example – the Positive and Pro-Active Engagement – you could decide to:

Email/print a monthly newsletter with good PR to all parents/faculty/administrators.
Email 3 individual parents to let them know their child did something great in your class every week.
Send (snail mail) postcards for outstanding attitude/leadership/performance etc.
Make 2 phone calls a week to tell parents how you appreciate them for helping at a concert or how much you appreciate their child’s participation in your program
Give students a birthday card on their birthday.
Catch 3 students a week and pull them aside before/after rehearsal or in the hall and tell them how glad you are to have them in your program. Look them in the eye and tell them one thing they do that makes a difference to the group.

Think about these things over the next few months and decide how you can make them work for you and your program.