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The Indispensable Assistant Director The Art of Teaching Music 2021

About

Alicia DeSoto

  • 11 Years as Associate Director at Shadow Ridge Middle School in Flower Mound (CC)
  • Just finished first year as Associate Director of Bands at Lewisville High School (6A)
  • Entering year 13 with Chris Meredith

This Clinic

Role of the "Assistant" Director

Director of the Non-Varsity Band

Organizational Items

The Assistant Band Director

"Be a good human being." Brian Merrill
Assistant Director as Co-Pilot
Role of the Assistant Director: Hammer vs. Good Guy

The non-varsity Band

Define the Non-Varsity Band student

Define your goals for the Non-Varsity Band student

What do you consider the function of your Non-Varsity Band?

Defining and Reinforcing Daily Habits

"Ordering and sequencing are important! We must DEFINE expectations before we DEMAND them of our students." - Amanda Drinkwater

Which individual skills do we need to continue to develop in the Non-Varsity Band student?

  • Tone (model)
  • Tuning/Pitch (HD and singing)
  • Articulation Style and Speed (define consistent syllables; say it - play it)
  • Dynamic Control (exercise)
  • Instrument Range (ascending and descending Patterns, flow studies)
  • Rhythms (exercises)
  • Note Recognition (note name sheets)
  • Music Theory (vocabulary, road maps)

Develop smarter practicing (practice charts?)

Sight-Reading Strategies (40 Days of Sight-Reading) (Sight-Reading Drills for Band)

Solo & Ensemble Contest

Assessment

  • 100% Mastery
  • Consistent system set up in beginner band (such as system and level of expectation when passing off rhythms and scales)
  • Opportunity for director to meet with students one or two at a time, think of this as a one minute mini private lesson
  • Instant feedback
  • The first project/objective sheet needs to be a slam dunk; you are teaching the system and building confidence more than anything else
  • Think of this as a practicing check list; if you want the students to practice something, assessing these items will guarantee that the items get practiced
Sample Project

Individual Student Goal Setting Meeting

When: Right after spring break

How: One student at a time; one on one meeting with assisting director during class

Purpose:

  • Determine who is continuing in band for next year
  • Learn what band the students want to audition into
  • Determine additional musical goals the students have (region, state, etc)
  • Help provide students with exercises, tools, and routines to reach their goals
  • Discover current practicing habits and provide a plan for improvement.

Remind students that there are no wrong answers, and that they need to answer honestly. We are just gathering information and are here to help!

Auditions

  • What do you want students to be practicing?
  • Can you define the characteristics of the musicians in all of your ensembles?
  • Students place themselves in each ensemble (audition commitment form)
  • Announcing audition results

Organizational Items

Here are a few items that I've discovered over the years that make our lives a little easier:

Wall Calendar

  • 24 - 12" cork squares
  • 17" x 22" desk calendar
  • Laminate the calendar
  • Can use sharpies and/or dry erase markers

Alphabetizer/Score Order

  • Can use to sort student paperwork AND put music in score order
  • Add instrument labels to each tab
  • "General Document Sorter"

Music Library: Etude Books, Solos, Ensembles, Etc

  • Cardboard bins from IKEA "FLYT" Magazine File
  • Super easy for students/lesson teachers to grab the entire Clarinet Solo file and take to a practice room to select a solo

Mute Bag

  • Label the outside and inside of the bag with section and student names
  • Section leader grabs mute bag and sets on floor in the rehearsal set up, then returns to shelf at the end of rehearsal
  • Easy to transport to contests/concerts
  • Gator Case GP-40

Instrument Accessories

  • Easy to find and put away items
  • IKEA "SAMLA" box with lid

Readily Available Repair Items

  • These are acrylic makeup organizers
  • Amazon, TJMaxx, Target, etc

Locker Names

  • Makes it super simple to get materials to student
  • Subliminal sense of belonging from the very first day
  • The Wenger locker name plates are standard business card size
  • Put names and locker numbers in a spreadsheet and then run a mail merge into a business card template
  • Print on cardstock (perforated business cards are unnecessary)
  • Have student leaders cut and insert the name tags before school starts

Inventory Cards

  • These little 4" pieces of cardstock go inside every school owned instrument case
  • Easy to keep track of accessories that belong to the school vs. belong to the student (mark these accessories in charms also)
  • Subliminal reminder to students that they need to take good care of these items

Quarterly Instrument Checks

  • Director performs a quick instrument maintenance inspection with student and school owned instrument once a quarter
  • Make sure everything is working properly and take care of any tiny problems before they become a big problem
  • Opportunity to remind student to clean mouthpiece, grease slides, clean out case, etc
  • Mark down instrument check notes on the back of the card
  • Makes inventory day go way smoother at the end of the year

Keeping Track of Student Enrollment Changes

The month of August is usually crazy with students moving in and out, changing classes, etc. This spreadsheet helps me keep track of processing the new students.

Favorite Programs

PicMonkey Photo editing, graphics, social media creations, concert programs

Adobe Spark Weekly newsletters, social media graphics, presentations

ATM 2021

Contact

Please don't hesitate to reach out!

Alicia DeSoto

Lewisville High School

desotoa@lisd.net

Appreciate

Credits:

Created with images by Blumary - "painting watercolor paint" • terribium - "plane aircraft airplane" • stevepb - "hammer sledgehammer mallet" • Alexas_Fotos - "smiley laugh funny" • epicantus - "pen working empty sheet" • xrayfoto - "music trumpet notes"