So You Got Your First Tech Job....
Being a young or inexperienced educator does not mean that you are lacking the proper skills and information to be successful. However, there are some common pitfalls that young teachers may find themselves in without meaning to! Here are some thoughts on the most common mistakes.
Talking Too Much
Young teachers can suffer from “imposter syndrome” like any other budding professions. Unfortunately, that does not go away, but as you grow you can learn to manage it. A common error is talking too much as a teacher - it seems sometimes as a way to try and establish your credentials and prove that your students should trust you and your information. In general, students will trust you at least to some degree simply because you were hired to be their teacher. You do not have to show them how smart you are with deep explanations of every concept presented or constantly flex your credentials.
Think how impactful it was for you to have an educator that grew with you when you were a younger student. The students get to unlock your personality and find all the wisdom and experience you have organically and in concert with their own discovery of their instrument and abilities. There may be layers of information that you want to share, but there is a time and a place for it all. Usually, after a few too many moments of laboring over a point the students may lose interest and that can result in diminishing return.
Reinventing the Wheel
Another common downfall of young educators is “reinventing the wheel.” You know the phrase - taking something already dialed in and trying to somehow improve the formula. One of the reasons for this error is actually from self discovery; maybe you cracked the code for yourself regarding playing a specific technique or skill set, and want to now “change the game” with your understanding.
Keep in mind, the reason you made that discovery is because you finally have gained the understanding and context of playing the instrument to be able to understand said technique fully. It was information that you were then ready to receive.
That is a key point in relaying information - the students must be ready to receive it! Your age out summer may have lead to a discovery of precisely what perfect down strokes feel like, and that is awesome! However, the 8th grader playing top bass simply is not ready to receive that information yet. It is the same reason we teach a quarter note as “one beat” in 6th grade band - it may not be the entire breakdown of exactly what a quarter note is, but it will suffice for what that age of students are ready to receive until they have more context to understand deeper concepts.
Poor Time Management
This one is tough. Time management usually can only be gained through experience. But some pointers can help. A common mistake is to get bogged down on the “wrong” thing. This can vary depending on many circumstances; there is a time and place for every battle throughout the season, but it is up to you as the staff/educators to decide when the order in which to fight those battles. Generally, it is best to keep in mind the big picture goals first, on down to the small picture. For example:
Ensemble Goals
Move and play part 1 up to letter F.
Caption Goals
Memorize part 2 to stay ahead of the band.
Section Goals
Getting a better accent sound during the snare break.
Individual Goals
Jimmy needs to learn to play the street beat.
All of the above example goals are important, but you have to balance what affects the most people first. If you find yourself detailing the snare break during the middle of a full battery tracking block, you are not managing the group’s time wisely!
10 Reps, 10 Errors
One of the best and most frequent comments you can give to your students is: “Do it again.” Feedback is important, but the students need reps to figure their hands out, and you as an educator need time to further diagnose any issues accurately. Imagine if your doctor only treated the most immediate ailment, and did not take the time to ask questions, listen to your heart/lungs, and test for any further or underlying issues - terrible doctor, right?
You can listen to ten reps for any group and find ten corrections (or more). But that does not tell the full story. Instead of trying to fix a different error after each rep, listen more (and talk less) to see if there are a smaller number of consistent errors across multiple reps. Those errors are much more important, as small things can change between each player per rep (especially as the students are figuring out how to be consistent!). But the consistent and/or bigger picture errors across reps is where you find the biggest payoff to address.
“Do it again” gives your eyes and ears another changes to evaluate and diagnose, as well as giving the students time to listen and evaluate their own performance to build consistency. Consistent errors are much easier to address and remove, as opposed to chasing errors across reps. It can also provide a great opportunity to discuss the progress of the group as those bigger and more consistent issues fade away!
Success comes with time. Being young or inexperienced says nothing of your talent, drive, or potential. But these errors can be made by even those most motivated young educator. Any veteran teacher can tell the tale of their own experience dealing with these same issues. Hopefully these pointers can help you recognize some places for improvement for your own teaching, and allow for faster growth and quicker return on your ensemble!