Ep. 14 - 6 Steps To Better Beginners TODAY!

The spring semester is here and we've got six simple steps you can implement TODAY to take your beginner class to the next level! The team discuss proven strategies for classroom management, planning, assessment, and more!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:17

Greetings and salutations, friends, and welcome back to the Team Islas Podcast episode 14. My name is Doug Bush, and today I'm joined by Patricia Eastlass and Zach Schear. And this is a podcast for anyone looking to better themselves in percussion education. Six steps to better beginners today. Our very own Mr. Shear has agreed to pay you, listener, yes you, five million dollars. If you genuinely apply these six steps and don't see immediate improvement in your beginning percussion students, that's how much we believe in these concepts. So let's start off with step one right now, Mr. Shear. You're the master at this first one, so kick us off. All right.

SPEAKER_02 0:59

Um I do have a lot of experience with this first one. However, I do need to tip my hat to the person I learned this from, the great and wonderful and powerful Mr. Jeff Ostimore.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 1:10

Yes. Uh I had the uh I don't use this phrase lightly, life-changing opportunity to student teach with Mr. Osdomore. Listen up, all you college students, in the fall, not in the spring. Okay. In the fall. So I um got to be present when Mr. Osdemore was starting his beginner classes like day one.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

And like just sat there like a fly on the wall and just took notes. And so um I took kind of took what he did and made it my own. But um I'll I'll say first and foremost, classroom management and the culture you set up in your classroom is the prerequisite to everything else you're gonna do. We talked about this in the culture podcast at the beginning, but it really applies at the beginner level. If you do not have students that are kind of like hanging on your every word and are really motivated to get in there and get better, it really doesn't matter how well you teach them to tap their foot or play diddles. That information is just not gonna sink in. So, how do we actually do that on day one? Okay, um, I'm going to have the students come in. I'm gonna greet them by name. I'm gonna be excited to see them. I'm gonna have the room set up. And then before we get out any equipment, before we talk about our goals, whatever, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, I'm going to um give them uh a little short, like prepared. This is like written out. I've probably practiced it in the mirror of the night before. Kind of a dog and pony show here. I'm gonna give them a little speech about how excited I am and how what a privilege it is for them to be in this room because they were chosen. So keywords here privilege and chosen, right? They were chosen to be in this spot. I'm gonna take them back and remember when I met them in fifth grade. I'm gonna remind them that some of their friends who really wanted to be in the percussion class went away crying, probably literally, like maybe possibly crying. Um and they were chosen for this spot. I'm gonna instill in them how much responsibility comes with that privilege. And then I'm gonna turn our attention to a very simple list of not rules, but expectations that I'm I'm holding this list in my hand right here. It's written out in black and white, and I'm gonna ask for some volunteers to go, okay, um, Douglas, welcome to the welcome to the percussion class here. Would you like to read the first expectation? Or actually, no, I'm gonna I'm gonna ask for volunteers. Who would like to read expectation number one? And I'm learning some things about the students, right? As we see who's gonna volunteer. So um I'm gonna have the students read aloud each expectation. We're gonna have a very short conversation about what that means. And these are very simple. It's like I will address adults in this classroom as sir or ma'am. I will practice every night. I will bring my pencil, book, binder, whatever to class every day. These are very simple, practical things that every student can do. Um once those have been read aloud by the students, once I have given a very short explanation to make sure that everybody understands what they are. And by this point, the tone in the classroom is like fairly serious. Probably quite a bit more serious than like their science class was on the first day of school.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

Definitely more serious than they're expecting out of drum class.

SPEAKER_02 4:30

Yeah, exactly. Right. And and not like, not um, it's not mean, it's not anything, but it's like it has like importance, I think would be the right word, right? So once we've written these expectations, I'm gonna go, and this is kind of like the like everything leads up to this point, right? I'm gonna say, okay, now guys, this is kind of the moment where we decide, and I want you as an individual to think here whether or not you can commit to these expectations. You know, they're like, oh my gosh, okay, you know, and I'm like, okay, I have a I have a pen here, and I'm probably gonna get like a fancy looking pen. And I'm gonna set these expectations right up here at the front of the room. And if you believe, like, yes, Mr. Shear, I am ready, I can commit to this. I want you to come up and sign your name on this piece of paper, you know? And they're like, ooh, okay. And then I just kind of leave it like we're gonna see who comes up first, you know, and there'll always be that kid that's like, let's go, you know, and that guy comes up first and he signs his name, you know, and you'll notice they kind of like it's like they're signing the Declaration of Independence. Like they'll they'll do like cursive or whatever, you know. Um, and I'm gonna, I mean, and as soon as that first kid signs his name, I'm gonna have like the biggest smile, right? Like I maybe haven't been smiling a lot up to this point, but I'm just gonna be like, yes, oh my gosh, wait, like who's next? And eventually they'll all sign, you know. But I but I am gonna kind of leave it out there when I say, like, hey, it's time to come sign. Like, and listen, you know, guys, hey, if you, for whatever reason, if you're just thinking, I don't I don't think I can do this, then you know what, that's okay. We can find another, we can, we can find a class that's right for you. And they're gonna hear that and be like, No, I know. No way, I'm in, you know. So then, you know, I get all these kids to sign. I mean, it's like they've made some sort of like blood oath at this point, you know.

SPEAKER_01 6:13

Yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 6:14

And then I'm gonna have ready like a uh like a frame. This sounds silly, but it's like so effective. Like, like a little frame I'm gonna put this in. It's gonna be like gold, right? Like a gold frame. It was like$2 from Walmart, you know. And I'm gonna put that in the frame and I'm gonna hang it up in the room. And I'm gonna say, and again, this is like I just saw Jeff Ozdomore do this so powerfully. And I'm gonna point out, I'm gonna say, like, guys, you know, because we've all committed to this, I'm just gonna share with you that over the years of doing this, um, I just we have no discipline issues and no disruptions in our class here, in our percussion class, because we're all so committed to these expectations. And if ever, you know, you know, little Patricia, I know that you would never be the one to do this. But if ever you just thought maybe you were gonna turn to your neighbor and start talking during class at one point, all I would have to do is look at you and just kind of point to your name up there on the sign and you would be reminded, you know. And they're like, oh, oh yes, of course. Um, and as you develop doing this year after year, it's actually a lot more powerful if you can have last year's uh right. You got last year's up there, and then you're like taking it down and replacing it with this year's. Yeah, yeah. Um so there there is this little kind of dog and pony show that you can go through um at the beginning of the year to just have them like hook, line, and sinker before they even know what a drumstick really is. Yep. Um, and it's not just a one-day thing. I'm gonna revisit it on day two and on day three and on day 99, you know. Um, but being intentional about that right up front on day one will pay dividends for the whole year.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

I mean, it really establishes everything.

SPEAKER_02 7:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

I mean, it sets the tone for everything. You know, you want to set aside that this path that they're on is different than any other activity that they could be a part of, any other math class or science class or whatever. It needs to be uh a space that they feel excited to come to every day. It's gonna be hard. You're not saying that it's not gonna be hard. They're gonna be asked to do a lot of difficult things and be challenged, but it's also uh a place that has a lot of excitement and energy to it because you are bringing that excitement and energy to day one. You're setting the tone like this is a place that you want to be and that you have earned the right to be, but you don't get to be here if unless you're ready to party.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

Yeah. Yeah, yep, yep, yes. Yeah, and this this process is so incredibly effective to echo Mr. Shear's thoughts here on witnessing. I remember the first time I witnessed um from afar Osdamore's beginners when he was at Civil, is when I had this like incredible pleasure of getting to work for Jeff uh at the Blue Knights. And anyone that knows Jeff knows if he was here, he would correct me right now. He'd say, Ah, Mr. Bush, not for Mr. Osmoor, you got to work with Mr. Osmore. That's what he would say if he's here right now, but he's the one that hired me, not the other way around, right? And and I would uh you know have a question about the beats like how are we wanting to subdivide this sevenlet that begins on the third partial of this quarter note five lit, you know, right? And and I would call Mr. Osdomore. And uh if he was teaching his beginners, he would just turn on his phone, but he wouldn't answer it. He would just turn it on. Yeah, and you'd hear him uh a flat, a flat, ding, ding, ding, and ding, ding, or whatever. I would hear him just teach through the phone, and just the the the the procedures, the establishment of of what's happening, how it's happening, the quality and consistency of it. Uh it was it was just undeniable. Like it was like, oh wow, the bar has just been raised. Like this is this is a new level. Um, and I remember coming to Kapel and filling the the you know that this was just an evolution of that, right? Um, and I think a big part of getting there is is you had mentioned uh before, Mr. Shear, how you're teaching for understanding, but you're reviewing reviewing for mastery.

SPEAKER_02 9:58

Yeah, absolutely. You know, I um Mr. Bush, that's something I think I um and I think a lot of teachers like you say that, you go, okay, teach for mass, sorry, teach for understanding, review for mastery. And everybody's like, yeah, yeah, I get it. Like that rings true, you know. Um, and it's probably something that early in my career, if you would have said that to me, I would have been like, yeah, that makes sense. But then you actually get in there and experience what it's like when you don't do that and what it's like when you do that. And I think a really and and this is so number one is classroom management slash culture, right? Number two, and this is I think how you learn really, really learn things like this, or you begin to realize something like teaching for understanding, reviewing for mastery is through systematic, proactive, before the class starts, lesson planning. If you are planning out for your beginner class specifically, if you are planning out what you are going to teach every day, you are never walking into a class and kind of opening the book and going, all right, uh, let's learn accents, right? Um if you are to the point that you should be writing down like exact sentences you're gonna say, right? So like elements of a good lesson plan. Um, what day is it? What are we going to learn? What page is it on in the book? What are we gonna play? What tempos are we gonna play it at? What concepts am I gonna introduce? How am I gonna introduce these concepts? How long am I allocating in a class period for warm-up, for review, for introduction of new concepts, et cetera, et cetera? These are all elements of a good lesson plan. Um, and I would just challenge you, if you're not a person who has uh had lesson plans for every class, just start. Well, but what if I don't just start? Just should I write it down? Should I do it electronically? Yes. Just do it. Yeah, just do it. Just do it. Just do it. And um, I really think, especially for uh younger teachers, it is the most powerful tool. It forces you to plan what, like I said, what you're going to do, but also what you're not gonna do. Yeah, you know, um, it forces you, if you do make a plan, it also forces you to kind of reconcile, okay, what was my plan? What did I actually do?

SPEAKER_03 12:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

Because we've all gotten to like the second thing on our list, a second out of 10. And then we look up and the bell's ringing and we are still on number two, right? Yeah. We've all done that. And and if you don't have a plan, then you don't know that you didn't follow the plan, right? Um, and I also like I've been in this situation. I know many educators I I consult with or teach with. Um, they get to the end of the year with beginners, and it's like, oh man, we didn't get to fill in the blank, whatever it is. We didn't get to flams, we didn't do as many buzz rolls as I wanted to. We didn't learn the A-flack melodic minor scale or whatever. And it's like, well, was that in your plan for the year? And uh well, I didn't really okay. Well, then you you can't you can't really expect to cover these things that you have not planned to cover. So um I would just say any of the teachers I think if I think of Jeff Osdamore, if I think of Asa Burke, if I think of Scott Mason, if I think of like whoever, the very best teachers I've ever taught with, they were people that had pages and pages of detailed plans. Yeah. Um, and it sounds kind of like, oh man, you know, I don't know. I think I can just get in there. You can't.

unknown 13:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

Speaking of uh detailed plans, listeners, you know, uh again of our six tips here. One is classroom management, two is lesson plans. And stick around because after the end of our our six, we got a special guest who is one of these absolute masters at creating these type of plans and seeing it through. Uh, so we got some some bonuses here. But uh number three is teaching every minute of every day. Ms. Lass, what what are the what do you think that means? Teaching every minute of every day.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

To me, that means be really efficient with the time that you have. And uh the second the students enter the classroom is an opportunity for you to help them get better uh and to take advantage of that, to exploit that. Uh and it doesn't always necessarily mean that you're uh playing through something or describing a technique. You can teach them by how uh you expect them to walk into the room, the procedures that you expect them to uh adhere to so that you can make the most of your time. You can teach them by how you set up the equipment or how you teach the equipment. Um there might be a scenario where there's music chairs from the class before. Uh you can teach them in the moment how we uh walk into the room and approach that type of situation, which is going to serve you and the students uh multiple times over throughout their entire time and progression.

SPEAKER_01 14:47

Yeah, absolutely. I I think a lot of people could misinterpret this to quantity over quality. And you're I think you're doing a great job kind of establishing that as like uh we are efficient, like yeah, we're moving with purpose and intention from the moment you walk in the room, but it's not frantic. It's not a frantic or energy or a hurried energy or you know, like a uh whatever. It's a purposeful, like, oh, we came in, the the woodwinds before us left everything out. Good. That gives us the opportunity to for you to prove me like how neatly and efficiently can we put the stands back and put the chairs back and be set up? Can you guys do this in two minutes? Timer starts now, right? You know, um just lessons like that.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

Yeah, you know, one of the things that uh I witnessed just maybe a month ago at the very end of the school year, we Mr. Bush and I had come in to teach some private lessons for a sixth grade class. And uh Danny Hawkins, who is the person who teaches our sixth grade classes at Capel, was hanging out with the students, and that day they were working on some music that they were preparing for uh a sixth-grade brand competition coming up here in the next couple of days. And um, there was some equipment that had been moved from one school to the next, and it was kind of laid out in these storage boxes and kind of a mess. And Mr. Hawkins had about you know four or five of the kids who had come in first standing around him, and they're looking at this mess, and he says something to the effect of like, uh, did any of you guys do this? And of course they hadn't, and they they just walked in the room and they all kind of shook their head, no, no, we didn't do this. Okay, but whose responsibility is it to fix it? And they all said, us. It's our responsibility. And together he walked them through the process of putting the things away and making sure anything that was disassembled became assembled and all of those things. But it was just kind of a mantra that they were already um becoming exposed to as a part of uh the culture that he was building. And that was a beautiful teaching moment that started before the bell even rang.

SPEAKER_01 16:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:47

Which I thought it was amazing.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

Teaching teaching every minute every day means not just teaching how to play a flame dragon, right? Yeah, like all these other lessons that then affect that, right? So we got our our number one classroom management, number two lesson plan, number three, teach every minute every day. Number four, varied instruction. Uh this means sometimes you're demonstrating from the pad and you're in or from an instrument and you're having them listen. How could they possibly know to make a good sound if they haven't heard a good sound, right? You're modeling for them. Sometimes this means you're walking around the room playing on their instrument or their pad with them. Sometimes uh this means you're having them play individually and giving them one individual comment per student, whatever. But these are these are small humans that we're dealing with here, and they all learn and adapt differently. And sometimes, even though procedure is very important, if you get you are so busy, you don't have enough time to do nearly enough, you're not being compensated well enough for this gig it that it can be easy for you to unintentionally fall in the routine of just like, oh man, I'm scarfing down the subway in my car as I'm walking into the room drinking my Starbucks and then throwing the pad, and then I just run through the thing and then I scurry out to get to the next middle school where I'm being yelled at because the kid missed the symbol crash and measure four of the piece that they've been working on for the last five months or what you know. Take a breath, calm down, and just keep in mind uh if if you are delivering, if you're not getting the result that you are wanting, that is user error. And I for me, often I when I witness this when I when I go clinic or work with people, it's because they are simply delivering the information uh often on the way that it had the most impact to them individually. Like, oh, I had a teacher that did this for me, and it's like, hey, that's great. That worked for 80% of the class, but that's not reaching this 20%. So you have to find a different way to say, you know, it's not the kids' fault, it's not the parents' fault, it's not the band director's fault, right? If the kid is struggling with a thing, that that is on you, that is your fault. And you need to find a way to kind of vary the instruction to reach all the members of the class.

SPEAKER_02 18:48

You know, Mr. Bush, I think you guys would agree. And I know for myself, I have found, I can think back to big stretches of my teaching where I did not vary instruction well. I kind of went to what was just most comfortable with me, or like you said, what was most effective for me. And the reason I did that was because I did not plan my teaching in advance. Yeah. Right. So, like a lot of these things I think we're gonna find go together, right? Like if you sit down a day, a week, a month, whatever, before you're gonna teach accents, right? And you stop and you think and you make a plan for how do I want to teach accents? What is the absolute best way for those students for me to teach accents? You're probably gonna get there. You have a much higher chance of getting there. What is the best method? Is it writing some stuff on the board? Is it demonstrating? Is it asking the first year kid to play? Like my instruction is gonna be better and more varied if I sit down and think about it proactively, as opposed to if I just walk in the room and go, okay, everybody, look at me. Here we go. Boom. You're just gonna fall into like repetitive, easy patterns for yourself as an instructor. You know?

SPEAKER_01 19:58

Absolutely. Absolutely. Number one, classroom management. Number two, get that lesson plan going. That's gonna help with everything. Number three, teach every minute of every day. Number four, you gotta vary that instruction. You gotta reach all the kids. All the kids are coming from different places, they have different needs, right? Bring them some different energies. Number five, test the students. What are we gonna test these students?

SPEAKER_02 20:22

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. How's this work? Well, first of all, I like the word test. Yes. Test. Well, I don't know. Maybe I I kind of I think we should use the word assessment. No, no. The word test is a little too scary. No, it's not.

SPEAKER_00 20:38

Students know tests. They take tests in every other class. Yes. They understand the concept.

SPEAKER_02 20:43

Yes. Absolutely. Like I and I think that test. So first of all, okay, you should test the students. You should hold them accountable for what they have been taught. And the test needs to be challenging enough that they can't do really well on it without practice at home.

SPEAKER_03 21:03

Right?

SPEAKER_02 21:04

So it's not just I'm gonna get by even though I don't practice at home. Um so number one, you you can't have progress without accountability. You can't have accountability without testing the students. Okay, that's number one. Number two, the test needs to be challenging enough that they have to practice at home. Number three, the reason I like the word test is it does sound a little more serious and a little more like the there were there are some consequences here, and there should be some kind of consequence. I think many, many times that should be a chair test. Like, yes, we're gonna take a test, I'm gonna announce the scores, and then right now we're gonna rearrange from chair one down to whatever the last chair is. I would not be afraid to do that. Now, I think that that depends on the class, and that's not always the right thing to do. Maybe you just give scores one through five. Maybe you do something, but I think there does have to be some sort of immediate feedback that feels real, right? Um, going back to the great Jeff Ostimore. Um, I now that these students are old enough, I think I can share this story that same semester in the fall, uh, student teaching with Jeff Osdemore, and he starts, he starts testing um the student. This is like the first time I've seen him do this, and he whips out this was a while ago, but it wasn't that long ago. He whips out this grade book, like a green old school grade book, you know, like our teachers had back before computers. And as these students are like playing, you know, line number four for their test or whatever, he's furiously, from what their vantage point looks like, he's furiously just writing. Yeah, like right. And I'm on the other side, I'm back over here behind Jeff. I can see that actually he's not writing anything. But he's he's giving, he's kind of doing this, you know, a little bit of a dog and pony show for these students. Like as they're playing, he's just furiously taking notes and all this. And then they would finish, and he would give like what genuinely was like a really good set of like feedback, you know. But it would be like he was referencing this, you know, huge tablet of grades that he's got here. And then he would assign them a grade and he would look like he's recording it or whatever, and these kids just took it so seriously, yeah, you know. Um, but uh, I am a fan, so so I think you know, it has to have some like severity, yeah, right? And it has to be challenging. I also am a fan, um, learned this from uh John Bingaman um of testing every Monday. I remember Mr. Bingaman telling me this at TNEA, and he was right. Uh, test on Monday. It's a great way to start the week. It makes them practice over the weekend. Um also that test should be individual playing, not like we're kind of all playing together. No, no, no, no. Down the line. And if you get to Johnny and Johnny can't play it, we're just gonna wait. And we're gonna make it a little uncomfortable. You know, like again, you have to be there's there's a right and a wrong way to do that. But um, yeah, test every Monday, make it challenging, make it have some accountability. It's very, very important. It's also important to mark your progress and your effectiveness as a teacher. If every kid sounds pretty bad, maybe that's something you didn't you didn't teach very effectively.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

Yeah, that's what I was gonna say. I mean, and you if you view it the right way, it's also a test for you and the effectiveness of your teaching. You know, you're gonna have outliers on either side. You're gonna have kids that maybe they have piano experience and they already kind of have a head start, and you're gonna have kids that are blessed their hearts a little bit more awkward and don't have control over their hands and their feet yet, and that's fine. But there might be some consistent messages that you're getting by hearing each of the students under a little bit of pressure have to perform where you think they should be able to perform one at a time, and that will give you a realistic vision of what things are going well, what things that uh they're all kind of understanding, and the things that they're not. And if it's the kind of thing where uh they're just not practicing at home, well then that's that's clear. Like you you need to find another way to motivate them so that that problem gets solved, just the same as if it was a technique problem, their grip, any of that.

SPEAKER_01 25:05

Absolutely. Absolutely. So that brings us to our sixth and final. So again, quick recap number one, classroom management two, lesson plan three, teach every minute of every day. Four, vary the instruction five, test the students, right? And then number six, you got to have the right vehicle for these superstar drivers, and that vehicle is the player's guide for the beginning percussionist, right? You know, uh genuinely, guys, we we sunk so much time and thought and effort into uh this book and structuring it to uh help any person in any program, regardless of what you wish to or not to supplement it with, regardless if you're just a band director or a percussion director. Uh it is structured so that you can open for you know page one and just turn to the next page. The next page when you're doing that lesson plan, hey, I know I'm gonna be doing uh, you know, uh chapter two, whatever. I'm looking at that in advance and planning for it. Um and it's gonna set you up for the the the most uh amount of like getting that teaching every minute of every day. You're going to maximize it where people often overestimate what they can do in the short term and underestimate what they can do in the long term. This book is structured so that when you get to the end of the year, A, you actually made it through the book. Right? That is one of the most consistent feedback we get. Wow, never in my career have I made it through the book, right? You know, you're not um, you know, uh giving these poor sixth graders this this this tone that they only get about halfway through, right? You know, I mean, um it's like their math class or their science class or whatever, they're getting through the material, right? But B, so that when you get to the end, you're not sitting there going, like, oh man, I never got to XYZ. I never got to teaching 6-8 or I never got to this or whatever. Like it it is paced in a manner which will prevent you as a teacher from getting too hung up and bogged down in one concept for too long. Like, oh man, every year when it gets to diddles or it gets to accents, I'm I always gotta spend 15 weeks on it or whatever. This alleviates all that by the like long on-raps that are built into it, as opposed to the just okay, we just stop and now introduce a cold concept they've never done and try to get them to do it immediately at a high level.

SPEAKER_00 27:20

Yeah, talking about the lesson planning and mentioning, you know, what is the right method. One of the things that you brought when we were creating the player's guide that I thought was so clever, Mr. Shear, was uh in the book writing down the dates that you got to each of the different skills.

SPEAKER_03 27:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

So you can go back and reference, like, okay, in the first couple of months we were able to get these things done the first year, and then the next month we did this thing, or the next week we did that thing. So you can reference it in in future years to kind of see what your uh your pacing is and uh what you've learned from it. Um and we strategically use that information so that we could help uh decide the pacing of our book.

SPEAKER_02 28:01

Yeah, yeah. I was just like so. I think the best way I was thinking about that, like lesson planning, it makes you better. Like lesson planning makes you better, and also the more you lesson plan, the better you get at lesson planning. It's like a cyclical thing there, you know what I mean? Um, like I was just I I have to shout out a wonderful teacher. His name is Houston Youngman. Houston, if you're listening. Um I just was overrated. I was, and it because just on this point, I was doing some consulting with him and he whipped out this young teacher, I think it's his second year, um, whipped out this binder of lesson plans. And I was like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. Good for you. But just like he was making the point of like, oh yeah, like in year two, it's so much more revealing than it was in year one. You know, and I'm like, wait till year 10. You know, like it's just so like having that um history to look back on, like you said, of when I got to certain things, how that worked out, that data is just invaluable. Yeah, Mr.

SPEAKER_00 29:03

Bush, we repeat the process to refine the process. Yeah, we teach that to our students all the time because they're constantly gonna be going through fundamentals and uh revisiting concepts that they've learned even all the way back from sixth grade. And it's very easy to check out on those things if you've done it before. But if you're constantly trying to refine it in each of those repetitions, you're gonna gain so much more. And the same is true for us as educators. And so having this uh tome or this spreadsheet or even just your book with your notes in it to reference over and over again is going to, if you're conscious about it, it's gonna make you a much better teacher year after year.

SPEAKER_01 29:42

Absolutely. Oh my gosh, do you guys hear that sound? I'm gonna insert a sound here. Yes. Yes, you do. That is the sound of six bonus tips here coming from our first ever guest on the Team E Slots podcast, Mr. Danny Hawkins. Kind of a guest, not really, he's not here. But yeah, Misty Slots and I are so fortunate in our career to have seen so many phenomenal educators that have really mastered their arts of teaching the beginners. Like I said, Osmore was incredible getting to see Michelle LeBrec's methods, uh, Mr. Tanner Trigg, Mr. John Bingaman, and of course, Mr. Scheer, and their ability to produce these incredibly high levels. The last two years have been very um special for all of us at Capel to have our friend uh Mr. Danny Hawkins, who is a master educator, come in and uh teach the beginners. He teaches all the beginners and he teaches a good amount of the middle school, seventh eighth grade as well. And what this, what this gem of a human, I think as Mr. Shear said, this angel has provided is unreal. I mean, I I've witnessed things with these beginnings last year that I I sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, I did not even know were possible things. And so before we began this podcast, I sent him just just minutes before he started, I sent him a text that said, uh, hey bro, what advice do you have for a teacher on establishing classroom management when teaching beginners? And as soon as we hit record, I got a like 10-page essay back for Mr. Hawkins. Anyone knows Mr. Hawkins knows. I mean, uh, this dude can out outpace Chat GPT here, man. Um and so I want to run through real quick kind of this, you know, the six things uh he can, because they're good, because they're great and we can kind of dig into elaborate. So, number one from Mr. Hawkins himself is give them heroes. Uh he says they should understand that there's a direct connection between the top-level drumming that they will be doing and the information that they're getting from you. He uses the Cop Hill High School drumline videos on the very first day to show them this is where you're gonna go. Thoughts on that, Mr. Sheer?

SPEAKER_02 31:50

Yeah, I just um it sounds obvious and it sounds simple when you say it. Like, oh yeah, that's a good idea. But like I think there is just so many of us are just in the trenches teaching day in and day out that you don't even like think about that, you know. But just using the video or whatever else you can do to just show those sixth graders that this thing exists. That like I always always say, like, this is you in the future, and you're watching these these guys that you're watching or girls stood in your exact spot right here, you know. Um so just however, maybe you don't have a drumline video that you recorded the semester before, whatever you have, even if you have to just like make something up, you know, like first day of school, you're like, guys, guess what? The the you know, the um Cockpell High School Drumline, we just went to the Drumline Olympics yesterday. And we won the gold medal. And you will also like it just anything you can do, anything you can do in middle school.

SPEAKER_01 32:56

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:57

Anything you can do just to get them to look forward and be excited about what's coming next is huge.

SPEAKER_01 33:03

Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Number two, give them routine. Priority is a routine that the teacher can stick with and is easy to execute. So he says, for example, uh, not using equipment right off the bat, just teaching like seated posture, clapping, uh, rhythm, basic rhythmic packets, and do stuff to establish that this is what we do every single day until he says otherwise. And he very quickly teaches them how to self-run, like how this is how you turn on the Met, and this is how you as a student lead a count off to do the material. Because um, in Mr. Hawkins' case, and I think I've I've seen this with many directors and many places have gone to the clinic, you know, you're going from middle school A to middle school B, and there's a weird passing period, and maybe school's already started, or maybe this or this or that. Uh, consistently, Miss C. Slash and I will show up to like teach lessons, and the students are in there running themselves. Like sometimes it's during lunch, like class isn't even begun, and they're set up and the Mets on and they're playing through stuff, and Mr. Hawkins isn't even gonna be in the room for another five minutes.

SPEAKER_03 33:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:00

Yep. Okay, number three, make them earn their right to learn the next thing. Simple pass-offs for the right to learn, getting to use the stand, the sticks, the pads, then the drums, always have a way to participate for kids who haven't passed off things yet. Priority is a pass-off that everyone can do pretty quickly, but also establishes an understanding of technique and rhythm.

SPEAKER_00 34:23

Yeah, I love this one. Um, because it sets up the concept that getting to play percussion is uh is earned and not just a right that because you're signed up for the class, you get. And so there's this level of, I don't know, not professionalism, but um just seriousness that the kids take and the excitement that they get when they finally have earned the opportunity to play on a drum for the first time. Um, because it wasn't just something like, oh yeah, we'll get it a drum and let's do it. They take more um responsibility and ownership over that opportunity.

SPEAKER_01 34:57

Yep, absolutely. Number four, establish a safe space to mess up and talk about it honestly. Use competition, but always let them know that you're separating their value as people from their musical skill. They will fight and die for you if they know you love them. They will fight and kill you if they think you hate them. In quotations here we have Mr. Hawkins loves me, yes me, even me before every chair test. And again, this is something I never would have applied or thought to apply, but I I witnessed how effective it is walking to get the students, they're all there, and Mr. Hawkins is about to test me, literally says, Mr. Hawkins loves me, and the whole class repeats, Mr. Hawkins loves me. Yes, me, yes, me, even me, even me. All right, Maggie, let's hear it. And then they go right on the spot and have to play.

SPEAKER_02 35:45

Um, yeah, absolutely. You know, I also think like um that what we said earlier, teach for understanding and review for mastery. That's that's something I think that goes hand in hand with. Oh, we got a we got a mower outside here. Right, right. It goes hand in hand with like creating an environment where it's a safe space for them to mess up. Like there are so many skills, or not a safe space for them to mess up, but a safe space for them to like go for it and not be afraid of making a mistake, right? And I'm I'm gonna tell the students often also hey, we're learning for understanding. This isn't gonna be perfect yet. So, like, whatever skill it is, go for it. Don't be afraid of messing up. That's okay, that shows me what you need to work on, and it's not supposed to be perfect today.

SPEAKER_01 36:29

Absolutely, absolutely. Number five, commands set equals playing position, rest, hands are at their side, ready, hands folded to receive information. This is wonderful. Uh younger students, I think, really respond well to this form of discipline because so much in their life is just chaotic, crazy uh mess. And so, just like Mr. Shear said, you establish that when you walk in this room, it's like it's the old dojo thing. When you walk in the dojo, you're leaving the outside world behind. What's happening in biology doesn't matter. That fight you got in with your sister doesn't matter. That kid that stole your uh you know, monster energy drink at lunch doesn't matter. Like none of that matters, and you don't have any control over any all you have to do right now, this moment in time, is the absolute best you can at performing whatever musical thing you're doing, right? And so having knowing that, okay, it doesn't matter if I'm the first chair or last chair, it doesn't matter if I'm the oldest or youngest kid in a class, it doesn't matter if I have the most natural channel, at least when when Mr. Hawkins says get set, I can get set just as well as everyone. When he says get ready, I can get ready just as well as everyone, and we're all doing it together. Right? And then the final one, uh, this one's super important, uh, consequences, right? You uh he he has here, I really don't want to have to sit, uh I really don't want to have to sit anyone down and have them not participate. I'd prefer that everybody drums. That's why we're here and that's what we do. He says this is like a once-a-year thing when someone's having a bad day and and needs to say he tries not to get he tries not to ever get to that point. But uh this is something I've definitely witnessed in younger teachers is these hollow and empty threats. Like you can say whatever you want, your actions are what matter. So if you're saying, like, for example, uh, you know, for the upper for the high school kids, you know, drumline auditions are everyday, and then you make your section leader a kid that didn't learn all their solo, didn't participate in region, uh, refused to do well in the percussion concert, right? Well, the students are like, oh, okay, drumline auditions are not every day. Drumline auditions are actual drumline auditions because I can play roles better than everyone, right? Like, uh, if you say these things to the students, you need to hold them accountable for it.

SPEAKER_02 38:35

Can I give a just a very simple example here, Mr. Bush? Yep. I was uh a stickler for, I think it's really important, like, bring a pencil to class. Yeah. Bring a pencil to class. And I've I've probably heard hundreds of teachers say that, right? Bring a pencil to class. But then it's like, well, okay, what if they don't? Yeah. What if I say on Monday, bring a pencil to class tomorrow, no questions asked? Number one, are we gonna use it? Yes, we are. But number two, what if Susie doesn't bring her pencil tomorrow? Yeah. You know, like maybe, oh, maybe on Tuesday I'm gonna give her a reminder, but then I'm gonna say on Tuesday, Susie, listen, on Wednesday, if you do not bring a pencil, you will sit out. Yeah, you know, and then on Wednesday, here we go. Susie's gonna sit out. You know, like I just uh consequences have to be appropriate, but also have to be real.

unknown 39:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:28

Yep. Yeah, yep. Breaking news, the this this just in Mr. Hawkinson sent a seventh one, and it is to use the player's guide for the beginning percussions. I don't want to put words in Mr. Hawkins' mouth, so I will let him write his own testimonial that I'll share on a later podcast. But there genuinely is not a week that I don't receive a text from Mr. Hawkins about something that has made his life easier or problems that have been solved for him by using this resource.

SPEAKER_00 39:55

Or a video of the students throwing something down.

SPEAKER_01 39:58

Yeah, the video of the playing, you know, I mean. Uh I should have mentioned this earlier when there, but Mrs. Last and I just came back from El Paso, where we had this beautiful opportunity to judge a percussion ensemble contest. And the the school that was hosting it, um, Del Valle High School, uh, under the direction of Sean, right, he he was talking about using the player's guide and how much he loves it. And one of the things he pointed out is he's never had students that read mallets as well as he does now. Because instead of using like Mary Had a Little Lamb, Twinkle had a little like these songs that the students know and can just kind of pluck by ear, they have to actually be able to read music to play the music that is in there. And um, just how beneficial that's been for him, right? Uh awesome, outstanding guys. Thank you so much for hanging out with us today, friends. Uh, if you have any questions for the podcast about this podcast, future ones, anything, just send them to teameslos at gmail.com. That's teameslos, t-a T-E-A-M, I- S L A S at gmail.com. Shout out to all the great percussion companies that support Team Eslos Maypex, Majestic Percussion, Dynasty Percussion, Remo Drumheads, ProMark Sticks them out, Sabian Symbols, Beetle Percussion, and Lot Riot apparel. Mr. Shear, this player's guide for the beginning percussionist sounds pretty incredible. Where can our listeners pick up a copy for their students?

SPEAKER_02 41:18

Dallas Percussion, Steve Weiss percussion, Bell's music, music and arts, straight music, any music retailer you use.

SPEAKER_01 41:27

Yeah, or straight from us at teameslos.com. Hey, if your beginners can play all of their scales in the circle of force while tapping a 3-2 rumba clave with their left foot and chewing gum, Dennis Chamber style, then don't forget to like and subscribe and please give us that five with five star review. Remember, friends, step one is time, step two is sound, step three is subscribing to the Team ESlos podcast.