Texas Bandmasters Association
Bandmasters Review • September 2012
13
Rewind and Start Again
Finis Origine Pendet – The
end depends upon the beginning.
So, school has started. You are
in the second grading period, and
your plans for a problem-free year
have evaporated. Your classes are
not progressing at the rate you had
hoped. Discipline has deteriorated.
You are of the mind-set that you
need to be like a postage stamp
and stick to one thing until you are
there, but your destination seems
farther now than it was back in
August when school began.
You know you need a plan to
succeed as a band director, but your
plan doesn’t seem to be working.
My husband Rick Lambrecht
insists that not only do you need
a plan, but you need to stick with
that plan. He maintains that the day
you finally give up on your plan
is the day it was going to work.
My contention is that sometimes,
you have to consider that another
plan might work better for your
situation.
Last fall, two second-year
teachers confided to me that they
were quite excited about the start
of school. Now, they told me, they
could make corrections in mistakes
they had made their rookie year.
Now, they would have a different
discipline plan, different process
and procedure that would work
for their school, their student
population.
Don’t wait an entire year to fix
your problems. “Failure” of your
plan merely means
you have another
opportunity to start
over and get it right.
If your classroom
management plan
has gone awry,
consider
these
things: consistently
start instruction on
time and set the
example you want
your students to
follow.
Approach inci-
dents with fairness,
perspective, and
consistency. Don’t
let your emotions
cloud your reactions and decisions.
You have two choices of attitude in
the classroom: positive or neutral.
You are not allowed to be outwardly
negative.
Often the problems that arise are
not actually discipline problems.
They are instead glitches in the
process and procedure. If that’s
the case in your rehearsals/classes,
practice the process and procedure.
If students are unruly upon
entering your rehearsal space, take
them back into the hallway and
practice how they are to enter your
room. Remind them how you want
them to come in.
Perhaps you need
to line them up
and have them
file in, single file,
silently. Explain
exactly what you
want. Explain
exactly what to do.
Demonstrate how
to do it. Explain
why to do it.
Approach dis-
cipline for what
it is — refining
behavior to meet
established criteria.
Discipline is not
punishment; and
remember, punishment is but one
means to secure a desired behavior.
Perhaps you are not on target
with the goals you set for mastery.
Ask yourself this: Are lessons
driven by the pace of the
curriculum or the pace of the
students? The length of the class
period, the innate intelligence of
the students, even the time of day
the class occurs can affect the pace
Barbara Lambrecht
Your classes are not
progressing at the
rate you had hoped.
Somet imes, you have
to consider that
another plan might
work better for
your si tuat ion. Don’ t
wai t an ent ire year
to f ix your problems.
Real ize that teaching
and deal ing wi th
students is a
cont inuous cycle,
an evolving process.
It is Never Too Late to Make Things Right
Suggestions to Young Teachers