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Date Posted: 09:33:15 05/04/04 Tue
Author: Dr. O.
Subject: Re: Time Management
In reply to: Derek 's message, "Time Management" on 06:57:01 04/27/04 Tue

Time management is a real issue for most music teachers, and perhaps most acutely for high school ensemble directors, with the many after-school rehearsals, meetings, etc. Then there are the weekend commitments for football and basketball games, contest, trips, and so on. This is all balanced somewhat by the school calendar: we do still have long Christmas breaks, a spring break, and a summer. I think you have to use these times as planning times. You need to know going into the year what repertoire you're going to perform, and have at least a tentative rehearsal schedule in mind. It all comes down to this: What are your goals and objectives? How are you going to accomplish them? How will you decide when you've succeeded?

When I was a high school band director, and a young married person, I had an interesting situation. My wife was a nurse and worked in St. Louis, 30 minutes away from our home; she needed to be on the nursing floor at 6:00 a.m., and we only had one car. Our solution was for her to drop me off at school on her way to work, and pick me up on her way home. This meant that I arrived at work at 5:30 every morning, and usually went home around 4:00. I hated it at first until I realized what it meant: I had two full hours every day before school to practice, work on scores, plan my classes, grade papers, or whatever needed doing. The only other person in the building was the custodian, so we often had a cup of coffee together, and that allowed me to build a good relationship with him. My principal was amazed when she discovered that I arrived at work at 5:30; you can imagine that it made a good impression! In short, it worked out great for me. You might not want to get to school before dawn, but you will need to find some time when you can work uninterrupted and do your planning. The good news is that it can be done, and many people in our profession do it. It is tough, though, to be a procrastinator and get everything accomplished, so we might all have to eliminate that habit from our lives!
Dr. O.

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Replies:

[> Re: Time Management -- Chad, 11:37:36 05/06/05 Fri [1]

From what I've observed from my former band and choral directors, separating ensembles by different days usually works quite well. I know there are certain days, particularly around Solo and Ensemble Competitions that you would have to stay late, but I would recommend separating the ensembles by a day to day basis, or if the oppurtunity could afford, do two different ensembles per day; one in the morning, one in the afternoon. This is what I would do.


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