In the teaching world, it's universally accepted that teachers steal ideas and resources from each other. I've found that when you're the sole person responsible for an entire high school music program, this becomes even more crucial to survival. For every concept or skill you teach, there is guaranteed to be someone else out there who has taught it already, and maybe even someone who has created a resource for other teachers to use. With marching band in particular, the easiest way to teach certain techniques is to model or show the correct way to perform them. Below is a list of several helpful videos for different marching band-related skills. I've also included some useful articles and presentation resources by other band directors. Videos: A good beginner's tutorial on basic upper and lower body positions A stretching routine for the beginning of rehearsal Five of the most common flag tosses for color guard Rifle toss fundamentals Marching ba...
You've probably heard before that everyone learns differently. Some of us are visual learners, some are auditory, some are kinesthetic, and so on. But it turns out there are a couple of different theories when it comes to defining exactly what kinds of different learning styles exist and how they manifest themselves. The Index of Learning Styles, developed by Richard Felder and Barbara Solomon at North Carolina State University, gives a little more detailed insight into different learning styles and the implications they might have on our teaching practices. I am somewhere between active and reflective, meaning I prefer to learn by doing (also the motto of Cal Poly, my alma mater) and I encourage my students to do the same, but I also prefer to work alone instead of in groups. I have a hard time relying on others to hold up their end of a group project, and I sympathize with students who feel the same, but they have to overcome this in an ensemble setting. I encourage stud...