“In Between Buildings” - Thoughts of a Mobile Band Director
Teach band, will travel. I travel between buildings every day. Mornings I work at the high school for concert band, jazz band and lessons. My afternoons are at the middle school with 8th grade band, lessons and assisting 7th grade band. Now, the buildings are literally across the parking lot from each other, so it’s not like I am traveling a crazy amount of time, but there is something about being in multiple places to teach. I have to be in two completely different mindsets as I enter both buildings.
My office. As band directors, we spend a lot of time in our offices. Teaching lessons, rehearsal planning, arranging music, score study, writing drill, administrative jobs like PAPERWORK, mountains of paperwork, ordering instruments/music/stuff. This list could go on forever, but I’ll stop there. I have a space in both buildings, but my “office” is at the high school. There is something about not having a real “office” at the middle school that makes my being there feel temporary. Like I don’t belong, or am just passing through. And all of this is entirely my fault. I don’t have duplicates of everything. My books, lesson material, instruments, printer, phone, everything, lives at the high school. One day I will have the “stuff” to fill up both offices, but for now I will carry things back and forth between buildings.
Mindset. Walking into both places is different. And obviously the kids are in different stages of life in either buildings (duh, age). But my demeanor has to change walking into the middle school. I can’t be as demanding as I am at the high school. Story; I had a 7th grader ask me a month ago why I was so mean. This completely threw me as we had just finished a rehearsal and got some things accomplished. During this rehearsal I wouldn’t move on until the whole class was silent. We worked through one particularly tricky section of a piece for a good chunk of the rehearsal. I didn’t let the kids give up and definitely didn’t let them just play it incorrectly. It was a rehearsal we needed to have, but came at a cost. I was now “the mean one”. We worked, and I expected they behave in a way that we could work. But, expecting them to do that was “mean”. I now have a label because my mindset was geared toward the other building. I can’t teach the same way in both buildings. And “turning on my middle school brain” as I walk through those middle school doors is insanely difficult.
Organization. I always feel like I am in a state of chaos. No matter how much I plan, I feel as if I’m always one step behind the curve. Being a mobile band director, I have never planned so much in my life. And yet as much as I plan, much of rehearsal is reacting to the behaviors around me. Much of my day is spent in thoughts like “What do I have to do at the MS today?”, “That meeting is at the high school after school..”, “Make up lesson with Johnny at 3:40 at the HS.”, “Which desk did I leave my planner on?”, “I left my metronome at the MS.”, etc.
Saying No. I’ve never been good at this. I’m superwoman. I can do anything and everything ALL BY MYSELF! Not. Seriously, being Wonder Woman is for the birds. No, I won’t take on this extra ensemble. No I don’t have time for make-up lessons after school. It’s not wrong or bad to say no. I will use the time that I have to make the best out of the ensembles I am currently teaching. And going home at 4:00 pm is the best thing for me right now.
This rant or whatever it is, has seemed negative. But, I love my job. I love my students and I am fortunate to have great colleagues to work with. First years in new jobs are awful. Everywhere. Anyone that tells you they had an amazing first year in a job is lying. New jobs are about stumbling and getting back up, about finding out what works and what doesn’t, about trying new things, about new people, and about raising your expectations. All of this, while driving in between buildings.
By Stephanie Williamson
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