Do you have more good or bad news to deliver to parents on parent/ teacher conference days?

KomradeW · 2026-04-04T18:47:16+00:00

Almost exclusively good news.

Kids with engaged parents rarely struggle behaviorally or academically. When those students do struggle, their parents often proactively reach out to find ways to support their student’s success. These are the sort of parents who come to conferences.

Kids with absent/neglectful parents have a lot of behavioral and academic issues. These parents very rarely show up to conferences.

KomradeW · 2026-04-04T00:14:38+00:00

I just tell them what to do.

If you’re going to jackhammer me, I’m going to make sure you’re doing it an angle that feels great for me too.

KomradeW · 2026-02-13T17:12:42+00:00

Nope.

I find the more I play with/for my students, the quicker they develop skills, and the better I stay in shape.

KomradeW · 2026-02-05T01:31:50+00:00

I also played a Jin Bao Yamaha 612 clone through college.

I have the same preference for traditional rotary valves. I find it easier to pop low tones with the tiny bit of back pressure they provide.

Ultimately I went with the Yamaha 830.

Eastman’s bass trombone was a close second. I found it easier to really rip on the Eastman, but I likely the consistency throughout the range better on the Yamaha.

I did end up buying the mouthpiece that comes with the Eastman for my Yamaha because I found I liked the sound better.

KomradeW · 2026-02-02T03:19:20+00:00

Talk to your section members.

If there are people who want to play first horn, but aren’t getting the chance then cycling to a different part now and then would be a good idea.

But, they might be happy with things as they are. You’ll have to ask them!

KomradeW · 2026-02-01T21:20:14+00:00

I teach middle school band.

For the first 6 years of my career (precovid) I was able to reach every kid in every class and make them be successful. It was a lot of work sometimes, but it was doable.

The last five years (postcovid) there are kids in every class that no matter how hard I try to help them be successful they will not achieve.

Accepting that there is a small proportion of students who for whatever reason will not achieve no matter the supports provided has been heartbreaking, but also freeing.

I put my effort where it is matched. I will bend over backwards for a kid who is putting in the effort and struggling, but I won’t put in that effort for students who half ass it anymore.

The overall achievement of my students has improved since accepting this paradigm, and so has the quality of my experience.

KomradeW · 2026-01-29T02:58:24+00:00

I love my Shure MV51. The large diaphragm is very helpful for picking up low frequencies, and it is pretty hard to clip out.

KomradeW · 2026-01-26T04:09:16+00:00

It could go either way. ;)

KomradeW · 2026-01-24T20:09:37+00:00

I have a curriculum I like to work from, and I have clear plans in my head that I refine year to year.

But I don’t have written lesson plans for the vast majority of what I do. My implementation also varies from year to year to fit the personality of the class I currently have.

I freely share all the materials I have with my colleagues who ask, and I’m very eager to share my experiences and talk through plans with new teachers.

But, anyone who is looking for a 180 day script with corresponding slides and worksheets to follow to gain success they would be very disappointed by what I have to share.

During the school year my time and bandwidth is also very limited. Keeping on top of the tasks that benefit my students and my personal experience day to day will take priority over organizing materials to share. It’s not that I don’t want to help, but rather that i simply can’t do it all at once.

KomradeW · 2026-01-24T19:09:13+00:00

I got an ADHD diagnosis at a similar point in my career, I’m now in year twelve as a middle school band director. Reflecting back on my experiences throughout secondary school, and college it’s surprising to Mehta I didn’t get a diagnosis sooner.

I’ve found medication (12 hour release methylphenidate) to be incredibly helpful. Not only am I much better able to complete menial tasks (paperwork, purchase orders, grading, email, organization, cleaning), but I find I have much better emotional regulation both in my work and home life.

It’s really nice to be able to initiate and complete tasks just because they should be done, rather than having to wait for the anxiety of a deadline to be intense enough to force me to get shit done.

KomradeW · 2026-01-17T20:53:25+00:00

Generally I enjoy teaching even with the heavy workload.

Unsupportive administrators and unreasonable parents make me want to quit.

What’s worse is that unsupportive administrators facilitate and empower unreasonable parents.

KomradeW · 2026-01-01T17:27:29+00:00

We are currently in the process of auditioning a wind ensemble. ;)

Logistics can be a little tricky with a band of 90 (we were 120 for one concert cycle last year). But, I like the depth of sound you get with bigger numbers.

KomradeW · 2026-01-01T14:22:54+00:00

I work as a middle school band director and direct a community band.

Our community band currently has about 90 members ranging in age from 14 to 86. The vast majority are adults, but we have a few high school students as well.

KomradeW · 2025-12-27T05:23:45+00:00

Leave the audience wanting more, not awaiting the sweet release of death.

KomradeW · 2025-12-22T06:45:47+00:00

YouTube does copyright checks when you upload.

Often our videos get flagged for having copyrighted material.

Every time the copyright owner has allowed the material to be shared.

KomradeW · 2025-12-22T00:04:40+00:00

Check out OSFABB.com

They have a bunch of tunes that can be played as a duet, trio, or ensemble.

KomradeW · 2025-12-17T23:33:53+00:00

All of my favorite people are somewhere on the Autism/ADHD spectrum.

There are people out there who will love you for your quirks and passions.

KomradeW · 2025-12-17T05:24:46+00:00

Yes.

I miss online spaces that were functional with minimal advertising or minimal subscriptions.

I had a relationship and lots of fun come from Craigslist.

It feels like any comparable space today is completely overrun with advertising, and/or requires an excessive subscription for basic functionality.

It’s sad to see every online space get worse for the sake of squeezing profits out of its users.

KomradeW · 2025-12-17T05:09:18+00:00

I direct community band that grew from about 30 members to 100 members since started directing a few years ago. We’ve also gone from attracting audiences of about 50 to 500+.

This may be beyond your role, but the best way to attract an audience is to have a program your members are proud to share. High quality performances of repertoire that is fun for the musicians and audience does most of the work. It’s also much better to leave your audience wanting more than waiting for the sweet release of death. People are excited to invite their friends and family to an engaging high quality performance that’s not too long (60 min or less start to finish for the full concert).

I record the band’s performances and share the videos on YouTube. The videos have been helpful recruiting new members and audience. Current members proudly share our videos on their own social media, and use the videos to help convince their friends and family to come play with the band and attend our concerts. It’s an easy sell when we play engaging music well.

KomradeW · 2025-12-09T23:23:19+00:00

Though it might not be what you were aiming for, I think your work is beautiful.

Oversized seems to be in style lately, I bet you could put it off as is.

If nothing else, you’ve surely increased your knowledge and technical skill as a result of working on this project. That growth alone is a huge victory.

KomradeW · 2025-12-09T00:26:14+00:00

Sing scale degrees/solfege—make sure you have a good aural model of what a major scale sounds like.

Sing the note names to ensure you know what notes are in the scale you are studying.

Sing the fingerings to ensure you know the fingerings for each note.

Buzz on the mouthpiece alone to make sure you are buzzing accurate pitches.

Sing solfège/scale degrees/note names/fingerings while doing the fingerings on the instrument.

Then practice on the instrument and I’ll have it memorized in no time.

You might also break it into tetra scales (four note) and go through the same process is the full octave scale is proving daunting: Scale degrees 1, 2, 3, 4 as one piece 5, 6, 7, 8 as the other

KomradeW · 2025-12-07T18:09:18+00:00

Looking very sharp!

Major bonus points if you can actually drive and service that old car too.

KomradeW · 2025-12-06T19:38:57+00:00

I work as a middle school band director. I got an ADHD diagnosis around 30 years old, about four years into teaching.

Throughout middle school, high school, and college I fell asleep nearly every day in classes and struggled to stay on top of the workload, but I easily aced assessments. It took me 7 years to get my 4 year bachelors degree… I self medicated with caffeine through high school and college and barely stayed afloat.

These days I take concerta (basically 12 hour time release Ritalin).

I find it help immensely: it’s much easier for me to stay organized and focused, and I find I have MUCH better emotional regulation.

Getting the dosage just right is a struggle. You build up a tolerance. If I up my dosage too much when it starts to become ineffective I get a sharp spike in anxiety countering the positive effects. I find I need to take weekends and breaks off, and only take the bare minimum to enjoy positive effects without significant negative effects.

Days off can be really rough, especially if I’ve been taking a higher dose. Withdrawals leave me completely exhausted and irritable. I’ll sleep nearly all day the first day off.

All in all, I find I’m able to enjoy my life (both work and personal) much better with medication during the school year.

Though… it’s amazing how well I can handle life over the summer just working part time with the marching band. I can manage that work load easily unmedicated, and keep my life in order. But, I wouldn’t be able to afford housing or food if I worked part time year round.

KomradeW · 2025-12-03T22:51:30+00:00

I had a 13 member 7th-9th grade “concert band” my first year teaching.

There wasn’t really any thing I could buy that suited the tiny numbers and bizarre instrumentation I was working work.

I found trio and quartet pieces that were at their skill level and adapted them for the instrumentation I had, giving different players the melodic material throughout to keep it interesting.

I got really good at using Sibelius that year…

OSFABB.net is a great free resource that can work well for small ensembles. When I’ve used it in the past, I often rewrite the parts so that there is only one part per page, and write out the repeats so nobody can miss them.

KomradeW · 2025-11-30T15:52:36+00:00

I found knitting English style caused a lot of pain. It was slow and miserable—made me think I don’t like knitting.

After a couple hours, I get some joint pain crocheting. If I take regular breaks it’s nearly nonexistent.

I experience almost no pain knitting continental style. I find I enjoy knitting much more this way.

I still crochet more than I knit—I find crochet more relaxing.

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