A Few Reminders as the School Year Starts

By David Lambert, TMAA President | Thursday, August 26, 2010 8:39 PM

Welcome back to a new school year and the opportunities it provides you to influence the lives of young people. Nothing is more important than providing a student with a good educational foundation and life skills to help them make their mark in the world.

Since the 2010-2011 school year is just beginning, I thought it might be a good time to re-address a few on-going concerns regarding TMAA, as well as some new concerns that were brought forth last year. Some of this may seem redundant, but it needs to be reiterated so that we keep it fresh in our minds as we go about the daily routine of preparing students for the various competitions and events in the coming year and preparing ourselves to serve as adjudicators for many of these events.

Remember to always be professional in everything that you do. When you are adjudicating an event be aware that the audience is not only watching their child’s performance, but they are watching you as well. Please have your cell phone turned off and leave your newspaper at home. You have been employed to serve the children of the various organizations that will perform on that day. If you need to check your messages, please do so outside the performance area on breaks or at lunch — never in the performance area. When you take on the task of adjudicator, you are agreeing to give your total attention to the organizations performing that day. The students deserve your total attention and commitment.

I have heard numerous comments regarding the “new” critique sheets. The sheets actually are not new anymore. I still hear of TMAA members who express their concern regarding their dislike for the current sheet or how they just can’t write a critique within the boundaries defined on the sheets. If that is the case, consider practicing. We all expect our students to practice what they cannot do. We should do the same. Critiques should be written that address how the students perform in the categories of tone, technique and musicianship. The three boxes on the adjudication sheet do not state “selection one,” “selection two” and “selection three.” Critiques need to address how problems in these three global areas can be corrected and future performances improved. It is easy to tell a group what is wrong with a performance, but it can be far more difficult to provide the group with information and techniques as to how they can improve in the future. Remember, the role of every adjudicator should be to help student musicians grow and be better prepared when the next piece of music is set before them.

I am finding that the more TMAA members familiarize themselves with the rubrics for marching band, concert and sight-reading events the more they like them. If you have not used these tools, you should review them and do so. They are terrific tools to help judges assign an appropriate rating.

TMAA is continually working with UIL to make the sight-reading event more consistent throughout the state. Every effort is being made to protect the integrity of this event and make it as fair as possible for conductors and student participants. We have always prohibited videotaping of this event by parents. Last year a new issue surfaced. With the recording ability of many cell phones, we now need to address the possibility of audio recordings being made of the sight-reading performance. Executive secretaries will be using signage on the door of the sight-reading room which will state who is allowed in the room. The signage will also state that no video or audio recordings can be made of the performance. It also might be a good idea for one of the TMAA members on the sight-reading panel to announce this information to any parents who enter the room.

Finally, don’t forget about the TMAA scholarship program for teachers. These scholarship awards are available for TMAA active or provisional members. It is a one-time award up to the amount of $500 and can be used by the recipient to attend a symposium, workshop, conducting clinic, summer master class, etc. This project calls for awarding up to 10 scholarships for the summer of 2011. There is more information on the TMAA website. I encourage you to take advantage of this program.

Thank you for all you do as teachers and as adjudicators. TMAA is your association, and if you have any concerns or suggestions for the betterment of our organization, please feel free to contact me at dlambert55@comcast.net.