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Instructing pointers?

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 12:17 pm
by vintagecrusher
Hey guys I'm caught in a bit of a pickle here and I was wondering if you could help.

So I'm teaching at a new high school and we have just started our inaugural winterguard season. Along with that, this is my first "real" year teaching winterguard, so I was wondering what kinds of techniques you guys did with your guards to boost up performance level aside from going over basics over and over.

Another question I have is if it is wise to teach drill, then work; or work, then drill; or simultaneously... I ask this because we have no flags for the next week and I am kind of in a slump in terms of what I should do with the kids next.

Any tips or advice is greatly appreciated!!!

THANKS!
-vintagecrusher

Re: Instructing pointers?

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 4:33 pm
by happyfacegirlie
I'd say there is no problem in writing drill first, its actually very common for instructors to do this. Besides, if you have taught marching season, you should already have experience writing work to drill.

Re: Instructing pointers?

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 8:08 pm
by ErinF
i generally write drill first and then we fill it with dance or whatever. but sometimes we do it at the same time. When we teach its always drill first, then work.

As far as what to do to fill the time.. We always do alot of stretching, some across the floors and then flag, sabre, rifle warm ups. To get prepared for the show and getting the girls "pumped" up we always listen to our music choice that first week and we talk about the theme of the show, the character we intend to play and the emotion. We basically make it a discussion and each girl can give their opinion on what they felt after listening to the song. We talk a little about flag silk colors, hair etc. Thats the stuff they get excited for.

Re: Instructing pointers?

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 8:15 pm
by keystroke
If you already haven't checked, I've sent you a PM.

Re: Instructing pointers?

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 8:25 pm
by vintagecrusher
keystroke wrote:If you already haven't checked, I've sent you a PM.
I got it. Thanks you ^-^

Re: Instructing pointers?

Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 11:12 am
by mariahorn
(I'm at a middle school)

Basics: yes! Teach them a lot and drill it over and over. No use getting fancy if they can't do the basics. Too many bad habits will develop. The key is having different ways to drill it. I use the "normal" way of everyone doing everything together, but the kids also love little competitions. We'll practice whatever we're working on together (e.g. drop spins), then we'll have a contest to see what row can do it the best. The winning row gets a push-up pass, extra 5 minutes for water break, etc. This not only gets them pumped up to try hard and do well, but it also really helps them learn HOW to judge/critique. Sometimes when the whole group is practicing they're not aware that it is sloppy and looks bad when they're not together, but once they get to observe a smaller group do it they recognize "Oh, that's what you mean when you say our flags have to be upside down all together on beat 1." Again, this is middle school, but I really think teaching the kids how to critique themselves helps them improve much faster than if it's just the coach or captains saying, "You guys were not together, try it again."

Jazz Runs (reminder: middle school)
*I also do something similar for teaching marching*
One of things the kids struggle with most when they're learning is how to have a consistent step size and how to make sure your feet are moving to the beat and not just randomly. For jazz runs, we have them line up in one big line and hook their elbows together. We do across the floors like this until it looks like they all have the hang of it. Next step is the same thing, but instead of hooking arms have them hold hands but keep the hands down. Repeat. Last step: no holding anything, good luck....
Just like the drop spin example, I'll turn it into a contest and have them break into smaller groups and multiple lines.

Stretching is HUGE. At the beginning of the school year I had the class break into the groups and write a warm-up/stretch routine to music. One group did upper body, one did lower body, and one did "strengthening" (three cheers for push-ups!!!). They also had to pick their own music for this. It took about a week for them to write it and another week before they all had it memorized.