trouble with instructors

[lildrummergirl]

Basicly the title says it all. I'm having trouble with one of my instructors. He's impaitent and arrogant, definetly not a good combination. unfortunatley it seems he will be coming back next year. We are going to have a young and inexperienced pit next year that will need a lot of paitence. I need some suggestions on how to work with this guy so I (as the student) don't come off as disrespectful.

[formermarcher]

First thing you might want to try is actually talking to him about it!

[PrideofOklahoma]

well, i think there are several ways to handle such problems.

1. if your opinion is unanimous with your peers, you can always talk to your drum captain/caption head or even the whole line to solve the problem with a nonviolent discussion.

2. if it's just you, you can always talk to the guy. just listen to what he has to say, and if you still don't agree with him, talk it over so you guys can agree

3. think about it. is he doing his job? or is it just his attitude toward teaching that you don't like? what's the reason why he is so arrongant/impacient? maybe he just want you guys to become a better player. try to solve it within yourself and try to accept who he is.

4. talk to your parents and fire him. lol (don't take this one seriously)

[IsnipeWithAknife]

3. think about it. is he doing his job? or is it just his attitude toward teaching that you don't like? what's the reason why he is so arrongant/impacient? maybe he just want you guys to become a better player. try to solve it within yourself and try to accept who he is.

quoted for emphasis
remember to think about this one before u do the others. this will clear up alot of things. by thinking about what is your instructor's style and stuff like that instead of why you dont like him/her you will understand the situation better. And not to mention it will help you find the right words to say when u confront the guy/gal.

talking to instructors seem kinda scray especially when its about them. i my self have never done somthing like that but i wish u good luck

[Sixfdsteve]

We kind of had the same experience over here. I came into the school I'm currently instructing at after the season started just to observe until I took over during the winterline season. I wanted to get a feel of how the students responded to instruction and what would be the best way for me to teach the line with positive results. It was apperent that the major source of the friction, internal problems, and lack of discipline and enthusiasm for the percussion section was the lack of basic people skills. The instructor was a very talented musician with the right ideas, but not experienced enough to realize that there is a certain way to get ideas across and how to reach the students without seeming like a guy showng off chops and getting frustrated because the line isn't picking it up the "easy" music he was teaching. The line however, wasn't self disciplined enough to go through the proper channels to get things resolved so they responded how anyone else who felt like they were being attacked would respond....rebellion! Who's at fault you might ask? EVERYONE! How did we get things fixed? I just introduced a very commonly overlooked concept called communication. By example, I showed the line I knew what I was doing by explaining things and demonstrating. A good instructor needs to realize that easy to him/her is possibly a big hurdle for the student. I don't expect anything out of my line but the willingness to learn and try their best. If they don't get something, I'll re-explain it until they do. If they achieve it, I let them know. They know I won't B.S. them and belittle them and that I know of which I speak, and I realize that they are trying very hard and want to learn. The instructor from last season is still with us and is a big asset to the line. I try to help him become a better instructor as much as I can. To lidrummergirl, just be honest with your instructor but be respectful of how you go about it. One of my guidelines is positive action=postive results. If the 1-1 talk doesn't help, go to the director. It will work out somehow. If you need anymore advice or have any other questions contact me and let me know. Best of luck!

Steve Elias
Percussion Caption Head
El Capitan High School
Lakeside CA

[pretty_in_pit]

Okay, things have not gotten better. I tried talking to him, and nothing has changed. Our instructor now misses practices w/o telling anyone, keeps our other instructor completely in the dark, makes sexist comments about girls who play drums, and re writes music for no real reason.
Also, he is a total hypocrite. He talks about how our work ethic is bad and complains about people being late for/missing practice, but does not lead by example
Our first competition is in two weeks, and he has totally rewwritten the second movement. I was able to get a score and hear the band's part and discovered our new part makes no sense with what the band is playing. Originaly he was supposed to write our music, and it is my personal belief that all the changes are made for one reason: his wounded pride when our band director gave that job to the guy who wrote the band parts
I am not the only one who feels this way. I have talked to the rest of the pit and they feel the same. Especially our auxilary section,our insrtuctor has still not given them more than a few measures of music, and the only time he says anything to them is to call them stupid for not "knowing their parts"

HELP! I tried talking to my band director. He says he has talked to our instructor and that our instructor has promised to change. so far...nothing

[Sixfdsteve]

It seems like you have gone through the proper channels to voice your concerns. as an instructor, I always do my best to make sure info regarding parts, me being late and/or missing rehearsals, music changes are communicated to the best of my abilities. My sugesstion for your next step is to call a meeting with the entire line, director and all involved instructors. Voice your concerns and complaints in a courtious and professional manner. You may also want to have some possible solutions in mind so that you look like you are willing to comtribute to the resolution of the problems and not just complain and let others handle it. Give it a shot and see what happens. Keep me posted! Best of luck!

Steve Elias
Percussion Caption Head
El Capitan High School
Lakeside,CA

[GuarDiva04]

I think it's also very important to realize How the instructors view their trade. I am an instructor, a colorguard one but the view is the same. Sometimes, maybe not in your case, the instructor knows the potential of the group but also knows the group won't rise to the occasion unless pushed. With the group I teach, we've got a lot of inexperienced kids but nonetheless they all ahve major talent. They themselves will never know how much talent they have unless I push them. Sometimes the only tactic may come out as threatening or harsh but its because we care about what we do and we don't teach sucky kids. We're there for a reason and in my case, dont get payed NEARLY ENOUGH, for what we do but I stay because I love it and I want to create great performers out of these kids. So MAYBE in a subconscious matter what your instructor is trying to do... is to prepare you for what MAY come. If you do drumline after highschool.. these groups dont play. They dont have time to cater to the needs of children they are HARDCORE and will make men out of you! And int he end... I KNOW you will get comething great out of the way your instructor teaches... at least one thing! Keep your head up kiddo!

[pretty_in_pit]

ok things kind of came to a head this week. me and my co-captin had a lil' pt pow wow w/ the troublesome instructor. We stated our concerns in a diplomatic and respectful manner and listened to his side of things. He promised to try and fix some of the things we had trouble w/. so, we shall see....