Category: CTJ Band

  • Engage Parents as Partners

    Engage Parents as Partners

    “After 15 years working at Claudia Taylor “Lady Bird” Johnson (CTJ) High School in San Antonio and an equal number on a drum corps staff, I have learned a few key points regarding the value and importance of engaging parent and alumni support. Click the link below to read the full article on the Yahama…

  • Help Students Learn From Failure

    Help Students Learn From Failure

    “How can we help our students embrace and bounce back from failures? How can we use failure to grow and continuously improve? Lifting our students from difficult moments is one of our many jobs as educators. Often, our personal encounters with setbacks and how we were able to bounce back can benefit our students as…

  • Delayed Gratification: When Students Get Tired, Teach Them to Rest, Not Quit

    Delayed Gratification: When Students Get Tired, Teach Them to Rest, Not Quit

    “Look at the big picture and help your students get through tough times because they will learn that delayed gratification isn’t easy, but it’s worth it. Sometimes students don’t like band. Sometimes parents don’t like band. And, as odd as it can seem, I know there are times when I struggle to find joy in…

  • Football and Band: A Match Made in Heaven?

    Football and Band: A Match Made in Heaven?

    “Use the relationship between your athletic and spirit organizations to strengthen your campus community. Look at football games as a chance to showcase your music program while supporting and enriching the school’s culture. Pep rallies, playoffs and athletic events are a fantastic time to show the band’s versatility. Here are some of my strategies, suggestions…

  • Johnson Senior to tour the World with National Youth Orchestra [NEISD]

    Johnson Senior to tour the World with National Youth Orchestra [NEISD]

    “Johnson High School senior Jake Glaser has big plans after graduation. In a few weeks, he’ll travel the world with his clarinet alongside some of the top musicians in the country.”

  • KENS5 News [Article]

    KENS5 News [Article]

    Johnson High School musicians’ music risk scores | Kids Who Make SA Great

  • Teach Student Leaders to Teach

    Teach Student Leaders to Teach

    “I highly recommend engaging and empowering your student leaders to be instructors for music, marching  or even as peer tutors for other academic subjects. When your student leaders begin to take more ownership of your program, the overall culture and morale will improve.” Click the link below to read the full article on the Yahama…

  • Bridge the Gap Between “Knowing” and Doing

    Bridge the Gap Between “Knowing” and Doing

    “Every band director struggles to find strategies to bridge the gap between providing information to students and getting them to achieve the desired result. How do you get students to actually do what they have been told to do?” Click the link below to read the full article on the Yahama Educator Suite.

  • Make Band A “Home” for Everyone

    Make Band A “Home” for Everyone

    “How can you make band a place that everyone enjoys? From student musicians who want to be the very best in the all-state contest, to those who are more casual and never practice outside of class, to athletes who want to participate in band, to students who want to be in choir, orchestra, theater and…

  • Case Study: A 10-Year Growth Plan for Enrollment, Facilities, Instruments and Staffing

    Case Study: A 10-Year Growth Plan for Enrollment, Facilities, Instruments and Staffing

    “I am lucky to be Johnson’s band director since the school opened, and I have worked enthusiastically with our staff and community to grow the music program.  I started teaching at Johnson my first year out of college, so I have “grown up” with the campus, and it has been a remarkable journey to see…