Gary Rupert, Mentor and Coach at LCL Mentors, brings inspiration and encouragement with “Today’s Tasks.” We share one here each week to keep you on track, keep you growing, and keep you moving forward.
Today’s Task – November 29, 2022
Today’s Task – November 29, 2022
There was a day that I thought the measure of my success was based on how many trophies my marching band won and Superior ratings my concert bands attained. I was particularly proud of the high percentage of my students who went on to music schools thinking surely, this would be another significant demonstration of my success. I am embarrassed to say it took me awhile to figure out that while all of those things were positives, there had to be something deeper. I decided that something had to be “making a difference in the quality of the lives of my students.”
Today I received a letter from one of my former students. This was a young lady I had back in the 90’s. A young lady who was struggling trying to find her place in the world. Lacking a father figure in her life, she had learned to make her way by being tough and argumentative and I was often the person with whom she was arguing. Seeing something in her that she was unable to see herself, I challenged her every chance I could get. Today, along with the letter, was a “first run copy” of her new book. She wanted me to have it as her gift to me for being the father figure she needed at the time. That….my friends….is a measure of my success!
I am fully aware that each of us must measure our success in our own way. Clearly there was nothing wrong with wanting my programs to be strong and my student musicians to be successful. What I had to learn was that for ME, those things were truly a product of caring about the kid, more than I cared about the musician. I am deeply touched that a student I had 25 years ago thought enough about me to share this wonderful gift. I hope you all have similar success.
Make Today a Magnificent Day!
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Mentors @ Marching Arts Education
Today’s Task – November 21, 2022
Today’s Task – November 21, 2022
There are not, and never have been, any wrong notes. If you live near the ocean, you may hear a seagull squawking in one key, a dog barking in another key, the roar of the ocean out of tune with the other two sounds, and birds singing in clashing rhythms with all of these, and you’ll say, “Beautiful!” But if human beings pick up instruments and do the same thing, the average listener won’t be able to stand it.
I love this observation from Kenny Werner in Effortless Mastery. He goes on to share that we are programmed to believe in a certain order of things musically. But at what point does that confine our spirit? When does too much sensitivity to the rightness and wrongness of notes make us tentative and clumsy in our performance? And does that uncertainty rob even the right notes of their power?
I once had a jazz musician remind me that there are no wrong notes as long as you know where it is going….how it resolves. When I finally grasped that concept, it created a sense of freedom in me. No longer did I have to worry about the note itself, only how if fit within the development of the musical line. Wouldn’t it be great if we could adapt that same idea in our lives, no longer having to worry about any mistakes we might make, as long as we know where we are going….how it resolves?
Make Today a Magnificent Day!
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Mentors @ Marching Arts Education
Today’s Task – November 15, 2022
Today’s Task – November 15, 2022
A conductor does not “conduct;” he, by the nature of his being and his spirit, causes people to sing; he evokes sounds that hopefully, are reflective of each person’s individual life experiences. Granted, technique and the mechanics of conducting must be taught and respected. However, the stuff that allows for the creation of great music is rarely dealt with in the teaching of conducting.
I recently read the above from The Musician’s Soul, by James Jordan. I like….and believe in….the idea that music does not come from technique. I have witnessed many auditions where the performer had “monster chops” but somehow the performance lacked any type of emotional appeal. Similarly, I have heard bands that can play all the notes and rhythms, but the performance is lifeless, unable to draw the listener in.
Of course we need to spend the time to give our students the technical skills to perform. But more importantly, perhaps, we need to learn to use the essence of our being and spirit to inspire our students to move beyond pure technique. After all, what is on the page is simply a representation of what we are performing. The music comes from within, and should have the power to move the listener.
Make Today a Magnificent Day!
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Mentors @ Marching Arts Education
Today’s Task – November 7, 2022
Today’s Task – November 7, 2022
Some things don’t make sense to me, such as why people don’t allow themselves a dream; why people just exist rather than choose to actively live life. It is a verb that requires action, “to live.” We can actively impact the direction of our lives; things don’t just keep happening to us. I just hate apathy. I am amazed by it really.
I recently read the above by Aimee Mullins, a runway model, actress, and athlete, and am reminded of how often we self-limit rather than allowing our selves to dream….and dream big. When we self-limit we are already placing ourselves at a deficit, rather than seeing ourselves as having the potential to be different, to do something different as opposed to what is expected.
Today, no every day, I encourage you to help your young students to dream; to see themselves as having the potential to be something different….something special. Help them learn to stop the noise from the naysayers who tell them they will never make it. Encourage them to follow the lead of Aimee Mullins who never believed such negative people. Oh, by the way. Aimee was born without fibulas in both legs and had to have her legs amputated below the knee, only to become a National record holding sprinter at the National Disabled Athletes Championships.
Make Today a Magnificent Day!
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Mentors @ Marching Arts Education
Today’s Task – October 31, 2022
Today’s Task – October 31, 2022
Having grown up in the Pittsburgh area, I am….and will always be….a Steeler fan. As you can imagine, it has been difficult to watch their games this year. Following today’s game I was watching the press conference when a reporter asked Kenny Pickett a question regarding risk and reward. He wanted to know how he measured the risk versus reward factor when he is throwing a ball into coverage. Pickett’s response? If we are late in the game and we need the points, I am going to take the risk!
As I thought about the question, I began to wonder how many of my students chose not to do things because of the perceived risk. Perhaps it wasn’t the risk that held them back, but what they perceived as a lack of reward. Which is more critical, risking and falling short….or not risking at all? And why, if there is even a small possibility for success, would anyone choose not to risk? Risk implies change and change is necessary to growth. And we all should aspire to growth.
Today, no every day, I encourage you to help your students to understand the risk versus reward conflict. Now to be clear, I am not talking about life and death type of risks, but those every day decisions we must confront for personal and professional success. I suspect the risk/reward factor must be defined by each individual, but the fact that growth requires change and change requires risk is true for all of us. So if you are late in the game and you need points, go ahead….take the risk!
Make Today a Magnificent Day!
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Mentors @ Marching Arts Education
Today’s Task – October 20, 2022
Today’s Task – October 18, 2022
I recently watched a video of a speech by Duke University Ladies Basketball Coach Kara Lawson in which she said, too often we wait until “things get easier.” We say things like, when I get to be a senior things will get easier, or when I get accepted to college things will get easier. When we get to be seniors in high school or get accepted to college, we find that things never get easier. We just get better at handling more difficult things. And when we do, guess what? We are confronted with more difficult things.
I love the idea that things don’t actually get easier, we are just better equipped to handle hard things. We can’t sit around thinking “Woe is me. Life is too hard.” We need to recognize that the people we looked at and thought they had it so easy, likely have what they want in life because they were better equipped to deal with the challenges it took to get them. So I suppose the lesson here is not to worry about how hard or easy something is, but to prepare ourselves to be able to handle more difficult things.
Today, no every day, I encourage you to teach your students they cannot go through life thinking “things will get easier.” They won’t. We ALL confront challenges in our lives and must recognize that our ability to overcome the challenges is based on how equipped we are to face them. Just sayin’!
Make Today a Magnificent Day!
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Marching Arts Education
Today’s Task – October 13, 2022
Today’s Task – October 10, 2022
In a recent question we asked regarding the greatest challenges you are facing at this time of the year, one of the responses we heard was student commitment or buy-in. This has been a concern in working with students for as long as I can remember. So what is the solution? How do we keep our students engaged? My friend and LCL colleague reminds me all of the time that “Needs are the greatest driver of action.”
As I consider that statement in the context of student commitment, I am struck by the challenge it represents. I suspect many think about this in terms of “how do I motivate my students to be committed.” I preferred to look at it in terms of “how can I inspire my students to be committed.” In either case, I knew I needed to create a culture in which they saw the opportunity for their needs to be met. I believed if I could create such a culture, everything else would take care of itself.
Today, no every day, I encourage you to consider the culture you need to create to meet the needs of YOUR students. Certainly things like feeling safe and supported will be consistent in most programs. What other things are unique to your geographic location and the diversity of your student population? For me, creating such a culture was the key to developing student commitment and engagement. Just sayin’!
Make Today a Magnificent Day!
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Mentors @ Marching Arts Education
Today’s Task – October 6, 2022
Today’s Task – October 5, 2022
In my 40 years in education I had numerous Principals. There was one who almost never left his office to walk through the school, one who lived by the “good ole boys” code, one who showed up in my room to listen to music when she needed a break from the demands of her job, and one who spent his time trying to make sure the parents were happy….often at the expense of some teacher who didn’t do anything wrong besides ruffle someone’s feathers. Of all the Principals I had, only one encouraged and challenged me to be the best I could be.
Both of us lived some distance from the school so when our schedules demanded that we stay late, we would often spend time hanging out together. We had great conversations about whatever was on our mind. He would help me think through band director/teaching stuff and I would help him think through Principal stuff. Through our open and safe conversations I became a better educator and I suspect he would say he became a better Principal. Needless to say, the years spent working together were among the best years of my teaching experience.
In your teaching experience, I hope you have the opportunity to work with such an administrator. I can tell you that having a superior who treats you as an equal, allowing you the freedom to speak openly about not only your concerns, but their’s as well, makes teaching even more satisfying than it already is. Just sayin’!
Make Today a Magnificent Day!
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Mentors @ Marching Arts Education
Today’s Task – September 26, 2022
Today’s Task – September 27, 2022
When you look at any professional athlete or musician, you see great talent. But the mind is what elevates the best to the highest level. Former tennis great Chris Evert observed, “The thing that separates good players from great ones is mental attitude. It might make a difference of two or three points in an entire match, but how you play those key points often makes the difference winning and losing. If the mind is strong, you can do almost anything you want.”
How do we teach our young people to have a positive attitude? We must remind them that attitude is a choice. Psychologist Victor Frankl believed, “The last of our human freedoms is to choose your attitude in any given circumstances.” If they have a positive attitude, they need to be encouraged to keep it up. After all, maintaining a good attitude is easier than regaining one. And if they have a negative attitude, they need to understand that if they can choose their attitude, they can also change it.
Today, no every day, I encourage you to help your students to develop a positive attitude. It is important that we recognize as teachers that if the only thing we leave our students is a positive attitude, we will have given them something of incalculable value. Just sayin’!
Make Today a Magnificent Day!
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Mentors @ Marching Arts Education
Today’s Task – September 26, 2022
Today’s Task – September 26, 2022
“What you think means more than anything else in your life. More than what you earn, more than where you live, more than your social position, and more than what anyone else may think about you.” Every problem introduces you to yourself. It shows you how you think and what you are made of.
I read the above from author George Matthew Adams and was immediately struck by the thought that every problem introduces you to yourself. What do I do when I come face-to-face with a problem? Do I ignore it and hope it goes away? Do I give up when it seems too difficult to solve? Or do I accept the challenge and tackle it head-on? Do I try, fail, and try again until I find the solution? When I reflect upon my actions, what does it tell me about how I think and what I am made of?
Today, no every day, I encourage you to to teach your students how to be reflective. The ability to solve problems effectively comes from experience facing and overcoming obstacles. Each time they solve another problem, they will get better at the process. So teach them to try, fail, and try again until they find the solution….and who they are becoming. Just sayin’!
Make Today a Magnificent Day!
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Mentors @ Marching Arts Education
Today’s Task – September 16, 2022
Today’s Task – September 16, 2022
“Our students are falling behind,” they said. Enter the open classroom. “Our students are falling behind,” they said. Enter Mastery Learning. “Our students are falling behind,” they said. Enter Performance Assessments, more technology, and STEM. And still….our students are falling behind.
Experience has taught me that there are only two things necessary for learning to occur; informed and engaging teachers in the front of the room AND students who are interested in learning. All the other stuff is well, just stuff. We can have all the greatest teaching tools in the world but it doesn’t matter if we don’t have engaging teachers and interested students. Interestingly, one supports the other. If a good teacher shows up, good students will appear. The inverse is true as well; if students who want to learn show up, good teachers will appear.
Today, no every day, I encourage you to challenge your students to show up, expecting their teachers to teach. This is as important as the teacher showing up, expecting their students to learn. Don’t get me wrong, it is great to have all of the latest educational tools to help. But the real teaching and learning happen because of informed, engaging teachers and students who are interested in learning. Just sayin’!
Make Today a Magnificent Day!
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Mentors @ Marching Arts Education
Today’s Task – September 6, 2022
Today’s Task – September 6, 2022
If you have a competitive marching band, your improvement is measured by the scores from your weekly contests. Concert band? Well I suppose progress is measured there through adjudication festivals. I might argue, however, that measuring only as a function of exit outcomes is not the most efficient and effective manner. Measurement is a tool, just like a hammer or a wrench. It is a tool that helps us refine our skills
What are the measuring tools you use on a daily basis that allows you to recognize student or group growth? What tools do you use to point out strengths and weaknesses in your instructional delivery and rehearsal framework? As a young teacher, I did what my band director did….I rehearsed the band with the only real measuring stick being what I heard in my ears. When I learned to find ways to measure student progress AND my ability to deliver instruction, I became a better teacher, the students became better performers, and the band naturally became better.
Today, no every day, I encourage you to develop ways to measure student performance and growth, as well as your ability to effectively deliver instruction. Long rehearsals and numerous reps will typically result in improvement, but I would argue that using some type of measuring stick during daily rehearsals will both speed up the process, and result in greater improvement. Just sayin’!
Make Today a Magnificent Day!
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Mentors @ Marching Arts Education
Today’s Task – August 29, 2022
Today’s Task – August 29, 2022
You have pressing work on your mind and plenty of deadlines. And having them interrupt you at this moment is a guaranteed inconvenience. But this isn’t about you….it is about them. If you pass up your chance to help your students, they will seek out someone else, and then THAT person will become their leader. Like former Secretary of State Colin Powell said, “When your people quit bringing you their problems, you quit being their leader.”
In his book, Let Them Lead, author John U. Bacon suggests that when your people you bring their problems, concerns, questions, suggestions, and ideas, instead of moaning about it, thank them! Think about it. When you have problems….and we all do….you seek out the person we think has the most compassion, wisdom, and possibly power to help you. So if your students pick you to confide in, they are giving you a great compliment on several levels.
Today, no every day, I encourage you to consider how you respond when your students show up at your office door with something on their mind. No, it is probably not the best time. But whenever a student has the guts to come to you to unload whatever is on his or her mind, you can’t blow them off. They came to you because they trust you and they need you to listen. Just sayin’!
Make Today a Magnificent Day!
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Mentors @ Marching Arts Education
Today’s Task – August 18, 2022
Today’s Task – August 19, 2022
As I am sitting here writing this, I am watching the Little League World Series. It is such a joy to watch these young baseball players doing what they love to do. Certainly, they are very skilled for their age, but the thing that impresses me the most is the genuine display of joy when they win and yes, their tears when they lose. There is no pretense about what they are doing. They are competing in the moment, completely invested in the experience.
Perhaps we could all learn a lesson from these young athletes. How many of your students are completely invested in the band experience? How many are invested in word, but not in action? How many allow themselves to be completely in the moment when they are at rehearsal?
Today, no every day, I encourage you to consider the role a band’s culture plays in encouraging, developing, and supporting the kind of investment displayed by the Little League players. Do your students feel safe enough to completely immerse themselves in the moment? Just wonderin’!
Make Today a Magnificent Experience,
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Mentors @ Marching Arts Education
Today’s Task – August 18, 2022
Today’s Task – August 15, 2022
People sometimes mistakenly believe that they are going to the doctor to be healed. Yet in spite of all the advances in the medical field, no doctor has ever mended a broken bone or caused a wound to heal. The best they can do is provide assistance in the form of medications and therapies….create the proper conditions if you will….for the body to heal itself.
It is a simple principle, really. One that is true in the field of education as well. In my career as an educator, I never taught anyone to do anything. I simply created conditions, a culture, in which my students could learn. I gave them the necessary resources and opportunities, but they did all the learning. I had to constantly ask, What do my students need to learn? Do they need appreciation, recognition, and praise? Do I need to eliminate the distractions that were constantly pulling them in numerous directions? What things did I need to put in place to allow them to grow?
Today, no every day, I encourage you to create the opportunities your students need for growth to occur. Make sure they have the necessary resources and all the appreciation and support they need to become successful. While we all appreciate it when we are credited for our students’ successes, we also know that like the doctor, we only create the opportunity. They do the learning themselves. Just sayin’!
Make Today a Magnificent Day!
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Mentors @ Marching Arts Education
Today’s Task – August 3, 2022
Today’s Task – August 3, 2022
Last weekend my wife and I attended Steeler training camp. It was quite an experience to be among the 17,000 people there wanting to watch, or perhaps get the autographs of, the likes of TJ Watt, Cam Heyward, and Coach Tomlin. For me, the best part of the experience was watching how practice was scripted. It was a lesson on how to effectively run a practice with players moving seamlessly through multiple skill drills laid out across three fields and timed down to the minute.
I have long believed in the importance of “doing fundamental things on an ongoing basis.” I cringe when I watch coaches who spend the bulk of their time scrimmaging or band directors who spend most of rehearsal doing run-throughs. There is, of course, a time for those things, but at the beginning of training (or band) camp, it is a time to make sure that our students are developing the necessary skills sets to allow them to be successful.
Today, no every day, I encourage you to teach your students the importance of working on fundamental skills. We know from experience that young people would prefer to “just play the music.” We also know that while in using that approach they will improve….slowly and only a little. We need to get them to buy-in to the idea that through spending adequate time on the fundamentals they will also improve….a lot faster and a lot more. Just sayin’!
Make Today a Magnificent Day!
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Marching Arts Education
Today’s Task – July 27, 2022
Today’s Task – July 27, 2022
“Great teachers have an uncanny ability to make an imprint deep within a student that goes beyond the teaching of book knowledge. In fact, great teachers leave their mark so profoundly that their ideas reappear in your consciousness at the times either when you least expect them or when you need them most. Great teachers not only teach you factual things, but they are able to influence your very center. The irony of study with such persons remains in the fact that, at the time, you have no idea what a profound influence they are having upon your being.”
The above, taken from James Jordan’s The Musician’s Soul, long served as a driving force in my teaching. Oh sure, I wanted to play great music and have people recognize my programs for their ability to perform, but as I matured as an educator, I realized it was more important to have a profound impact on the lives of my students. Yes, we need excellence in performance, but we need excellence in living more because music is a product of living.
Today, no every day, I encourage you to consider the value of the words above. I don’t know if I will ever be considered a great teacher. I would like to think I had a profound impact on my students; that in times when they least expect it or need it the most, they remember the life lessons I tried to teach them. As Westminster Choir College educator Elaine Brown once said, “What it comes down to as conductors, or ministers, or teachers, or parents of children….we need to do a very simple thing. And that is to care more.”
Make Today a Magnificent Day!
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Mentors @ Marching Arts Education
Today’s Task – July 19, 2022
Today’s Task – July 19, 2022
Henry David Thoreau said “the price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” I like this a great deal because it reminds me that we all have the same amount of time in a day, and how we choose to spend it says a great deal about what we care about. As band directors we exchange a lot of our lives to work with our students….and we are happy to do so.
I am always fascinated by the student who professes to want to get better and then spends all his free time doing something other than practicing. I just finished a season helping my youngest son coach an AAU basketball team. Interestingly, he had players who complained about the lack of playing time, yet they spent their practice time working on something other than those things that would make them better.
Today, no every day, I encourage you to help your students to understand the price of achievement. Ask them how much they are willing to exchange for success. And remind them, there is no such thing as “quality time.” There is only time, and how you spend it exposes what you care about. Just sayin’!
Make Today a Magnificent Day!
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Mentors @ Marching Arts Education
Today’s Task – July 14, 2022
Today’s Task – July 10, 2022
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. I think T.S. Eliot was right when he said this. I didn’t know if could run a marathon, until the risk led to the reward. I didn’t know if I could make it at a Division I music school, until the risk led to the reward. The truth is, even with the greatest of planning, we never know….until we take the risk.
In my forty years as a band director and a sports coach, I have seen too many young people who have no idea how far they can go because they never push their limits. Perhaps it is fear of failure, but for me, the failure isn’t in trying and not achieving, but in failing to not try at all. I always told my students that I would rather they make an error of commission, than omission. Trying and failing is good. Failing because you didn’t try….not so much!
Today, no every day, I encourage you to help your students to test their limits. Help them to see that most limits are self-imposed and that they have the power to remove those limits. I suspect they will need a bit of a safety net and that is where you come in. Let them know they have the freedom to try….and fail. After all, the only way to know if you can go further….is to go further. Just sayin’!
Make Today a Magnificent Day!
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Mentors @ Marching Arts Education.com
Today’s Task – July 7, 2022
Today’s Task – July 5, 2022
I am sitting here watching as my wife works in her garden and our neighbor works in hers. Each is meticulously ridding the garden of all the things that are NOT what they are trying to grow….weeds, plants that have gone to seed, etc….leaving only those things that ARE. Nothing fancy or complex about it. If it is not in support of the garden they are attempting to grow, then remove it!
This process is not unlike the one we use in “growing our bands.” If behaviors (weeds) are not in support of the culture we are attempting to create, then they can no longer be permitted in the band room. (Note that I said behaviors….not people!) Just like too many weeds will destroy the garden, too many inappropriate and unsupportive behaviors will destroy the culture of the band. As someone so aptly reminded me recently, everything that goes on in the band room is either encouraged or tolerated by the director.
Today, no every day, I encourage you to consider the lesson from these avid gardeners. Encourage the behaviors that will lead to the band you want. And if you see behaviors that are inconsistent with the band you want, don’t tolerate them. Remove them like the weeds they are. Just sayin’!
Make Today a Magnificent Day!
Gary L Rupert
Lead Mentor/COO
II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders
LCL Mentors @ Marching Arts Education