Darlings!!! Yes, it is I. A day late and a dollar short, as ever. Le Sigh. [Okay, fine. Three weeks late.] Thank the good Lord that the other columnists here at the venerable CGE are so prepared! Whew. Anyway. Here we are in the throes of the 2012 season, spinning out little hearts out, yes? [...]
Hello Darlings! I am back! I have returned to the glorious pages screen that is color guard educators. Of COURSE I missed you! Yup, here I am. My marching band season has drawn to a close, and as always, I am loving what some of our performers are putting out there… [Err, yes, I may [...]
CGE Welcomes our newest regular contributor, Chelley Thelen. In her first article, Chelley shares her experience working with younger (elementary and middle school) students. One of the best things you can do for your high school guard program is to start training your members at a young age. Successful football teams, for instance, often have [...]
The first article from our newest regular contributor Darcie Gudger. Darcie gives tips for how to maintain professionalism through some of the toughest challenges coaches can face – unhappy students! No need to lose your cool – read more for tips on handling these challenges with grace! They wait along the sideline, hands shoved [...]
Why be negative with your students? They already get that in everyday life. Be the reason they come to rehearsals! Food for Thought… -Peter Gomez, Chino HS World
First, let’s take a look back in time….. At the beginning of our season instructors and performers alike are passionate about the concepts that they are working toward. The music is new, the colors and equipment are new, sometimes the costumes are new as well, and we are engaged and excited by all of these [...]
I realize the actual phrase is ‘ready, aim, fire’, but for the purpose of this article I’ve chosen to manipulate it just a little bit to illustrate a point. You see, ready, aim, fire suggests that as an instructor you first plan your rehearsal; second, set goals for the rehearsal, and finally decide how you [...]
Have a difficult section of choreography to teach and a lot of beginner performers? Teach 8-counts at a time to the entire group, making sure your veterans understand. Then divide the group into squads and allow the veterans to work in small groups with the rookies. Monitor progress and move on when they’re ready, 8-counts [...]
Safety First! When teaching beginners to toss, minimize the variables. Find a rehearsal space that’s not too windy or sunny to start of. Wait until they are solid with technique before asking them to toss in wind or blinding sunlight. Once they understand how the equipment handles then start adding variables one at a time.
Call Attendance the first week of camp. It will help you and the students learn one another’s names. Ask each member to respond with a “favorite” instead of “here.” For example, “What’s your favorite song?” You’ll get to know everyone quickly and they’ll enjoy sharing a personal favorite!
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Special Edition of Halftime Magazine – Color Guard Sectionals
If you’re a regular reader here at CGE then you probably know that we’re big fans here of Halftime Magazine. For those who may not be familiar with Halftime it is a print magazine specifically for the marching arts community. It was founded in 2007 by Editor/CEO Christine Ngeo Katzman and publishes 6 times a [...]
From the Archives: It’s all about Travel Safety
This week we pulled two articles from the archives regarding hotel and travel safety. This is it! If you’re going on an overnight trip this is one of those important moments in your experience as a coach to teach your students something that could serve to keep them safe throughout their lives – well beyond [...]
From the Archives: Can it be TOO clean???
This week’s articles from the archives: A Movement Moment #10: Too Clean? by Cheryl Myers (03/18/2010) Our resident “Movement Chick” suggests that yes… it is, perhaps, possible to be too clean… check out the article to see what she means. The ‘Winterguard Wand’ and Championships by Chris Casteel (06/09/2008) A very important article by Chris [...]
From the Archives: Planning for Championships
Earlier this month we asked for your best advice for planning an overnight trip on the facebook page. If you missed it make sure to look it up and check out the best advice from the community if you’re looking forward to your first overnight championships trip. This week we pulled 2 of our past [...]
Get Subscriptions to Halftime Magazine for only $1.00 each!
Halftime Magazine has a fantastic program we wanted to share with our readers. Directors can purchase a group subscription with copies for every student and staff member of your group for just $1.00 per person, per year. We love Halftime Magazine! And what better way to get your students excited for the next season while [...]
This has got to be the simplest Fun Friday craft project yet! It’ll only take you minutes (beyond gathering the supplies) but you’re sure to put smiles on the faces of your performers! ‘Flag’ Candy Canes Materials needed: Craft Felt Glue gun Sheet of paper Candy cane Instructions: Using the sheet of paper, cut a [...]
Remember in kindergarten everyone would gather around the teacher for story time? Everyone loves listening to stories, even high school kids! In our guard, we have ‘story time’ and it is connected to the development of our team core values. One of our values is to ‘Be good people’ and treat each other with respect. [...]
Materials needed: 20” x 50” fabric 2 x 80” pieces of cording Puffy paints, buttons, ribbon, bows, etc for decorating Cut 20” x 50” piece of fabric (you can alter the size to meet your needs). Fold in ½, right sides together. From top edge, mark 2” down. (Fig. 1) Using ½” seams, sew below [...]
This is a fun activity the entire band participates in! During marching season students create spirit bags for their own sections, for every performance. Spirit bags contain a few treats and some fun baubles from the dollar store (a glow stick, mardi gras beads, lip gloss, etc). Coaches and directors sometimes add a little note [...]
September is typically a tough month for kids since they have so many responsibilities, homework, the social scene of high school, and it can take some time to figure out the balance between life and marching band. It’s always the toughest time for my kids, even when they know the expectations of the guard. Once [...]
This has got to be the simplest Fun Friday craft project yet! It’ll only take you minutes (beyond gathering the supplies) but you’re sure to put smiles on the faces of your performers! ‘Flag’ Candy Canes Materials needed: Craft Felt Glue gun Sheet of paper Candy cane Instructions: Using the sheet of paper, cut a [...]
ON THE WEB: Band Saves Lives and Fundraises at the Same Time
We thought this was an interesting/unique approach to both service and fundraising – check out this New Jersey marching band that saves lives while also earning some money for their program. Win/Win!
ON THE WEB: Podcast about starting a brand new WG program
Episode 47 of the Marching Roundtable podcast series (posted December 12, 2011) is an interview with Tim LeBlanc – a guard instructor from TX who has also been a participant in the CGE community on Facebook – about his experience starting a brand new winter guard at a new school. Check it out! Episode 47: [...]
Remember in kindergarten everyone would gather around the teacher for story time? Everyone loves listening to stories, even high school kids! In our guard, we have ‘story time’ and it is connected to the development of our team core values. One of our values is to ‘Be good people’ and treat each other with respect. [...]
Budget-Conscious Costume Transformation
Being involved in the color guard world, we all know what it is like to be on a budget. Some of you are probably thinking, “What budget? I wish I had money to budget!” This year I needed to allocate more money for flag fabric since we purchased 2 shaded-silk swing flags for each member [...]
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