Forget about coffee mugs, t-shirts, or a two-CD “Millie-Vanilli – Live in Modesto!” bootleg.
Don’t even think about re-gifting that Harry and David’s Cheese Wheel that’s been aging not-so-gracefully at the back of your refrigerator.
What your principal really wants is to not get any phone calls concerning you.
Sure, they’ll love a great concert, kids reading music, or a fun presentation on Grandparent’s Day. They might even want to get jiggity wit it with Milli-Vanilli in the privacy of their office – but what they really want is ‘no fuss, no muss’ music.
Your principal doesn't want to hear you call them up and say, “I've got a problem in my classroom”, or “I need a disciplinarian to my room right now!”
They also don't want to get phone calls from irate parents.
Concert attire
When principals get phone calls from parents concerning music teachers, usually it's about something you said or did in the classroom that negatively pushed a parent’s button when the story was told at home. Sometimes the call to the principal is concerning a snafu about an upcoming concert.
There is an old saying: People hear what they see. Concert attire is a valid issue. Every principal and administrator is influenced by how an ensemble looks before the children ever play or sing a not. How are they dressed? How do they enter or exit the stage? Has any preparation taken place in teaching concert decorum?
While people hear what they see, principles always see what their administrative supervisor will see - so make it look like this isn't the kid's first rodeo. A well-rehearsed enterence and exit from risers will always supercede how kids are dressed.
I was not a stickler for uniform concert attire. I tried to make it easy for my elementary kids – and for their parents and caregivers as well as my principal - as far as what they wore for concerts. During winter months, the criteria was ‘wear something dressy’. There was no list of “no-no’s” or “What Not to Wear”, like t-shirts, sneakers, or sandals. The prime messaging was to simply wear something that they felt good wearing. It should be comfortable enough that they could perform their music. During warmer months, the emphasis was on wearing something lightweight that wouldn’t cause anyone to overheat. I've had to deal with kids fainting on choral risers and the fewer times you have to encounter that, the better your blood pressure will be.
Part of my philosophy for attire comes from my youth. I had a concert coming up and at the last minute, my mother realized I needed some specific outfit that I didn’t own. She did not have the discretionary money to just run out and buy a new set of pants, sport coat, or tie in specific colors. Luckily, my immediate family was large with many cousins who were who were a few years older than me. My mother was able to contact one of her sisters and get me something that had belonged to one of my older cousins. Problem averted.
While I had eventually had the right thing to wear on stage, I'll never forget the look in my mother's eyes when she wasn't able to just go out and buy something for me. Years later, the idea of me never sat well with me of telling hundreds of parents that their child needs of this or that and if they didn’t have it, go out and buy it.
It’s easy to lose sight how simple concert check list item like attire can cause consternation for families. There was a recent story of an elementary school experiencing high truancy rates that was able to determine that the reason was that the families were embarrassed that their children didn't have clean clothes to wear to school. When counselors at the school realized that clean clothes were a problem, they convinced the administrators to purchase several washers and dryers for the school and casually let children and families know they could be used to launder student clothing. Word got around. The appliances were in constant use and truancy was cut almost to zero.
Keep concert attire simple – and take a potential message call off your principal’s answering service.
Offending a parent
Whenever you stand up as a musician or a teacher in front of a group of people, you have to realize that the house is comprised of people who are somewhere between ultra conservative and ultra liberal. What one parent thinks is funny the next might not.
Always aim for the conservative side of things. No one will call the principal because you’re corny or low-key.
Usually I was attentive to that rule but one day it slipped by, resulting in an angry phone call to my principal about something I did.
I’ll tell that story in “The Gift Your Principal Wants You To Give Them – Part Two”
Don’t even think about re-gifting that Harry and David’s Cheese Wheel that’s been aging not-so-gracefully at the back of your refrigerator.
What your principal really wants is to not get any phone calls concerning you.
Sure, they’ll love a great concert, kids reading music, or a fun presentation on Grandparent’s Day. They might even want to get jiggity wit it with Milli-Vanilli in the privacy of their office – but what they really want is ‘no fuss, no muss’ music.
Your principal doesn't want to hear you call them up and say, “I've got a problem in my classroom”, or “I need a disciplinarian to my room right now!”
They also don't want to get phone calls from irate parents.
Concert attire
When principals get phone calls from parents concerning music teachers, usually it's about something you said or did in the classroom that negatively pushed a parent’s button when the story was told at home. Sometimes the call to the principal is concerning a snafu about an upcoming concert.
There is an old saying: People hear what they see. Concert attire is a valid issue. Every principal and administrator is influenced by how an ensemble looks before the children ever play or sing a not. How are they dressed? How do they enter or exit the stage? Has any preparation taken place in teaching concert decorum?
While people hear what they see, principles always see what their administrative supervisor will see - so make it look like this isn't the kid's first rodeo. A well-rehearsed enterence and exit from risers will always supercede how kids are dressed.
I was not a stickler for uniform concert attire. I tried to make it easy for my elementary kids – and for their parents and caregivers as well as my principal - as far as what they wore for concerts. During winter months, the criteria was ‘wear something dressy’. There was no list of “no-no’s” or “What Not to Wear”, like t-shirts, sneakers, or sandals. The prime messaging was to simply wear something that they felt good wearing. It should be comfortable enough that they could perform their music. During warmer months, the emphasis was on wearing something lightweight that wouldn’t cause anyone to overheat. I've had to deal with kids fainting on choral risers and the fewer times you have to encounter that, the better your blood pressure will be.
Part of my philosophy for attire comes from my youth. I had a concert coming up and at the last minute, my mother realized I needed some specific outfit that I didn’t own. She did not have the discretionary money to just run out and buy a new set of pants, sport coat, or tie in specific colors. Luckily, my immediate family was large with many cousins who were who were a few years older than me. My mother was able to contact one of her sisters and get me something that had belonged to one of my older cousins. Problem averted.
While I had eventually had the right thing to wear on stage, I'll never forget the look in my mother's eyes when she wasn't able to just go out and buy something for me. Years later, the idea of me never sat well with me of telling hundreds of parents that their child needs of this or that and if they didn’t have it, go out and buy it.
It’s easy to lose sight how simple concert check list item like attire can cause consternation for families. There was a recent story of an elementary school experiencing high truancy rates that was able to determine that the reason was that the families were embarrassed that their children didn't have clean clothes to wear to school. When counselors at the school realized that clean clothes were a problem, they convinced the administrators to purchase several washers and dryers for the school and casually let children and families know they could be used to launder student clothing. Word got around. The appliances were in constant use and truancy was cut almost to zero.
Keep concert attire simple – and take a potential message call off your principal’s answering service.
Offending a parent
Whenever you stand up as a musician or a teacher in front of a group of people, you have to realize that the house is comprised of people who are somewhere between ultra conservative and ultra liberal. What one parent thinks is funny the next might not.
Always aim for the conservative side of things. No one will call the principal because you’re corny or low-key.
Usually I was attentive to that rule but one day it slipped by, resulting in an angry phone call to my principal about something I did.
I’ll tell that story in “The Gift Your Principal Wants You To Give Them – Part Two”
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