It's the beginning of winter guard season!
You've done recruitment, held your auditions, written your warm-ups, selected flags and costumes, and you are ready to put a beautiful show on the floor.
Then you have a student tell you that they can't do color guard this season.
Well, that's fine. You've only invested maybe two audition rehearsals and five minutes in a staff meeting on this kid so far this season, never mind that they are a third year veteran member, at least they quit early enough that you don't have to fill a hole in the show drill.
Then, a couple of practices later, after you've announced the staff's selections for weapon line, you have ANOTHER student quit. It doesn't seem to matter if they are earning points and selling fundraisers and even signing contracts, it just keeps happening.
How long can this go on into the season? What are you doing wrong?
The truth is that it can continue to go on indefinitely until you have a core set of dedicated students who believe in what the team is trying to accomplish. Just because students are quitting doesn't necessarily mean you are doing anything wrong, although it's always good to evaluate your techniques in each step of the process, it just means that the students weren't a good fit for the program in the first place.
For instance, one student might be quitting because their parents don't understand how the process of winter guard works. They think they can wait until AFTER auditions to explain to their student that they aren't going to allow him or her to participate in winter guard until he or she has better grades in class. However, grades came out BEFORE auditions, and the next grade card doesn't come out until AFTER the winter guard has learned the entire show. You can't simply pull a student out of winter guard for the entire time the team is learning their show and bonding and expect them to simply step back in halfway through the season, learn the show, and get along with everyone. But the real problem here is that the parents don't understand that.
Another type of student who quits is the one looking for self-glory. I have had so many self-glorifying students come through the door at Spintronix that it's pathetic. They don't generally last long, just one or two seasons. They often have a delusional idea that they are better than others at color guard and therefore they simply DESERVE all of the attention, solos, and any other spotlight that can be granted to them. The truth is that while it might be exciting to have a self-glorifying member on the guard who really IS the best performer (which generally happens when a guard program is very young), over time these performers become toxic to the group as a whole. As the rest of the group progresses and grows together, the self-glorifying member generally stays at the same level because they refuse to truly work with the team, stuck in their belief that they are still the best. Then, when they aren't chosen for a select portion of the team, or handed a solo, they will often resort to one of two things; 1. stirring up drama with the rest of the team, or 2. simply quitting. If you've got a REALLY self-involved performer then they will stir up drama with the rest of the team and then finally quit. These are the types who generally want to "go out with a bang" so they will say things they think are cutting, trying to bring the whole team or even the entire organization down to their level, demonstrating how they believe the team will fail without their special talent. In truth, in every situation I have ever had of self-glorifying member quitting, the team has actually flourished above and beyond their former achievements after that toxic member was gone.
There can, of course, be a host of other reasons. Students can have a problem with authority, they can be non-conformists who look at color guard as a suppression of individuality rather than creation of art, others might just have a lot going on at home so that they can't handle the stress of being on a team.
Trying to get to the bottom of these kinds of situations can become time-consuming, and I feel bad because every group goes through this as a stage of their growth. But it's just a stage, and as you learn to simply let these students go rather than worry about the reasons why they are quitting, you will begin to notice more patterns and personality types that don't work well with your program. It makes cutting those students during the audition process easier as the seasons march on, and you will have less quitters in your later years.
The most important thing is to keep things positive no matter what, and deal with the blows as they are delivered. Don't be discouraged over the one student who couldn't hack it and had to quit, focus on the incredible students who ARE there, who are sticking around and have faith in you and your program. Those are the ones who should be occupying your time and receiving your attention! Besides, it's easier to clean a guard of 16 than a guard of 25 anyway...
<3 Jackie
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Sunday, November 12, 2017
How to be a good parent of your teenager - from their teacher
Everyone wants to be a good parent. And honestly, like any profession or even any hobby in the world, the greatest parents are the ones who are constantly seeking to improve the way they do things. So thank you so much for being a good parent and looking up this topic to begin with! I don't want it to be harsh, but I do want to come across as direct and true because there are some realities that not all good parents want to face when it comes to raising their teenagers.
1. Don't baby them. In all of my years of teaching I have been lucky in that I have only had a few conversations with parents like this; they come to the conferences to give excuses for why their students are the way they are. The truth is this: they are the way you are because you raised them to be that way. Good or bad, it doesn't matter to me. My job now is to help mold them into the best possible human beings they can be. So don't make excuses for them, look at their strengths and weaknesses and ask me how you can help them do better.
2. Teach them to get up on their own. I once spoke to an Olympic athlete and asked him what it took to be in his position. He said "It is all a mental game that has nothing to do with what you choose to be successful at. If you can't even get yourself out of bed in the morning, you've already lost." The same goes for being successful at school; they have to get up on their own.
3. Let them have something to be excited about. If your kid has poor grades, doesn't like school, and isn't involved in any other activities besides going to classes and then going home to play video games, I'm going to push your kid to get involved. There are sports, clubs, teams, and all kinds of activities that your student can do - and he or she needs to find something that he or she enjoys to be motivation to keep on going.
4. Realize that I'm here to help. I know it's sad to say that there are some teachers in the world who aren't terribly interested in whether your kid succeeds or fails. There are teachers who don't care about teaching at all, but what do you expect in such an overworked and underpaid profession? Figure out how to recognize the teachers who ARE interested in your child and who are doing things not only to improve your kid's education but to improve themselves as educators. Simple clues like seeing them admit that they've made a mistake on something like a grade book, or even the fact that they are entertaining a conversation with you about your child, those are good clues into what your teacher is like.
5. Make sure they have responsibilities at home. This can be tough to balance, but students need to realize that they should contribute at home in addition to keeping up their grades and being involved at school. If they don't have home chores they tend to grow up to be workaholics, not caring so much in the running of the household and instead focusing too much on other things like work, social life, and anything other activities outside the home.
These are five things I've noticed are consistent in the most successful students I've had in my classes! Not every single A-student has all five attributes in their parents, but the more of these five they have, the better chance they have of being successful. There may be others who disagree with these five, but these are the points that I've seen in the last ten years of teaching in the areas that I've been in (mostly southern Missouri). If you have noticed other points as a teacher, or if you think any of these should be expanded upon as a parent, please leave them in the comment section! I'm sure more inquiring parents will want to know, and it would be great for other teachers to share!
1. Don't baby them. In all of my years of teaching I have been lucky in that I have only had a few conversations with parents like this; they come to the conferences to give excuses for why their students are the way they are. The truth is this: they are the way you are because you raised them to be that way. Good or bad, it doesn't matter to me. My job now is to help mold them into the best possible human beings they can be. So don't make excuses for them, look at their strengths and weaknesses and ask me how you can help them do better.
2. Teach them to get up on their own. I once spoke to an Olympic athlete and asked him what it took to be in his position. He said "It is all a mental game that has nothing to do with what you choose to be successful at. If you can't even get yourself out of bed in the morning, you've already lost." The same goes for being successful at school; they have to get up on their own.
3. Let them have something to be excited about. If your kid has poor grades, doesn't like school, and isn't involved in any other activities besides going to classes and then going home to play video games, I'm going to push your kid to get involved. There are sports, clubs, teams, and all kinds of activities that your student can do - and he or she needs to find something that he or she enjoys to be motivation to keep on going.
4. Realize that I'm here to help. I know it's sad to say that there are some teachers in the world who aren't terribly interested in whether your kid succeeds or fails. There are teachers who don't care about teaching at all, but what do you expect in such an overworked and underpaid profession? Figure out how to recognize the teachers who ARE interested in your child and who are doing things not only to improve your kid's education but to improve themselves as educators. Simple clues like seeing them admit that they've made a mistake on something like a grade book, or even the fact that they are entertaining a conversation with you about your child, those are good clues into what your teacher is like.
5. Make sure they have responsibilities at home. This can be tough to balance, but students need to realize that they should contribute at home in addition to keeping up their grades and being involved at school. If they don't have home chores they tend to grow up to be workaholics, not caring so much in the running of the household and instead focusing too much on other things like work, social life, and anything other activities outside the home.
These are five things I've noticed are consistent in the most successful students I've had in my classes! Not every single A-student has all five attributes in their parents, but the more of these five they have, the better chance they have of being successful. There may be others who disagree with these five, but these are the points that I've seen in the last ten years of teaching in the areas that I've been in (mostly southern Missouri). If you have noticed other points as a teacher, or if you think any of these should be expanded upon as a parent, please leave them in the comment section! I'm sure more inquiring parents will want to know, and it would be great for other teachers to share!
Monday, October 2, 2017
How big should my flag be?
Here's a frequently asked question from many of our viewers and readers:
HOW BIG SHOULD MY FLAG BE IN PROPORTION TO MY POLE?
There are a lot of schools of thought on this concerning effect and design and all kinds of other ideas. However, the majority of you are probably just curious as to standard sizes. I present to you, the standard sizes:
Now, what if you have a big, beautiful ballad and you want to have just lots of fabric everywhere? Can you put a flag with a 45" sleeve on a 6 foot pole? Absolutely! These are just the standard sizes according to the rule of halves. You generally want your normal spinning flags to have a sleeve length that is half the length of your entire pole. This is not a set in stone sort of rule, or one that judges are looking for you to follow with every single show. It's always going to depend on the effect you want to create on the field. However, this is great to know for training purposes or for ordering flags that are the same size.
HOW BIG SHOULD MY FLAG BE IN PROPORTION TO MY POLE?
There are a lot of schools of thought on this concerning effect and design and all kinds of other ideas. However, the majority of you are probably just curious as to standard sizes. I present to you, the standard sizes:
Now, what if you have a big, beautiful ballad and you want to have just lots of fabric everywhere? Can you put a flag with a 45" sleeve on a 6 foot pole? Absolutely! These are just the standard sizes according to the rule of halves. You generally want your normal spinning flags to have a sleeve length that is half the length of your entire pole. This is not a set in stone sort of rule, or one that judges are looking for you to follow with every single show. It's always going to depend on the effect you want to create on the field. However, this is great to know for training purposes or for ordering flags that are the same size.
Need to order a practice flag? Here are some direct links!
Good luck this season!
<3 Jackie
<3 Jackie
Monday, June 19, 2017
Virtual Solo and Ensemble
Hello Spinthusiasts!
I want to tell you about a cool program that we started this summer at Spintronix called the Virtual Solo and Ensemble. It's an online color guard contest where you send in a video of yourself or you with a group of friends spinning and you are put up against other videos to compete for the virtual championship! My purpose in doing this is to help color guard performers constantly push one another to get better. If you are at home spinning during the off-season you might not be pushed to do your best simply because you are out in your yard or at a Wal-Mart parking lot or something without an audience. This contest will give you a HUGE audience and also some competitors to go up against. This way, when you see your competition tossing a rifle six and spinning around underneath it, you will be more inclined to practice your sixes!
There are also two versions of the contest, because I want to make sure we reach everyone and have different levels of judging available. First, there's the free version. It's a cool contest that is set up using a YouTube playlist, then fans "judge" the entries by liking their videos. The videos on the playlist will constantly change positions during the judging period based on the most popular video, and the one with the most likes will be the winner and move on to the next level of competition. Judges who want to give feedback will leave it in the form of comments on the videos and my hope is that they will be able to give you plenty of advice to get better at color guard! Plus, in order to keep everything positive, thumbs-down votes will not be counted against anyone, and negative comments will be deleted.
The second version of the contest is the paid version. In this version, your video will be looked at by a color guard professional and the winner will be selected based on technique, musicality, choreography, and performance. The entry fee is only $5 so it's accessible to everyone who can pay using a credit/debit card or PayPal account. The winner of the paid contest will receive a cash prize of half of the contest entry fees. That means if there are 10 entries, the winner will receive $25, if there are 50 entries, the winner will receive $125! We won't launch the contest until we have a minimum of 10 entries so the prize can stay a little sweeter.
Entry into the contest is simple. Just go HERE and click on the entry form that you want to use (free vs. paid), fill it out, and include a link to your video. The best part is, there are NO age limits! This would be a great way for you to get to spin with your siblings, instructors, students, friends, family members, and basically anyone you would like! So don't wait around, go get that video ready and enter it in our contest TODAY!!
Some other questions I've been fielding that I DEFINITELY want to answer for you guys;
Q. When will How to Color Guard videos be coming back??
A. As soon as I have time! I'm currently planning my wedding for this summer, plus remodeling a house, and writing for four color guards. Look for our instructional videos to start coming back around August.
Q. But I made a request, are you ever going to get to it?
A. YES! Our request list is long, but I promise we will fulfill EVERY SINGLE VIDEO on that list!!
Q. What happened to Makeup Mondays?
A. Sam has had a busy summer as well, but keep an eye out for more of her videos to come back around DCI championships week... AND she's fulfilling requests still so submit those at any time!!
Q. What's next for Spintronix?
A. Our 2018 winter guard auditions will take place this OCTOBER, so if you have been thinking about trying out, don't hesitate.
Q. I want to be a member of SIG! What do I need to know??
A. For a comprehensive list, check out this page HERE. Otherwise, I would definitely advise you to practice your basics at least on flag this summer. If you know how to do weapons, that is also a plus!
Q. Does it cost to try out for SIG?
A. Yes, but our membership fees are WAY below your average independent winter guard! For starters, auditioning is only $10 per person.
If you have more questions or suggestions, please don't hesitate to contact us! You can send an e-mail to me, Jackie, directly at spintronixguard@gmail.com or you can get a quicker answer by sending a message on our Facebook page and any one of our staff or volunteers will be happy to help you out!
<3 Jackie
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Taking color guard to Illinois
This weekend let me tell you. It was so great I loved it, it was so fun and full of surprises! On friday we had practice and made sure everything was perfect! We had so much fun. We had to go to bed at 10:00 because we had to wake up at 4 IN THE MORNING!! LIKE WWWHHHHAAAATTTTT?! haha. In the morning we got on the bus and basically everyone fell asleep haha. I mean it was 4:30 am so, everyone was super tired. Oh and by the way we were on our way to Illinois for a competition. We then got there and got ready to preform. We went in the hallway and did our "ritual's" haha. We then preformed. We didn't do our best. Alot went wrong. Some of us did our best and some of us messed up but that's OK. We then had where they told us what place we got. And we thought we would get 2nd like a really low grade. BUT THEN WE GOT A HIGH GRADE.... AND 1ST!!!!! We then celebrated by eating Culver's. And then went home.
<3 Kirsten
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Spinning in Memphis
This year we were invited to come to a color guard competition in Memphis, TN. I have a very solid history with Memphis since I marched Memphis Sound Drum and Bugle Corps many years ago before they tragically folded. I am still very good friends with many people who I marched with, as several of them are members of the staff at Spintronix in addition to teaching at their own schools. We decided to rent an Airbnb instead of getting a hotel, and the benefits of that choice have been astounding. It brought our group closer together as there were common spaces, and they could go to one another's rooms. There was also plenty of space in the yard for rehearsal! Winning at Memphis and also breaking our all-time score record was almost easy because of the closeness of bonds that the performers had, and how excited they were to be in a new place. I highly recommend doing a trip to any group who needs to initiate a closer bond between group members.
Jackie
<3 Shandon
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Hard Work with the Fam
The First time I walked into Spintronix I thought to myself, "Man I will never make this team because they are all very good at guard." I didn't think that I was good enough to be on it. The team showed me different. As the saying goes there is no I in team. You learn how very true that is. We work very good as a team, but we work great as a family. This weekend we did a lot of cleaning, anything to make us better. We broke down all the weak parts and re-informed the members of the counts so that everyone was together. We did a lot of warm-ups that made our muscles hurt so bad from a long weekend of hard work. Getting ready for our next competition in Memphis.
- Dannie
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