Burger King Discussions

[Xero]

Issue #1: Morale
We need to build up the broken down. In other words, when Mote criticizes a specific person, let that person know you're on their side and you support them. Make them know Mote didn't mean what he said, even though we all know he did.
..Points for a good band:
....1) We have to love band. That doesn't mean we have to love Mote's methods, but we have to like band and like music.
....2) We have to want to improve. We need motivation, and a good form of motivation is good, healthy competition. When I moved here, I remember the competition Katie and Geoff formed with me. It wasn't a "Oh, look I'm better than you! Haha, you fail!" kind of competition. It was a "He's good. I need to work harder so I can be better" kind of competition. And that made both of them improve a lot.
....3) We need to take pride in the band. We have to let people know that we're proud to be in the Etowah Eagle Marching Band, and that we enjoy being here.

Issue #2: Leadership
Our leadership is acting like an unstoppable force against an immovable wall (Mote).



(Anthony, if you'd like, please photo shoop this so that leadership is Goku and Mote is Superman. (Just do a kind of caption for leadership and put a picture of Mote's face on Superman, or just do a caption for both.))

We need stronger, more unified leadership. Yes, most of us are unified on the opinion that the band is falling apart, but we need to be unified more with Mote (not necessarily with his ideas, but unified so that we can express our opinions to him and improve the band).

Issue #3: The Band
The main arguments in the discussion on this issue were targeted at Mote's teaching methods... at least, that's really all I caught from the discussion.

We need to stop perfecting things that should be left for individual practice at home (WARMUPS and simple notes and rhythms, etc.).
We need to start focusing more on perfecting things that should be perfected (style, blend, tuning, things that can't be perfected individually or without Mote's opinion (he decides style... that's why I said that), etc.).

Summary
We need to inspire individuals to improve. We need to be motivated and enjoy band.
If an individual isn't putting his best into what we do (isn't inspired), he/she should be reprimanded and pushed (not too much) to be inspired (by use of Reminders).
MOTIvate = deMOTEvate (even though we shouldn't be working completely against Mote, we need to work to improve the band, which is basically the opposite of what Mote is doing, even though he may not realize it. So we need work to help the band while not completely rebelling against Mote. DeMOTEvating the band, by my definition, is acting in a way that we tear down any damage Mote has done to the band, and doing anything we can to build the band back up.)


And the main point of the entire discussion: Pink Captain Falcon shall now always be referred to as CAPTAIN FABULOUS in the gayest voice possible.

[Xero]

By the way, Anthony, if you're going to shoop the photo, search "goku vs superman". It's the first result.

Also, while I was searching for a kamehameha wave photo to use to illustrate the metaphor, I searched "kamehameha wave" and the first result on the second page of images was Chuck Norris.

[Duke Nukem]

The biggest problem with Mote is communication. He says one thing and thinks another, and expects us to do what he thinks. Then the anger starts...yeah. Also, Mote is an intimidating person. Most people don't feel comfortable talking to him. That's not good for communication. We need to work on that personally, or team up with people to talk with him. If it suits you, just have someone who doesn't have a problem with fearing Mote talk to him for/with you, like me or Jimmy. The buddy system works, doncha know.

You can't just go out there and say "be inspired" and expect it to be done. You also can't tell people to inspire people and expect it to happen. Chris Oglesby was such an influention person because of his immense charisma. Not everyone is like that. Leading by example doesn't work very well either. If we want a unified, tight-knit band like we say, we basically need to talk it out. If a kid has a broblem, band-related or not, and you notice, talk to them. Be a friend. Be a band member. There's no chart or diagram that really explains it, you just have to know. You have to be a leader and not everyone is, so don't try to be one if you're not, just accept it and try to improve the band in your own way. It's not exactly simple, but it isn't that complicated either, so don't overthink it.

On another note, Mote is NOT superman. He's more like...My Little Pony.

[Xero]

Sorry. Here's the real Mote.



And here's Narrator, peeing excellence.



lolz Hurray for random fan/anti-fan art appearing out of nowhere with every single search.

[Anthony G]

Michael those are the best pictures ever. And I don't have any pictures of Mote and I don't have photoshop either.

I'll post some input later.

[Duke Nukem]

JESUS CHRIST NO, NARRATOR IS NOT A FURRY

[Anthony G]

Here's my input:

Because Mote never remembers what he says, we need to have some sort of list on the board or on paper that everyone will have. This way what Mote says is on ink and can't be argued. The list will have all the counts for the star spangled banner arcs, it'll have counts for hand jive horn pickups/etc, and perhaps it could have where we should be for getting onto the field. Basically anything that needs to be remembered should be written down. I think I mentioned this at the BK meeting but I don't remember.

This is VERY IMPORTANT: remember that this week until competition we aren't taking crap from anyone. There are no more excuses for not having music passed off on time, there are no excuses for improper horn angles, no excuses for missing horn tilts, and all that jazz. Because laps and push-ups take away time from our rehearsals, have those people do them after practice. I've noticed that sometimes leadership (mainly Ryan O.) will tell people to do their punishment after practice, and those that should be punished escape before Ryan has a chance to remember. So I ask those in leadership to remember to stay after practice with those people and make sure they do their punishment. Even if you're not the person that assigned a punishment, make sure that the leadership remembers or make sure that person does their punishment.

Also, make sure to give INDIVIDUAl ENCOURAGEMENT. This does not mean, "Good job, trumpets, I've seen some good glide stepping." This means "Good job, Larry, that was some really good glide stepping."
Individual encouragement really raises self-esteem and makes that individual want to try just as hard again. This requires leadership to really pay attention to individuals, but it shouldn't be hard to notice the good things if it's so easy to notice the bad. Which reminds me, if you see someone that is having trouble (Derrick, Jonathan, etc) then don't point them out individually for making a mistake. This does the opposite of individual encouragement and it lowers self-esteem. Instead talk to them after practice or when no one else is around.

That's all I got I think.

[Duke Nukem]

I think Mote should start writing down what he says. We can do it too, but it would be so much easier if he actually remembered what changes he makes.

[Anthony G]

Mote is old, and there's nothing we can do but to counter it. The things we write down aren't just for Mote, they're for us too. With all the confusion that's going on with Mote's contradictions, there needs to be something we can all refer to. Besides, what's wrong with writing things down?

[Duke Nukem]

The problem is that we end up correcting Mote, and he gets pissed when you correct him.

[Anthony G]

Except we're not correcting him. We're just writing down things on the board. Where everyone (including Mote) can see what to do. And Mote doesn't mind being corrected if there is visible proof.

[Duke Nukem]

Yeah he does.

[Anthony G]

Let's say he is against being corrected. Fine, but why are you so against writing down things on the board? It seems like you are arguing for the sake of arguing.

[Duke Nukem]

I'm not against that, I'm against correcting him on the field all the time. It could get ugly. Writing on the board is fine, though. I think we need to get Mote writing things down himself, though, too.

[Xero]

I think writing down everything Mote says is a good idea. But a small problem with that is that a lot of times we're out marching when he says certain things. Then he contradicts himself in the same practice, and we have no proof that he changed something. And we wouldn't always be able to remember what he says after practice, so we won't always get everything..... Don't argue with that. I know there's a lot of stuff in there that could be argued against to prove that writing things down is a good idea and I already agree with that. I'll start this week, if you want.

[Duke Nukem]

I'll write in my Hannah Montana notebook, but I still think we should try to get Mr. Mote writing things down as well.

[Anthony G]

I think Bethy should buy everyone Hannah Montana notebooks. We'll already have pencils because we're supposed to have them in the first place, but just in case someone forgets one, I have spare flower pencils that I don't need.

[Duke Nukem]

I have a matching Hannah Montana pen. Jealous?

[Justice Bringer]

Sept 21, 2008 18:53:02 GMT -5 Duke Nukem said:

I have a matching Hannah Montana pen. Jealous?

Very much so

[Duke Nukem]

Maybe I'll let you touch it sometime.

[Anthony G]

All right, it was cool that Mote wasted another class period today, but I just want to make sure that someone at the next leadership meeting is going to:
1. suggest the Mote-free practice
2. ask for permission to write down important things on the board (such as counts, etc)
3. tell Mote that we need more friendly competition

If anyone is willing to step up and is willing to tell Mote then please tell me.

[Duke Nukem]

The Mote-free practice is not something I'll support because I don't necessarily agree with it, but I'll argue the second two, with the addition of Mote taking his own notes as well.

What's the plan for friendly competition? We can't just throw the idea out there without a notion of how to go about it, especially with something as vague as that. Anyways, that's more up to the kids than anyone else, so I don't see what you want me to tell Mote.

[Xero]

I support all three ideas. And I already asked Ryan to suggest the Mote-free practice, so we don't have to suggest it. We just have to back him up on it.

I also need to talk to him about replacing sectionals with full band practices. I'm tired of it, even though we haven't had it happen yet. But he tried before and it almost turned out to be a disaster, especially for the trumpets. I can't agree with having full band on Wednesdays until all the trumpets have all the music passed off that they're supposed to have memorized.

[Duke Nukem]

Yeah, you and low brass still need sectionals. Talk to him about that.

[Anthony G]

We decided that we're just having the trumpets stay after practice an extra 30 minutes, but that still won't be sufficient.