I am sitting in my auditorium cringing during a choir concert wondering - "where did I go wrong...?" and then realizing that I have not taken control of my technical staff the way I should have at the beginning of the year. I have let bad habits and cocky/controlling students run all over me. As a consequence, I have come to the painful realization that more than half of my crew does not know how to propperly set up & run a microphone or patch and write a basic cue in the light board... *(sheesh...)*
I can tell that it is now going to be a really hard thing to take control and remedy the issues that are currently plaguing me. I can also bet that I am going to get a lot of backlash from those students that I have let go this long that think they know everything there is to know. I am not sure how to approach the whole situation either... Do I go in and strongarm compliance out of them, or do I go in and tell them that major changes need to take place because of the things I have observed or what?! I was planning on making some pretty drastic changes next year as I lose the techs that have been here since before I got to my school leave (who happen to be the root of my issues at the moment...); but, the poor quality of all of their work and technical skill recently makes me think I need to nip it in the bud here and now. Some of the kids know a few things, but if we were to have a major issue we would be in major trouble. Most of my kids cannot even troubleshoot a simple mic on the fly...
So now I have to figure out how to take care of the issue and fix the festering sore that has become my tech crew...
Help...!
2 comments:
Well Nick, first off, I hope that none of your student's read your blog! Sometimes you just have to take control, it isn't always easy, especially when you are trying to break old habits. If there is anything that I can do to help you out, let me know. I have some time in the next couple weeks, and I am certainly around next season.
Don't be afraid to be the bad guy, you are in charge, and things need to run smoothly and SAFELY and you need to do whatever it takes to make sure that happens.
Things were a little different transistioning from Lewis to Hutchinson. We all acted like bastards without reason. I know that I made a ton of things difficult, I hope if you ever get teaching again you will be able to work with your crew.
P.S. Who were you talking about the patching and light cues about?
Post a Comment