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With the end of summer approaching, more and more schools are deciding what actionable steps they are taking this fall. Some are going back to school, some will be partially online, and many will be fully remote.
Either way, the status of your marching season is probably unclear. Many organizations have cancelled the competitive season, but that doesn’t mean that your students can’t use this time to improve and be even stronger than they normally would for winter season (or whichever season is coming next)!
Want to know how to build a strong team from the comfort of your home? Keep reading!
1. Decrease Chance of Injury Through Remote Physical Conditioning
The excuse that I always get for improper physical conditioning is “we don’t have time, we have a whole show to learn”!
Although I think that’s a ridiculous excuse (You have time, you just don’t think of it as a priority), guess what–now you do! Teach your kids how the body and muscle groups work in relation to colorguard. Develop a fitness program for your students and set weekly fitness goals!
Important note: THIS IS NOT ABOUT WEIGHT. THIS IS NOT ABOUT APPEARANCE. THIS. IS. ABOUT. HEALTH.
No matter what age you are, understanding the importance of a healthy lifestyle is important for physical, mental, and emotional health. Up to this point, this physical education. programs (in my opinion) don’t focus on the why, the key to teaching young minds
Tell your students why healthy living is important, what the effects are, and develop a system that will help them reach their health, mental, and flexibility goals. Need help? Schedule a call with me and we can design a program together here.
2. Assign Reading
There has never been a better time to really develop and strengthen self-worth, confidence, and awareness among your students. Believe it or not, this is extremely important and definitely not paid attention to. I’ve listed a few of my favorite books below and one journal that could help:
- Secrets of Performing Confidence by Andrew Evans
- Confidence: How to Overcome Your Limiting Beliefs and Achieve Your Goals by Martin Meadows
- The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem: The Definitive Work on Self-Esteem by the Leading Pioneer in the Field by Nathaniel Branden
- JOURNAL: The Mind-Changing Habit of Journaling: A Guided Journal for Self-Exploration, Self-Care, and Re-Discovering Your Self-Worth by Zoe Mckey
Not only will you be teaching your students skills to take into the real world, you’ll also be helping them develop positive habits and encourage personal responsibility! What’s not to love?
3. Record all of your Warm-ups and Technique Exercises
Take your time to develop a helpful warm-up and technique program. Have your kids watch the exercises, learn them, and record themselves doing them. You can them provide corrections via whatever platform you like! You have the time to really dig into explanations for those basics and foundational exercises, so take advantage of it and do it! Their technique will SKYROCKET, I promise!
Having trouble with writing warm-ups and building a technique program? That’s also something I can help with! Contact me here.
4. Have Your Students Learn and/or Write their own Choreography
There are a ton of places on the internet where students can learn already-written routines that world class performers and instructors have posted for free (some of which I listed in this article). Have them learn the routines and share it with the team! You can also write some ditties for your students and have them learn it to get them used to learning your specific style of choreography.
Another exercise to help them grow and advance in their colorguard career is to have them write their own choreography and share it! Not only can this help you cultivate a supportive team environment, it can also help you to build confidence, trust, ad creativity among your kids. Plus, it’s just fun!
5. Have Weekly Work Sessions/Updates
Not everything has to be explicitly colorguard related–remember, we’re trying to build a strong team dynamic here, and that extends beyond the field or floor. Hold a non-mandatory zoom meeting every week where your students can just virtually sit together and do whatever they need to do–talk, do homework, read, stretch. Just being in the presence of other like-minded people can be incredibly healing.
6. Have Your Students Take Dance Classes Online
Movement motivates equipment. If your students can move, they can spin. I posted where you can find a lot of free and low cost dance classes in this article. There’s never been a more opportune time to truly grow as movers within this activity.
7. Have Weekly Watch Parties
Musicians listen to music, actors watch movies, so colorguard performers should watch shows! Assign your students 1-2 shows from ANY Class to watch a week. I emphasize ANY Class because while you can learn a lot from world class, there is so much to learn from A and Open as well! We’re talking DCI, WGI, local circuit shows, whatever you want! Help your students expand their knowledge in this community.
There is no reason why you and your students can’t get better this fall, even without a competitive season. Are you planning on doing any of these actionable steps? Let me know below!
