u/Outrageous-Permit372

As I sit and grade the written final exam, I'm wondering how so many students got this far in the year without, for example, being able to put dynamics in order from loudest to quietest (even though we very frequently discussed and performed these dynamics), or can't correctly label articulations and other symbols found throughout their music, or even be able to name notes on a staff or write rhythm counts accurately, even though it was part of our classroom routine.

My solution for next year is to assign worksheets more regularly as homework so that I can catch these students early and help them figure out what they need to know, but in almost 15 years of teaching band, I've never given out worksheets. So, I'm asking here if anyone has advice (or wants to advise against this idea) on how to make homework meaningful and not let it consume too much time for either myself or the students.

Back in 2008 I played an offstage trumpet part on Verdi's Requiem, but it was in college and we had plenty of rehearsals to nail the timing and position and all of those little details. This time I'm playing with a professional orchestra, and we only get two rehearsals in the performance hall, plus some of the other offstage parts are imports and will only get one rehearsal.

Do you have any tips for helping me make this a success? I am normally a sub and I've played multiple times with the orchestra this year, so at least I'm used to the hall, the section, and the conductor. I'll talk to the principle player too, but I wanted to ask the community here first so I don't go in looking like a complete greenhorn.

One of the things I do when I'm handing out music is decide who gets to play what percussion part. I'm not a percussionist, but I always imagined that getting stuck with Bass Drum or Triangle or Suspended Cymbal ("boring" aux parts) on every song would make me want to quit band. I'd jump at the chance to play the snare or a complex aux part, but I don't want to hog it on every song.

As the director, I try to pass the parts around, give everyone a chance to play snare drum or something similar, and avoid having one person play the same instrument too many times on one concert. Sometimes that means doubling the snare part to allow a weaker player to try it without risking the success of the whole group. But sometimes I don't have a way to let everybody do it, and now it's the week of the concert and I'm realizing one kid is playing bass drum on 3 out of 4 songs, another is playing nothing but triangle and bass drum, and I wonder if anyone else has the same issues?

Am I overreacting? Do some percussionists not mind playing bass drum all the time? Is there a better way to hand out parts? Edit: I teach 5th-12th band in a small school, only one HS group, no marching band.