Hello all!
For those of you that do not know, I am the color guard instructor at Florida High. Band camp starts next week and there is a lot to coordinate. One of the biggest things that is a summer long project is designing the halftime show performed during football games. Designing a show involves a few people. The band director sets the course for the show, the type of show that she wants, the story she wants to tell, the message she wants to send. All show designers coordinate on this part, but she starts it. Then there is the composer who writes out music. He currently lives in Ohio so all communication is done over the web. The next piece is the drill writer. He lives in South Carolina, so once again, lots of online communication. Finally there is me, the choreographer.
All four of us must work together throughout the summer to perfect the show. Another obstacle we ran into this summer, the band director is in London. So we are all four in very different places. Sometimes we use Google Chat to communicate, and sometimes skype. We use Google Docs when developing the story so we can all edit it together. We use dropbox to share the music. We use YouTube to share the choreography. Texting is usually a big component, but with the director in London, these tools and email have been essential. It is crazy to me to think how smoothly this all operates almost effortlessly. This is something that 10 years ago never could have happened in this way. Until taking this course, I did not even realize how powerful these tools really are. They have brought us together to create this story for the kids. Excited to see what other tools I stumble upon without even realizing it.
Love this! I can't wait to see your creation! I was on dance team in high school, and I have such fond memories of learning halftime shows. :)
ReplyDeleteAs far as the tools, have you all checked out 365? My team and I use it for almost everything b/c we work in different locations, too. I blogged about my mixed reaction towards Teams, but I love the collaborative editing abilities of OneDrive docs. It's also nice that it's built into the University tools, which helps with organization. Let me know if you all end up trying 365 - there are some really helpful productivity features.
We would, but since you have to have a subscription to it, not everyone has it because it can get expensive. I personally love 365 though! I use one drive and one note for all of my grad school stuff. It's great because I can work on my desktop and save something, and then go to my laptop and keep working on it. It's awesome!
DeleteGreat insights! And then when you take it one step further, you can start finding and sharing/collaborating with people you don't even know yet! A marching band in Idaho and another one in South Carolina might learn from each other (no dangers of local rivalries there, right?)
ReplyDeleteHaha yes, that is a great use too! Ohio State's marching band actually uses iPads to learn their drill instead of paper.
DeleteHi Mallory! I was/am a big 'ole band nerd myself ;) I did my Sharing/Tracking assignment on Drum Major leadership tips & tricks (https://voicethread.com/share/9365354/). Did you march drum corps?
ReplyDeleteI agree the communication levels now were unthinkable just a few years ago. I'm excited to see where we'll be in another 5/10 years :)