For our choir retreat, every year I ask my students to make a list of three personal goals for the year (in the context of the group) and three goals for the group.
We meet one-on-one to review their audition rubric and discuss their personal goals, and then sit together and discuss our goals for the group. (I share my own personal and group goals with everyone).
Because the questions are so open-ended, it’s a great way to discover what each student values, how he sees himself, and how he sees the group.
Personal goals varied widely, but their group goals fell into three main categories:
- musical excellence
- intra-group connection,
- outreach (both performance and social) beyond the group.
That’s a great blueprint for a year, isn’t it?