You know the day I’m talking about. The one where you in danger of becoming Jacob Two-Two because you have repeated the EXACT same phrase to (almost) every student you are teaching. Perhaps it’s been one of those days (or weeks) where you have repeatedly heard … Continue reading “When it's been one of those days: Part 2”
Getting paid what you're worth
In university, we joked that if any of us were going into a career for the pay cheque we wouldn’t have chosen teaching. And, it is true that an education degree gets you among the lowest pay cheque of the professional degrees. Yet, we fulfill so many roles beyond just teaching concepts. So, how do we, as teachers, get paid what we are worth? In fact, what is that magical number?
Anecdotal records … for when your memory fails you.
I would like to say my memory has gotten worse over the years, but that wouldn’t be completely accurate. I have always been the teacher who walked up & down the aisles saying student names under my breath for the first few weeks of school. (This always led to strange looks until I explained why they kept hearing their names.) In my personal life, my memory has not really fared much better. While I can remember which student is competing in a spelling bee, whose dog died between lessons, who just lost a tooth, & who would love to talk about the latest Skylanders game, the nitty gritty of what exactly we did in lesson … not so much. So, I keep detailed anecdotal records of every single lesson. I’ve tried high-tech & low-tech methods, but my best method turns out to not be anything fancy.
Continue reading “Anecdotal records … for when your memory fails you.”
The top reasons why it's great to teach at your client's homes
Here in Calgary we are heading into the season where my clients are VERY happy they have in-home lessons & I dream of one day having an in-home studio. (The background image was the windshield of my car earlier this week when my clients were glad to stay inside.) And, when it gets really cold … well, I try to list off all the reasons it’s great to teach at my client’s homes. Continue reading “The top reasons why it's great to teach at your client's homes”