The modern piano teacher’s blog
If you have read The Unfinished Lesson for awhile, you may have noticed that I write quite a bit about balancing priorities & creating a studio environment that works for the individual teacher. So, why am I so passionate about this topic?
This is my journey from stressed out teacher to successful studio owner!
I was really looking forward to attending the MusicEdConnect 2019 conference! From past experience I know the content will be great & the presenters approachable. My students also know (& lightly teased me) that next week I will be back in the studio with many ideas & an infectious excitement!
As I watched my kids complete some of their daily tasks I got to thinking about teaching, of course. I wondered, “Should we let students make mistakes or should we correct everything right away?” My thinking has changed over the years, both in teaching and parenting.
Having a studio recital is a lot of work. And, it’s completely worth it. But, you may be thinking, “The recital is over … now what?” Maybe you are feeling burnt out or “burnt out adjacent” (the feeling of don’t-add-anything-more-because-I-am-JUST-barely-able-to-get-everything-done). I was definitely feeling burnt out adjacent in the last few months. And, our studio…
We are heading into our 6th month of winter and I’ll admit some days it can be difficult to remember the positives. How do we make sure we continue to celebrate those small wins that make lessons so rewarding?
This is a time of year that many of us have made New Year’s Resolutions and are struggling to keep up with them. I know this because I have been that person in the past more times than I care to admit.
This week, I’ll be letting you know how my students and I are settling into a routine again, but with a mind on how we can reach our goals in the next few months!
The new IKEA catalogue came several weeks ago. While we don’t NEED new furniture right now, I like looking at how they set up the rooms for ideas of what we can do with our home. But, this time it was different.
What if we could drastically change the reading behaviour of our clients with a shift in perspective for our studio-client communications?
This is the first in a new series of book reviews on the blog.
Lately, I have been wondering about the role of repetition in both lessons & practice time. In my own practice, it has been enlightening to see the natural patterns I fall into. Especially since some of them, as a teacher, I really do know better. As a teacher, it’s painful sitting through a song that once again a student has obviously put NO thought into during a week of incorrect practice. (“Why is the starting note still incorrect?” “I didn’t realize.” “It was written in bold on your practice page.” “Huh.”)
Your vision for your studio may change over time and that’s okay. My starting vision of having a studio that consistently improves has new offerings for clients hasn’t changed. But, the evolution of that vision is drastically different from what I had originally planned. I opted to have a boutique studio!