Monthly Archives: April 2011

Monday Mailbag – Planning Piano Camps

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I’ve also been planning on doing an “Introduction to the piano” course…can’t wait to see your lesson plans!  How many days does your camp go for?

It’s getting to be that time of year when we all start thinking about summer plans! At least, in theory we are all thinking about summer plans, right? In reality, I assume that some of you are just trying to survive the upcoming year-end contests/tests/evaluations, etc. like I am. :-) Anyway…here are some thoughts on planning a successful summer piano camp:

  • Survey your families ahead of time to find out if they are interested in participating in a summer piano camp and to determine their availability. This is a must! You don’t want to put in all the work to plan a great camp and then find out that the schedule you’ve planned on won’t work for anyone. A lesson I learned the hard way! (Here’s a link to a free downloadable survey that I’ve used in the past.)
  • I hold my regular piano camps every day of one week for two hours a day. The camp usually follows some sort of theme or at least is based on specific objectives. A Carnival of the Animals Summer Piano Camp was a huge hit one year! My high school students also had a great time one year doing an Isaac Watts film project.
  • When I launched a Pre-piano Camp last year for 3-5 year-olds, I held it one day a week for six weeks – one hour a day. That seemed to work really well for the little ones. I think the program I put together for them could easily have been stretched to a 12-week course to use in the fall (which I’m thinking of doing this fall!) because we had to skip over some of the activities.
  • Keep in mind the needs and interests of your students and families. This year I’m thinking about including two different summer piano camp theme options when I survey my families to see what would be of the most interest to them. Piano camps are a ton of fun and there are so many great resources available that it’s worth it for every teacher to give it a try! Anyone else working on plans for summer piano camps this year? If you have developed or come across a great resource for this purpose, feel free to share it!

Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!

Meet the Orchestra – Collection of Printable Pages

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Making Music Fun recently announced that their whole collection of Meet the Orchestra pages has gone printable!

Find instruments in the Woodwind Family, the Brass Family, the String Family, the Percussion Family, and the Keyboard Family. For each instrument, you can read about the history, how it’s played, how it’s made, and an extra fun fact. This is a super resource for music students who want to learn about the different instruments!

Boil ‘em Cabbage Down is a Hit!

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A couple weeks ago, I mentioned my group class collaborative experiment. As you’ll notice in the video clip below, we didn’t get everything polished, but we did have a ton of fun! We only had a few minutes for this activity, so it was all sight-reading and playing by ear for the students. They all responded really favorably, though, to making music together on their different instruments. We had a cellist, a guitarist, a drummer, a trumpeter, a xylophonist, a keyboardist, and several pianists. It’s definitely something I would recommend doing, and hopefully we’ll do it again, too!

So…What’s Your Point?

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One of my take-home ideas from the MTNA Conference last week was gleaned from the session on My Students Aren’t Listening! Is it Me or Them? Although it was directed toward young children, I think I’m going to see if I can apply it with all my students. It’s the concept of making one point very clear in the lesson so that the student knows without a doubt what they learned that day.

I was reminded of this when I saw this short clip on Telling a Story by veteran NPR reporter Scott Simon (thanks to Gerald Klickstein for including the link in his recent issue of The Musician’s Way newsletter!):

What is your point at each lesson? Do you know? Do your students know?

Review and Giveaway of Cool Songs for Cool Kids Volume 2 by Jerald Simon

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Jerald Simon has been busy at work composing again! Actually, I don’t think he ever stops. :-) His popular Cool Songs for Cool Kids book is now joined by a second volume in the series (soon to be followed by a third, I hear…).

Cool Songs for Cool Kids Volume 2 contains a variety of different styles, from blues to lyrical to rock. At the top of each piece is an indication of what style category it fits into, helping students become familiar with the various styles. Another great teaching tool is the inclusion of a paragraph after each title specifying what skills are incorporated into the piece.

Most of the pieces are very patterned and easy to learn. They seem considerably easier than the first volume and would be well-suited to an early intermediate student. I appreciate the variety in this volume as well. Also incredibly helpful is that Jerald has recorded each of the pieces and you (or a student) can listen to them on his website. They are obviously designed with the student in mind and seek to capitalize on the kinds of fun and repetitive sounds that kids do, indeed, seem to love playing. I wouldn’t use most of them as main fare with my students, but they sure make a nice “dessert” piece that students will look forward to playing. :-)

Now for the great news…Jerald has generously agreed to giveaway not 1, but 10 copies of Cool Songs for Cool Kids! 5 copies of Volume 1 and 5 copies of Volume 2. If you’re interested, just leave a comment below. The drawing will close at noon (CST) on Thursday, April 14. The winner will be chosen using a random number generator.

Monday Mailbag – Frugal Tips for Travelers

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Perhaps you could post on how a thrifty, frugal teacher could save to attend the MTNA Conference? Do you put aside a little each month?

I decided to bump this question to the top of the Monday Mailbag list because of its relevance. Plus, I was able to solicit the advice of my frugal traveling companion, Lisa, and we compiled a list of ideas together:

  • Consider all transportation options. You can drive, catch a plane, travel by train, maybe even bus. The last couple years I’ve found it to be significantly cheaper to take the train than to travel by air. Plus, the train is just fun!
  • Consider all lodging options. The conference hotel may be the most convenient, but it is rarely the most cost-efficient. Not everyone is up for this, but I usually try to stay with friends in the area. In fact, last year when the conference was in Albuquerque, I didn’t know anyone there, so I asked my pastor if he happened to have any connections in that area. He had a friend who was the pastor of a church there, so he got in touch with him and asked if anyone in his congregation would be interested in housing me. A sweet elderly couple gladly opened their home to me and we had a wonderful week getting to know each other! If that’s a little too far outside your realm of comfort, you can at least shop around with other hotels in the area to find a good deal. And if you can share a room with a colleague (or two or three!), that makes it even more affordable.
  • Pack a collapsible cooler and take your own snack food that you can use for breakfasts and lunches. I try to only eat out one meal a day when I travel and usually dinner is the best option because it’s a great time to visit with other conference attendees. This year a big ziplock bag of homemade granola and a carton of yogurt lasted me the whole week. A fruit and nut mix, plus some pretzels and peanut butter were great for lunches.
  • If you don’t want to pack snacks, try stopping at a grocery store to stock up once you get to your destination.
  • If you eat a meal out, order something a bit more substantial than you need and take half of it to go. This can be used for lunch the next day if you want more than some simple snacks.
  • If you don’t have the desire or means to store leftovers, find a friend who will split an entrée with you at dinner.
  • Take a collapsible cooler and empty ziplock bags that you can fill with ice from the hotel ice machine to keep items cold. This is much more economical than renting a refrigerator for your room!
  • If you are eating with a group, try negotiating for a better price. For example, at our Monday evening get-together at this year’s conference, one of the ladies talked to the restaurant staff and they agreed to give us the buffet at a cost of $9.95/person instead of the regular $14.95/person.
  • Be prepared and budget for miscellaneous expenses that can add up (tips for the doorman and bellhop, taxi fare, parking meters and/or garages, tolls, etc.). These can add up, but if you think about them and plan ahead, it won’t throw your budget out of whack when they come up. I didn’t do this this year and almost choked when I had to fork over $30 for a 10-minute taxi ride!
  • Sign up for various internet deal sites in advance to see if you can snag some special offers on restaurants or attractions in the area. Restaurant.com, LivingSocial.com, and Groupon.com are a few of the big ones.
  • Check to see if the hotel and conference facility will have wi-fi and if there are charges for it. Determine whether it will be necessary to take a laptop to use during the conference.
  • Make a list of studio needs or items to purchase and stick to it when going through the exhibit hall and when planning which exhibitor showcases to attend.
  • Set a budget of how much you are willing to spend on extra materials and music that you find out about at the conference. There will be some great deals that you’ll want to take advantage of; you just don’t want to go crazy spending money that you’ll later regret!
  • Keep close track of all your expenses and store your receipts together. Be sure to include them as business expenses for tax reporting purposes.
  • If you feel the need to perk up your wardrobe a bit for a professional conference, shop the local thrift stores. You can find some super cute clothes at very affordable prices.
  • Plan as many things in advance as possible – meetings and meals with friends/colleagues, local attractions to visit, etc. Do your research ahead of time. Send for travel guides and scour the internet looking for ideas, deals, and coupons. Familiarize yourself with the area and all there is to do and see. As they say…time is money! You don’t want to waste time trying to figure out things that you could have figured out from home. For example, I noticed that ING has a café in New York City. I’ve always wanted to go to one of their cafés and they just happen to have a coupon on their website for a free coffee at the café. I printed one out and will drop it in my New York folder so that I can keep it in mind for planning purposes. (Incidentally, if you’re looking for a new bank and want to try ING, let me know and I can send you a referral link that will get you a bonus deposit of $25 – and me a bonus of $10! J)
  • Decide early to attend so that you can benefit from the early bird registration discount. Plus, you can start keeping your eyes open now for great deals instead of scrambling at the last minute to pull everything together.
  • Pray for good deals! I do this all the time as I’m searching on-line for car rentals, lodging, area attractions, etc. It’s amazing to see the care God takes even in providing for the little details of our lives.

Typically, my total conference cost falls between $500-$1,000 (not including items I purchase in the Exhibit Hall). I just account for that at the beginning of the year when I am figuring out my income and expenses and setting my monthly operating budget so that money is allocated toward the conference each month. Obviously, there are lots of variables involved, but just figure out which things are important to you and where you want to spend your money. Come up with an estimated total cost and figure out how much to set aside each month. Regardless of the situation, some serious planning and saving will pave the way for pretty much any music teacher to attend the conference!

I’d love to hear from any other seasoned travelers and/or conference-goers. What tips do you have for making a trip to the conference affordable?

Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!