I require memorization as a yearly goal – 20  2-3 page pieces over the course of the year.  But, I never require them to perform from memory for the same reasons as you.  I believe trying to work on memory skills is a worthy goal I think for their own satisfaction of having a repertoire of pieces to sit down and play when the opportunity presents itself.

Becky sent me this comment in response to the When Students Can’t Memorize post. As much as I advocate sight-reading, this really resonates with me because I do wish I had a more expansive repertoire of pieces I could just sit down and play without the printed music. This is something I should probably encourage my students to do more regularly as well. I’m curious to know how other teachers approach this. How do you encourage memorization in your studios? Do you have a repertoire tracker of some sort so that students maintain a list of certain pieces that they can sit down and play at a moment’s notice?

Wow! Have you seen this video clip about British musical savant Derek Paravicini by Lesley Stahl, of CBS’ 60 Minutes? Talk about inspirational! In addition to watching and hearing from Derek and his parents, I really love listening to his teacher and seeing how he approached working with someone like Derek. (I think the book, In the Key of Genius, by his teacher, Adam Ocklelford, would be fascinating!) I am reminded of the importance of looking at each student as an individual, with unique God-given talents.

Yes, it’s essential to have structure and lesson plans and some sort of a framework to work within as a teacher. But it’s equally essential to know when it’s okay to throw all that out the window and just teach to the needs of the individual student. Most of us will never have a Derek Paravicini in our studios, but each of us have students with unreached potential walking through our door week after week. We just need eyes to see beyond the current challenges and frustrations and cast a vision for the future…because you never know where it will lead!

Several months ago I was contacted by BAM Radio Network about being an on-air host for a new Thought Leaders and Change Agents channel they were launching. A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to participate in a broadcast titled, “Starting Too Early, Starting Too Late? What’s Right?” The show primarily featured Carla Hannaford, Ph.D., educator and biologist.

The information Dr. Hannaford shared from her research was absolutely fascinating! I am familiar with some of the studies regarding a baby’s capacity to hear sound even while still in the mother’s womb, but I was in awe of the specific statistics that she shared. The show is a short 15 minutes or so in length, so it’s a quick listen, but I think every parent, musician, and teacher will benefit greatly from it! You’ll have to let me know what you think.

Someone once said, “You will be the same person you are today in 10 years except for the influence of the books you read and the people you hang around with.” This could probably be said specifically of us as teachers, too. I don’t ever want to get stuck in a rut of teaching the same old things the same old way. That’s why I subscribe to various music magazines, read music and education-related books, subscribe to dozens of music blogs, etc. There are always so many insightful and inspiring nuggets to be gained from others! Here are a few great thoughts that I came across recently:

“Piano teachers often cite the disparity of student levels in groups as a primary concern. I see this as an enormous advantage rather than an insurmountable hindrance. Because of this dynamic environment involving students with unique abilities and individual differences, students stand to learn something from one another and can contribute something meaningful to the group. Further, the potential for groups to motivate students to higher levels of achievement is an undeniable benefit. Indeed, the efficacy of group piano teaching is proven and the list of its merits is expansive.” ~Christopher Fisher, in an interview at ComposeCreate.com.

“Baby steps are tangible proof that some work is better than throwing in the towel, and that even the smallest action toward my goal serves me better than giving up…Truth is, large swatches of time never open up in my life, but baby steps I can manage.” ~Amy Greer, columnist for the AMT Magazine

“I assigned students to keep track of which pieces were their favorites during the recital – which ones they would want to learn in the future.” ~Bruce Berr, columnist for the AMT Magazine, describing the ingenious idea he had for helping his students stay focused and enjoy the music that their fellow students were performing at the studio recital. [I love this idea and want to try it at my next recital!]

“Your habits in the practice room make you the musician that you are.” Gerald Klickstein, in his book, The Musician’s Way

“My daughter said her favorite group lessons activity ever was playing “musical keys” with it.  Students each drew a flashcard and walked around the keyboard sheet with music playing.  When the music stopped they had to race to place their flashcards on the correct key.” Heidi, in her comment on last week’s Giant-Sized Piano Keyboard post [doesn't this sound like a blast?! I can't wait to try it with my students!]

Years ago I heard someone make a distinction by stating, “I don’t teach piano; I teach students to play the piano.” This has stuck with me ever since I heard it, and guides my perspective from week to week as I work with my students. One of the reasons I love teaching so much is because I really love my students! Every single one of them has a unique personality, God-given talents, varied interests, differing perspectives, etc. I love talking with them, sharing ideas, discussing life events, and getting input from them.

Numerous times, I have heard other teachers exclaim about how nice it is to have “adult interaction” in contrast with spending so much time each day with kids (a.k.a. their students). It’s also not uncommon to hear others advise new teachers to keep their personal life separate from their professional life. They caution them to keep their dealings with their studio families professional and not to get too personal with them. I couldn’t disagree more with either of these mindsets! For starters, when I’m working with my students, I speak to them on the same level that I would most adults. I don’t dumb down my vocabulary. If they don’t understand something, we discuss it in more detail, or I alter my explanation, but I don’t automatically assume that they won’t understand me if I explain it in the most precise terminology. And we discuss all sorts of things – philosophies of musical styles, historical elements of time periods, theory concepts…as well as many non-music topics.

Secondly, my studio operates with almost a full overlap between a professional and personal approach. I intentionally make efforts to get to know my students and families on a personal level. One of the ways I do this is by attending other events in which my students are involved – plays, concerts, sports games, community fairs, etc. Two weekends ago, several of my students were competing at a local 4-H event, so I went to watch and support them. When I arrived, I ran into a neighbor friend who asked what I was doing there. When I told her I was watching my students in the piano competition, she was in awe and said that in many years of her daughters competing in the event their piano teacher has never once attended.

Now I realize that there is not always the flexibility to be able to attend events and support our students in their various endeavors. But I strongly believe that one of the primary ways we can invest in our students as people, not just as musicians, is by getting to know them and their families on a personal level – caring about them and who they are outside of the piano lesson. This is why I look forward to lessons – not only do I have the opportunity to impart a love for music and the skills to play the piano, but I also get to see and spend time with some of my favorite people!

I know we’re a ways past the first of the year now, but I’m still contemplating goals I want to work toward and improvements I want to make – personally and professionally. Chris Foley has a fabulous article on “10 Ways to Improve Your Musicianship in 2010.” Check out this great statement:

“Single-mindedness and dedication will in large part determine the outcome in a process where talent usually means less than the hard work required for others to think that you were talented in the first place.”

My favorite item is 5. Go on a diet – of listening. A fascinating concept. Chris concludes with this observation, “If you become a part of the performing culture of your chosen musical style, it will add an energy and passion to your musical endeavors that will help propel your playing to the next level.” I’ve never been very “up” on different performers and haven’t made a point to listen to a wide variety of musicians in the past, so I’m excited about the possibility of making an intentional effort toward this end this year. We’ll see how that goes!

Okay, I think I’ve saved the best for the last! You must, must, must find a way to get together with other teachers on a somewhat regular basis. Virtually is good, but in person is the best! I am a member of several local music teachers associations, plus our state association, and Music Teachers National Association. I can say without hesitation that I would not be the teacher that I am today were it not for the investment of numerous other teachers in my life. It is impossible to quantify the benefit I have received from attending local workshops, serving on leadership boards, traveling to state and national conferences, and just visiting with colleagues about a host of teaching-related issues. They’ve given me advice, support, encouragement, ideas, and camaraderie that is invaluable!

It’s great to be able to connect with other teachers on-line via forums, blogs, and e-mail (and I’ve met some incredible teachers that way!), but I highly recommend becoming a member of your local association(s) and making plans to attend a state or national conference this year. In fact, I just completed my registration for the MTNA Conference in Albuquerque, NM March 20-24 a couple weeks ago and I think it would be a blast to plan a time to meet-up, get to know each other in person, and talk about all things teaching-related (well, maybe about other things, too…)! Anyone else already going? Anyone else thinking about going? Leave a comment or e-mail me if you’re interested in being part of a group meet-up and we can start working on the specific arrangements. (Or, for those of you on facebook, RSVP on the 2010 MTNA Conference event page and I’ll keep you in the loop as we make plans!) I still have to finalize my travel and lodging arrangements, but now that the registration is in, I’m thrilled and anticipating a fabulous time!

Hopefully this short series on re-igniting enthusiasm has been helpful. Please keep sharing your own thoughts or suggestions in this area. I know we can all use it!

Most of us teach because we love playing music, we love working with students, and/or we just love teaching. Few of us run studios because we just love doing recordkeeping, filing taxes, and handling other aspects on the business-side of things. I will confess, however, that I love the challenge of strategizing and coming up with good systems to set in place to streamline business operations. If you have a good system in place, staying organized is easy! Here are a few organizational systems that help me maintain some semblance of sanity.

1. Music Teacher’s Helper – If you’ve been reading here for any length of time at all, you know that I am a HUGE fan of Music Teacher’s Helper! Even though I haven’t even tapped into every feature that it offers, this has streamlined my bookkeeping and makes it a breeze. I love the way it keeps my finances organized and presents a professional image for my families since each of them have an account to receive automatic invoices, check records, pay on-line, and more. I’m in the highest cost bracket at $24.95/month, but it is so worth it for me!

2. Managing Receipts – This is a very simple binder system, but it’s essential for record-keeping and tax time! I have one binder for each of my businesses that serves to collect the receipts for the whole year according to the month in which the purchase was made. And then I archive the receipts for three years, so I have two other binders (again, one for each business) that each contain the monthly sheet protectors filled with receipts from the previous three years.

3. Student Worksheets – There are so many great resources on-line, but I needed a way to have just the right worksheet available at the tip of my fingers when I ascertained that it would be beneficial to a particular student. This binder system is what I developed for that purpose and it has served me well for several years now. I have a similar, but separate, binder set-up just for the sight-reading drills that we’re using this year.

4. Printed Music – When it comes to music books and sheet music, we’re all familiar with the Overflowing Piano Bench Syndrome and the impossible-to-keep-organized bookshelves, right? These file cabinets have been incredible for keeping music organized! Plus, with items like this that students will be accessing, it’s important to have a system in place that makes sense to them and is easy for them to utilize as well.

Those are some of the key areas that I’ve worked on over the past several years. This year, I’m hoping to come up with a better system for listing music books that I need to purchase for students and a way to keep track of what books/pieces students have used/learned. Any suggestions?

What makes you really excited? Studying music history? Sight-reading new repertoire? Dreaming up game ideas? Improvising arrangements of familiar tunes by ear?

Capitalize on your own area of interest to build the enthusiasm of your students. Invest your excitement into putting together creative assignments for your students. For example, plan a group class around composers and have every student present a brief report on a composer of their choosing. Or host a “Sight-Reading Super Stars Challenge” and let students put star stickers on a chart on the wall for every piece they sight-read throughout one month. Or pull out a deck of flashcards and come up with a fun, short game that you can play for the first five minutes of every lesson one week. Or hold a Name that Tune challenge where you print up a list of possibilities and give it to the student for reference; then play various tunes and have them see if they can identify which one it is from the list on the sheet.

One of the most effective approaches I ever started was developing a year-long practice incentive theme for my entire studio. Our whole year is built around the theme and I build in enough structure so that it functions like a lesson plan for the whole year, commingled with enough flexibility to customize the assignments for each student and for any specific needs throughout the year. I was able to spend a bit of time organizing my files over Christmas break and have put together a Resources for Sale page that highlights outlines each of the practice incentives that I currently have available, including the newest one that I finally added – Mastering the Mystery of Music! I’ve included not only the ready-to-print files, but also the original Word Doc files that are fully editable so that you can use the basic idea but customize and adapt it for your studio. Plus, this program also includes lesson plans for 6 correlating group classes throughout the year, complete with objectives, games, resource links, and weekly clues. (This is the kind of thing that gets me really excited, and brainstorming up a new idea every year definitely re-ignites my enthusiasm! )

One of the driving motivations in life is to increase my knowledge and skills and strive for excellence in all that I do. While these qualities reflect some of my core values, I realized several years ago that I was running myself into the ground because I was expecting more of myself than I could actually handle. This was true in several areas of my life, but especially in teaching. My expectations drove our time during lessons and I was more intent on reaching those expectations than really being sensitive and flexible to the needs of each student. And then, when I didn’t meet those expectations, I would emotionally beat myself up for not being a good enough teacher.

I don’t even remember exactly how I came to the realization that I was doing this, but once I did and was able to let go of it, I experienced a freedom and confidence that I had never felt before! It was okay to not know all the answers, to not have concert-level performers, to not be an expert in jazz or composition. Each of us have different talents and areas of expertise as teachers and we will be most successful in our teaching when we are able to function according to those areas. This is something I discussed more thoroughly in a workshop I presented to a music teachers association recently titled, “How to Build Your Studio Identity,” but one of the underlying principles is that each of us have to build our studios according to our own philosophies, strengths, clientele, etc.

Don’t allow yourself to become enslaved to self-imposed expectations or pressure to be like other teachers. Think through your own particular needs and the needs of your studio and then focus on implementing one change at a time to improve your teaching and/or business practices. I am a huge advocate for learning from others and using great ideas that you find, but pick one idea that you think could really benefit your studio and then focus on that for a month. See how it goes, and then move on to another idea the following month. Definitely try new things, but don’t feel like you have to make drastic changes all at once! Take it one step at a time and enjoy yourself. Then your students will as well.