Fun with Acrostics

Did you know that when Father Charles Goes Down And Eats Breakfast...

...he has granola?
...or that the granola sometimes gives him amnesia?
...or that if Father Charles is having a particularly bad day, the granola might end up eating him?

Oh the fun one can have in lessons when making up new acrostics! As you can see, one of my students from yesterday got pretty creative.

What kind of fun things have your students been up to in lessons recently?

Middle C and C Position Flashcards (Revised)

Ever had one of those moments where your best laid plans didn't quite turn out like you'd hoped? I went to print my flashcards yesterday in preparation for some games this week, and realized that the margins did not line up AT ALL! My apologies to those who may have printed them already.

I spent some time yesterday re-vamping these sets of flashcards to make sure that they lined up correctly. These new and improved sets can be found on my printables page under flashcards.

Making flashcards and worksheets is definitely a learning process for me! If anyone has tips they'd like to share, I'd love to hear from you! :)

It's the Little Things

Yesterday afternoon, I answered the door for my first students of the afternoon (a brother and sister who do back-to-back lessons) to find them bearing smiles and these lovely flowers which they handed to me with the words, "thank you for being our piano teacher."

I was so touched! There are many days when I don't feel appreciated as a teacher, and when students and their parents go out of their way to give just a small gesture of appreciation it really makes my whole day brighter! It truly is the little things that make teaching so worthwhile.

Have you had any little surprises recently that have brightened your teaching week?

Football Note Match-Up: More C-Position Review!

Here is another set of worksheets I designed with my beginning readers in mind. They can be found under the printables tab, scrolling down to the worksheets section. Enjoy!

A Family Wedding

Yesterday, I had the wonderful privilege of playing for my first family wedding. My cousin Laura was a beautiful bride, and I was so happy to be a part of her special day. I've played for a lot of weddings, but as this was the first wedding I've ever done for family, I was surprised at how emotional I found myself over the ceremony. As I watched the sanctuary filling with family I was able to pour myself into my music as my own personal gift of love to both the bride and our extended family.

This was also the first time during a wedding ceremony that I have been asked to perform the special music all by myself. Some couples have asked for a vocalist or instrumentalist, while many others simply opt not to have special music. But Laura and Tony asked me to perform one of their favorite songs, "Your Hand in Mine" by the group Explosions in the Sky. It is written for guitar, so finding a piano transcription and then adapting it to fit within the space of ~4 minutes was interesting, but so worth it!

My musical contribution to the wedding was my gift to the bride and groom, but that didn't stop Laura's mother from writing me a lovely card and passing along an Amazon giftcard as a token of thanks. I'm going to be visiting the music section of Amazon.com later this week to purchase some more music books for myself as a special treat- I can't wait!

Have you ever played for a family wedding? Did you find yourself more involved emotionally in the ceremony?