It's been a great week in my studio! I am so blessed with the students God has given me to teach, and while there are definitely good weeks and bad weeks, I can say without a doubt that I feel blessed to be a teacher. :)
Here are some of the reasons I'm doing a little happy dance this Friday afternoon:
1. I started 2 new students this week, and I can already tell that they are going to be wonderful additions to my studio!
2. I saw a positive response to a "you need to buckle down" conversation I had with a student last week. She came back this week and the difference was obvious- I was so proud of her for putting in the effort!
3. A student who's always been wishy-washy about practice is experiencing a practice revolution and exhibiting a much better attitude toward practice over the week.
4. Several students who are being diligent in memory work and asking about the upcoming recital because they're excited about performing!
5. Hearing about a performance given by one of my students at a Good Friday service at church (a student who is normally very shy about performing and has never been super enthusiastic about music/lessons in general).
6. Several encouraging messages from parents.
This was just what I needed to get back into the swing of things after our studio spring break! Have you felt especially blessed by certain students/parents recently?
Friday, April 13, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Easter Group Lesson Fun
Yesterday afternoon I held an Easter-themed group lesson for my early elementary piano students. Even though this is my break week from normal lessons, I'd had several students inquire about group lessons, so a few weeks back I decided to schedule a special group class for the younger ones.
I had a blast, and I hope they did too. Unfortunately, I kind of forgot to take pictures once we got past the first activity...but here's the one picture I did take!
As the students arrived, we did some fun Easter worksheets from Susan Paradis' blog. I also had paper goodie bags that each student decorated. They were much more excited about decorating their goodie bags! ;)
Once everyone had arrived and had mostly finished their worksheets, we divided into 2 teams (The Dolphins and The Chocolate Bunnies) and headed outside for our first game: an Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. I used this wonderful game from The Plucky Pianista. I gave each team the scavenger hunt sheet, and they had to search the yard for hidden eggs and find the terms. Not all of the eggs had terms inside. Some of the eggs were empty, and some had just candy. Both teams came very close to winning- but when the time was up The Chocolate Bunnies won by 1 term!
Our next game involved the rhythm eggs I posted about last week. We played a relay race. Each team had 10 eggs to sort into either a 3/4 or a 4/4 basket on the opposite side of the yard. They had to take an egg and hop like bunnies across the yard to place the egg in the correct basket. The Dolphins won this game.
Back inside, we took a break from all the games and had our performance time. I had the students write the names of their songs on index cards and place them in an Easter basket. I chose the first card, and then the student that played chose the next card and so on. While each student played, the student who had their card wrote 1 nice thing about their performance on the back of the card.
Then it was time for our final game: Pass the Easter Basket. My students did a great job defining the terms- though they found out that sometimes it's not as easy to figure out how to describe a theory term as one would think! ;) We ended up with a tie in this game.
Our final activity was a listening activity using Handel's Hallelujah Chorus. As we listened, the students drew pictures. It was fun to see the different interpretations. Some drew pictures of instruments, and one student drew a concert hall complete with singers, an orchestra, dancers, and a chandelier!
All in all, it was a fun and successful afternoon! Have you been planning any special Easter group activities with your students?
I had a blast, and I hope they did too. Unfortunately, I kind of forgot to take pictures once we got past the first activity...but here's the one picture I did take!
As the students arrived, we did some fun Easter worksheets from Susan Paradis' blog. I also had paper goodie bags that each student decorated. They were much more excited about decorating their goodie bags! ;)
Once everyone had arrived and had mostly finished their worksheets, we divided into 2 teams (The Dolphins and The Chocolate Bunnies) and headed outside for our first game: an Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. I used this wonderful game from The Plucky Pianista. I gave each team the scavenger hunt sheet, and they had to search the yard for hidden eggs and find the terms. Not all of the eggs had terms inside. Some of the eggs were empty, and some had just candy. Both teams came very close to winning- but when the time was up The Chocolate Bunnies won by 1 term!
Our next game involved the rhythm eggs I posted about last week. We played a relay race. Each team had 10 eggs to sort into either a 3/4 or a 4/4 basket on the opposite side of the yard. They had to take an egg and hop like bunnies across the yard to place the egg in the correct basket. The Dolphins won this game.
Back inside, we took a break from all the games and had our performance time. I had the students write the names of their songs on index cards and place them in an Easter basket. I chose the first card, and then the student that played chose the next card and so on. While each student played, the student who had their card wrote 1 nice thing about their performance on the back of the card.
Then it was time for our final game: Pass the Easter Basket. My students did a great job defining the terms- though they found out that sometimes it's not as easy to figure out how to describe a theory term as one would think! ;) We ended up with a tie in this game.
Our final activity was a listening activity using Handel's Hallelujah Chorus. As we listened, the students drew pictures. It was fun to see the different interpretations. Some drew pictures of instruments, and one student drew a concert hall complete with singers, an orchestra, dancers, and a chandelier!
All in all, it was a fun and successful afternoon! Have you been planning any special Easter group activities with your students?
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Pass the Easter Basket: Group Lesson Terminology Game
This is another game I'll be playing with my beginner group lesson next week. It's just like hot potato, except you pass around a basket filled with cards. When the music stops, the student holding the basket has to choose and define a term.
For more instructions and the free printable, just look under the games section of the printables tab.
For more instructions and the free printable, just look under the games section of the printables tab.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Easter Egg Rhythm Sorting Game
I'm planning a special group lesson over Easter Break week for my beginning students and in preparation I'm coming up with a few easy games that will help them review basic concepts.
This simple game helps students recognize and distinguish between 3/4 and 4/4/ time.
There are 4 pages of 'rhythm eggs', plus a blank page if you want to make up some more of your own. Simply print and cut out the eggs. Then get 2 baskets and designate 1 basket for the 3/4 eggs and 1 for the 4/4 eggs. The student must look at the card and decide which basket to place the egg into. You can do this activity individually in lessons, or as a fun group activity with 2 teams competing to see which team can get all their eggs sorted first.
You can view and print the game by going to the printables tab under "Games". Hope you enjoy this game with your students!
This simple game helps students recognize and distinguish between 3/4 and 4/4/ time.
There are 4 pages of 'rhythm eggs', plus a blank page if you want to make up some more of your own. Simply print and cut out the eggs. Then get 2 baskets and designate 1 basket for the 3/4 eggs and 1 for the 4/4 eggs. The student must look at the card and decide which basket to place the egg into. You can do this activity individually in lessons, or as a fun group activity with 2 teams competing to see which team can get all their eggs sorted first.
You can view and print the game by going to the printables tab under "Games". Hope you enjoy this game with your students!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Celebrating a Breakthrough!
Teaching can be a frustrating business. Sometimes it seems that no matter what we do as teachers, a student reaches a point where they give up. I've had my share of experiences like that over the years, but I've also experienced some real successes with students, and I try to dwell on those positive experiences more than the negative.
I have a student who has been taking for about 2 years. When she first started lessons she was super enthusiastic and practiced with diligence every week. She was a fast learner and ate up her music.
Then something happened last fall. We really started having problems. She started hating practice, was having trouble remembering even the most basic music concepts, and was considering quitting piano. Thankfully, her mom was not willing to let her give up so easily, so we came up with a plan that I implemented this spring.
We scaled WAY back in lesson material, moving back to My First Piano Adventures to re-learn notes and review interval reading. I was a little worried that this would not go over well, but it's been a fabulous decision! The student LOVES the book and the songs, and her mom is playing along with her each week using the duet parts. I've seen a dramatic increase in her reading skills.
To help keep things interesting, we're also working on several pieces that are a bit more at her level so that she feels like she's working on something besides just the basics. But every week I try to apply what we're working on in the MFPA to the other pieces, and she's making the connections.
The biggest surprise was yesterday when she showed up for her lesson with 5 days of practice and over 100 minutes logged for the week! That hasn't happened in probably about a year- we'd gotten to the point where getting her to practice was like pulling teeth. But this new approach has made all the difference in the world. She has started enjoying practice again and looks forward to her lessons.
Have you ever experienced a breakthrough like this, where a student is just about ready to give up but you're able to develop a plan that helps them re-discover their love for music? It takes a little bit of extra effort, but it's SO worth it when you see their passion for music rekindled!
I have a student who has been taking for about 2 years. When she first started lessons she was super enthusiastic and practiced with diligence every week. She was a fast learner and ate up her music.
Then something happened last fall. We really started having problems. She started hating practice, was having trouble remembering even the most basic music concepts, and was considering quitting piano. Thankfully, her mom was not willing to let her give up so easily, so we came up with a plan that I implemented this spring.
We scaled WAY back in lesson material, moving back to My First Piano Adventures to re-learn notes and review interval reading. I was a little worried that this would not go over well, but it's been a fabulous decision! The student LOVES the book and the songs, and her mom is playing along with her each week using the duet parts. I've seen a dramatic increase in her reading skills.
To help keep things interesting, we're also working on several pieces that are a bit more at her level so that she feels like she's working on something besides just the basics. But every week I try to apply what we're working on in the MFPA to the other pieces, and she's making the connections.
The biggest surprise was yesterday when she showed up for her lesson with 5 days of practice and over 100 minutes logged for the week! That hasn't happened in probably about a year- we'd gotten to the point where getting her to practice was like pulling teeth. But this new approach has made all the difference in the world. She has started enjoying practice again and looks forward to her lessons.
Have you ever experienced a breakthrough like this, where a student is just about ready to give up but you're able to develop a plan that helps them re-discover their love for music? It takes a little bit of extra effort, but it's SO worth it when you see their passion for music rekindled!
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Growing as a Church Musician
I am reminded of this pretty much every week: if you want to succeed as a church musician without completely losing your sanity you have to learn to be flexible! It's really not about perfection, but about how well you are able to roll with the punches and deal with whatever is thrown your way.
Every year, our church collaborates with another local church for 2 consecutive Sundays. The first Sunday, our adult and bell choirs travel to their church to join them, while the following Sunday they join us at our church. It's always a wonderful experience as we get 2 Sundays packed full of music!
This year, as a member of the bell choir, I was secretly looking forward to a 'morning off' from my responsibilities as church pianist as we were traveling to the sister church where their church pianist would be taking care of accompanying the choirs and performing all the service music. I was also excited about the opportunity about actually singing with the choir instead of accompanying them!
Think again.
When we arrived, I was approached by the church pianist, who asked me if I'd be willing to finish up the service as he needed to leave early that day. I was still able to play bells and sing with the choir, but I also played all the music for the latter half of the service. So instead of a morning off, I ended up doing more than my usual weekly musical responsibilities.
But you know what the neatest thing was? The fact that I didn't mind being asked to take on those extra responsibilities! And the fact that I wasn't nervous about them either! A year or 2 ago, if I had been asked to fill in in that capacity, I would have felt extremely nervous about the last minute preparations, and it probably would have ruined my entire morning. But as I grow as a musician and especially in my experience as a church musician, I'm learning to keep my cool and be available and flexible in whatever task I'm asked to perform.
It's exciting to look back and see how I've matured in my almost 5 years as a church musician! If you are a church musician, what are some of the ways that you have grown over the years?
Every year, our church collaborates with another local church for 2 consecutive Sundays. The first Sunday, our adult and bell choirs travel to their church to join them, while the following Sunday they join us at our church. It's always a wonderful experience as we get 2 Sundays packed full of music!
This year, as a member of the bell choir, I was secretly looking forward to a 'morning off' from my responsibilities as church pianist as we were traveling to the sister church where their church pianist would be taking care of accompanying the choirs and performing all the service music. I was also excited about the opportunity about actually singing with the choir instead of accompanying them!
Think again.
When we arrived, I was approached by the church pianist, who asked me if I'd be willing to finish up the service as he needed to leave early that day. I was still able to play bells and sing with the choir, but I also played all the music for the latter half of the service. So instead of a morning off, I ended up doing more than my usual weekly musical responsibilities.
But you know what the neatest thing was? The fact that I didn't mind being asked to take on those extra responsibilities! And the fact that I wasn't nervous about them either! A year or 2 ago, if I had been asked to fill in in that capacity, I would have felt extremely nervous about the last minute preparations, and it probably would have ruined my entire morning. But as I grow as a musician and especially in my experience as a church musician, I'm learning to keep my cool and be available and flexible in whatever task I'm asked to perform.
It's exciting to look back and see how I've matured in my almost 5 years as a church musician! If you are a church musician, what are some of the ways that you have grown over the years?
Friday, March 9, 2012
I get such a kick out of the way my students 're-define' musical terms from time to time!
Yesterday, I was working with a student on a piece that ended with a repeated pattern ascending by octaves each measure. As we looked at the section and he played through it, I asked him if he could help me describe the movement from one measure to the next. After a few seconds of intense thought, he turned and with a huge smile blurted out:
After I explained that the term was actually octave, not cocktail, we went on with the lesson, but every time an octave appeared from then on, he'd get a mischievous look in his eyes and mention the "cocktail."
What's the silliest thing your students have come up with lately?!
Yesterday, I was working with a student on a piece that ended with a repeated pattern ascending by octaves each measure. As we looked at the section and he played through it, I asked him if he could help me describe the movement from one measure to the next. After a few seconds of intense thought, he turned and with a huge smile blurted out:
"A cocktail!"
After I explained that the term was actually octave, not cocktail, we went on with the lesson, but every time an octave appeared from then on, he'd get a mischievous look in his eyes and mention the "cocktail."
What's the silliest thing your students have come up with lately?!
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