Meeting the Parents

It is important to build an open relationship with the parents of students.
As a teacher, the parents are giving you a unique (and very special) opportunity to train and teach their child! If at all possible, meeting for coffee to meet the student and parent before the first lesson makes a large difference. During the meeting it is important to encourage the student to answer questions for themselves.

Chances are that once lessons are started (as a teacher with a busy teaching schedule), seeing the parents usually becomes a short hello at the weekly lesson! So its important to establish a bit of a relationship.
 
Here is a few things I think are important to know for the parent-teacher-student relationship


1. Knowing how the student responds and reacts to situations
       - There is little worse in teaching than saying or doing something in a lesson and watching your student start to close up and zone out. This can be a challenge with new students, since you don't know them well. As a teacher you learn to read your students pretty quickly, however this little paper * does wonders during the startup to avoid any rough spots. (Because really, who knows the student better than their parent!)  I find this paper especially helpful if a new student not excited for lessons. With a student open for learning, so much fun can be had!

Get to know students!

2. Knowing if there is anyone in the student's home that has musical background and is willing/able to help if the student has questions between lessons.
      - This is important to know for the teacher. Most concepts need to be fully understood for a student to practice effectively. If not, keeping the lines of communication open via skype, email, texting or telephone is a great tool!
      - If there is someone in the home, it is also a wonderful rescource for the teacher to be able to check-up on how it is going at home. Sometimes there can be challenges for the student at home that doesn't come out in the lesson and being able to communicate that to the teacher is really helpful!

3. Knowing how the student learns best!
      - This also goes back to the previously mentioned resource: Teachers learn how to teach each student effectively for their own unique learning style, but boosting that straight from day one can make learning quicker and FUN!

4. Knowing the family dynamic to avoid awkward situations
      -  If a student has troubling behaviour or simply is distracted at the lesson, being able to discuss with the parent right away is the best option for the teacher! Sometimes it can be a simple solution (such as a lesson time change) to better suit the student's needs. 

Hope these are helpful and a big shout-out to the fantastic parents that we have at Pianoforte Music Studios!



*Attachment paper sourced from  http://www.teachpianotoday.com

Note learning Game

This Game is fabulous! Learning their keys and the note values is so easy with this little gem!
Great work from Colorful Keys!!

 

Its also so great for group lessons! I have this in my student library as well as a game to take home.
Kids love to play and they don't even realize they are practicing!

Free Keyboard Printable!

Keyboard Printable

This printable comes in handy when beginner students are learning to find notes on the keyboard. The kids love to color and make it their own!

It also provides a nice visual for beginners when learning a new hand position. When using them in a lesson for hand positions, I usually have two options: laminated ones and a few paper ones. Students practice on the laminated and can erase their mistakes, and then get to take the paper ones home and remember easily where their hands need to be for each position.

Enjoy!

How many composers can you name?

Loved this! Can't wait to someday have a studio performance with each of my students playing a different composer!

Classical Mashup!

Learning letters

For young students one of the most challenging things to learn is to say your alphabet backwards! I'm so excited to try this activity with my preschoolers this afternoon!

When they make a tower of A-G, if they turn it around, they will have the reverse and be able to read the letters from G-A.

Preschool Group Classes

Yesterday was the first preschool class of the year and what a treat it was! The kids were great and so eager to learn.  Here is a little glimpse of the activities! My own kidlets posed for me for the demonstration.

Aiming to create staff recognition, students observed the spaces and lines.
The students then took turns placing a pompom a space or line as directed.

When prompted with a flashcard, students placed a button on it's match.

Making Learning Fun!

As a teacher, I am always looking for new and exciting ways to teach musical concepts. I am so thankful for the support and ideas of a group of fellow teachers from "Piano Teacher FunMakers!" that I have recently come into contact with! They have some great games and ideas that make learning (and teaching!) so fun! I thought I would share a few recent ones I've found here!

Musical Jenga! How fun is that!?

Learning notes! I've also seen this done with smarties!

Learning the fingers! These will be so great to send home and for beginners practice!

I can't wait to try these out with my students!

Student Incentives

It's always good to have a little motivation for students to practice and try hard! In the past I have tended to use stickers as my only incentives, and it worked well.

I recently came into contact with a group of teachers and came across this idea, which I instantly fell in love with. It's similar to my previous method, but adds an extra prize element every month or two!

Student's who have mastered a piece, receive a sticker for the accomplishment. ...Even my adult students usually love to take one! ;) This also applies to each theory homework page completed.

I also love to reward hard work, so at the end of each lesson, if I can tell they have practiced well, the receive a sticker for their hard work!

I keep a small flip-book by the lesson area with a card for each student with their name on it. When a student has filled a card (30 stickers), they get to open the "treasure box" and pick a prize!!! I can't wait to try it out!

Feel free to leave a comment, I'd love to hear any other suggestions!

Practice Guidelines

This is an excerpt from my Studio Contract that outlines practice guidelines for students of different levels.

PRACTICING GUIDELINES

Practice is the key to success! It is essential for students to practice 5 days a week for them to learn and excel to their best ability. If that kind of practice cannot be maintained, the student will not advance as quickly. Practice may be split up into smaller segments (e.g. practice one song and then take a break) if that is better for the individual as concentration during practice is important. **Note to parents: Don’t expect to hear one selection in its entirety. The key to a good performance is to practice the tough spots until they become easy spots. Only then should the piece be played all the way through.
 
Practice guideline:
Beginners in the first six months require 5 to 10 minutes a day practicing with a parent or older sibling.
Beginners in the second half of their first year need about 15 minutes a day, sometimes with help.
Students with 30 minute lessons, 20-30 minutes, 5 times a week.
Students with 45 minute lessons (Gr 3&4),  40-45 minutes, 5 times a week.
Students with 60 minute lessons (Gr 5,6,7,8) 300 minutes weekly

Welcome!

Welcome to my site!
Please join me on my journey as a music teacher! I hope to use this site to share the experiences and ideas that I practice to keep musical learning fresh and exciting.
The plan for my site is to continuously build upon it to improve my teaching and to make resources available for parents. Any comments and ideas are welcome!