Every "spicy" classroom needs planning, organization, structure, consistency, and a safe environment for the spice to have effect. In order to provide that, a teacher should think about some stuff. My professional teaching environment consists of once a week piano teaching at my mother's house. We do lessons there because she is the only one in the family with an actual piano, and my students also happen to be my nieces. This location also provides a fun place for the children to play/work while their siblings complete their piano lessons. My two children under the age of 3 are there as well, being watched by their aunt, cousins, and their grandparents. It works out fairly well, aside from the occasional interruption, which we try to avoid by having candy afterwards if they don't interrupt.
State of Students
What are the conditions my students are coming to my lesson? - tired. During the school year it is right after school. They have not had much "me" time during the day. Their brains are tired. During summer, it is still at the end of the day, although they have not spent so much time receiving instruction during the day. During the school year they seem to have a lot less time to practice the piano. During the summer they have been practicing their songs sometimes 100 times per week as opposed to the usual 10 times requirement a week during the school year. Their mother has put this limit on them for them to be able to have their piano lesson. It is also the number that allows them to get a piece of candy for practicing.
Something I should find out from my students is: "How are you feeling today?" I need to find out if they need time to talk, move their bodies, eat something (their mother provides that each week), close their eyes, etc.... Sometimes it is more than they can take to practice their pieces over and over, receive correction, and spend lots of time practicing the same song because they haven't been able to practice much.
Some solutions to this might be: allowing them to pick their songs-they already do that. Considering their time allotment during the school year when choosing how challenging their song will be.
In November, one of my students plans on teaching my son a short lesson each week. I thought this might be a good idea since he is going to be at an age he could start learning, and she is at a level that she would know enough to teach him. It will give her further opportunity to grow and test her knowledge, just as I am continuing to do as a teacher.
Talking
I figure it is okay during my lesson to talk for a bit to get to know my students and to meet their personal needs at the moment. Sometimes they just need a short break, and I am okay with indulging that every once in a while to keep their brain working at peak performance. Sometimes it does go a little too far though, especially with one student in particular. Talking ends up getting us distracted.
Rules
Are my rules working? My rules are: stay at your seat, listen to the teacher, and don't distract other students. My students have become so good at these that I hardly ever think of them. The biggest struggle is "listen to the teacher", I would say. Perhaps I am saying too much? Maybe I could ask the students their opinions more. More of the lesson should be a discussion that requires both the teacher to talk, and the student to talk. Sometimes it takes a long time for students to act on what I say. Perhaps it is not clear? Be intentional on what I ask, and if they do not respond, ask them if they understand what they are to do.
Concepts:
My oldest student does really well site reading. My other two could use some review and practice on reading notes. One thing that L has been working on is hand positioning. That has been a real challenge for her to keep track of where she is on the piano and how to get to each note. She has made progress, and I think our new focus on the scales will help her see how we are not merely changing hand positions into strict formations on the piano. Our hands move across the piano in a strategic manner to reach the notes that we are to play. A2 has been working on counting and has seemed to be grasping it fairly well. We still need to continue to practice it. A1 has been learning complex counting patterns. Perhaps we could include more dynamics into her lessons.
State of Students
What are the conditions my students are coming to my lesson? - tired. During the school year it is right after school. They have not had much "me" time during the day. Their brains are tired. During summer, it is still at the end of the day, although they have not spent so much time receiving instruction during the day. During the school year they seem to have a lot less time to practice the piano. During the summer they have been practicing their songs sometimes 100 times per week as opposed to the usual 10 times requirement a week during the school year. Their mother has put this limit on them for them to be able to have their piano lesson. It is also the number that allows them to get a piece of candy for practicing.
Something I should find out from my students is: "How are you feeling today?" I need to find out if they need time to talk, move their bodies, eat something (their mother provides that each week), close their eyes, etc.... Sometimes it is more than they can take to practice their pieces over and over, receive correction, and spend lots of time practicing the same song because they haven't been able to practice much.
Some solutions to this might be: allowing them to pick their songs-they already do that. Considering their time allotment during the school year when choosing how challenging their song will be.
In November, one of my students plans on teaching my son a short lesson each week. I thought this might be a good idea since he is going to be at an age he could start learning, and she is at a level that she would know enough to teach him. It will give her further opportunity to grow and test her knowledge, just as I am continuing to do as a teacher.
Talking
I figure it is okay during my lesson to talk for a bit to get to know my students and to meet their personal needs at the moment. Sometimes they just need a short break, and I am okay with indulging that every once in a while to keep their brain working at peak performance. Sometimes it does go a little too far though, especially with one student in particular. Talking ends up getting us distracted.
Rules
Are my rules working? My rules are: stay at your seat, listen to the teacher, and don't distract other students. My students have become so good at these that I hardly ever think of them. The biggest struggle is "listen to the teacher", I would say. Perhaps I am saying too much? Maybe I could ask the students their opinions more. More of the lesson should be a discussion that requires both the teacher to talk, and the student to talk. Sometimes it takes a long time for students to act on what I say. Perhaps it is not clear? Be intentional on what I ask, and if they do not respond, ask them if they understand what they are to do.
Concepts:
My oldest student does really well site reading. My other two could use some review and practice on reading notes. One thing that L has been working on is hand positioning. That has been a real challenge for her to keep track of where she is on the piano and how to get to each note. She has made progress, and I think our new focus on the scales will help her see how we are not merely changing hand positions into strict formations on the piano. Our hands move across the piano in a strategic manner to reach the notes that we are to play. A2 has been working on counting and has seemed to be grasping it fairly well. We still need to continue to practice it. A1 has been learning complex counting patterns. Perhaps we could include more dynamics into her lessons.
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