Wow, sorry I've been so quiet lately. I've had a LOT of huge life-changing events taking place, including moving and having a baby. It's been very exciting and wonderful! So that's why I've been absent.
As I've been trying to think of what I want to write about next, I decided to write about
helping students to set and reach practice goals. I've really been emphasizing this recently in my studio, and I've seen students gain more motivation as they see their smaller successes week by week.
Why?
Of course we all know why this is important, so I won't go into that too much. But briefly, setting realistic, measurable goals helps students to SEE their progress, which helps them stay focused and interested. They stay motivated and become excited as they get smaller gratifications and incentives along the way to bigger, long-term goals such as passing of or performing a piece from memory.
What type of goals are we talking about here?
I would say there are a couple types of goals to keep in mind: long-term and short-term goals.
It's important to set long-term goals, because the short-term goals you set with the student each week will be stepping stones to reach the long-term goals. It helps if they have a bigger picture in mind. This could be something like preparing to perform a specific piece on a specific date. Or long-long-term goals, like studying music in college for the long-long-long term goal of teaching music in a school (depending on the age of the student, they may or may not have these long-long-long-term goals in mind yet, but I mention this because I feel strongly that a very important part of our role as a teacher involves career prep and teaching about options).
The short-term goals would be the practice goals each week which help prepare for the long-term goal. I like to set a couple different types of practice goals with my students. One would be the amount of time and frequency of practice, such as 30 minutes a day/6 days this week. If they reach this goal, they get "Music Bucks", which you can find here. But I also think it's important to not overemphasize the QUANTITY of time practiced at the expense of the QUALITY of practice. The other type of short-term goals addresses this, and involves the practice tasks and assignments for the week.
For some reason, if I ask the student to set a goal for how much of the piece they want to memorize by their next lesson, rather than me giving an assignment, the student is much more happy to do it. It is suddenly the student's idea, and he or she is much more willing and likely to actually do it! (And to remember to do it!) So, rather than giving an assignment, I recommend asking the student to set a goal for the piece. This may require some guidance from you ("Let's set a goal for memorization this week. How much can you do each day until I see you again?"), but it really is best if the student chooses the goal himself. Even if the goal is not exactly what you would have chosen for the student, it is more beneficial if the goal is actually accomplished, due to the student having a choice in the matter, rather than you picking the absolute "perfect" goal for the student, which never actually gets done. This also teaches the student the importance of taking charge of their musical education and they can gain important practice and goal-setting skills for the future when they don't have a teacher or parent guiding them.
So, there are just a few thoughts on goal-setting with students. Remember to keep the following things in mind about setting goals:
1. Keep the goals realistic. This allows the student to be successful, which obviously helps with motivation.
2. What: Make the goals specific and measurable. "Memorize some stuff" is neither specific nor measurable. "Memorize the first four lines of this piece by memorizing 'on purpose'" (as I call it...instead of memorizing 'on accident' - playing a piece so many times that you feel like you know it from memory...) is both measurable and specific. It's very obvious whether or not it has been accomplished.
3. When: Set a realistic time line for accomplishment. "Memorize the first four lines of this piece before my lesson next Thursday." This creates a deadline, which is important for reevaluation, self-assessment, and future goal setting.
4. How: Help the student outline and understand how the goal will be accomplished. It does no good to set a goal to memorize a piece "on purpose" if the student has no idea what that means. Solidifying a specific passage in a piece is really hard to do if you don't help the student understand what types of drills, etc. could be used.
I hope this helps your students to set and reach practice goals. Let me know if you have other ideas to share!
UPDATE 12/22/13: HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN THE MOST IMPORTANT PART?!?!
5. Follow up, follow up, follow up. Make those kids accountable. Trust me, kids learn quickly, and if they see they're not going to have to account for what they've been doing, then they will very VERY quickly just not do it. If they know you will follow up with them every week without fail, they are much more likely to actually do it.
And finally:
6. Reevaluate and set new goals, adjusting anything where necessary. As you follow up with the student, you'll both be able to see areas where improvement can happen. Ask things like "What held you back from being able to do it last week?", and "What can you do differently this week so you can reach your goal?" You can tweak anything that is not realistic and set new goals for improvement.
I hope this helps. Let me know any other ideas you have to help your students set and reach goals.
Well, life has been totally crazy, but I want to quickly share a NEW (FREE) printable piece of sheet music! This particular piece is written for an easy, simple violin duet. Which piece is it, you ask? Hot Cross Buns! It doesn't get much simpler than that. The first violin part uses fingers, while the second violin uses open strings only, and both parts stay on the A and E strings.
I have two versions available: one with staff lines, and one (even simpler and easier to read) without staff lines. How does that work without staff lines? And why? Just check out my post about a simple step you can take in teaching note reading so it's not overwhelming. The no-staff-lines approach is meant to be a temporary stepping stone for very young, pre-reading students who are transitioning to note reading.
So, here you go! Enjoy!
Hot Cross Buns With Staff Lines
Hot Cross Buns Without Staff Lines
You may also be interested in a similar arrangement of Mary Had a Little Lamb With Staff Lines or Mary Had a Little Lamb Without Staff Lines.
A little affirmation goes a long way!! Who doesn't like to receive recognition for their achievements from time to time? What great motivation comes from knowing you've done a great job! Music students put so much work into preparation for a musical performance, and a little recognition can go a long way. It can be something as simple as handing out certificates after a recital. This is something very simple for you to prepare, but it's exciting, especially for young students, to receive an official-looking certificate to say, "well done!"
I've prepared a variety of printable recital certificates for you to use! You can write in the student's name, the date and place of the performance, and then sign it. I hope they can bring a smile to your students' faces and that they motivate them to keep on going strong.
Outstanding Performance Award!
This is a colorful recognition certificate, which has a slightly casual feel to it.
Certificate of Excellence
This recognition certificate has a very formal look.
Bravo! Award
This certificate is less formal and has a fun border of musical notes/symbols.
Bravo! Award in Color
This certificate is like the one directly above, but it is bright and colorful.
What other ideas have you used to congratulate your students on a great performance?
Let's face it: not all music students are self-motivated when it comes to practicing. Sometimes it takes motivation, coercion, incentives, encouragement... I've used something that seems to work well with students, and so I'd like to share it with you today. I've also seen it commonly used in other studios, which makes me believe it works for others as well (or they wouldn't be doing it, right?). So what is this magical practicing motivator? I'll tell you: Music Bucks!
Here's how it works. The students record their practice time, and you "pay" them with fake money for it based on the system you set up in your studio, for example, one buck per day practiced. Students may also earn one for passing off a polished piece, or for performing in group class, etc. I find it's a direct, visible, tangible, and immediate way of rewarding the students for their efforts, which sometimes translates better than telling them, "If you practice lots and lots, then you'll get really good...someday...eventually."
So what do they do with the "money"? Every so often, like once a month or every couple of months, you can hold a "store". The kids get super excited because they know it's store week at their lesson, and they count up their bucks and bring them along. Then they can "buy" whatever they want from the store. They love it!
Ideas of things to have in the store: candy (duh!), small toys, stickers, coloring books/art supplies, music paraphernalia (like little notebooks with treble clefs on the cover, a name tag for their instrument case, etc.). The sky's the limit. Think: arcade ticket redemption counter, or anything you can find at the dollar store or Oriental Trading Company. Try to make it fun and have a variety appropriate for the ages you teach. You set the prices for the items in the store. If you're needing guidance the first time, take into consideration the average amount of bucks you think your students have earned since you began, and then decide what's reasonable so they can have sufficient rewards, but so one student alone doesn't wipe out your whole store. Maybe a candy bar is $20, and bigger toys are $50 or $100. Sometimes kids get LOTS of music bucks, so keep that in mind.
That's it! It's super fun, and if you change up what you have in the store, it keeps them super interested and motivated. Sure, it will cost you a little bit to stock your store, but keep in mind that you don't have to do anything elaborate or expensive. Keep it simple. Think of it as an investment in your studio, because when students practice, they progress, and when they progress, they enjoy it, and when they enjoy it, they keep coming back, and when they keep coming back, you still have a job. :)
I've created some downloadable Music Bucks Practice Incentives that you are free to use in your own studio. I'd love to hear how this motivates your students, as well as any other ideas you have to help motivate students to practice.
Whew, life has been crazy. Sorry I've been so silent lately.
As promised in this earlier post about recital preparation, I'm excited to unveil some new printable, customizable recital invitations! They'd be perfect for a spring music recital, and they're free!
Here's a preview:
I think they're pretty cute, and it's a great way to help your students to invite other people to come.
These are super easy to download, customize, and print!
1. Click here to download the Word document (it's on Google drive, so you'll then have to just save it to your computer).
2. Click here for a post on how to customize them.
And that's it! Also, there are Winter Recital Invitations and Fall Recital Invitations available, also for free!
And don't forget to check out the Recital Planning Checklist! So helpful!
Enjoy! And keep musicking.
Let me know how these work for you, and if you have questions, feel free to contact me.
There are many benefits for music students who listen to recordings often. To name a just a few: Listening to music is essential for developing a keen ear. Listening to a recording can help a student understand the piece differently, helping with interpretation and style. The recording can also model good tone and expression.
When done with purpose and direction, listening can offer these and many other benefits to students. But, if students are not given direction and focus in their listening tasks, they may be missing out, and worse, it may become uninteresting and daunting to them.
How can we as teachers make listening more fun and interesting for our students? How can we make it have more purpose and direction? How do we help our students reap all the rewards of purposeful listening? Below are a few ideas that can help.
1. Ask yourself first what the purpose of the listening task is. If you don't know it yourself, don't expect your students to figure it out. Why would you like this particular student to listen to this particular piece? What do you want them to gain? The answer to this will guide a lot of your choices for how to direct the attention of the student.
2. For young students, and especially in group settings, limit listening excerpts to no longer than three minutes. If you'd like them to hear a longer excerpt, ask yourself what the value is of the longer excerpt, which couldn't be gained in a shorter one. Consider maybe breaking it up into smaller segments, with discussion and questions in between to help with wandering attention spans and to keep the focus on what you'd like them to learn.
3. Based on your answer to number one above, give the student something specific to listen for before you begin. Any discussion and questions afterward will be based on this.
4. Discuss what the student is hearing (giving prompts before listening can help them focus in on what you'd like them to hear). Ask specific questions based on what you asked them to listen to, and allow the student to discuss and ask questions as well.
5. Have the student draw while listening. They can draw their own interpretation of what they hear. This especially works well with young students, but can be used for all ages.
6. Move to the music. This eliminates boredom, and allows creative freedom to interpret the music in a new way. It can be as simple as marching around the room to the beat, or moving close to the ground when it is soft and standing tall when the music is loud. Allowing the student to interpret the music freely through impromptu body movements can be a lot of fun. The type of movement you choose will depend on your purpose for the listening task.
7. Give the student a specific task while listening, such as holding the instrument in perfect playing posture for the duration of the excerpt. Give them something specific to focus on, again based on what you want them to gain from the experience.
8. Follow along with the music, especially the full score. Ask the student to look for something specific, such as when the voices play similar parts simultaneously, or to find which voice has the melody at any given time.
These are some ideas that have worked well for me and my students. What other ideas have worked for you? Feel free to share in the comments below so everyone can benefit.
I believe it's one of the ultimate juggling acts that most people ever struggle with: how to balance work and family. The answer, of course, varies greatly from person to person. I am not going to attempt to delve into this deeply complicated topic. BUT, I will attempt to talk about something related that is a concern for myself and many of my friends/colleagues who are moms/dads and private teachers. What do you do with the baby while you're teaching?? I realize this post may not apply to everyone (or maybe these ideas are super obvious), but because it is such an important question for those to whom it does apply, I've decided to take the time to see if we can find some solutions.
A few things to consider:
- It may take some trial and error to find what works for you, and maybe a combination of different things might be best.
- The baby's needs will change as he/she grows, and you may need to readjust as you go.
- Your needs may differ based on where you teach (in your home, your students' homes, an outside studio, a school...)
- Also, your needs may differ based on how many children you have/their ages, and how many students you have.
I've talked with fellow teachers and considered my own experience, and it has all seemed to boil down to the following basic starting points:
- Have the other parent watch the baby. This worked for me with my first baby because my husband and I were both students, so his schedule allowed him to be home in the afternoons. If the other parent works during prime teaching time, you can try teaching evenings or weekends. This option may not always be possible with busy schedules, or if the other parent is otherwise unavailable.
- Keep the baby with you while teaching. This worked well for my mom. When the baby is young, he can be in a sling or a baby seat, or lying on a blanket nearby with toys. This may not work with a high maintenance baby or older children.
- Hire a babysitter. My private teacher growing up did an exchange with me. I received discounted lessons in exchange for watching her kids a few times a week.
- Nap time teaching. I know another teacher who worked her teaching schedule around her baby's afternoon naps. This may not work if your baby's nap time is unpredictable.
Again, I don't think there's one option that's right for everyone, and you may need to try and combine different things to find the best route for you.
There may be other options that I haven't encountered as I've asked around. What things have worked for you or people you know?
