In case anyone is interested in some of my "research" (aka CREATIVE HELP), I thought I'd share some of the helpful sites I've found!
Music Tech Teacher
This site has an amazing section of quizzes, games, helps, and worksheets that you can download! Many very helpful things I can use for specific students or specific problems.
Martha Beth Lewis
Martha Beth has put together a wealth of questions and answers - from practicing to policies, from composers to competitions. She also has some entertaining music and studio humor!
PracticeSpot
There are some free games, charts, and quizzes you can make on this site - I think some would be good to keep siblings busy while one is in a lesson. I also like that I can personalize charts for students.
Puzzlemaker
This isn't necessarily a music puzzlemaker site - but you could set up word finds or crossword puzzles to go along with whatever you're learning about!
? how to practise (no I didn't spell that incorrectly...)
Wowie - this is a list of 50 websites that will improve your music practice
8 Notes
This site offers free "lessons" in music theory (and other things as well). They can be watched on the site (like a little slide show) or printed - I'm thinking some of the lessons may come in handy sometime.
Blank Sheet Music
The title says it all - design the sheet music as you want it (for FREE) - bar lines, clefs, brackets, key signatures... then print away!
31 Days to Better Practicing
A series of articles that are supposed to help improve your practicing - I've not read them all, but there are many tips there that could be useful for both students and teachers alike.
Scramble
Sfrack's practice game for students - looks like a lot of fun if you ask me. I have broken up pieces before for my students, but this would be a way to keep it fresh and interesting at home.
Music Learning Community
There are some free flash games on this site - most are pretty simple and not very fancy, but for those little beginners or some really bored siblings, these games could keep them busy!
Music Matters
Wow - what a wealth of information Natalie has put together on her blog. I can't even begin to tell you what all I found here - in fact, my theme is based on one of her past themes! What an encouraging and fun blog find!
Susan Paradis' Piano Teacher Resources
This lady is amazing. Her blog is full of interesting entries, but the best part is her section of free downloadables - music composition ideas, games, worksheets, posters, you name it she probably thought of it! I have saved so many of her items AND have added her to my google reader. This was a thrilling find for me.
And there you have it - 24 hours after starting the creative search, this is what has already inspired me!
Showing posts with label Piano Teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Piano Teaching. Show all posts
Saturday, August 29, 2009
A Better Teacher...
I have been a piano teacher for 11 years.
The first 3 years of my teaching were done in my parent's living room and my church's music room. The students were young beginners who paid $5 a lesson - their moms picked me up at school and delivered me and their student to the lesson... I enjoyed a little extra cash and it was fun to teach a few kids.
The next 5 years of teaching were through Northwestern College's Academy of Music. I taught in practice rooms at school or random rooms at a church up the street from school. I didn't deal with payments, policies, or any other business type things.
The last 3 years I've been working on perfecting my private studio. I've received the education, I've set up a space that is my own, I'm the boss.
While it's been very exciting being able to do my own thing, I have found that, despite all the available options, I've become a bit stale in my teaching. I realized this when, last week, I was a little disappointed that it was about time to set up my fall semester.
I like to be creative, but it's not easy for me to come up with something successful from scratch. So I spent most of yesterday and some of today researching online - I found so many piano blogs, worksheets, quizzes, ideas, printables, music, IDEAS - it was rather amazing. My poor bookmarks are an overwhelmed, unorganized mess right now!
My studio has a theme for the year "Climbing the Ladder to Success"
My students have incentives this year that go beyond the typical prize for completing practice minutes...
...Their names are displayed on a ladder for all to see when the accomplish things
...Their pocketbooks will benefit from various weekly and special tasks (musical and "diligence" pocketbooks that is) and they will be able to purchase various rewards
My mind is excited for the upcoming year
My heart is ready to teach again
There you have it - 8 hours well spent on becoming more creative!
The first 3 years of my teaching were done in my parent's living room and my church's music room. The students were young beginners who paid $5 a lesson - their moms picked me up at school and delivered me and their student to the lesson... I enjoyed a little extra cash and it was fun to teach a few kids.
The next 5 years of teaching were through Northwestern College's Academy of Music. I taught in practice rooms at school or random rooms at a church up the street from school. I didn't deal with payments, policies, or any other business type things.
The last 3 years I've been working on perfecting my private studio. I've received the education, I've set up a space that is my own, I'm the boss.
While it's been very exciting being able to do my own thing, I have found that, despite all the available options, I've become a bit stale in my teaching. I realized this when, last week, I was a little disappointed that it was about time to set up my fall semester.
I like to be creative, but it's not easy for me to come up with something successful from scratch. So I spent most of yesterday and some of today researching online - I found so many piano blogs, worksheets, quizzes, ideas, printables, music, IDEAS - it was rather amazing. My poor bookmarks are an overwhelmed, unorganized mess right now!
My studio has a theme for the year "Climbing the Ladder to Success"
My students have incentives this year that go beyond the typical prize for completing practice minutes...
...Their names are displayed on a ladder for all to see when the accomplish things
...Their pocketbooks will benefit from various weekly and special tasks (musical and "diligence" pocketbooks that is) and they will be able to purchase various rewards
My mind is excited for the upcoming year
My heart is ready to teach again
There you have it - 8 hours well spent on becoming more creative!
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