Summer Break Is Here! (But . . .)


   Wow! Here I am, having dismissed my last students for this school year on Thursday, completely unsure of whether to shout or cry. 


And my eraseboard -- completely clean for the first time since Christmas! Although that will only last until my sister remembers that I gave her permission to draw on it today. :) 

   Summer break is here. I am now free to spend my days outside, helping my family with our 5-acre plot, growing things, getting dirty, and training our puppy. 

   On the other hand . . . teaching is so much fun! And I have some great students who will definitely cross my mind over the next three months, though they are not crossing my studio.
Some highlights of this school year were:
  • Getting students! This was my second year of advertising, but 2016-17 was basically a flop, with one student whose family had to move because of work halfway through the year. Not their fault. This year I had six students. It was definitely God who brought them, not any creative advertising on my part. He is so good! 
  • Starting this blog. At first, I wasn’t going to blog on it. It was going to just be my website. Then I realized I had a problem: no one could find me online. So I started posting, sent the link to all the friends and students’ families I could think of, and kept going. (Many thanks to the enthusiastic friend who told me one day, “You’re making progress! When I type in ‘piano teachers in onoway,’ you’re on the 18th page of Google! XD) (By the way, if you’d like to help me out, keep reading my blog through the summer. That way I don’t backslide to the 20th page of Google. 😢)
  • Starting ‘Word Whizzes,’ ‘Practice Champions,’ and ‘Performance Stars’ challenges. Congrats to all the students who applied themselves in their music vocabulary, practice, and performance! I should have counted how many prizes were given away, but I didn’t.
  • Having two successful recitals where students enjoyed themselves and eagerly asked me when the next recital would be. (Stay tuned – hopefully there will be a post this summer about the piano party I’m hoping to host!)
  • Receiving positive feedback from many piano parents. Thank you, everyone!
Some things I’d like to improve on next year:
  • Method books. I'll get into that more in a later post. 
  • Music history. I have a plan! I just didn't put it into action this year. 
  • Focusing more on making music musical -- the artistic side of playing piano that is so much more than reading notes and being able to clap a rhythm correctly. 
  • I'd like to enter at least one or two students into Parkland Music Festival next year. 
   As for the 'but' part in the title, I realize that this post is long enough. So keep your eyes open for my next post, in which I will share why 'summer break' should not mean 'stop piano altogether.' 

   It's been a blessed year! 


Location: Onoway, AB T0E 1V0, Canada

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

And to this I said Amen

Image
 (Note for those who may not know: The word "Amen" comes from an ancient word -- whether Greek, Hebrew, or some other language, I do not remember -- that expressed agreement with truth. It is a transliterated word; that is, it's very similar to the original word in the original language. One person claimed it was one of two words that has been transliterated rather than translated across all languages, the other word being Hallelujah. Fun fact for the day. 😀)    Again, I had writer's block and didn't know what to write about. All I could think about was how it's February, it's a theme month, and I haven't finished planning the theme, even though the month has already started. So, once more, I turned to Pinterest . (If that link doesn't work, let me know, because I'm not sure it will actually take you to my Pinterest profile.)    This time, instead of music humour, I found this beautiful musician's prayer. And I went, "Yes! That is exa...
Read more

Gloves: For More than Keeping Your Child's Hands Warm

Image
   Snow swirls around the streets of Leningrad, Russia. Pedestrians pull winter coats tighter around themselves. Car lights shine through the flurries. In one large, multi-story building, a window on the corner of the building is lit. Inside the room, frost decorates the window panes. The only occupant – a young man, with a spark of life in his blue eyes – turns out music, gorgeous music, on the upright piano against the wall. He wears a heavy overcoat and plays with a pair of medium-weight, knit gloves – for his dormitory room has no heat.    At this point in the narrative, the music teacher jerks his enraptured student back into the present – modern Edmonton, a warm and very comfortable music studio, and the two Yamaha baby grands sitting side by side – with this question:    “ Have you ever practiced with gloves on?”    Ahh . . . no, I hadn’t. My house always had heat?!     My music teacher, undeterred by my blank look (w...
Read more

When Music Teachers Meet

Image
It was Sunday evening, and various members of  PMTA  were gathered at one member's home for the Annual General Meeting. Since I've only been a member for less than a year, this was the first time I'd been to one of their meetings. As we were setting up for supper, I asked the president, "So, what goes on in the meeting?"    She looked at me, and her face instantly displayed drama. With gusto, she replied, "You'll be thrilled, and chilled, and ... bored out of your mind!"    LOL!    That's the great thing about hanging around with other artistic minds. There's plenty of room for drama. :)    Seriously, though, I like getting together with other music teachers, because all of us can talk for hours about music. :) It was a lot of fun comparing notes back and forth and getting to know some of the other teachers. I pick up ideas from these exchanges, including other teachers' favourite methods and new things to include -- or new ways ...
Read more