Finally Done!


So ... I thought I had already posted about creating video lessons. But then I actually read my own blog (for a change) and discovered I hadn't. I'd posted about how much I hated teaching online. But that was about it. 

   From the beginning, then!

   Not all of my students switched to online lessons when COVID-19 shut the world down. Some of them decided a hiatus was a better idea. The only problem was, I still owed one family a few more lessons. At first, I hoped that this whole thing would blow over before the school year ended, and we'd have a couple more lessons in-person.

   But then I came up with another idea, a back-up plan that intrigued me. I had made video lessons in the past for a certain student -- why couldn't I do it again for this family? Except I could make them even better. Maybe I could even use it to start creating a marketable video series. 

   Three months later, I am cheering because I'm finally done their video lessons!

   I did make them better than my very first videos. Slightly. ;)

   Part of me actually enjoyed the process. Part of me is relieved that it's over so I can go on to the next thing on my to-do list. Whatever way you look at it, they're nowhere near marketable. Not yet. (Especially not the ones where you can see I'm reading my notes as I'm filming! I thought I'd come up with a clever strategy so it wouldn't be obvious I was reading. It was obvious. Very obvious.) 

   However, I did learn a few things: 
  • It's better to do it twenty times over till you get it right without the notes than to get it right the first time because you're reading your notes. Because you just can't hide when you're reading, no matter how hard you try. 
  • The lighting in my studio needs help if I'm to do this on a regular basis. 
  • Video editing takes time. Lots of it. 
   Some day, I may have a marketable series to present to you.

   Today is not that day!

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