April Update

 I went through April, teaching and studying and not giving a thought as to what I was putting on my blog this month. Until I read an e-book on the online-business side of piano studios, and came across a tip to "have original content" on your website/social media.

   Original....

   What do I have to say that another teacher somewhere else hasn't said already? 

   Never mind; I'm rambling again. 

   What did I do this month again? (Please tell me I'm not the only one who gets that feeling!)

   Oh, yeah, I taught. Worked on recital songs with my students. Did theory, disguised as games. Speaking of games, I found a strategy that works really well for playing piano board games.  Basically, since I'm just using the laptop's webcam, I tilt the laptop screen downward so the student can see the table. This works well for demonstrating, too! 

If you take a snapshot in Skype, you get both parties' views. I chose not to edit out my student so you can see I am teaching real children. :D

   I've been testing things online. Rock Out Loud Live vs. Skype. Witeboard on Windows. For your information, I like Rock Out Loud Live, but I don't see a really huge improvement over Skype. Other than the fact that, unlike Skype recently, my student's piano doesn't sound like it caught croup or that someone turned on the faucet the instant the student touches the keys. But I got my Skype students to adjust their settings, and that seems to help. With the piano that sounds like it's got croup, that is. As for Witeboard, I'm still learning how to use it. My students get a kick out of my quarter notes. When they're round enough, Witeboard corrects them so they're actually circles with stems. When they're not round enough, Whiteboard leaves them looking like something that got squished in the hydraulic system!

   My preschool student is almost done the entire Wunderkeys preschool series. That series is amazing! I would have never dreamed of teaching preschoolers, but the series gave me confidence to try it out, and I am so, so glad I did! But I'm in a bit of a panic, because if all goes as planned, she'll be done their series before the end of the school year. Then what? I guess she might get a head start on the primer level? 

   And I am two weeks, one day away from my ARCT Analysis exam! 

   Oh, speaking of social media, did you know that you can now follow me on YouTube? There's not much there currently, but I think I'll do more videos in the future. Not all instructional, either. Maybe vlogging will replace blogging. At any rate, I do plan on putting up some music videos sooner or later. We'll see. 

   

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