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

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