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

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