March Update: Festival, St. Patrick's Day, and Simplifying Online Lessons

 Fun fact: There was a real St. Patrick. And he wasn't Irish. He was probably Welsh. As a boy, he was kidnapped by the Irish. At the age of 16 he escaped, only to return of his own free will later in his life to tell the very same people group that had kidnapped him about Jesus' love and salvation. Talk about loving your enemies! 


   Anyways, yes, there were St. Patrick's Day themed games going on in the studio. Except, ironically, last week. St. Patrick's Day was never a big deal in my family, so I lost track of when it actually was and put all the shamrock-and-Irish themed games away a week too early. Only one of my students noticed. Whoops! (Even then, since he was online, I was able to remedy the situation quickly, to his delight. I just pulled up something I had on Google Drive from last year. Ta-da!)

   

   By the way... notice anything different?

   I got a new piano! 🎊

   It was definitely time to replace the old one. With a little prayer, and some very friendly and helpful customer service from Edmonton's Piano Centre, I was able to upgrade to this Essex. I am loving it! 

   Speaking of online lessons, I've been working on simplifying things for the parents. Because I am a firm believer in the advantages of games-based learning, I would send the same resources I was using during in-person lessons to them, asking them to print them out. You can see the challenges in that. If the parents' printer isn't working -- if the lesson is moved to online last-minute because someone woke up with a cold -- if the parent missed the email I sent them -- my life became a lot trickier. So I've been slowly shifting to games and activities that are easily done with screen sharing. This includes more music games that are actually online. It saves hassle for the parents, and it will save hassle for me in the long run. :) 

   On a different note, hurrah for Parkland Music Festival! It ran again last Friday, and I was able to enjoy seeing one of my students play in it. Mark your calendars, folks, because the Showcase Concert is April 3rd, and it's always a fun event to go see! 


Location: Onoway, AB T0E 1V0, Canada

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