June 4
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I thought I was a great teacher until I actually started teaching students for the first time.
Pedagogy books and pedagogy classes in college it turned out were a "best-case scenario" kind of thing.
If a student has trouble with X, do Y.
To develop a student's ABC, do DEF.
And everything will fall perfectly in place.
My, how my world would come crashing down.
The books and classes forgot to include what to do if a student won't look at you in the face, how to handle six months of groundhogs-day-style lack of practice, or how to cheer up a child who's going through the yearly statewide standardized testing protocols.
That's where the magic of experimenting and trial-and-error provided the real education. And it's one that continues every teaching day.
I'm imagine it's similar in other fields.
All the more reason to stop reading about how something is supposed to work. Go out and do the thing so you can figure out how it actually works yourself!
Time is of the essence. Best of all, you don't need to ask permission from the teacher anymore.
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For parents, students, and anyone else who believes that music can and should be a meaningful part of everyone's life.
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How did this past week go? What’s something you could have done better? What can you change this week to do that thing better? And how will you make sure you stick to it? Weekly reviews aren’t sexy, by any means. But they’re effective. Do it for a couple months, and you’ll be astounded by the results.
Read MoreWhen it comes to practicing, most people don’t get how time works. People think the amount of practice time is most important. Rather than the frequency. Logic tells us this: Practicing 5 minutes for six days would be the same as practicing 30 minutes for one day. It adds up to the same total minutes, so the benefits are the same.
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