Students
Incentives and Prizes
Wondering what your philosophy is regarding the use of incentives/prizes and if any of you use incentive systems for your students. If so, what they are? For example, weekly rewards/points/stickers for certain things (what do they need to show/accomplish?) and/or a bigger reward down the…
Young Child Who Will Not Practice
I need some advice concerning one of my young students. She is one of my favorite students. She has been with me for a year, and has done wonderful for the most part. She catches on real easily and carries out the pieces slowly and…
Using Parents as a Fun Incentive
I have a shared lesson of a boy and a girl. The girl practices religiously but the boy doesn’t like attempting anything unless he knows it will be perfect, he was losing heart and practicing less. The mothers of these 2 children had always attended…
Parent Struggling with Practice Time
I have a mom having problems working with her 6 year old (almost 7) in practicing the songs correctly. She has been taking for 11 weeks now, and missed a few weeks at about 3 and 4, and still hasn’t caught up to the other…
Students Signing Agreements
Like at least some other teachers out there, I have a form in addition to the enrollment form that I ask people to sign when they enroll, expressing commitment/agreement to certain things. Also like at least some other teachers, I’ve had spots on those forms…
Siblings in Shared Lesson
I have two sisters, 9 and 12 in a shared lesson. The 9 year old is a natural at the piano. She picks the songs up quickly, plays them well and even learned Chester just by listening to the audio recordings. She is highly motivated…
Working with Large Groups
I’ll be teaching some larger groups (probably up to 5 in a Piano Camp) and my space can’t handle much more than that. I’m working now to figure out my fall schedule and putting students into larger shared lessons of 5. Any ideas of how…
First Teen/Adult Class
I will be having my first teen/adult class this Wednesday! I have been teaching for a year and a half now but have only had kids 12 and under. My class on Wednesday will have a 12-yr-old boy, 16 yr-old-boy, and an adult woman. How…
Working with Various Levels in Class
Has anyone had students in the same class, in the same foundation level, but doing different variations, arrangements, etc? I am just thinking that no matter how equally you relate the information, some students (in the same class) will want something extra. Does anyone do…
Students Comfort Level with Touching
For those of you that teach groups, do you ever find that students are uncomfortable or embarrassed to touch each others’ hands? I’m thinking in particular of a 13 yr-old boy that may be in a group with three 16-yr-olds (all beginners). I think it…