Studio Management

I had a horrible time last night with a shared lesson. I have two kids together in a shared lesson – ,my room is not big enough to have more than that. The two mums sat on the couch and chatted most of the way…

• Last updated 2 months ago
• behavior, behavior in class, behavior issues, challenge, challenges, challenging behavior, claiming territory, controlling your space, distracted coach, distracted student, distracted students, distractions, expectations for behavior, group, group dynamics, group lesson, group lessons, group obstacles, groups, managing groups, managing shared lessons, misbehavior, negative behavior, reclaiming territory, regaining lost territory ideas, shared, shared lesson, shared lesson management, shared lessons, shared lessons management, siblings at lessons, student behavior, teaching groups, territory

I’m starting my third year, and my studio just grew from 20 to 27. At the smaller size I had smaller classes, designed not only around age and ability but also around each family’s schedule. My scheduling process has been to ask each family what…

• Last updated 2 months ago
• forming groups, group, group by level, group lesson, group lessons, group lessons scheduling, groups, keeping groups together, Laurie Richards, lesson scheduling, managing groups, managing shared lessons, Robin Keehn, scheduling, scheduling families, scheduling groups, scheduling lessons, scheduling shared lessons, scheduling sibling lessons, setting up groups, shared, shared lesson, shared lesson management, shared lessons, shared lessons management, starting groups, teaching schedule

I have finally gotten good at teaching SM and the studio is quickly growing. My biggest problem is still left over from being a traditional studio. Coaches are not doing their jobs 50% of the times. They won’t sit down at the piano, they won’t…

• Last updated 2 months ago
• alignment with coaches, claiming territory, coach, coach not coaching, coach responsibility, coaches, coaching, distracted coach, holding coaches accountable, importance of life coach, involving parents in lessons, involving the parent, keeping coaches focused, Laurie Richards, lesson requirements, life coach, life coach roles, life coaches, managing coaches, parent, parent involvement, parent role, parent support, parental involvement, parental participation, parental responsibility, parents, reclaiming territory, regaining lost territory ideas, request vs requirement, requirement, requirement based studio, requirement versus request, requirement-based, requirements, requirements in lessons, responsibility, role of parent, selective coaching, territory, unsupportive parent

Here is another playlist dilemma. Most of my students use their playlist pretty diligently however I have a 15 year old who just doesn’t. She won’t use the materials (CD, notes, DVD) plays by ear, doesn’t practice a great deal but most of the time…

• Last updated 2 months ago
• accountability, checking in, holding students accountable, importance of playlist, Laurie Richards, LAWOL, learning a new way of learning, learning a way of learning, managing playlist, managing the playlist, marking, Playlist, playlist check, playlist review, repertoire, repertoire review, responsibility, review, review ideas, reviewing, using playlist

I was remembering something I used to do with my elem general music students in school. They would sing a song and when I held up my hand, they kept singing it internally. When my hand came down, they would continue singing where the song…

• Last updated 2 months ago
• enhancing practice, inner hearing, lesson ideas, practice, practice ideas, practicing, review ideas, singing, singing along, singing while playing, teaching ideas

I’ve been teaching for 2 years now and I realized one of the most common searches I do on the intranet is for games and ideas for my twice yearly Piano Parties (aka Really fun recitals). I’ve come up with some new ones and I…

• Last updated 3 months ago
• games, musical games, party, piano party, playlist games, rhythm games, using games, win/lose games

For those of you who teach mostly in groups, how have you addressed complaints from parents about group lessons and the student to teacher ratio? (Meaning they feel their child isn’t getting enough ‘piano time’ in their new group lesson)? I teach mostly small groups.…

• Last updated 3 months ago
• benefits of group lessons, benefits of shared lessons, class size, complaints, different pacing in group, generative learning, group size, Laurie Richards, learning pace, learning rate, lesson pacing, normal progress, number of students, observatory learning, pace, pace of learning, pacing, progress, rate of learning, rate of progress, receptive learning, slow pace, slow progress, speed of progress, student progress, student to teacher ratio, students speed of progress, time at piano, time on the piano, use of class time

I have run three FIS’s over the past week, and have encountered a number of potential parents who use the phrase “we want to give it a go”. Now, I know this is a phrase we don’t like to hear necessarily – as “giving it…

• Last updated 3 months ago
• 4-song workshop, commit, commitment, commitment to lessons, give it a go, giving it a go, Long Term Relationship, long term relationships, long-term, long-term relationship conversation, LTR, LTR graph, relationship, relationship conversation, relationship graph, sample lessons, sampling lessons, sticking with piano long term, teaching workshops, trail before committing, trial lesson, trial period, try it out, trying it out, trying lessons, workshop, workshop SHMs, Workshops

I have a family of 2 boys that are giving me problems with missed lessons. In the early spring of this past year the mom didn’t want to pay for missed lessons while they went on vacation so had them quit for the summer rather…

• Last updated 3 months ago
• accounting for holidays, answering questions about fees, claiming territory, collecting payment, crediting tuition, credits, fee, fees, holiday, holiday pay, holidays, lesson credits, lesson fees, missed lessons, payments, reclaiming territory, refund, refund policy, refunds, regaining lost territory ideas, sharing fees up front, stating fees, student holiday, student vacations, territory, tuition credit, tuition credits, tuition rebates, tuition refunds, vacation, vacations

I have a student that is just starting with a few private lessons to catch her up to the group I want to add her to. My dilemma is that there is a huge language barrier. She is super smart and quick, has taken 2…

• Last updated 3 months ago
• adding students to a group, catching up, catching up new students, combining groups, different pacing in group, EFL, English as a foreign language, English as a second language, ESL, expanding shared lesson size, foreign language, group, group lesson, group lessons, group obstacles, group vs private, groups, language, language barrier, merging private students with groups, Neil Moore, private to group, private to shared, private to shared lessons, private vs group, private vs shared, private vs shared lessons, second language, shared lesson, shared lessons, shared vs private, students in groups with different abilities, students progressing differently, transitioning private students to group