SHMs – help or hindrance?
Found in: Claiming Territory, Student Retention/Attrition
Brenda, Australia
I am a very new SM teacher and have not started to advertise in earnest yet. However, I started teaching one adult student who was going incredibly well, but she promptly dropped out after the first month of lessons were over (I charge on a monthly basis).
I can’t help thinking that some adult students – in particular – would be quite capable of ‘figuring out’ what they had to do from the DVD, at least in the early levels, and I’m wondering if the SHM could actually be a hindrance rather than a help, from our point of view. I personally think they’re a great idea if used correctly, but if students simply pay their initial fees to get all the materials and then go off and teach themselves, it leaves the feeling (for me at least) that I’ve been used in the process.
Any comments please? Is there anything I can put in my policies to try and prevent this type of thing from happening again?
Hilary C., Australia
Maybe you could ask for 1 month ‘notice to quit’ in your policies (and keep on top of payment so you have the month’s fee).
With regard to SHM, doing them alone can be quite counter-productive; in my experience, students who have gone ahead (against instruction) too often fall into error and need to unlearn, and they miss out on the tactile aspects of SM – learning a way to learn which is so important.
Vee S.
I show some of the arrangements to the students in some of the first lessons, not to teach yet but just to let them know
how much they will learn from me that is not in the book or on the DVD. I also want them to see where we are going with the songs. So far I have had pretty good luck with retention.
Brianna S., Arizona
When people first call and inquire about SM, I always have them check out the SM website. There they will find the Learn-at-Home program. This way, if they think they can do it on their own, they can order it on their own. When people ask me about the Learn-at-Home, I tell them it covers the basics, the skeleton of the program. A teacher provides all the little extras, the filling out of the program. I am not sure if there is anything you can do about this for Level 1; maybe you will get some more responses. However, if the same student came back for Level 2, I think I would either not take them, or charge them for like a semester up front, or however long you thought it would take them to get through the next level. Also, I think you have to “backtrack” in order to fill in their learning gaps. To make sure they understood the tools, the “way of learning” used in Level 1, to teach them the variations to the songs, to work on composition and arrangements. Perhaps try to explain to them that Simply Music requires that you have a teacher for Level 3 and beyond. Point out all of the things they will be missing if they try to do it on their own. The SHM just go over the basics; there is so much more depth and breadth they will get with a teacher.
Beth S., Tennessee
I would ask them to not go ahead, explaining that if they do, they might learn something wrong or not completely which makes it harder to relearn. Most everyone will comply if you ask them. However, I think the key is to communicate to them that the material on the video and in the book is just a starting point from which to then work on other, deeper projects. You have so many other projects up your sleeve that aren’t on the video that even if they do leave you behind and go ahead and learn songs (without your permission as some do), you will win in the end when you begin assigning projects for which there is no support. At some point, they will have to depend on you and do only the steps you give them.
In addition, I think the main reason some students go ahead on the video is because they are bored and didn’t have enough to do. If you have students who are regularly going ahead without you, then it is a red flag that you need to give them more. Go overboard in the beginning, overassign things and exhaust them, giving them more than you know they’ll do, then back off in subsequent lessons. It makes a point and whenever I’ve done this, the “going ahead” issue is stopped immediately without a lecture on my part.
By extra projects I mean arrangements, accompaniments, compositions, etc. that are included in the supplemental teaching programs. It is essential that you get these right away.
Sheri R., California
To have a student have at least a minimum of two months of lessons, which would give you and them a little more time together to allow them to see more of what learning SM from a teacher has to offer over learning only from the video, you can put into your policies something I have done, although I did it for different reasons.
My policies are that new students pay first and last month, and that prior to last month of lessons, there is a 30-day notice required. That way after the first month you would get the notice from them and then teach the second (last & prepaid) month at the end of which they might change their mind because they are closer to being ready for Level 2 and Accompaniments program. Also, you had that much more time with them to give them more of an opportunity to see the value of a teacher (you!) and for you to have been able to have more conversations about the program.
The reason I put this policy in place is because I don’t collect payment via credit cards so collecting last month’s fees when there wasn’t a 30-day notice was impossible. This policy helps my budget because if someone stops without the notice (even though it is still “required”), it is as if they did give me the notice since I already collected the last month’s fees. It seems requiring a 30-day notice can really only be enforced if taking credit card payments.
Robin Keehn, Washington
One of the things that you’ll discover with this program is that the Foundation pieces are only one piece of the pie. Granted, they are the main piece, but there are other very important components that students cannot get without having you as their teacher. At your Free Introductory Sessions, you should be routinely talking about how this program unfolds over the first three years. Be sure to talk about Composition and Improvisation, the assembling of learning tools and strategies that allow them to become self generative over time, and the Accompaniment Program. Talk about advanced programs like the Jazz Program and the learning of more advanced theory in the third year and beyond. These pieces are not available through any other venue than the classroom.
By learning with you, students can experience and develop a depth and breadth to their musicality that cannot be developed using the basic levels on their own. You have much to offer them! That being said, be sure that you are teaching Composition and Improvisation, Arrangements and Accompaniment to your students. Start these programs as early as possible so they come to know them as a regular part of Simply Music. You will develop some wonderful musicians.