Students from Another SM Teacher
Found in: Student Management
Mark M., New York
I’m looking to start a couple of new students who have come to me after finding themselves in a position where it’s no longer possible for them to study with their original SM teacher. I’ve tried to search Simpedia but haven’t come across anything about this. I’d love to hear advice on how to get on top of where the student is at and work our way toward a new groove.
In addition to general advice on this, there’s something specific I’d also like to mention. I’m aware from the initial teacher training’s description of the Teach List that part of the point of it is to make it easy to share with another teacher where a student is in the case of such a teacher switch. In at least one of my current cases, though, the former teacher had no records to share with me, and the student/parent have only limited information to share about certain aspects of the student’s experience, especially composition, improvisation, variations, and arrangements. Any specific advice on handling this complication would also be welcome. Thanks.
Carrie L., Michigan
If I start a new student that’s a transfer student, I take the first lesson and go through all the songs in all the levels they think they know. Then I do the same with arrangements. It’s ideal if the prior teacher has kept all the records, but it doesn’t always happen. I’m assuming you’ve called the prior teacher already? I always try to contact the teacher to find out ‘advice’ and ideas from the teacher and of course thank them for the referral even if it’s indirect.
Anne S., Nebraska
I was in a similar position last year when Janita P. moved out of the area, and I inherited 28 (!) of her students all at once. A wonderful blessing, but a great challenge too at first. Janita gave me her lesson records for each group so I had a pretty good idea where they all were, but I still took a few weeks to evaluate them for myself and figure out what they had done as far as arrangements, accompaniment, comp/improv, etc. If the previous teacher had no information to give you and the students/families are no help either, you will just have to take the time to evaluate for yourself what they have done. It might mean backing up a little and doing some review until you find that new groove.
I simply decided to be up front about every aspect of them switching to a new teacher. I knew it was a challenge for them as well as for me, so I tried to create an atmosphere of openness on both sides. Each and every family was understanding of my position and was very helpful in this process. Janita had had great conversations with all of them before they switched over to me, and I talked to them too about the fact that although we teach the same wonderful Simply Music method, my teaching style was not the same as hers and it would take a few weeks to get used to each other. Janita and I (with Neil’s coaching) both worked hard to make the transition as smooth as possible.
One great thing about acquiring students from other Simply Music teachers is that they are already familiar with the Simply Music culture, so you don’t have to train them like you do brand-new students!