New Cadence Files ~ Free download

Hello 💟

I have a few students with some theory exams coming up and I really wanted to create some helpful files to prepare them.

I've been working on some infographics to help students understand perfect and plagal cadences as I was always looking for a way to simply introduce these cadences without overloading information. Of course, there are more rules and some exceptions in certain contexts with cadences but I think it's important to consolidate the basic steps first and prepare students for the type of question they will see in their exam paper. There is a time for learning for discovery and enrichment and a time for exam preparation. I'm in exam prep mode now!

I made these particularly with my own students in mind, who are sitting ANZCA Grade Three theory exams. They will have to understand and write these two cadences so I wanted to create something that will help the students revise.

The infographics are now available as a free download in PDF format! (Previews are below but the PDF is much higher resolution and sharper!) This is also my first time using Adobe Illustrator, after years of using Inkscape I finally decided to invest in AI so I'm quite excited how these have turned out!

I hope you'll find these useful, particularly if you've been teaching online - I find it challenging to explain some concepts if students are new to these so a visual aid is really helpful at this point!

Here is the download link - as usual, these are free for personal use but please do not sell or redistribute them.

Please click here to download!

Stay safe and happy teaching!

Misa

Happy Teachers Day (Part 2) 5 Lesson Ideas

This is part 2 of the Teacher's Day post I wrote, and I wanted to share some quick ideas on enhancing the lesson experience for the student/teacher.

I mainly work with young beginner children in a one-to-one setting so some of these ideas may not apply for all of you, but I hope you find useful ideas to incorporate into your teaching, whether you teach in a studio or go to students' houses!

1. Use small props & mini instruments

Using small instruments are great for quick listening / rhythm activities. I like to keep claves and small bells and children love to play these. Older students also can benefit from using focused props like this to go over challenging spots. I also use tennis balls for aural and rhythm activities, where I ask the student to bounce the ball on the beat (they love this one!). You could also have a scarf to experience phrasing / time. Variety is key: the idea is to have many different ways of presenting the same sort of activities up our sleeve so that the activities remain fresh and exciting for the children. If you have to carry these around for individual lessons, keep them small and as un-fiddly as possible.

2. Use a visual guide (like a whiteboard!)

You don't need a massive commercial whiteboard for this - I DIY my own and it can be a real game changer. I use this the most out of any prop I have, because it's quick and helps illustrate a point. I use a hard plastic sleeve where I can place an A4 sheet inside to use as "backgrounds." It's easy and quick to jot down new notes, chords or signs, as well as a quick visual tool for explaining new concepts (even fingerings!). I use different coloured whiteboard markers and the students really enjoy these.

You can download a set of FREE DIY Whiteboard Templates here As usual, these are free for personal use.

3. Set specific goals

I've posted about effective practice ideas previously, but identifying and verbalising specific goals is important in instilling independent learning habits in students. Say specific things like: "let's see if you can go home and work on balancing the RH and LH." The concept needs to be covered in the lesson, of course, but it's more effective than saying: "ok, go home and practise until you can play this piece better."  Students usually like to know how they are doing - making a point of noticing when the student has put in effort is exactly the thing they need to boost their willingness to practise. It's helpful to give an encouraging reward - I have stickers handy - and be rather generous with them. It's a small piece of encouragement, and one that is 'earned' not just by showing up to the lesson but by the progress of individual pieces (even a scale, an exercise). I usually ask my students to collect 3 stickers to "pass" an exercise or piece (but sometimes more if the pieces are more difficult). With technical work, I ask them to collect as many stickers as possible, especially leading up to an exam. Another way I use to convey this message is the system of 'half tick,' '3/4 tick' and 'full tick' - explain what the student needs to do in order to get the next tick.

While on the one hand, I hope that students understand that practice is not something that should necessarily be rewarded and their self-discipline should keep them on track (haha!), through experience we know that this message is easily lost on younger students. Besides, inserting a bit of fun never hurt anyone! I've found more students become proactive in their own practice by the 3-sticker method, rather than when I used to only give a default sticker at the end of the lesson. They walk in to their lesson and say things like: I think I can get my last sticker (or a full tick) today - before they even sit down at the piano! You may not see the immediate effect of this, but time spent on encouragement is so valuable that I wanted to mention it here.

4. Design bite-sized activities

For many young children, time passes slowly, they are still learning to focus and easily get bored! Some children would find it too boring to sit at the piano for the whole lesson or they might literally just fall asleep! To keep things interesting, use lots of little pieces, activities and games, that are leading up to the "repertoire" piece they're currently learning (or upcoming) and make sure they're all tying in together. With some older students, I give them a bigger piece and call it a 'project' piece so they know they're going to be spending quite a bit of time on that piece compared with the smaller pieces which they tend to finish within 3-4 weeks.

Preparation is key - try to look for short 4-bar or 8-bar exercises or mini-pieces that demonstrate a new concept they're about to learn in their piece, or just write one if you can't find one suitable. You could use the whiteboard (mentioned above) to quickly compose a 'sightreading' piece that contains what you'd like the student to notice in their music. These activities are like breadcrumbs that lead them seamlessly through the lesson - if done right, when you reach the challenging part of the lesson (or the piece), the student will be so eager to tell you: I know this, this was the same as before! It's EASY!  5. Use technology

Technology used effectively can make lessons exciting and fun for students. Some examples of this may be: 

• Store backing tracks for your students' pieces on your phone/tablet and ask the student to play along. I use a bluetooth speaker which provides full volume. Young students find it an extra challenge to keep up with the track, just like they would with a metronome, but this is more fun!

• Get the parent(s)/guardian involved and ask them to send audio/video of the student's practice at home. This way, you can monitor your student's progress and give them valuable feedback or encouragement between lessons.

• Use fun apps - eg. (1) A spinning wheel app to decide which scale the student should do for the day, or (2) A fun metronome app that has different rhythms or drum beats, or (3) A voice recorder app to record snippets during lessons to discuss details with the student, or (4) A speed changer app that changes the tempo of backing tracks.

• Design quizzes (you could use Google Forms, etc.) for the students to do in the lesson or for homework - or you could search online for some shared by other teachers, too.

• Listen to some repertoire as a music appreciation activity, to introduce composers or new styles.

I usually use the iPad/tablet in a small portion of my lessons, but some students may enjoy having their lessons solely on their iPad/tablet and it's possible to make this work if you're willing to try this mode of learning. I write on the digital copy of the score with my Apple Pencil and Airdrop the image to the student - for some students, this works wonders. I hope you find these helpful and please leave any comments and suggestions below if you have ideas to share! Happy Teaching! Misa xx

Happy Teachers Day! (Part 1) Self-Care for Teachers

Happy Teachers Day Malaysia!

Teaching is one of the most rewarding professions, and it's a wonderful experience as well as a privilege to be able to contribute to shaping someone else's life, whether you work with young children or adult students. I'm so passionate about teaching and it makes me excited every time I talk about my experiences. 

On the other hand, it can also be a stressful job because time can be so scarce, and you're constantly trying to keep up with the demands of planning lessons or tailoring programmes for each of your classes or students while responding to different levels of expectations. 

Today I wanted to share some ideas on self-care for teachers to celebrate Teacher's Day! This will be Part 1 where I cover some points on how to look after yourself as a teacher and Part 2 will cover ideas on little things you can incorporate into your lessons that might enhance you and your students' musical experiences in the long term. 

Disclaimer: I'll be writing from the point of view of a one-on-one studio teacher, so some of these may not apply or be possible for teachers who work in other settings.

1. Slow down

If you are struggling to bring a positive attitude into the teaching room, maybe it's time to slow down. You might have pushed yourself to reach certain deadlines or benchmarks and feel personally responsible for every student's result. A student's progress, while influenced by how a teacher shapes their learning, is dependent on so many factors that you can't control every aspect of it. If you are already doing your best, you may need to detach yourself from the situation. It might be a good idea to make space in your yearly schedule to allow for unexpected absences, or the student (or yourself) not having the best day. Try to avoid programming a year's calendar expecting the student to come to every lesson in tip-top shape. They have lives of their own and different paces of learning. Focus on allowing your students to learn organically at their pace, rather than by constant proactive (or possibly over-enthusiastic?) input from the teacher.

2. Don't take it personally

As a studio teacher, we can be quite isolated. Individual teachers are often left to their own devices, so we may rarely receive positive reinforcement from anyone. Unless your students and their parents actively tell you that they enjoy learning with you, sometimes you can't tell if you're doing a good job. We might also have a full schedule that prevents us from seeing other teachers and sharing stories or concerns. If you can make time to see your fellow teacher friends, though, that's great - sometimes only another teacher would relate to what we go through!

Sometimes, unexpectedly, we may be hit with negative feedback that just really takes the wind out of our sails. Teachers usually strive to do their best so this can feel quite devastating, especially when you don’t see it coming. The scenario can replay in your mind over and over. It's even worse if you found out from someone else about a negative rumour going around!

We can’t change what others say to us or about us, but we can change how we react to it. If there was any constructive criticism in it, you can take that as a learning experience and move on. Try to avoid being triggered and reacting defensively. If someone says hurtful things, don’t let that question your professional ability or self-worth. The problem is with them and not you. If you indeed did make a mistake, don't beat yourself up about it! We all make mistakes and that's okay.

3. Avoid gossip

While you may be an individual teacher and work alone most of the time, the world is a very small place. Protect your mental health by avoiding gossip and making a point to walk away from situations where there might be others doing it. It feeds negativity and is not a healthy thing to do. If you make a stand of not participating in this negative behaviour, you would stop being a magnet for it in the long run. Besides, in this case, ignorance is bliss!

4. Switch off

Teaching can be an all-consuming job, we can be so passionate about it or believe that this is our calling in life. While it’s great to have a job that we love so much, it also can mean that you think about your students ALL THE TIME. If you run a private studio from home, especially, it can be difficult to switch off from work. Try to come up with a routine that helps you switch off. At the end of the day, you might need to make a habit of sitting down with a cup of tea, or taking a walk, or putting on a relaxing essential oil, or take a few minutes to journal the events of the day and write down everything in your head that you might need to remember before your students come back for their next lesson. You might need to mute notifications of work-related texts on your phone. Once that’s done, make a point to switch to ‘home’ mode and remember there is a life outside teaching! If you need a holiday, take it!

5. Don’t compare

It’s so easy to compare our work (or our students!) to those of other teachers. Embrace that each student is different and the journey will vary for everyone. We as teachers also work with a different set of values and goals so there is no point in comparing.

When we look at our students on the whole, we might sometimes feel that we are more successful with certain students while we struggle to motivate others. We are all human; while we would like to build rapport with all our students, sometimes our personalities may just clash. Protect yourself by knowing this may happen sometime in the span of our (hopefully) long careers; address it diplomatically, before it becomes toxic to the parties involved. Keep your communication open in the student-parent-teacher triangle to maintain a healthy relationship.

6. Plan ahead

Scheduling can be one of the most stressful things to deal with when running a studio. While students have their own lives and varying schedules, teachers also may be under stress to secure a living, collecting fees on time, deciding whether to replace missed classes, to planning a break in your yearly schedule. If you have control over how you schedule your lessons, decide how many weeks you would like to be teaching per year, remembering that we all need a break.

Freelancing can mean that we can potentially work for all 52 weeks of the year if we wanted to, but we do NOT need to be teaching until we drop. If you intend to enter students into competitions or exams, find out the dates at your earliest opportunity and schedule your terms surrounding those. Planning at least 6 months to a year in advance will give you a sense of security in your time and finances.

7. Set boundaries

If you freelance as a private teacher, it can often be difficult to set policies for your studio, because a private teacher has to deal with all manner of business-to-personal matters. Try to be upfront about your boundaries, and have policies on fees, last minute cancellations, what to do if the student is sick (are they still allowed to come to class with a flu and infect everyone in your family?). Prepare what you’d say if the student requests to come for an extra lesson on your day off. (You are perfectly entitled to say that you don’t work on that day and don’t feel guilty!)

It’s also a good idea to let the student/parent know at your first meeting what your expectations are if they want to learn with you, and if you do this at the start, it is also easier to initiate a conversation if things aren’t working out and you’d like to stop teaching them. The clearer you set your boundaries from the beginning, you will save yourself the stress of having to deal with these type of issues.

Finally, be kind to yourself

Remember, happy teachers make happy students!

Protect yourself so that your teaching life is sustainable over a long period of time and you can enjoy working with these healthy habits.

In Part 2, I will write about quick ideas to incorporate into your individual lessons to enhance the learning/teaching experience.

Happy teaching!

Misa

xx

#teaching #pianoteacher #musicteacher #teachersday