What I Learned In My Past Year Teaching Piano

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1919

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the song that they’re learning is enough to them.</li><li>For my super hyperactive kid, a series of games take up the whole lesson, and it’s a much more effective way to teach concepts. It takes a lot of preparation work, though.</li></ul><h1 id="66f0">On client management:</h1><ul><li>Pleasing parents aren’t easy. Their goals may not align with yours for your students or that of the students’. At one point, the mom, the kid and I had different ideas and views towards piano lessons. Mom wanted him to learn and not waste time with games and activities (more method books and playing), he wanted lessons to be less dry, and I wanted lessons to be more interesting for him with games and fun worksheets. I wanted him to stay interested in piano playing rather than just feeling drained from class, but the mom wanted him to learn.</li><li>That communication with the kids beyond the scope and subject of the lesson is important and should be welcomed. Well, yes it can be distracting, but it’s best to accept it sometimes and let them talk a bit about themselves. Let them share what they’d like to share. These kids sometimes tell me their future career plans, what happened in school, and what they did that week. It’s really cute.</li><li>That building the relationship and bonding with the kids is important. For students, teachers are people they look up to. We’ll want to sort of know our teachers on a more personal level too (just a little bit), rather than see them as robots who deliver information and only that. It’s okay to share your experiences with the kids.</li><li>I had one adult student. This meant following their goals almost entirely (in her case) instead of mine. Schedule changes happen, and they may not always have the time to practice. Adults can sometimes be a little easier to teach than kids, however, as they tend to be more automatic and listen better. At least my student did. I’ve

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heard of stories where the adult student tries to control the lesson more, throwing off the teacher-student balance.</li></ul><h1 id="0100">My favorite part of the job:</h1><p id="ecfd">My favorite part of the job is being a part of their lives. This isn’t what I realized before I got into teaching. When one of my kids (10-years-old) told me his secret, I realized that I play a bigger part in his life than I had initially thought. This little 10-year-old boy before me is the same kid that made his classmates swear to not tell anyone the same secret. It was a really adorable secret that even if I wanted to tell you all, I decided not to in the end and edited it out.</p><p id="d5cf">I also love when he tells me what they want to be in the future and both of these kids tell me their birthdays and other things that are going on in their lives. It’s plain adorable and super sweet.</p><p id="e913">For more stories from me, <a href="https://ashleywritess.medium.com/subscribe">subscribe to my email notifications</a> to be notified when I share something new. Here’s <a href="https://ashleywritess.medium.com/membership">where to sign up for a Medium Membership</a> for more stories from all writers on Medium. I will also receive part of your Membership fee.</p><div id="5942" class="link-block"> <a href="https://medium.com/alternative-perspectives"> <div> <div> <h2>Alternative Perspectives</h2> <div><h3>No niche — just a blend of compelling stories and authentic personalities, each one written from a unique point of view</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*pGTBcQE87YaV7aJouWjXTg.png)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

It’s been a rollercoaster ride.

I started teaching in March 2020 when my piano teacher recommended a student to me. My teacher does not do home visits. She teaches from home, so she passed the student to me. I’m still teaching him now. This gave me the confidence a few months later to look for another few students. I’ve learned so much over the past year after teaching 4 different students, even after letting go of 2 of them.

On teaching:

Teach them the way they want to be taught instead of teaching them the way you were taught or how you’re supposed to teach them. They absorb much better when it’s more catered to their learning style.

Don’t just stick to rules, ‘should’ve’s and ‘could’ve’s. They just want to learn, and yes rules are important but sometimes retaining their interest is more important in the long run.

Learning music is learning a creative skill, a creative language. Don’t just emphasize the rules, the method books, and be rigid in lesson structure, even if it’s preparing for an exam, allow some flexibility in self-expression, and don’t be afraid to inject fun and games within the class. My kids (yes I call them my kids) love games and fun worksheets.

That some kids may just want to play, not to play well, but only be able to play. This can be frustrating for us teachers when kids just want to play and not learn how to play well. Being able to play the notes that roughly sounds like the song that they’re learning is enough to them.

For my super hyperactive kid, a series of games take up the whole lesson, and it’s a much more effective way to teach concepts. It takes a lot of preparation work, though.

On client management:

Pleasing parents aren’t easy. Their goals may not align with yours for your students or that of the students’. At one point, the mom, the kid and I had different ideas and views towards piano lessons. Mom wanted him to learn and not waste time with games and activities (more method books and playing), he wanted lessons to be less dry, and I wanted lessons to be more interesting for him with games and fun worksheets. I wanted him to stay interested in piano playing rather than just feeling drained from class, but the mom wanted him to learn.

That communication with the kids beyond the scope and subject of the lesson is important and should be welcomed. Well, yes it can be distracting, but it’s best to accept it sometimes and let them talk a bit about themselves. Let them share what they’d like to share. These kids sometimes tell me their future career plans, what happened in school, and what they did that week. It’s really cute.

That building the relationship and bonding with the kids is important. For students, teachers are people they look up to. We’ll want to sort of know our teachers on a more personal level too (just a little bit), rather than see them as robots who deliver information and only that. It’s okay to share your experiences with the kids.

I had one adult student. This meant following their goals almost entirely (in her case) instead of mine. Schedule changes happen, and they may not always have the time to practice. Adults can sometimes be a little easier to teach than kids, however, as they tend to be more automatic and listen better. At least my student did. I’ve heard of stories where the adult student tries to control the lesson more, throwing off the teacher-student balance.

My favorite part of the job:

My favorite part of the job is being a part of their lives. This isn’t what I realized before I got into teaching. When one of my kids (10-years-old) told me his secret, I realized that I play a bigger part in his life than I had initially thought. This little 10-year-old boy before me is the same kid that made his classmates swear to not tell anyone the same secret. It was a really adorable secret that even if I wanted to tell you all, I decided not to in the end and edited it out.

I also love when he tells me what they want to be in the future and both of these kids tell me their birthdays and other things that are going on in their lives. It’s plain adorable and super sweet.

For more stories from me, subscribe to my email notifications to be notified when I share something new. Here’s where to sign up for a Medium Membership for more stories from all writers on Medium. I will also receive part of your Membership fee.