This is the second post in a series. Check out Day 1 of the 12 Days of Inspiration over at Colourful Keys! Check back for links to the rest of the days at the end of this post. Who else was sooooo ready for this break? I definitely found myself spread a little thin these last few weeks, and I'm really excited for my vacation...which has technically already started...but this is a short post, and I'm writing it in my pajamas with my cat in my lap. Breaks are great! Taking vacations has been proven to reduce stress, keep you heart healthy, improve mental health, and improve relationships (source). Vacations are also shown to increase productivity and creativity (source), two things that are vitally important to us working artists. A number of surveys have shown that Americans don't take advantage of all of their paid days off, and I know from experience that it's even worse for those of us who don't have traditional paid vacation time each year. The thing is though, we entrepreneur/teaching artists need to take time off! Without it, we will suffer from burnout, decreased creativity, and compromised mental and physical health. I hope you just decided that you are on vacation with me now. If you somehow end up in Pasadena, let's get lunch! Ok, so you're on vacation, but you want to make the most of it, right? You want to come back from your break refreshed, reenergized, and ready to take on the world. How do we do that? Yes, there will be quite a bit of sitting on the couch with your cat and a book (for my fellow introverts. You extroverts out there are probably going to want to do all kinds of exhausting things like having lunch with your friends and taking your kids to Disneyland. To each his own.) But if you really want to make the most of your time off, I'd like to suggest that you do 2 things: 1. Reflect Take some time to look back at this past semester. What went well? What got you excited? What were some of your favorite moments? What are things you're never going to try again? What caused you stress and anxiety? This is not a planning session. You should set aside some time at THE END of your vacation, after you've read all your books and your cat has grown tired of you, to do some planning. I have my planning session scheduled for next Monday. This is mental and emotional unloading. Write these things down, get out your journal/notebook/computer/this handy pdf, and let it all out. This is especially important for external processors who don't want all of their friends and loved ones to avoid them because they're unloading everything on them (I do this all the time. My cat doesn't mind. The humans in my life tire of it quickly.) 2. Reconnect This one is multi-faceted. There are many things in our lives from which we can become disconnected when we're busy. Time off is the perfect time to reconnect with those things, and you will be much happier for it. Reconnect with loved ones. The holiday season can get really busy, and it can be really easy to lose touch with the people we care about the most. I hope you got to spend some quality time with your loved ones over the holidays. Keep reconnection in mind over the next few days. Have lunch with a good friend you haven't seen in a while. Call your mom. Put your phone in the other room and actually talk to your family. Relationships enrich our lives. They give us a sense of belonging. Take some time to nurture them. Reconnect with your art. We are music teachers. We are artists sharing our art with the next generation. I don't know about you, but when I get busy, the first thing that goes is my piano time. I might practice things that I need to learn for performances, but I don't play for fun. I don't spend time being creative at the piano, and my students can tell! You can't pour from and empty cup, so spend some time at the piano. If you're on vacation away from home, play the piano in the hotel lobby until someone asks you to stop, or find another creative way that you can reconnect with your art. I'm not just a pianist, and I imagine most of you also have other creative outlets and crafts. Spend time doing those things too. Crochet a scarf for a friend, write a new song or poem, spend some time working on that detective novel. Whatever you do, let your creative juices flow! If you spend some time doing these two things over your break, I can guarantee that you will feel refreshed and ready to go when you get back to work. One last thing: Don't think of these things as chores, or things to check off your to-do list. This is what vacation is for. If should be fun, relaxing, and on-going. Need a little help getting started? Here's handy pdf to get the juices flowing: ![]()
Check out the rest of this series here:
Day 3: 3 Simple Ways to Reduce Stress at Music Educator Resources Day 4: New Year's Resolutions for Your Studio at Violin Judy Day 5: 5 Ways to Reset Your Music Studio After the Holidays at Pianosaurus Rex Day 6: 6 Things That Should Happen at a First Piano Lesson at Pianissimo: A Very Piano Blog Day 7: 7 Tax Deductions for Music Teachers at Sara’s Music Studio Day 8: 8 Questions to Bring Your Studio into the New Year at Fun Key Music Day 9: 9 Ways to Increase Your Studio Retention at Woods Piano Studio Day 10: 10 Impressive Benefits of Learning Piano By Ear at Piano Picnic Day 11: 11 Finds for the New Year at Piano Pantry Day 12: 12 Tips for Teaching Tricky Personalities by Tracy Selle
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A CHRISTMAS SEASON SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR PIANO TEACHERS...PART 2: AVOID WASTING TIME IN DECEMBER12/11/2017 Recently on social media a fellow teacher expressed concern that she was wasting time this holiday season because she was spending most of her lesson time on holiday music, games, and fun activities, rather than moving forward in the lesson books and introducing new concepts.
I understand the inclination to feel like you're wasting time if you're not moving forward, but I'd like to argue that, with most students, it's a waste of time to introduce a lot of new things in December. When the holiday season kicks off after Thanksgiving, children are overwhelmed and distracted by everything else that's going on around them: Families are shopping and participating in holiday traditions. Kids are busy making wish lists and Christmas cookies. They're rehearsing for plays and school programs. They're planning for trips to visit relatives. And then there is the recent trend of giving final exams to children in Elementary and Middle School! Adding to this overwhelm with new musical concepts and practice demands can be counterproductive, so let me offer an alternative: Review Season! In my studio I do review season twice a year in December and in June. Review Season is two-fold, and here's what it looks like: 1) We take a break from lesson books and concentrate on fun repertoire that is not overly challenging. This usually means a Christmas book or a few engaging holiday pieces. For Christmas music recommendations, see my previous post here. Some students aren't interesting in playing holiday music, and that's totally fine, but I still like to give them something fun to work on this time of year. Here is a great collection of "wintery" pieces by Dawn Ivers that your students will love! Christmasy or not, I want these pieces to review concepts that students have been working on this year. They should present some sort of challenge, but nothing that can't be worked through in a week or two. My goal is for students to have a handful of pieces that they can play for their families over the break. 2) We play LOTS of games! My favorite way to combat Holiday Season Overwhelm is by making learning extra fun. We normally play games frequently in lessons, but this time of year I make sure to have lots of holiday-themed fun with me at all times. I always play at least one game, sometimes more, in every single lesson, even with older students! Games can be a great way to review reading concepts, musical terms, rhythm, and all kinds of other theory concepts. Here are a few of my favorite free games to get you started: Heave Ho Ho Ho! from Teach Piano Today to review Cs on the grand staff Reindeer and Elves Keyboard Race from Susan Paradis to review piano keys Gift Grab from Colourful Keys to review musical terms and symbols These are not necessarily games, but they are great activities to include in your Holiday Review Season as well: Holiday Rhythm Cup Explorations from Compose Create. (this is not free, but it is SOOOO worth the cost!) Top 5 Christmas Piano Printables from Teach Piano Today. Follow this link for some fun holiday composing, improv, and practice activities. Before I instituted Review Season, I had to spend a lot of January reviewing concepts students had learned in the fall. Spending December on review helps students to solidify their learning. They come back from the break confident and ready to push ahead. What are your favorite review activities? |
Mallory ByersI teach piano in California. Here are some of my thoughts. Archives
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