Here is a list of the updates and improvements we’ve made to Music Teacher’s Helper since November 12, 2007.

• When updating repeating events on the calendar, we made a change that solves two issues. One is if you deleted an event in the future, say, for a holiday, it used to add the lesson on that day back in when you updated all the events in that repeat group. Now it will leave your deleted events as deleted so you don’t have to put the holidays in again. The second thing this improves is if you’re updating events that have already been invoiced, it used to make the event appear as if it hadn’t been invoiced (kind of like “Un-invoicing” the event), if you were updating multiple events at once (future or all). This has now been fixed, so that once an event has been invoiced, it will always appear invoiced. (unless you delete and recreate it).
• Fixed calendar updating repeat events bug caused by above change. If you changed the time of an event back to the past, there were a few days when this caused the event to be saved at the wrong time. This was quickly fixed as soon as it was discovered.
• Made auto event reminders only send notice to teacher if there were reminders sent out (rather than daily regardless of whether any were sent). We’re trying to cut down on your junk mail.
• Fixed print link on invoice creation screen.
• Now you can view daily summaries for past dates. It will show all events except cancelled events.
• Made automatic lesson reminder emails notification to the teacher show the lessons in chronological order.
• The cost of a lesson or event will now show in event details when hovering over events on the calendar (if the cost is greater than 0)

We have a lot more great features and improvements planned that we’re sure you’re going to love (since we’ve had so many requests for them). So stay tuned!

It’s a joyous time of year, a counterpoint to also being the darkest time of year. When I grew up, in a religiously diverse community, the Christmas spirit was about peace and good will to all. There were the school choruses singing a lot of Christmas songs, the concerts that included Christmas music and usually a Hanukah song, and some wintry ones about snow and sleighs.

Now music teachers have to contend with parents and students who are a little more polarized by the politicians. Some want to make stores say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays”. This seems more of a political overlay than a real concern. We always used to sing “We wish-sh-shyu a merry Chris-s-s-s-sms-s-s and a Happy New Year!”–and our vacations and plans have never been just about Christmas, but also New Year’s–and for about 1 of 4 Americans, other holidays.

Although I teach at two music schools, they are not public schools, so I don’t feel much pressure from my students about this issue, but I know many teachers do. I hope you can share your thoughts on this by adding a comment below.

Before discussing some teaching ideas for the holidays, I’d like first to pose a purely musical question that arose for me when my kids participated in a piano recital one December. (more…)

As I mentioned in a previous post, I use PowerPoint to present a slide show in the waiting room of my studio. Now I want to share with you what I include in the slide show.

Announcements

• Fees due today
• Mailing address to mail payment
• Payment can be put in the drop box
• Available open slots
• Monthly Birthdays
• Please make sure front door is closed when coming in or leaving.
• Lost and found items
• Suggestion box location
• Parent business advertisements
• Student accomplishments

Trivia

One slide has a trivia question concerning a band or music. The slide that follows has the answer. Trivia questions can be found in a Google search for music trivia.

Photos

• Students playing their instrument
• Various musicians or music groups
• Holiday photos
• Photos of myself in a classroom or band

Schedule

• Upcoming concert events
• Studio events
• Denver events

There are many types of slides you can have. Each slide stays on the screen for 30 - 60 seconds, depending on the slide. Just be creative. Parents and students find the slide show both entertaining and informative.

I wish every child could be an angel when they enter my studio, but it just doesn’t work out that way all the time. I have had my share of chatty kathys, bratty bettys, and sassy sams. In this blog post, I want to share a little trick I learned from a therapist friend of mine. It’s all about rewarding GOOD behavior.

The first thing you need to do is go to your computer and open up a blank word document. Create a table using some fun colors. Title it “Behavior Chart” in a fun font like “curlz”. Make 6 columns and 5 rows. Space out the individual sections so that the chart looks like a blank calendar. Leave it blank. Now make several copies. In the squares in the top row, you want to put the names of the months, starting with the current one. Of course, when you run out of room, you will simply print another one and start over. (more…)

PDA’s aren’t just for keeping track of your schedule. There are lots of applications (many of them free or relatively inexpensive) that you can add to your PDA to make it a really handy tool to have around. For the next few weeks I will be talking about some different applications that you can add to your PDA to make it work for you. (more…)

I once saw some buttons which said “I played it better at home” and would love to get some. Anyone know how to find them? It would be fun to give them to students when they say it. Just to show them that the feeling is so common that it’s even on a button!

What teachers do about this comment varies fairly widely. I’ve heard of two basic responses: one is that “I played it better at home” is purely an excuse, that there should be no excuses, and that the teacher should turn a deaf ear to it.

The other response is to view it as an honest wish that they could have played the music as well at their lesson as they had played it at home, that it deserves some empathy because home is more comfortable, without the tension of playing for a critical audience focused on their every movement (and for piano students, playing on a different instrument).

Some take the middle ground, recognizing that (more…)

It used to be that music teachers needed to carry a lot of books with them. Now there is a high tech solution for that. It is called Music Pad Pro and was created by Freehand. About the size of a small laptop computer and only weighs about 4 lbs Music Pad Pro.

(more…)