Music Teacher's Helper Blog

I have been a member of NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) member for years and always enjoyed our meetings.  On a friend’s recommendation, I joined MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) last fall, but this past week was the first time I was able to attend a local meeting (PMTA – Phoenix Music Teachers Association).  It was a joy to meet with teachers (even though they were mostly piano teachers, and I’m a voice teacher).  We talked business, and then we had a presentation on “Encounter Resistance In Our Teaching,” by nationally certified piano teacher Shellie Ruge.

Shellie gave us a fabulous presentation, including many clips from “The Karate Kid.”  She raised several points; the biggest for me was that RESISTANCE IS A TWO-WAY STREET.  If a student is not progressing, is wasting time in lessons, shows up late, if the parents are not paying on time, PART of the responsibility is ours as a teacher.  We need to investigate OUR part of the equation and see what we can do about it.

As a result of this challenge, I have spent time in the two weeks since talking with my students about THEIR goals for lessons, both short- and long-term.  I’ve worked together with almost all of my students in the time since, with great results.  Students are invested in their lessons and almost all have signed up for the Spring Recital next month – the few who cannot attend have legitimate scheduling conflicts.  I am also having students sign up for summer lessons at a greater rate than I had expected.

I have had one student who I challenged to sing more and better who have stepped up their resistance – coming late to lessons and then canceling late, as well.  These students who don’t want to be there, we need, as teachers, to figure out WHY they are resisting.  What is their reason? Are they scared to sing? What are they avoiding when all they want to do is talk?  What can I do as a teacher to best use the lesson?  Often, my seniors in high school need what I call (to myself) “counseling sessions.” What do I do when EVERY lesson turns into a session?  I am allowing this to happen, so I need to redirect myself, and be very conscious of how I enable resistance in my students.

I am excited about the response in the studio to most of our goal-setting.  We have a focus for each student – for one, his goal is to sing a complete song for the September Studio Class.  For another, he decided to sing on the end of May Studio Recital.  Another of my students is striving to improve his band and take it to the next level – so we’ve been doing detail work on his voice AND his compositions. For my three students who are going on to college next year as music majors, we’re working on upping their game so that they show up in the fall even better than when they were accepted.  My goal is to re-evaluate WITH my students every several months, so that we are BOTH on the same page in lessons.  If we are not working together as a team in the studio, then I am not doing my job as a teacher.

Back to community – if I hadn’t gone to this meeting, listened to the presentation, and then gone out to lunch with several teachers afterward, I wouldn’t have a rejuvenated studio at the present.  I am active online, but there is something about being in the PRESENCE of teachers, where we can talk back and forth and share ideas, that has been lacking in my professional life.  I have enjoyed going to annual conventions of some kind (the Classical Singer Convention last year led me to implement quite a few business/marketing ideas – link to my MTH blog posting on the subject from July 2009 – to the end that my studio is remaining full, even as I have had students need to drop due to economic concerns), but I highly recommend that, if at all available, you try to find a local group that meets REGULARLY (more than one annual meeting), for bouncing ideas off each other.  We studio teachers can be very isolated – we focus on our students and improving our teaching, but often we neglect making the time to connect with fellow teachers in a social setting.  It’s very easy to put aside professional relationships, especially while trying to make ends meet (plus family, etc.), but I am finding that I NEED to make the time (unpaid though it is) to connect with local teachers.  It is well worth the time – the ONE meeting I attended gave me ideas that I have used to reinvigorate my studio.  I am excited about teaching and my students are excited (and therefore open) about learning.  This is the kind of investment that we often forego, but cannot afford to ignore.

What are YOU doing to connect with other teachers? Do you have ideas about how to rejuvenate your studio?  How do you keep your students motivated?