The form had always been fillable but this year when I downloaded it, it was not. I have to admit, I convinced myself I was mistaken that it was in the past and just went right ahead and made a printable template so you didn’t have to write in the student’s names by hand.
Thanks to fellow colleague/reader Jan Fulford who was a little more proactive than I was! She contacted me on Facebook and pointed out that yes, they had been fillable in the past but were also not working for her this year either. So, she contacted MTNA and found out it was flux and it was supposed to be fillable.
It has been fixed now – YEA!
Don’t worry, it doesn’t print the fillable area in purple. 🙂
Plus, we noticed that the centering of the words “present the” was off so they fixed that as well!
Thanks to Jan for her help in getting this all fixed!
P.S. Even though it’s basically not necessary anymore, I’m going to leave the printable template post active just in case since I’ve already put the work into it.Â
You may not be mentally ready for it, but this is the time of year to be thinking not only about Summer lessons but about your student load/list for the Fall term.
Along with that comes the work of meeting with/interviewing and registering new students. Take some time to think about the process you use. The way we run our student interview meetings, and the process set up for registering students is the first peek families will have into the quality of your studio.
Do you like what you see? Is it the kind of onboarding process you would feel good about if you were the one signing up? Is everything streamlined, easy to understand, and smooth and painless?
Here are some resources for you today as you consider your own interview and registration process.
One activity I find great to do with students during your first meeting is to decorate the piano. It gives you a chance to engage with the student and shows parents you work to make lessons fun. (Piano Safari)
If you’re looking to book interview meetings and/or do your registration forms online, there are all kinds of tools out there to make it easier. Some favorites I’ve heard of from other teachers over the years:
As we move into the Spring festival and recital season, consider taking time to talk to your students about good performance practices.
It’s easy to get tied up working on students’ skills with their repertoire and forget that there’s much more to it when it comes time for them to actually perform their music!
I sometimes find myself forgetting that students don’t just automatically KNOW these things, we have to take time to talk to them about (and practice) things like…
If you make a mistake, do your best to continue in an inconspicuous manner without pauses, facial expressions, physical reactions (such as flinching), or sounds.
If the performance situation has them announcing themself and/or their piece), speak slowly, and clearly, with well-articulated words and confidence.
The Day of the Performance…At least once during the day (and preferably about an hour prior to the performance), take a moment to close your eyes and visualize your performance including walking in, talking to the judges (if applicable), adjusting the bench, and warming up.
The Day of the Performance…Make sure you have practiced what you will use to warm up when you first sit down at the piano. Every piano feels different so don’t be afraid to ask if you can try it out before you begin your piece. A brief scale/warm-up or opening 4 measures of your piece will suffice.
The Day of the Performance…Take a celebratory photo after the performance somewhere that is memorable of what the event was and send it to your teacher!
This free download includes TWO CHECKLISTS:
The first is a “Piano Performance Checklist”. This page is great to use with students either individually or during a group performance class. It’s not an adjudication sheet, just a nice list of things that make up a solid performance.
The second is a list of helpful points for students to remember “The Day-of Your Piano Performance.”
I’m sure there are a whole plethora of other items that could be added to each but the goal was to keep it fairly concise and keep it to one page each. You don’t want to overwhelm students with TOO many do’s and don’ts.
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Last week we looked at resources for writing end-of-year evaluations. That is, teachers assessing student’s progress, skills, and future goals.
At the same time, it’s good to ask students and parents to reflect on the past year, including things such as dedication, implementation, efforts, and progress. Not only that, but it’s good to obtain feedback on your own teaching and business from families for your own growth and reflection.
Here are a small handful of resources to get you started.
1
When I crafted my first questionnaire 10 years ago, I was super thankful for Natalie Weber’s exampleto get me started! She has two forms available, one for parents and one for students.
It would be better to use an online survey tool like Polldaddy, Google Forms, or Typeform. These tools are free to use. Give people the chance to anonymously answer these questions on their own time. You will receive longer, more honest answers.
Ask non-threatening questions. Ask open-ended questions and give parents a chance to elaborate. Here are some ideas:
Why did the families in your Studio pick music lessons? (as opposed to dance, soccer, karate, etc.)
Why did the families in your studio pick you over everyone else?
What did the families think lessons would be like?
What concerns and fears did your families have with starting lessons?
What general goals do your families have for their child? (not related to music)
What do families not like about being in music lessons?
Every year at our Spring Recital, students are given a “Music Study Award” celebrating the milestones of their years of study and dedication to ongoing music lessons.
Made available by MTNA, (only members have access to this award), they have a free certificate available for download signed by the current MTNA President and the Executive Director/C.E.O.
There is space for the teacher to fill in the student name, years of music study, and for the teacher’s signature and date given.
This form is usually fillable but for some reason this year it is not.
I have terrible handwriting and while it’s one thing to sign my name and write the date, it’s another to write out the student’s name and years of study and make it look nice.
So, I created a printable template I’m sharing with you today for free.
4/27/2021 Update: Thanks to fellow colleague/reader Jan Fulford for pointing out to me that her fillable form WAS working. We contacted MTNA and found out it was flux and it was supposed to be fillable. It has been fixed now so YEA!
I’m going to leave this template available anyway just in case since I’ve already put the work into it.
First, you will want to print the certificate.
P.S. If you are using a certificate paper that has a large border on it, you will need to scale down the print area. Here’s a 2-minute tutorial to show you how.
Next, return the printed page to the printer tray (be sure and put it in the correct direction).
Then, print the template on top of it. (You will, of course, have written in the student’s name and years of study. 🙂 )
P.S.S. If you had to scale your document based on the type of certificate paper you’re using as per above, remember to scale the template as well. 🙂
It’s a little tedious because you have to do it one by one for each student, but it is a project that can be knocked out quickly with a good rhythm.
I would print as many awards as you need then put the full stack in your printer and print the names out one by one.
The document is viewable only which means you cannot edit it. In order to edit the document for your own use, you will need to either download it or copy it onto your Google Drive. Here’s how:
Click on the link.
Be sure you are signed in to your Google Account (do this in the top right corner).
Click on “File” in the upper left-hand corner.
Four options down, select “Make a copy.”
A box will pop up asking you to name the document and choose where in your Drive you would like to save it. Make your selections and hit OK.
That’s it! You should now be able to edit the document.
Just be careful as you change out the text that you don’t hit too many backspaces and alter the location. If that happens, simply go back to the original link and copy the document again. 🙂
This week I started thinking about end-of-year evaluations. Too soon? I
think not.
Generally, I wait until the week prior to (or the week of) our end-of-year evaluations to start writing them. It took me 10 years, but I wouldn’t recommend that! LOL
Waiting until the last minute created a lot of pressure on me and made it tempting to not be as thorough or concise as I could have been at times.
This year I was determined to start sooner.
Here are some resources to help as you start thinking about your own student evaluations.
One of my first evaluation forms I developed (and talk about in the post on using Evernote to write student evaluations), was originally inspired by Leila’s 5-point progress score.
Part of evaluation time should be considering not just what skills students have developed and accomplishments they’ve achieved, but what their future study will look like.
This year I am experimenting with a new way of giving meaningful assessments to my students at the end of the year. There are two parts to this:
First, I’m looking to create mini-videos of their playing over their time in lessons. The videos will feature clips of their playing in no more than 1-3 minutes.
Most likely 75% of us are in the throes of year-end recital preparation in our studios. As you plan, here are some resources to help you along the way.
This week, I’ve grouped them into themes to make them a little easier to absorb. But first – a couple of other goodies! 🙂
A lovely simple roast recipe. We had it alongside Braised Green Cabbage (Nom Nom Paleo)
Put the roast in the crockpot at lunchtime and prep the cabbage dish. Put it in the fridge and pop it in the oven between lessons two hours before you finish for the day.
I have put off making this salad dressing forever but not again! Wow. Delicious, low in sugar, and easy to make. You’ll cover 1-2 weeks of side salads with this recipe.
Use a pint-size mason jar to mix in. I used a half-pint and it was a little tight!
My husband and I enjoyed these waffles even more than Belgian waffles! Delicious, easy, and healthy to boot! Who needs waffles for breakfast? Not us. We had them for lunch! 🙂
Seriously yummo. If you let it simmer for a few extra minutes, it really makes the “gravy” nice and thick. Serve it with roasted green beans and a simple side salad for a well-balanced meal. (Mashed potatoes would be nice with it as well!)
#2 Easter Tunes
Even though I shared this last week, since it’s Easter weekend, once again here’s a playlist for Easter filled with all of my favorite worship music celebrating the resurrection.
This post is part of a series called Your Questions Answered that highlights questions from readers just like you. If you have a question you would like to submit, you can do so here.
This question was posed in reaction to two posts on giving out studio awards at the end of the school year:
I love your awards ideas and would love to implement it in my studio but have a couple of questions.
If you have a transfer student, do you count the years they studied elsewhere in your calculations?
If you were to start implementing this after your studio has been running awhile, would you play catch up with all the students and their trophies or just start in the current year? I would have several on the legacy award at this point.
I am excited that the students will have something else to strive for even if they don’t compete in the Federation or state exams.
Thank you for your input and thank you for sharing your wonderful ideas with all of us.
Blessings,
-SL
Hi, S,
Wow, these are GREAT questions! Here’s how I would handle each scenario:
In answer to your first question:
Transfer students receive their “Music Study” award based on how long they’ve been taking lessons – it’s about commitment – not just the time with you.
That being said, the “Legacy Award” IS about time with you. So, if you were to use that particular award in your studio and you had a transfer student that has been taking for 8 years (or however long you set your legacy award for), they would not get the legacy award – just the Music Study award for 8 years.
In answer to your second question, I have a two-part answer depending on what your question is asking…
If you’re asking if I would play catch-up as in giving them “back” awards, then no, I would not. That could, however, depend on how many students you have. If you have a really small studio and it won’t cost you a lot of money to do so, then certainly you could consider it. I think if you simply announce it’s a new program and from here on out, I would be surprised if anyone complained that you didn’t give them 3 trophies as “back pay”.
If you’re asking if I would play catch-up as in starting students at whatever year they’re at even if they haven’t received awards in the previous year awards then yes, I would. If a student has been with you for 4 years then they get an award for 4 years, even if this is the first year you’ve given awards.
I hope that makes sense and good luck with creating your own studio award program!
A free digital download of a really fun and unique song written by Canadian composer Lynette Sawatsky called “Covid Blessing”.
From the composer:
I wrote the piece based on a C°VID motif (the letter C, a diminished chord (°), the dominant chord (V), the tonic chord (I), and the letter D). A little nerdy, but musicians understand. 🙂
I think we are all getting a little weary, and this music helped me process a bit of what I am experiencing. This short piece is my musical blessing for those who are alone and isolated. It’s a prayer as we wait for better days ahead.
If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen me post a story that said her voice reminded me of the old radio show host, Deliah, from the ’90s! She’s so soothing to listen to! LOL
