After spending a few years using generic “Happy Birthday” card packs, I realized I could use this opportunity to inspire my students a little more.
I started with Susan Hong’s Mandala postcards. (Get the link along with several other fun ideas from the post: Fun Postcards for Student Birthdays.)
Today I wanted to share with you the super fun abstract piano art ones I chose for this year.
The past two year’s I’ve purchased from Etsy and have a feeling this may be my go-to place for several years to come. As long as I get them for under $1 per postcard, I consider that worth it.
09/21/2021 Update – Unfortunately it looks like his shop is no longer available, but I would encourage you to search Etsy for more fun music-themed birthday card finds!
If you didn’t already figure it out, today’s featured images is from last week’s National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (NCKP). While waiting for a table at a restaurant one evening, we had had a little fun in front of a beautiful wooden door around the corner from the restaurant.
The conference was great fun as always with the best part always being the connections you make with your colleagues.
I hope your July held plenty of time for relaxation and that your August allows a little extra breathing time before you return to your regular teaching schedule.
Enjoy this week’s goodies!
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I’ve been trying to catch up on some of Tim Topham’s podcasts recently. Here are some of my recent favorites:
My husband and I have been getting more into Bluegrass music over the past year. We’re talking about trying to make it to a Bluegrass Festival sometime. Here are 5 of the Best Bluegrass Festivals in the Country.
Chicken thighs have always been popular in our household. So much more flavor and a lot less susceptible to drying out when you cook then. I almost never eat chicken breast at restaurants because 95% of the time they’re over cooked and dry.
As we speak, I’m at Joy Morin’s Piano Teacher Retreat providing delicious food for all the lovely teachers here. Next week I’ll share some of the recipes I made for the retreat!
Last night my studio had our final Summer performance for the first time at a coffeehouse!
(My summer session only ran from the last week of May through July 18 this year because the last two weeks of July I’m away at NCKP and Joy Morin’s Piano Teacher Retreat.)
Summer lessons are optional in my studio and while most years I have around 70% of my students still take summer lessons, this year was a lot less.
(That was OK with me though, because I was planning on taking a Sabbatical Summer but since our house was not finished, I decided to continue to teach but really needed a lighter load – both for a little breather, and to have time to work on the house.)
I had fourteen students taking lessons but four of them were siblings that I did as a group class. Six students played in our summer recital.
Most years, when I have a lot more students, I’ve done an outdoor picnic which has always been great. With a lot fewer students performing, I wanted a small but still unique setting.
Here’s my weekly round-up of all good things from around the web one music teacher to another. Up this week: an amazing new course, a fun house-keeping experiment, tacos and more!
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Calling all taco lovers – Netflix just released a new series “Taco Chronicles!” (It’s in Spanish with English subtitles.)
Here’s my weekly round-up of all good things from one music teacher to another. Up this week: Homemade Root Beer, Steinway’s Secret Vault, a Fun List of Books to Read for Each Year of Your Life, and more!
It makes me want to go “aw…” when I see books like “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein and “Ramona the Pest” by Beverly Cleary. 🙂
I think it would be fun to start at the beginning and even read all the kids books! That’s now on my Summer bucket list!
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I’m not even a sports fan, and I was excited to hear about the win for the US Women’s Soccer Teamagainst the Netherlands at the World Cup. (Notice I said I was excited to “hear” about it. Yeah, that means I didn’t actually watch it. I’m terrible, I know!)
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The Result of Saying “Yes” to My Family from piano teacher Tracy Selle.
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Someone, please make this Homemade Root Beer for me right now. I still have one more week before my kitchen countertops are installed. Time is ticking!
As I began to write this post, I thought “I’ll have to do a 4th of July Friday Finds here in a couple of weeks.”
Then I looked at my calendar…
For real?! Independence Day is NEXT WEEK!
Yowsuh.
Something is happening today, that I just have to tell you about. It has absolutely nothing to do with piano but it kind of has something to do with food…
We’re finally getting our kitchen cabinets installed!! 6 months. 6 months is how long we’ve been living with just a small convection oven, single induction cooktop, and microwave all sitting on two folding tables. I am SO OVER it.
Photos coming soon!
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After scouring my files, I realized there aren’t a lot of 4th of July-themed materials I use in my studio. There are a few Summer-themed worksheets I’ve used from time to time. They’re all from Susan Paradis, of course!
A friend recommended the test at the Enneagram Institute. For $12 it’s better than some of the free ones out there but not as expensive as others available.
My suspicions were confirmed. My highest score was a tie between Type 3 and Type 1. My second highest score was a tie between Type 2, 8, and 9.
Have a lovely holiday next week everyone! Eat lots of hamburgs (as my grandma would call them) and all things that scream “Summer Food.” Your belly and your soul will thank you.
In April 2019, Evernote came out with a new add-on, “Evernote for Gmail.”
If you’re not sure what an add-on (extension/plug-in) is, it’s simply an extra little program that extends the functionality of whatever program you’re using whether it’s your internet browser, WordPress site, or email client.
You are likely most familiar with add-ons in your internet browser. As you can see in this small screen-shot, in the Google Chrome browser, add-ons are viewable to the right of the URL bar.
Today I wanted to share with you a few thoughts on whether or not Evernote for Gmail is a useful tool.
If you’re not already following Rebekah Maxner, add her to your list. Every article I’ve come across of hers on piano teacher groups has been well-written and insightful.
Here’s another excellent one I just read while browsing her site:
I finally added Rebekah’s website, Rebekah.maxner.ca to my Feedly account. Find out why I think RSS reader’s like Feedly are the best way to follow your favorite websites in this post: Managing Content the Easy Way.
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A couple of items to help you through your summer:
This is a post I’ve been excited to write for a long time. I don’t know why exactly. I think it’s because it’s a fun and light post that doesn’t require us to revamp our piano teaching or extend our to-do list. LOL.
Whether you’re just creating your Instagram account for the first time, or if you’ve been on there since the day it launched in 2010, there are five Instagram accounts I’ve enjoyed recently you might want to consider following if you’re not already.
Before I give you my list, I wanted to let you know exactly what I was looking for in this particular list.
The Criterion
While there are many piano teachers, bloggers, etc. on Instagram, this post focuses on accounts that spark a little “fun” in the piano studio world.
They can includea little (but not too much) of:
Marketing for their website or product.
Videos of their own playing or their students playing.
They should include:
Student / studio-related photos (but not too many).
A few personal photos – keep yourself real and relatable!
A lot of fun, beautiful piano-related eye candy.
In other words, I was looking for accounts that balanced life and studio, didn’t seem focused on marketing themselves or products, and included a lot of piano beauty, fun, and even humor.
Here are my recommendations in no particular order. (Except the last one, which is definitely my favorite!)
With so many social media apps out there, many teachers are hesitant to put the time and effort into trying a new platform. Believe it or not, though, Instagram isn’t new – it’s been out for almost 10 years!
As a fellow skeptic, I want to share with you today the biggest reason why any music teacher who is running an independent music studio needs to be on Instagram.
My own personal journey to Instagram is a big part of this story, so let me start there.
Entering Instagram
In July 2015, I opened my account and posted my first photo.
Since it was August, the month for fresh produce and canning (and you all know I love food), I had a little fun posting a lot of food photos.
Then it was pretty much crickets until October 2016 – more than a year later. Eek!
Bam!!
I’m suddenly back in and using Instagram even more than Facebook.
What happened?
Inspiration finally set in from a session I attended earlier that year at the 2016 MTNA Conference in San Antonio. The session was actually put on by a friend and colleague of mine and was called The Varsity Musician’s Playbook.: Commitment-Building Strategies from Team Sports to the Studio.
I was so inspired by her session, that I asked her to write a 3-part series here on Piano Pantry.
Part 3 is where the conviction to start using Instagram again set in. Granted, it took me almost 7 months to gear up to start using Instagram again, but once I did, I haven’t looked back and there’s one big reason why.
Student-Studio Connection
Instagram is (one place) where my students go to connect. Every single one of my high school students is on Instagram as well as a few younger students.
Students can see what’s going on in the studio outside of just their lesson. Most of my students go to different schools, so it’s fun for them to see the life of their piano peer’s outside of piano studio life as well as inside our piano studio life.
They can celebrate each other’s achievements and connect with each other outside of group classes. I witness students “loving” (as it goes on Instagram) and commenting on each other’s photos as well as the studio.
I always like to imagine that if I had social media like this growing up, and I saw a photo of a fellow student who has finished a book that I was struggling through, it would have been great motivation to work hard to also complete the book.
My Instagram Focus
Instagram is such an important part of my studio that I try to keep it focused on just that – my studio. Do I share personal things? Of course. Do I share a few Piano Pantry things once in a while? Yep.
If you follow me on Instagram though, you’ll see that I am 95% focused on my students.
Can we use Instagram as a way to market our studios? Absolutely! My mindset, however, is less on “outward” marketing and more “inward” marketing. That is, developing a community within your studio which then seems to radiate outward on its own.
P.S. Just a tip that in order to actually allow outward marketing to also occur, don’t keep your Instagram account private. That is, when you create an account, don’t set it up so people have to “request” to follow you. Let it be a public account anyone can follow. You want the public to see all the wonderful things you do in your studio!
ed. (Wow!)
