Simplicity. We can all use a little more of it, wouldn’t you agree?!
Well, today I have a tutorial video that will make the creation of your music studio calendar from year to year as simple as one keystroke and…
Voila! Your new calendar will be created.
I’m not exaggerating. No, seriously. It’s true.
Before I turn your studio management world upside down, let me show you the calendar we’re about to create.
This morning I texted the link to a video lesson I made for a student who couldn’t make their lesson this week. Video and Facetime lessons are great alternatives. Read about my first Facetime lesson experience here. Also, check out this recent post on Colourful Keys on how to teach a Facetime/Skype piano lesson.
Tim’s Ultimate Guide to Left Hand Patterns is a free download you don’t want to miss.
App-land madness.
Yeah, you know what I’m talking about!
As teacher especially we deal with twice the amount of apps because we have not only our personal apps, but endless apps on rhythm, sight reading, note-naming, and on and on and on. It’s likely most of us don’t even use half the apps on our screen on a regular basis.
While our smartphones and tablets are incredible devices that have given us the ability to access all kinds of useful (and some not so useful) tools that can enhance the way we work, teach, and go about our daily lives, they’ve also become another item that we have to figure out how to manage.
You guessed it. Today we’re talking about device organization.
If you’re anything like me, since the day you’ve owned a smartphone and/or tablet, you’ve played around with and rearranged the layout of your devices again and again.
Over the past year, I’ve finally settled on a layout I like and have stuck with. As a bonus, the layout is almost exactly the same on both my iPhone and iPad.
Today I have a video for you on how I organize my devices.
Care to have a peek?
If you prefer to watch it on YouTube, just click on the word “YouTube” on the bottom right-hand corner of the video. In order to see the video as clearly as possible, I would recommend expanding the video to full screen by clicking on the broken box-shape clear to the right of the screen at the bottom.
Do you have any tips that work for you when it comes to device organization? Share below!
The most incredibly beautiful and Spring-filled spread of food ever. Seriously, who eats like this?
Valuing online friends and connections. I couldn’t agree more, Fran.
I’ve had a Spotify account for years. This past year, when I started my Ukulele class, I started using it a lot more. The more I use it, the more I like it. For quite a while now, I’ve had on my to-do list of “non-important and non-time sensitive items,” to spend a little time researching Spotify to make sure I’m utilizing its features. When I finally did, I came across this article which I found useful.
My new favorite artist is Jess Ray. My new favorite song is The Answer to Every Question (Technicolor Jesus). Actually, it’s been my favorite “new” for like 6 months but I just now got around to telling you about it. 🙂
Susan Paradis has several Easter-themed worksheets and games on her website. One of my favorites is the Bunny Basics note-naming worksheet.
My husband and I just wrapped-up and submitted our 2017 taxes. We were later than we like to be (something called building a house yourself might be the cause of that :-). To glean a few extra tips, check out Ed Pearlman’s article on Music Teachers Helper Blog Tax Tips for Musicians.
A visualization of Passion Week.
Holy week prayers.
Maundy Thursday explained.
On the etymology of the word Easter.
I met a teacher at the MTNA Conference who introduced me to her website Piano iPad Apps. This is a great resource site as she has a lot of videos that walk you through apps. Seeing these videos can help you make a decision whether or not certain apps might be for you, especially if they’re ones you have to purchase.
M.I.C.K.E.Y – M.O.U.S.E.
That’s all I have to say and now it’s stuck in your head, right?! 😉
Well, another MTNA Conference is in the books. This year’s conference was held at the Coronado Springs Resort at Disney World in Orlando.
Regularly attending live conferences is one of the best choices I’ve ever made as a teacher. Why? Sam Holland stated it best in one of his Questions and Answers articles in Clavier Companion.
We are social animals. We learn from one another in direct exchanges… A live conference is an IMMERSIVE experience in which you leave the regular workday world behind and immerse yourself morning, noon, and night.
I always feel a little lull in my energy for teaching this time of year. The moment I get to the conference, that all starts to slowly melt away. I always walk away feeling renewed and energized to make it through the end of the school year.
I have to say I didn’t take nearly the number of photos I do at conferences, but that’s OK because the ones I did get are highly memorable. Today I’m not going to share a listing of all the sessions I attended or notes, just the “social animal” part. 🙂
Teaching scale and key signature patterns with an off-the-bench activity from Natalie Weber at Music Matters Blog
Experience office envy on this video tour of Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income’s home office.
A wonderful opportunity to further your career! The Frances Clark Center is currently seeking an Editor-in-Chief/Chief Content Director (EIC) to lead and direct all aspects of its digital and print publication, Clavier Companion.
Your Kitchen Table by Seth Godin.
An amusing story of a piano teacher’s experience with moveable do and une mère française.
New two-piano teaching duets for Burgmüller’s Op. 100!
MTNA started a new initiative on Twitter called Music Teacher Monday. I’m not a big Twitter user myself, but if you are, it sounds interesting!
Kinda personal, but hey, it’s life. The Undergarment Essentials Every Woman Should Own.
How many manipulatives, piano games, and other resources do you have in your music studio? You probably don’t even have to count to know the answer. A lot! Am I right?
Keeping track of all our teaching resources can be a daunting task. Lesson planning for private and group music classes can be enough work in itself without having to continuously recall and rehash all the different manipulatives and games we have each time we plan.
After finding myself physically walking back and forth regularly to my game files, flashcard box, and such, I decided it was time to put together a master list of every activity or manipulative I had or could use to teach a concept.
It can be very easy to lose track of what we already have. Having a document like this has allowed me to not only have an easy place to reference what activities I could utilize at any given time, but it was an awesome snapshot and inventory of what I owned.
Keeping a master list is also a great place to keep teaching ideas that may not necessarily have physical items to accompany the activity.
I thought you might find this document useful as well.
Since it is a document that I update on a regular basis, I decided to simply share the public link to a Google Doc. Keep in mind that it’s a working document so it’s possible I will add to, edit, and even remove items as time goes by.
There are three ways you could utilize this document
May this document help you add a little more sanity to your lesson planning and studio organizational life. 🙂
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