Do you have any students who are Star Wars fans? This Star Wars-themed assignment sheet might be just what they need!
It’s been over three years since I posted a new assignment sheet in Assignment Sheet Central. With many returning to in-person lessons following the pandemic, I decided it was time to fulfill a request I had for this themed assignment sheet.
Due to copyright issues, the font and clip art are not exact Star Wars replicas, but I got it as close as I could to give it the overall feel.
Access this assignment sheet as part of the growing assignment sheet bundle!
Did you hear? Prima Music is going out of business! So sad! Prima was my go-to for quite a long time. Pop over there through the month of December for 50% off EVERYTHING while supplies last.
Are you looking to make some changes/improvements to your business?
Do you wish you could get some advice and direction for the next step in your growth as a teacher?
Would you like to work side-by-side with another teacher to improve one specific area of your studio?
I love hearing from you and working with you and am now excited to offer a new consulting service!
While I am confident and well-versed in many areas of piano pedagogy and running an independent music studio, topics of particular strength/interest include:
Studio business management (communication, payments, policies)
Studio marketing and social media
Productivity & Organization
Email management
Building rapport with the current families in your studio
Music Learning Theory application for piano
Piano methods, materials, and resources
Speaking and presenting skills (at a professional level)
What is a Consulting Session like?
(1) Purchase your 45-minute consultation session
(2) I will contact you within 24 hours to set up a time for our online session
(3) Prior to the meeting, I will send you a questionnaire so I have context about your background, teaching experience, and area(s) of inquiry
(4) During the meeting, I will focus the discussion on your area(s) of concern, including personalized advice, observations, and suggested resources
(5) After the meeting, I will send a follow-up email summarizing the ideas and suggested resources discussed during our time together
FAQ’s
Is this like coaching?
Kind of but rather than an ongoing, recurring setup, a consulting session is a great way to get a little direction and freshen up an area of your teaching/business without a big financial or time commitment.
Why individual sessions?
Taking the next step or working to improve areas of our teaching and business can feel overwhelming because our profession requires we wear many “hats.”
A single session will allow us to focus our time on one struggle you are having so implementation and growth feel achievable and productive.
Can we do more than one?
Yes, of course! If after the first meeting, you would like to work more together on the topic at hand or address another area of growth, recurring sessions will be made available at request.
Launch Discount
In celebration of the launch of these consulting services (and since it’s Black Friday!), you can get 15% off.
Use code CONSULTLAUNCH15 at checkout.
This offer expires on Saturday, December 4, 2021.
P.S. You simply have to purchase by this date. The consultation session will be booked for a later time.
After reading my post on organizing printed music, Natalie has been cleaning out and updating her own music files. Check out her before and after photos and get a free download of folder labels. (Natalie Weber | Music Matters Blog)
I recommend many resources and tools here on Piano Pantry to help you be more organized and productive in your personal and studio life. Find a list of those resources here: Recommended Resources.
Two of those are LastPass, my favorite password manager, and Paprika, my favorite recipe app.
Both of them have big sales going on this week.
All four versions of Paprika are on sale from now until the end of November.
Sale prices will vary by country, but the currently displayed prices on their website, the App Store, and the Play Store are indeed the correct prices.
Some of my favorite features of this app are:
You can purchase a desktop version
It has a built-in browser, so you can browse the internet directly in the app and download recipes directly from there
You can download a browser bookmarklet so you can download recipes from the browser you use on a daily basis.
Gone are the days of repeating the same password over and over or using the same one but changing one number every month, or, like my dad, writing it down on a half-dozen index cards (oh my!).
Some of my favorite features of the premium version of Last Pass are:
Get access to all devices.
Generate passwords that are secure and customizable
It’s more than just for passwords! Save:
Health Insurance Informaiton
Drivers Licenses
Credit Cards
Bank Accounts
Wi-Fi Passwords
Save and secure personal information in one location.
Get 25%
On November 23-29th, 2021, LastPass is running a 25% off sale for annual plans.
If there’s one type of gift you will likely never see me give students, it’s a hand-made craft. Don’t get me wrong; there’s absolutely nothing wrong with those types of gifts – I think they’re fabulous. I am just a TERRIBLE crafter!
What my students WILL get from me is some kind of baked good or food item. My favorite is a homemade hot chocolate mix because what kid doesn’t love hot chocolate?!
Let’s pause for an important question.
Do you call it “Hot Cocoa” or “Hot Chocolate”?
I usually say, “Hot Chocolate.” I only used “Cocoa” in the title because it was shorter. Ha! LOL
Tell me what you call it in the comments! 🙂
This post will show you how to put together this fun homemade gift!
Recipe Considerations
Since I’m not exactly a recipe website, I’m not sharing the recipe directly but have recommended ones online you can use (like I do!)
My favorite recipe is from Cook’s Country, but since it’s a paid recipe service, here are some other versions you could try from Pioneer Woman and AllRecipes.
Consider recipes made with powdered milk, so students only have to add hot water. Along those same lines, I would advise you to not do the layered-type cocoa mix where you have to dump the whole container into a pot to mix.
What all these recipe mixes have in common:
Dry milk powder
Unsweetened cocoa powder
Confectioner’s sugar (dissolves better than white sugar)
(P.S. The only addition to this Cook’s Country is white chocolate chips and a bit of salt.)
Since the Cook’s Country recipe uses white chocolate chips, they have you mix the recipe in a food processor to get the chips into smaller pieces so they will dissolve better/quicker.
Unfortunately, this happens when you process dry powder stuff in a food processor. It’s a blustery mess! LOL
In this post, I want to share an idea that I had never considered giving as a student Christmas gift until I learned magnetic bookmarks were a thing!
Magnetic Bookmarks
I don’t know how long magnetic bookmarks existed before I discovered them, but whoever invented them must be the most brilliant person ever. Ha! OK, I exaggerate, but how smart is that?!
At $3.95 per pack, they are admittedly on the pricier side of a student gift, but if time is a highly valued commodity as opposed to cost or if you have a smaller studio, these would be fun to give out.
They might even be something different you could do for your adult students vs. your younger kiddos.
Another option would be to not necessarily give each student a whole pack but simply lay them out and let each student choose one.
You could put together a little goody bag and include 1-4 of these, a music-themed pencil, and some candy. Done!
Bookmark/Ornament?
Three years ago, I gave my students a metal treble clef bookmark, but I thought they were ornaments at the time of purchase. Oops! Ha!
The tassel means they actually could function in this manner, though. At $13.00 for a pack of 10, you can’t go wrong with such a cute, economical gift!
These bookmarks on Amazon are listed as wedding favors, packaged in a cute little box. Here’s another set I found but haven’t given out myself (yet!).
Don’t forget Etsy is always a great play to look for students’ gifts, including music bookmarks!
It’s time to cue up our Thanksgiving listening playlist! Mine is Thanksgiving playlist is public on Spotify which means you can enjoy it as well! Here’s a sneak peek:
As you know, the minute Thanksgiving is over, the world moves onto the Christmas/giving season. As you consider where you might be able to give even amidst rising prices in our own lives, consider these 10 Music-Based Organizations on #givingtuesday.
Are you a piano teacher (or independent music teacher of any instrument?)
Does the schedule of your occupation create obstacles in food planning/meals making you feel like you’re in a rut or frequently in “survival” mode?
Then, this post is for you!
Thanks to my good friend, Christina Whitlock, creator of the Beyond Measure Podcast, I’ve found a fun way to pull food fun into the mix a little more here!
Here’s a snippet into a text between the two of us several months ago (shared with permission 🙂 ).
Can you relate to her sentiments? 🙂
Thanks to her, I’m launching this new blog post series called “Music Teacher Eats: A Week of Easy, Healthy Meals”. You can look forward to a new edition of this series coming out at least once a season (fall, winter, spring, summer) and possibly even some holiday versions.
Before we continue, a few disclaimers:
First, I will do my best to meet Christina’s request of easy, healthy, and can be done in 30 minutes or less after teaching (assuming a little prep work has been done 🙂 – see the post: Food Prep and the Studio Schedulefor more on that!)
Second, as we all know, the words “easy” and “healthy” can mean completely different things to different people. I vow to do my best to take an overall general approach to both of these words and will also keep in mind that some of you (unlike me) may be serving families with kids.
Third, all of the recipes I suggest here are ones that I have tried and love. I may not be a recipe website, but I cook A LOT and am really picky about quality recipes. Rest easy that everything I share today is a recipe worth keeping.
Fourth, while I cook a LOT from the subscription sites America’s Test Kitchen and Milk Street, I avoided including recipes from them. (It was hard though because their recipes are soooo good!) All recipes included can be found for free online.
I hope you find something in this suggested weekly meal plan that’s new, exciting, and most importantly, useful in easing the burden of meal planning as a studio music teacher!
Are you wondering why in the world you’re seeing a food post on a piano teacher blog?
Well, first of all, if you don’t know me already, besides piano teaching, one of my life passions is cooking.
Second, we eat, right?
Third, as we can all attest, the schedule of the independent music teacher can make mealtime a struggle – especially if you have a family. After school and early evening is prime time for both music lessons AND asking the universal question, “what’s for supper?” If you’re the person in your family who’s generally in charge of mealtime, this can make for a real struggle!
Today, I want to share with you my three biggest food prep tips for keeping your meal-time work efficient and organized. Then, when you walk out the door of your studio late in the evening, you can breathe easy knowing dinner will be ready in a jiffy.
Also, stay tuned for a new post series coming up called Music Teacher Eats for meal plan ideas that are easy, healthy, and quick to prepare!
Are you wondering why in the world you’re seeing a food post on a piano teacher blog? 