I found a new podcast! Classical Classroom. I’ve only listed to a couple but really like it so far.
From Houston Public Media: “Houston Public Media classical music librarian, Dacia Clay has a secret: she knows next to nothing about classical music. But she wants to learn! Luckily, she’s surrounded by classical music experts every day. In each episode of the Classical Classroom, Dacia’s colleagues and some local classical music luminaries take turns giving her classical music “homework assignments”. You’ll learn about everything from bel canto aria to the use of leitmotif in the score to Star Wars. Come learn with us in the Classical Classroom.”
Each Friday on this blog, I will share some of my favorite finds from the past week. I absorb a lot of content in Feedly so I’m looking forward to helping you as busy teachers see what’s worth checking out! You will find anything from teaching articles, podcasts, music news, recipes, favorite pieces, and more. I promise to try to keep it at 10 items or less!
Jenny at theplayfulpiano.com has a cute free printable contract that emphasizes the parent/teacher/student triangle that is so important for the success of our pupil’s.
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If you listen to only one podcast, this month I strongly suggest you listen to Personality Hacker’s episode on Generational Theory with Jessie Newburn. I would suffice to say it’s the MOST fascinatingthing (besides Music Learning Theory) I’ve learned ALL YEAR. Did you know there are four cycles of generations that happen every 80 years? Did you know that the current generation/cycle (2004-2024) is experiencing the same cycle as baby boomers? Did you know the current generation are called Homelanders? If you didn’t, you do now, but you’ll learn a whole heap more if you listen to the podcast! Understanding generational theory puts so many things in life, politics and more into perspective.
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English Muffins are one of my go-to breakfast foods, especially in winter as they’re nice with a warm cup of coffee. I’ve tried every brand under the sun and haven’t found one I truly loved until now. In Meijer freezer section I found these delicious Organic 100% Flourless Sprouted Whole Grain Muffins. They have more flavor than all the other brands put together and are really healthy to boot! While I only have one variety in my store, the company makes three varietiesalong with a whole slew of other products.
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I was lucky to already have an authentic Brazilian meal by Joy’s husband on the way home from Boston last week, but since I know most of you probably weren’t so luck, here are 6 Brazilian Recipes to Cook for the Olympics.
We had lentil soup, short ribs braised with black beans and two other type of bacon/ham, chicken in butternut squash puree, chorizo crepes, and rice. Sorry, Paul if I didn’t get the descriptions quite right!
I hope you’re enjoying your last days of August. It’s been quite a rainy, overcast week here in Indiana. It feels like Fall is already upon us. I’m not ready!
Whether you’re a blogger developing a new post, a piano teacher helping students compose, or someone simply looking to give yourself more time and a chance to be creative, you will find great application in the post For a More Creative Brain, Follow These Five Steps.
I’m heading to Boston a week from Sunday for a 2-week training seminar with GIML (Gordon Institute for Musical Learning) and Music Moves with Marilyn Lowe, the only piano method created around Music Learning Theory. Tim’s podcast with Marilyn was perfect timing!
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I found this episode of Freakonomics Radio on the Internet quite interesting. It’s something we spend a lot of our lives on so why not learn a little more about how it works?
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My new favorite snack: Harvest Snaps Baked Lentil Bean Crisps: Onion Thyme. They totally taste like Funyons but are WAY healthier at 120 calories for 22 pieces. Yummo.
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A city nearby recently painted a crosswalk as piano keys to mark the location where the Packard Piano and Organ Company once stood. Let’s do more things like this in our communities!
Due to the merger of Music Educators Marketplace and Keys to Imagination, MEM is having a closeout sale 20-65% off. (I think that’s the 3rd sale/discount I’ve been able to pass on this month. There’s a lot going on!)
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As you’re making purchases for the new school year, check out some of Diane Hidy’s favorites teaching items.
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One of my “bucket list” goals is to learn another instrument. I used to play the French Horn and Trumpet in grades 6-9. I decided in grade 10 I wanted to be a choir girl but the joys of block scheduling (*insert sarcasm*) would not allow me to do both. To this day I wish I could still play both brass instruments. I toyed with learning guitar just out of high school but didn’t make enough effort to stick with it. Tim reminded me of my goal when challenging teachers to learn a new instrument in “Why Learning Guitar Made Me a Better Piano Teacher.”
What’s your secondary instrument? If you don’t have one, what instrument would you choose? I’ve always wanted to play the cello…
An 11-day event in San Francisco brings 12 piano’s into and positioned throughout the Botanical Gardens. Artists are scheduled to perform throughout the weekend but otherwise the pianos are available for the public to play throughout the week. How lovely!
Tasks that are significantly below your current abilities are boring. Tasks that are significantly beyond your current abilities are discouraging. But tasks that are right on the border of success and failure are incredibly motivating to our human brains. We want nothing more than to master a skill just beyond our current horizon.
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40 little nuggets of cooking wisdom. Do a quick scan and remember just ONE as you go throughout the next week.
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Ah yes! Watermelon will be so much easier to eat when I cut it like this.
There were no lessons in my studio this week. I have been using the much-needed time designing my new studio website, playing the piano, catching up on life, cooking to my hearts content, and doing some deep cleaning. I’m off to clean the carpets in my studio!
Each Friday on this blog, I will share some of my favorite finds from the past week. I absorb a lot of content in Feedly so I’m looking forward to helping you as busy teachers see what’s worth checking out! You will find anything from teaching articles, podcasts, music news, recipes, favorite pieces, and more. I promise to try to keep it at 10 items or less!
A giveaway from Alfred – up to three free books! *Offer expires July 22.
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Teacher Lou Ann Pope shares her love for Tales of a Musical Journey and implementation of the Practicia App in a cleverly-written post inspired by the story-telling style of Gorin’s method.
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Aiming low – Reaching High?
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A bundle of twelve free BEAUTIFUL backgrounds for desktop, laptop, or smartphone food enthusiasts!
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Episode 10of Leila’s wonderful Get Inspired! series is a Patriotic Lab I assign to my students the last week of June because on Monday…
…we’re celebrating Independence Day here in the U.S! My husband is excited to smoke some meat and continue our tradition of setting off a mini hot-air balloon. You know that strange U.F.O.-like light in the sky you think you saw but were afraid to tell anyone about years ago? Yeah, it was just a mini-hot air balloon!
It also dawned on me thinking about the hot-air balloon that the 4th of July is the anniversary of our first date. We didn’t do much..just took a HELICOPTER RIDE at the fairgrounds! I should have known I was in for an aviation enthusiast from the start – 14 years ago on Monday!
Each Friday on this blog, I will share some of my favorite finds from the past week. I absorb a lot of content in Feedly so I’m looking forward to helping you as busy teachers see what’s worth checking out! You will find anything from teaching articles, podcasts, music news, recipes, favorite pieces, and more. I promise to try to keep it at 10 items or less!
I read about Julie Knerr’s idea of a mini-recital a few years ago and started doing a variation where I have 4-5 students play 4-6 pieces each. I ask only 4-6 family members attend due to space (I hold them in my studio) and make homemade cookies. Two to three recitals are held back-to-back on a Sunday afternoon, and it’s always worked beautifully. Julie does them when a student completes a book, but since I do several students at a time, I hold one per semester, and they play pieces they’ve recently mastered.
Each Friday on this blog, I will share some of my favorite finds from the past week. I absorb a lot of content in Feedly so I’m looking forward to helping you as busy teachers see what’s worth checking out! You will find anything from teaching articles, podcasts, music news, recipes, favorite pieces, and more. I promise to try to keep it at 10 items or less!
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Just this week I was talking to a mom on the phone about summer schedule, and she mentioned that their daughter had been practicing like crazy that week WITHOUT BEING ASKED, and they were thrilled. Here’s an idea for an “I caught you practicing without being asked” studio photo tree. Brilliant! This is going into my toolbox for a monthly challenge next year!
10 Steps to help you Create a Studio Recital Movie Trailer using iMovie. I always do my studio video at the end of July when I send out the fall schedule information, but I love the idea of showing this AT the recital or emailing it within a day or two immediately following the recital.
