Episode Summary
Amy chats with teachers Laura Harding, Emily Suszko, and Laurie Bender – attendees of the 2nd Piano Pantry Retreat.
Items Mentioned
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Transcript
Amy: Welcome to episode number 30 of the Piano Pantry podcast and the sixth teacher talk episode. If you’re new around here, while this podcast is primarily a solo podcast, every five episodes, I have a low-key, rejuvenating chat with teachers just like you. This week, I’m having a talk with three ladies who attended a retreat at my home here in Northeast Indiana this past weekend.
We spent all day on the back porch talking and cheering each other on as we worked on organizing our digital workspaces. They got to kick back and chill out, and I got to pamper them with my favorite pastime, cooking including, of course, one of my favorite cookie recipes I shared back in episode number two.
Enjoy!
Welcome to the Piano Pantry Podcast, where together, We live life as independent music teachers. I’m your host, Amy Chaplin. In this space, we talk about all things teacher life related from organizing our studios to getting dinner on the table and all that comes between. You’ll get loads of easily actionable tips on organizing and managing your studio while balancing life and home.
Welcome to the Piano Pantry Podcast, ladies. I’m super excited to have you with me here today. If we could get started with you guys just telling us your name, where you’re from, and maybe a little brief look into your studio, your teaching schedule, just anything you would like to share with our listeners.
Laura: Hi, I’m Laura Harding. I’m from Plymouth, Minnesota, which is near Minneapolis, Minnesota, and I teach out of my home studio. I teach four days a week, Monday through Thursday, and I have 25, 30 students in that range. And then, during the school year, we do weekly lessons, but I also do some group classes every other month, which is just a great way to get everyone together. And a couple of recitals every year.
Emily: Hi! I’m Emily Susko. I live in Romeo, Michigan, which is a north suburb of Metro Detroit. I have a home studio as well, which I love getting to, to be at home while I’m teaching. I teach Monday through Thursday also with about 45 students right now of various lengths, like 30-minute, 45-minute, and 60-minute lessons. And I do all private during the school year, but in the summer, we do some fun, like summer camp options and things. So we get our groups in during the summer.
Laurie: Hi, I’m Laurie Bender. And I live in Chicago. I am a piano teacher and a private tutor. I taught first grade for many years and always taught piano on the side, and I am now self-employed with both of those businesses. I have about 23 students. For piano and tutoring, I do in-person and virtual with students from other states and cities as well. During the school year, I teach six days a week, and during the summer, it’s more like around four days a week, Monday through Thursday.
Amy: And don’t you do a little bit of travel teaching as well with some students and some families?
Laurie: I do drive to a few homes and teach and tutor, yes.
Amy: Would you guys be able to share with us any guiding principles or maybe mantras that impact your life or your teaching in general?
Emily: I feel like when I first started teaching, I was very worried that I would make sure I got through all the material and all the progress. And when I really got to know students, I realized that the most important thing is making sure that they grow to love. Music. So I try to make all my decisions about how I run my studio, how I choose their repertoire, how I lesson plan their individual lessons around making sure that they’re going to grow up to remember music lessons as a fun and exciting part of their childhood and that they’re hopefully going to grow up to listen and make music in their homes as their adults.
Laura: I like to think of just being curious and to really ask questions about the student and what they like and so to really draw them into music and what they love, and I just feel like it, then it means something to them, and they’ll stay there for a long time.
Laurie: I feel like one of my strengths is creating relationships with my students. I feel like even as a classroom teacher when I taught first grade through fourth grade. And just piano lessons and tutoring when they know that you love them unconditionally And that you genuinely care about them. I feel like children always rise, and adults rise to your expectations, So I feel like that’s a strength that I try to really focus on is creating those relationship.s
Amy: If you had to do it all over again, what’s one piece of advice you wish you would have known before you started teaching?
Laurie: I would have really liked someone to have told me you don’t have to fit into a mold. You don’t have to be exactly like your piano teacher or like the teachers around you. And that goes for classroom teaching when I taught first grade. But it also goes for being a piano teacher. I think you have to be confident enough to just fill in with your style and with what makes you happy and be your own person and be fine with that and not try to fit into another mold.
Laura: I’ll jump off what Laurie said because it’s very similar. I think too,,, I have a necklace that says it, but it’s to thine own self be true. So, just to really just trust in yourself and know what you’re doing.
Emily: I would have loved that exact same advice when I started. So I’ll go a different route, but definitely wanting to know that, that be self, or true to self idea. Also, you don’t have to have it all figured out right away. Sitting down and reading books and trying to have everything figured out. Knowing that it’s okay, and actually it’s good to learn alongside your students. I was worried at first that I had to be perfect and know everything for them, but we really do learn just as much from them as hopefully they’re learning from us. And I think that’s a beautiful thing. And initially, I thought it had to be all worked out in advance, but we learn a lot from them. And I’m so grateful that I get to have such a fun job where we learn all the time.
Amy: Amen. And that’s a life mantra thing. I think anything that we are learning or doing you just have to do it. And that’s how you learn the best. You can read books, and you can study, and you can get advice from everybody forever and ever until you actually go through the process. And find what works for you.
Laura: And to go with that too, don’t be afraid of change. So try something new.
Laurie: Being open to other ways of doing things. Exactly. That’s huge.
Emily: And it even makes you more empathetic, I think, as a teacher to your students. When I’m trying something new that I have to work out, I remember what it’s feeling like for them when they have to try something new. So it helps us remember the process of growing also.
Amy: What’s one thing that is working really well for you and your students right now in your studio? Could be anything from running your business to just teaching to materials that you’re using. Just share one thing that’s just nailing it on the head for you.
Laurie: I really enjoy teaching out of the Faber books, mostly, and I have found that adding the Technique and Artistry book has really been life-changing for a lot of my students, especially with their technique using rounded hand positions and firm fingertips. And they just have a lot of really great exercises, I think, in their books from a Primer on up. And I also love the Faber app. I think that’s really a fun way to celebrate learning a piece and mastering it and getting it up to 100 percent tempo, my kids really enjoy it. playing with the app and doing the ultimate challenge at the end where it’s just them with the duet part, so that’s fun.
Emily: I teach using a lot of games, which I really enjoy because I like games. And they have fun, so they remember things better. And so I love using those games to teach their theory concepts before we get to them. So I’ll look ahead in their materials and plan, Oh, we’re going to be learning, a new note name or a new note value or a new concept.
And then we can play the game that’ll teach them that concept for the weeks leading up to getting to it. And then I find that they’re much more prepared. They’ve gotten to see it and feel it outside of a piece, and then when they get to that piece, they already are ready for it, and it makes them feel more successful right away.
Laura: I think for me, it was when students came back from virtual lessons. They had been doing that for a little over a year. I just really focused on making music, and I think that’s been a new thing that’s happened, is just more of making music, less explanation, less talking, and just honestly making as much music as we can.
Amy: Before you came to this retreat, I think we all have things that can work for us as far as just productivity and workflow goes and there’s not a right or wrong way, it’s just what works for our brains and what works for us and just the way that we do things. So do you guys have any tips of something that’s worked well for you up in the past or even up until now in regards to just organization or productivity?
Emily: I have a paper planner. I know. No app. It’s all on the paper. But I find my brain remembers it better if I write it down. And before I switched to using a paper planner, I always used paper. But I used to have a really long to-do list. Ongoing, on one piece of paper. And I’d add things to the bottom.
And I’d feel good when I checked something off. But it was also never because I kept adding to the bottom. So I have a paper planner now where I try to pre-plan the month out. And if I know I have something that I need to do this month, but I don’t have to do it today, I’ll throw it on two weeks in advance.
I’ll flip ahead to the page and put it on a to-do list on a day I know I’ll have time, and then I can forget about it, and then I can let it go and plan ahead for Later. And then I can feel each day like I’m actually completing the whole checklist. And that motivates me to come back the next day and maybe be a little more productive. Because it’s no longer feeling like it’s endless. Having that mental end cap is so helpful.
Amy: Yeah, you’re getting it out of your mind. Yes. And then you’re allowing yourself to feel like you’ve had that accomplishment. Yes.
Emily: And then saving the things that can be saved so you don’t feel like, oh, I failed because I didn’t get to that thing today, even though the list had way more things than you could possibly do on one day.
So filtering them reasonably to days then makes you feel like you’re getting the goals.
Laurie: And you take a big black Sharpie…?
Emily: Oh yes. I draw, crossed out the things. . That’s awesome. I draw little boxes on my paper planner, and I get to check them off. It’s color-coordinated and beautiful. If it’s pretty, I am 50% more likely to complete my tasks. I love it. Sure.
Laura: I have two things. One, I haven’t used it as much lately, but I have, so I teach Monday through Thursday. So, I have separate binders for the days. So I have a Monday binder, a Tuesday binder, and so on and so forth. And then little tabs for each student.
And a lot of my students do exams, so it’s just a lot of stuff to keep track of, like what their keyboard skills will be and whatnot. So I have that information in there and then I can keep track with paper and pencil on where they’re at or what we’ve worked on. So that’s been super helpful, especially with virtual lessons that we had before.
The second thing was born out of the virtual lesson aspect, where I had little magazine files. It is for each day of the week again, and then in order for the students. And then I have copies of their music because I needed to have that for the virtual lessons, so I could just pull it out, and it’s in order, and it saves so much time.
Emily: I will say I kept all of my student things from when we were all virtual in a little close by tote. Every book, every sheet music, every something that a student was currently working on separate from where it’s normally filed. And I’ve kept it also after virtual, and not that a student would ever forget their books, but if they did, let’s just say I have all of their stuff. It’s so easy now for me to go grab. That’s okay. I have my copy. It’s been a huge help. Exactly.
Laura: Or I like to just have that copy for myself that I can make a note in and not in theirs. And so it’s nice to have that second copy. Awesome.
Amy: So we’re here together today because you guys are attending the Piano Pantry Retreat. And this is the second one ever that we’ve hosted, that I’ve hosted, I should say. And we’ve been having a great time. So the goal of the retreat is that we’re getting together and spending time together. One, we’re just trying to relax a little bit, rest, and just spend time with other teachers and talking. And it’s just like really great to be able to talk to each other and just ask questions and just have that time together.
But our other goal is that we are working on cleaning up our digital spaces together. Things like our email, cleaning up our documents and media, and all kinds of things like that. So, would you guys be able to share maybe just one thing in particular that you have found to be the most beneficial thus far that you were taking away from all of this?
Laura: While the digital cleanup is amazing, I think it’s really more about being together and talking about all the different things that we maybe experienced. And how, how do you teach this or how do you teach that or what are you doing in the summer? So just really networking and getting to know each other.
Emily: I love networking, too. It’s just been fun to get out of our houses and be with other teachers again. We’re really excited about that. I think that’s been a big favorite for all of us. But my Favorite thing about the organizational aspect is sitting and working together and knowing that it’s not just me that sometimes gets a little behind on, on saving documents in the right way or deleting old emails.
And it’s been a lot more fun to sit and work together, side by side and chat and enjoy the beautiful breeze by Amy’s backyard. It makes it a lot more fun to do these tasks. It’s just been fun to do it together. I know other people also struggle with these things, and even Amy has done a little work with us.
Amy: Even I am like working on cleaning out, so I’m like, oh my gosh, you guys, I had a hundred things saved on my Facebook save stuff.
Laurie: It’s hard to choose just one thing that I can take away from this retreat because it has been so helpful for me. I am especially bad about tech being tech savvy. And it’s just been so nice to have your guidance, Amy.
And like you said, Emily, just sit side by side and know that you’re not the only one that maybe gets behind with organizing all of their documents on their computer and cleaning up your phone and the notifications and all of the great apps you introduced to us, like Feedly and LastPass, and all of those things are going to be super helpful going forward,
Amy: And I think the main thing that everybody seems to be saying is you don’t have time to do this on your own. It’s really hard to set aside that time on your own. And this is like focused time where you can just say, this is all I need to accomplish. I don’t have to write lesson plans, I don’t need to send an email to my students like your goal is just for yourself right now.
Laurie: So it was wonderful, as was the food and the fellowship. Everything was just, this was wonderful.
Amy: So maybe along those same lines, maybe we can just get even more specific. Is there just one particular tool or just thing that you’ve learned that you’re like, Oh my goodness, that is just going to really make my life so much easier as I go forward?
Laura: Evernote. Yes, because I have things. Woohoo! Then it’s a new Evernote fan! Ah, you sold me. Yes, you sold me an Evernote. It was just great because I had so many tabs opened on my phone, and so to be able to put them in one place, yeah, that was great. And then just to know that I can easily search for things, so that was a wonderful thing new tool.
Amy: You have now one location to go to for everything and not instead of having it saved in all these different spots. .
Emily: I’d say, for me, it was an approach to all the things. So we’ve got the tools for each individual thing. We talked a little while we were looking and deciding what was worth keeping and what was worth letting go about the prospects of minimalism and how when we have physical stuff, you can see it, and you need to decide, okay, I really don’t need this anymore.
But digitally, I’ve been pretty bad about keeping everything because I might use it, and I can’t see it all. But when we really start looking at it, what are the things that align most with my teaching? What are the things that are going to be needed most for my students right now? And taking that approach to deciding what do I most need to focus my time and energy on, which I think we’ll keep me more focused. And better with my resources.
Amy: What do I need to take with me into the future is what I keep saying. What do you need with you now and into the future?
Emily: Yes. It’s a little bit of a support group here doing this together. Wait, should I delete this? And everybody’s yes, let it go. We need a theme song.
Laurie: For me, I would say, starting out with our phones and cleaning those up and getting rid of apps and we’re just taking them off the home screen. That’s just huge because I use my phone so much since I have a really old computer that doesn’t work very well. And there’s just something about opening up my phone and seeing it cleaned up like that. And like you said, Emily, letting go. Deleting apps that I never use. I don’t even know what they do anymore.
Amy: So I’m going to put you on the spot, Laurie, because I feel like, there’s other listeners that might relate to this. Tell us, when we were cleaning up our apps to begin with, how many pages of apps did you have approximately?
Laurie: Oh dear. This is a little embarrassing. No, it’s okay because you’re not the only one, right? So I would say I had at least. Page six. Okay. Pages.
Amy: we’re celebrating that now you’ve actually got it down To two! Yay! You win the award for the week!
Laurie: Feels really good! And just deleting so many that I don’t ever use, and just knowing what I have on there now. It’s such a simple little thing, but it can be life-changing,
Amy: at the end of every episode, I like to finish off with just one fun or silly fact about myself. Since this episode is featuring you ladies, I wondered if you could share one fun fact about yourself with our listeners today.
Laurie: When I lived in Miami, I became really good friends with the nanny of Barry Gibb from the Beegees. And I would stay overnight at their house, and I got to know the Beegees and go to their private concerts and their home and things like that. So that’s a fun fact. That’s awesome. That’s so cool.
Laura: I was in a dance team in high school and I guess I’m a four time state dance team kick champion with the team.. And then, yes, I am. And now, I’m going into my 20th year of judging high school dance competitions.
Amy: Oh my goodness. That is so cool.
Laura: A little side thing.
Amy: Yeah, I did not know that about you.
Emily: So I mentioned I like games in my studio. I also really like games in my personal life. My family plays a ton of complicated board games. An interesting thing about me is that I don’t like cooperative games because we’re all highly competitive.
Amy: Thank you so much for being with me here today, ladies, and for coming to my home and spending time with me and hanging out. It’s been a lot of fun. And thank you to our listeners today for listening in and tuning in next time.
Have a great week.
I hope you enjoyed my chat with Laura, Emily, and Laurie as much as I did. It was such a joy spending time together and they all now hold an extra special place in my world of dear piano teacher friends. If you would like to receive notification when new dates for this retreat become available, visit the link in the show notes.
Since we’re talking digital organization and management right now, I wanted to let you know about a free Power Hour series I’m hosting this year. If you don’t know what a Power Hour is, it’s basically a way to have accountability to get work done that we struggle to do on a daily basis when there are so many distractions coming our way.
All you have to do is visit the link in the show notes to sign up. And then at the designated time, we’ll jump onto Zoom, spend a few minutes simply stating what we’re going to work on, go on mute, and then get to work with no distractions. At the end, we’ll check in with each other the last few minutes to see what we accomplished.
That’s it. It’s just a great way to have accountability with other teachers. So mark your calendars. They’ll be held on Zoom from 12 to 1 o’clock p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, the first Wednesday of every month, except for October because I will be in Europe. And the first one starts tomorrow, Wednesday, August 3rd.
Can’t wait to see you there. As always, thank you so much for showing up here week after week. Don’t forget to hit the subscribe button so new episodes will download automatically. Have a great week!
