Should I Keep That Student?

"How do I know when to remove a music student from my private teaching studio?" This is a question I have had colleagues ask me over the years. 

A teaching professional needs to have a clear vision of what they will, and won't, allow in their studio. Studio boundaries are important and will make it easier for an educator to expel a student when necessary. 

Along with personal boundaries, it is essential for an educator to consider the needs of all studio members when forming studio boundaries.

If a student is a personal threat to an instructor, removal from the studio is clear. However, a teacher will want to be aware that, even in private lesson studios, a student's actions can influence the morale, or spirit, of the music studio as a whole.

Consider the following scenarios:

Studio Recitals: Names have been printed in the recital program and confirmations have been given. Without contact, or reason, certain students don't attend the recital. How do the participating students feel when fellow music studio members listed in the program do not show up to support them? 

Professional Assessments: Most students in private studios are required to attend a certain number of professional assessments each year where they play before a judge. Seeing other students they recognize from their studio can be an encouragement. Now imagine that, without reason, a student who registered for the assessment, decides not to attend. How does that impact the attitude of the students who participate? Many of my students would start to ask questions and be concerned about a missing student who was scheduled for the opportunity.

Fun Studio Challenges: Teachers often invite their students to take part in studio opportunities. These can range from piano-thons to raise money for a cause, writing a poem about music for a contest, drawing artwork for a magazine cover, participating in a competition, writing a song, and other fun activities. If enough students from a studio do not take part, the opportunity may no longer be available to the students who want to put in the time and were looking forward to participation in the event.

Completing weekly assignments, and regular practice habits: This is perhaps the most obvious in regards to how it impacts the instructor, but many teachers don't realize how one student's practice habits can affect the studio at large. 

Students who adhere to their teacher's individualized lesson plans each week usually show consistent progress. Members of a music studio may all be at different ages and levels but, they are all seeing one another grow in their music skills and knowledge. 

Students like to brag about others in their studios. I often hear comments like, "I saw Julie playing at the church service." "I heard Marco won a scholarship." "I met Jim at the assessment and we live close to one another and are going to play video games together." "Nancy told the class at school that she earned her first Music Theory trophy!"  All of the above are just a few examples of how studio morale can be strengthened by students who actively participate together and continue to improve their skills through completion of assignments and regular practice habits.

Students who refuse to do their weekly assignments on a regular basis, can bring the studio morale down. Keeping a non-productive student, a student who disrespects the studio by refusing to do their assignments or participate in activities, may not be a wise choice. Social media and piano forums are riddled with private piano teacher burn-out stories everyday. These teachers have given more attention to non-committed students in hopes of turning them around (and therefore have less energy to give to more involved students). These teachers have tried everything in their wheelhouse to help these uninterested students and are exhausted and ready to leave their career in teaching. I have known private music teachers, much younger than my years, who left the profession because of one, or two, piano students who should have been dismissed from their studios. 

There are many ways that a disinterested student can overburden an instructor and bring down the energy of a private music studio. And there are teachers who base removal, or retention, of a student on their personal feelings toward the child. A teacher is not a failure because a child refuses to apply themselves. Looking at how a child's lack of interest might be harming the morale of another student and, perhaps, the studio as a whole is important in deciding whether to let a student remain in your studio. 

Turning the focus toward the spirit of the studio as a whole might be a better choice. Private music lessons may be one-on-one, but every student contributes to the overall spirit of your studio. Fortunately, most students are proud of their teacher and their private music studio. Make healthy boundaries for yourself and for the good health of your active music studio members.  

 

What Went Wrong at the SCTMA Pre-College Auditions? (Music Teachers National Association)

South Carolina piano teachers noticed a change in the way music performance evaluations were conducted during the 23-24 Music Teachers National Association season in the State Pre-College auditions for South Carolina. And they were not happy.

I received texts and emails from other piano teachers after last season's State evaluations for piano students. I tried to determine:  What was happening? Why were we not seeing evaluations or ratings? Typically, teachers would receive their student assessments within a week of the event. But there was no communication from the state level for weeks. The district director could not find any answers either. Was it worth it to continue in this organization's events? 

Judges typically give very thorough evaluations that touch on many elements which help the teacher and encourage the student to improve their playing going forward. For the upper levels we found this to be generally true - when the evaluations did finally arrive. It seemed that the upper level judges were honestly evaluating students and also scouting for students who might attend their music college in the future.  These upper level judges also took extra time to talk with the students during their evaluations.

However, the lower level evaluation sheets were sparse. Sheets came back without any actual evaluations only single statements like, "Great Job, enjoyed your playing!" "You looked so professional, thanks for playing." These types of comments are nice to end an assessment with, but they are not evaluations and, they don't help anyone. The teachers began to question the competency of the judges being hired for the lower levels. These vague evaluations were also a concern for some of the parents who drove their children long distances for the state event.

There were issues with reported grades that were emailed to teachers, verses the actual grades received on the evaluation forms. Initially, this past season, teachers were only given the rating grade for their students without being able to see the evaluations. This has never happened before and there was concern that the evaluations had been lost. When the evaluations finally arrived weeks later, teachers found that the ratings were not consistent with the actual rating given by the judges. Imagine having to tell children they didn't actually receive the mark that had been reported.

Despite the disappointment of the 23-24 season we hope for the best as we enter this 24-25 season. I am satisfied that our district director brought these issues to light with the state, and possibly, national organization. And I trust that our concerns have been ironed out. MTNA has always been a well respected organization for music teachers and students and we are all hoping this past season is a one-off that South Carolina won't see again. 

How Long Should It Take To Get Through A Method Book?

A question I am often asked by young teachers is, "How long should it take my students to get through each method book?" The short answer is 3 - 9 months. The long answer is, it depends on the family. (You thought I was going to say it depends on the student.)

The average student needs parental help to schedule, maintain, and support  their music practice and scholastic homework through the age of eleven years. This is the same for after school athletic activities. 

It is interesting to note that athletic coaches realized (about 35 years ago) that parents were no longer encouraging dance and sports routine practice between lessons. Dance studios and soccer coaches took the lead in restructuring private coaching sessions and team classes as a requirement on more than one day a week to be accepted as a student.