TeacherThankYou.pngAs Arlington MTA’s Vice President, part of my service includes scheduling presenters for the year. We are so lucky to live in the Metroplex where there are many amazing professors and teachers who come to share their passions and music with us!

In April, we were thrilled when Susan Paradis came to present! She is one of my favorite teachers – her games are so creative yet teach concepts so well. Her topic was “Hands On Activities to Teach Music Concepts.” Her collection of activities and games were so well organized. She showed us how to use her games, her tips to keeping students focused during the game, and ways to alter the activity to reinforce different theory concepts or musical rhythms that students were having trouble with. She seriously has a game for everything!  Her handout listed her top games to teach different levels of students and various parts of the lesson. It’s amazing to see how much work she has put into helping students enjoy piano lessons. Our association had several teachers who had not used online resources before and I know they were so impressed by her work – and the fact that it is free for all teachers to use online.

Also, did you know she draws all of the art on her games? Isn’t she talented?! Anyways, just wanted to share and thank Susan again for coming. So grateful for teachers like her who inspire us to have more fun in lessons and provide a way for us to do it easily.

After seeing her organized games, it’s become my summer goal to get my studio more organized and figure out a better storage system for games! If you have any tips, I’d love to hear them!

Author: Whitney

Whitney Hawker, NCTM, teaches group and private piano at Weber State University, Utah. She loves surprising students with the perfect piece or a new exciting game! After graduate school, she missed sharing ideas and resources daily with colleagues so she and her friend, Spring, began blogging together at 4DPianoTeaching.com