Tuesday Teaching Tactic #20

Tuesday Teaching Tactic #20

Woohoo! We've reached #20 in our Tuesday Teaching Tactics. These short posts are meant to just give you a quick idea or reminder about something you can incorporate right away in your teaching. We have loved sharing our favorite tricks and thoughts with you each week....

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Tuesday Teaching Tactic #11

Tuesday Teaching Tactic #11

This seems super simple, but I think it's important!  Our Teaching Tactic for this week is to use sticky tabs to mark the assigned pieces.  I used to think that if I wrote it in an assignment book students should be able to find it.  But I've learned that it's best to...

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Start the Year

Start the Year

It's that time of year... Some parents are super excited to send their kids back, others are less excited... But the structure and routines are back. Lessons start up regularly again. Teachers are busy preparing classrooms and new materials. As a piano teacher, I'm...

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Tic Tac Toe – Intervals

Tic Tac Toe – Intervals

There's one game that my kids like to play every time we're stuck in a waiting room situation. Tic Tac Toe! It's a favorite for kids and really takes little prep, just paper and a pencil. Teaching at the university, I noticed the first year group teacher had made a...

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6 Week Challenge – Free Printable

6 Week Challenge – Free Printable

I always feel like students need a little extra push after Christmas break.  The spring semester is longer, and there are less breaks.  When the school year starts kids are excited for new things.  January, February, March can drag on.  At the beginning of this year I...

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Celebrating Student Accomplishments – Free Printable

Celebrating Student Accomplishments – Free Printable

Our students accomplish amazing things in the piano studio all the time!  But often we breeze right past them.  They conquer that B-major five-finger scale that's been a struggle.  Master hands together in a tricky passage.  Finish a book, memorize a piece, students...

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Practice Incentive Chart – Updated Printable

Practice Incentive Chart – Updated Printable

Awhile back I shared this Treasure Map printable with you.  I pulled this out to use with my students this summer and decided I was a little too optimistic when I created the map.  If it's going to be used over a summer semester, I think it has too many spots!  We...

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The Excuse-eliminating Assignment Book

The Excuse-eliminating Assignment Book

The last couple of years I have created a studio assignment book for my students using my printable assignment sheet.  I print these using my MTNA Office Depot card (if you don't know about this, you NEED one right away) and have them spiral bound with a nice cover...

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Compliment Exchange

Compliment Exchange

Compliments... I agree with this quote completely. My husband laughs but it's so true, my favorite people are those who give sincere compliments and uplift me every time I'm around them. And I try so hard to do the same to those around me each day. So I saw the idea...

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New Year – New Goals – Free Printable

New Year – New Goals – Free Printable

Happy New Year! It's time for New Year's resolutions and new beginnings, so why not carry this over to the piano studio?  If we don't create specific goals and plans for our students piano can seem like an endless flow of same-ness.  The beginning of a new year is a...

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Rhythm Duels – Intermediate

Rhythm Duels – Intermediate

So remember that post we did a long time ago titled "Rhythm Duels"? Well it's been our highest rated pin and favorite page for many music teachers of all instruments so we decided to share a few more today. Something for those intermediate students at their next group...

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Lesson Note Printables

Lesson Note Printables

Whenever I browse other blogs (not piano related) I love to look at paper "eye candy". Like the following: (Sources: The Handmade Home, Elle & Co., and IHeart Organizing. Aren't they fabulous planners?!) The other morning, my moment of inspiration struck - I...

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