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 and backing. They usually come out to be about $4 per book and last us for the whole year. One of my biggest pet peeves last year was students would say, “I didn’t mark my practice days because I didn’t have a pencil.” Seems like such a lame excuse, right? So I decided to eliminate that excuse permanently by tying a pencil to every assignment book. I had some wonderful pencils custom printed by National Pen and then got some simple bakers twine and washi tape. I tied the twine to the spirals and on the pencil, then used washi tape to wrap around the pencil to hold it in place. It ended up looking like this:
I also included a couple other items which help to eliminate excuses – copies of the studio calendar, policies, and tuition agreements. I have always included a calendar but the policies and agreements are new inclusions this year. Last year, I was in the studio on a day that we did not have lessons (why was I working on a holiday?) and another teacher’s student came in expecting a lesson. He seemed surprised we did not have lessons and claimed no one had told him. I quickly alerted him to the calendar in the front of the assignment book he was holding in his hand and pointed out that day marked as a holiday. Problem solved! Having all of this information in an easily accessible place is wonderful. Now parents have no reason to not know and understand our policies and calendar.
What do you include in your assignment books? I’d love to hear your ideas!
Author: Spring
Spring Seals, NCTM, teaches 60 piano students ranging from age 3 to 70 in Fort Worth, Texas. She also serves as the Director of Certification for TMTA. She is passionate about helping teachers become more effective in their studios through professional development, new resources, and fresh ideas.
Love this idea! For the past 2 years, I have gone the digital route, using the Evernote app. There are some cool benefits (attaching photos and recordings, for example) but this makes me want to go back to paper. 🙂 Have a physical notebook right in front of you would eliminate one more excuse my students have!
My students’ digital “assignment book” includes a practice tips handout and a chart of the scale level they’re working on.
For the last 2-3 years I have typed the students’ lesson assignment up on my laptop during the lesson, and printed out a copy at the end, which is then 3-hole punched and inserted in the students’ lesson binder as they walk out the door. I put specific brief practice steps on a sticky note, stuck to the top of the page of each piece. I really, really like a couple of things about this system:
– I have an exact copy of their assignment, without having to write one out after the lesson
– I can email a copy home to the parents of students who need watching over during practice
– The practice steps are with the music, not stuck away in a separate notebook that they may or may not ever even open during the week (sad experience has taught me this)
But I LOVE LOVE LOVE your idea. The pencil-on-a-string in simply (and simple) genius. What I love about having a 3-ring binder is that I can add pages throughout the year — theory pages, composing assignments, downloaded sheet music ……… But I love the single laminated notebook. I am eternally conflicted! Do you have other notebooks for your students, say, a manuscript book for composing, theory, etc assignments? Downloaded sheet music?
Hi Kathy! I love the idea of typing up assignment pages as well. It’s something I’ve thought about over the years but never actually done, although now that I have a desktop and a printer right in my studio it would be easy to do. I also like students to have a binder I can add things to and most of my do have a binder in addition to the assignment book. Maybe someday I will take the plunge and try typing assignment pages!