How to get students to practice.
You can't.
This morning, my eyes popped open long before dawn and I ran around the house getting ready to go.
To the store.
To get dirt.
For the garden.
Wha…?!?
I have ranunculous and freesia bulbs to plant! My sunflowers are holding strong against the winds we've recently endured, and the pots are now cleared out for new soil and seeds.
When my tomato plants starting getting droopy, I asked tomato-growing experts around me what to do. We exchanged recipes, advice and jokes—a cool barter/payment system.
No one needs to prod me to get my garden together. I want to do it.
Are you pickin’ up what I'm puttin’ down?
The student comes to you, the teacher, with questions, passions, and want-tos, and you're there to facilitate.
You cannot make anyone do anything they don't want to do. You cannot make your students practice. Motivation comes from within.
But you can shine brightly, hitting your marks, knowing your curriculum, being Yourself, and from these small but significant actions, the student will see an example of how they can be.
It's very helpful if you're fully present to help them find that within themselves. Let them see your obsession around, for example, Rush's 2112 album and then ask about theirs. Those conversations during the lessons are sometimes the water-and-sunshine necessary for the inner motivation seeds to take root.
And if you’re lucky, sometimes that's enough to make them want to get up at 5 a.m. to get to the garden center first.
Let us teach you piano. You know it would be fun and iinformative. To sign up for a 15 minute discovery conference, go to ThePianoInstructor.net.
Questions about lessons? Lessons@ThePianoInstructor.net.
Let us train your educational staff in the ways of educational pedagogy. 313.687.4433.
