The most illuminating teacher strategy in your arsenal.
The Faculty Handbook
Are you resting?
How much water did you have today?
When was the last time you ate?
How's your world?
These are the types of questions I encourage teachers to open with when they greet their students, instead of “Hi! Did ya practice?”
Why?
When you ask, “How’s Milton, your cat?”, the focus is on them.
There's a person playing that piano. That person has dreams, desires, fears, anxiety, cramps, gas, irritating siblings, cats.
What's up with them? How are they doing? Is life alright, comparatively speaking?
Learning what's going on in their lives explains about 98% of the issues in the practice room and the music academy.
I made that statistic up, but you get it. Seasoned teachers are nodding in agreement right now.
Don't make it so hard for yourself:
If you have students of any age who are struggling with practice, with time management, with grasping concepts, take a step back and find out how life is going for them.
This can become the most illuminating strategy in your arsenal.
