How to Help Your Students
How to help your students become independent learners.
I was handicapping my students
When I only taught private lessons, I found joy in seeing my students develop and do a good job of playing their music. But I also found something that detoured my students from reaching their full potential. It was me. I was getting in the way of them becoming an independent learner.
It became apparent the day a student’s mom called me all excited. Her daughter had been asked to play a piece at her school for an upcoming holiday. Mom was asking for an extra private lesson to make this piece happen. We scheduled the arrangements and when the day arrived, I learned just how I’d inhibited my students progress.
My student (and her mother) felt they needed me to teach the new song.
Fail. That was when I recognized how big my fail really was. Why would any student who could read music need me to teach her this new song? Because I’d helped them depend on me for teaching her to play.
In fact, I took stock that day. In my attempts to be a good teacher, I realized how I spoon fed my students their rhythm, notes, and technique. It was a day that changed me.
My student should have been excited to sit down and apply everything she knew to learning a new song. Instead she needed me. So the entire focus of my efforts shifted. Students had to learn how to approach learning. This moment of clarity was what helped my become a better teacher. I started with a new approach in my private lessons that easily facilitated my jump into small group lessons.
Teaching independence
I began by asking a student to find the introduction, and the first Section (A) of their piece. Once they could do that, I asked them if they could find a pattern in the bass clef. They couldn’t see it easily, but soon developed an eye for patterns. Then I asked them what would be the smartest way to practice that section or pattern?
Results are swift
Did you notice that in my attempts to teaching independence, I was the one asking questions? Rather than pointing out everything, I stepped back and guided my students to answering questions about their own learning. The best teaching is all about helping others learn independently.
