Today we writeabout additional training info, with a focus on The Music Educator. Successful teachers enjoy their work: It is easy to spot a teacher who loves their work. They seem to emanate contagious energy. Even if it on a subject like advanced calculus, the subject comes alive. If you don’t love your work or your subject, it will come through in your teaching. Try to figure out why you feel so unmotivated and uninspired. It might have nothing to do with the subject, but your expectations. Adjust them a bit and you might find your love of teaching come flooding back. Successful teachers adapt to student needs: Classrooms are like an ever-evolving dynamic organism. Depending on the day, the attendance roster, and the phase of the moon, you might have to change up your plans or your schedule to accommodate your students. As they grow and change, your methods might have to as well. If your goal is to promote a curriculum or method, it will feel like a personal insult when you have to modify it. Make connecting with your student your goal and you’ll have no trouble changing it up as time moves on.
Catch students being good. Use reinforcing language. Try to pay attention to students and acknowledge them (individually or as a group) for following instructions. When you do praise student actions, provide specific feedback about what is being performed – instead of saying, “great job girls”, comment, “You two are working together so nicely”. Click here to access a list of positive statements/reinforcing language. See extra info at Teacher Toolkit and Resources.
Learning is not only for young people. Technology is used in every facet of life because it can provide the speed, connectivity, and efficiency to make tasks easier. We all want things to be easier and faster and as an older adult, it’s important not to underestimate how technology can help you in your golden years. This is the information age where questions can be answered in an instant, and when we take advantage of being informed and connected then we can gain the knowledge and know-how necessary to helping ourselves and improving our lives. Getting digital literacy training can give older adults the skills and confidence to access information and services online.
Since writing by hand is something that they are used to, get them a notebook specifically for writing down any steps they need to remember. If they get lost or forget how to do something, they can jog their memory from their own handwriting. A very good website for senior learning is Tech for Seniors tutorials.
Music teaching is hot this days, many people try to learn music, for various reasons. There are a few podcasts that focuses on teaching people about music and one of them is The Music Educator by Bill Stevens. If you’ve spent time on your lesson plan and feel well-prepared then I’m sure you are excited about teaching the class. As teachers, we feel happy when we can see our carefully thought-out plans coming into fruition. Let your positive attitude and excited feeling show. Your students will pick up on your mood and learn even more than usual. Having your own plan means you can connect with students. You can meet them on the learning journey, spreading the positivity of having direction and goals. Careful planning means you can develop a positive attitude towards your teaching career. This will be automatically passed on to students in class.
Advice of the day for music teachers : Meet with Student Leaders: Another great way to start the new school year is to meet with the student leaders of the upcoming class. This meeting can be either formal or informal, but either way the goal is to establish a positive relationship with the student body. Feel free to share ideas with the student leaders, or even brainstorm fun classroom activities.
You can listen to the The Music Educator podcast by using the app from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.themusiceducatorpodcast.android.music. You can learn more about Bill Steven by visiting his website at https://www.4themusiceducator.com/.