The students in public school have this week off. It also happens to be Group Class Week at the Studio (group class in lieu of a lesson), A.K.A. “catch-up” week for me. I have spent most of my time working on the advertising campaign for Calgary ARMTA’s newsletter and finalizing my 2006/07 Studio Registration Package (studio calendar, policies, registration form, letter to students, policy agreement). Some policy changes have been made, which may or may not go over well. It has all been for the sake of improving business operations. Less time on troubleshooting or putting out fires equals more time and energy to put into being a better teacher.
Having a well-defined standard set of studio policies and practices is essential to the survival of any business. Everyone – the students, parents and teachers – will be operating within the same set of rules and regulations. Each year, teachers improve upon their policies and practices (or at least, they should).
I am also writing an online Studio Handbook, which contains everything from lesson protocol to practice tips, and from teaching philosophies to how parents can support their child’s music studies. Working on the policies and the handbook is energizing. After all, it’s a chance to do some reflection on what’s important, on what I want to accomplish and look at areas that can be improved upon.
I took a break from it this morning to go shopping. My theory students will soon be working on practice tests, so I needed the latest set to go over myself. I also found some funky music class resources for the upcoming group classes: Music Listening Bingo by Cheryl Lavender. I hope the students enjoy them.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find everyone on my shopping list today. Try as I might, I couldn’t find piano music for an AC/DC song that I’ve been asked to play as a wedding recessional song. The wedding isn’t until August, so I have time to research it a bit more.
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