Author: nissaandersonmusic

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Winter Instrument Care

nissaandersonmusic

Winter is coming!

String instruments are special babies. Here are some tips to keep them in top shape and prevent damage and repairs over the winter:

1. NEVER leave an instrument in the car.

An instrument should never be left in the elements for longer than the time it takes you to travel. If you’re going to another activity before or after your music lesson, bring the instrument into your destination with you. Instruments are okay if the ambient temperature is between 60 and 70 degrees. Anything beyond that will wreak havoc on the wood of the instrument and often cause the strings to go out of tune.

2. Keep the relative humidity between 40-60%

Instruments thrive in the same humidity conditions that humans do. If you can, try to keep the relative humidity in your home between 40 and 60%. Some instrument cases have a built-in hygrometer – it is often in the top part of the case and looks a bit like a clock. If yours doesn’t have one, you can pick up an inexpensive, small hygrometer to monitor the humidity around your instrument.

If you have a whole-home humidifier, it’s best for your instrument (and you, and your home!) to keep the humidity around 50%. If that isn’t an option, here are a few other options to consider:

  • A standalone humidifier that you keep in the same room as your instrument
  • An in-case humidifier like the Boveda or the D’Addario
  • You can create a makeshift in-case humidifier by taking a plastic sandwich bag and poking some holes it it. Then, take a clean, unused dish sponge, wet it, wring it out, then placing it in the sandwich bag .
    • When placing in-case humidifiers, try to place it where it won’t make direct contact with the instrument or bow. We often place them underneath the neck of the instrument. Your mileage may vary depending on the shape of your case.
    • Note: we do not personally recommend in-instrument humidifying options like the Damp-it. They’re risky and can cause water damage and warping if not used carefully.

3. Case closed

Though we often suggest keeping the instrument case open to make practice time quick and easy to start, we recommend keeping the instrument case closed in the winter months to help maintain the humidity.

4. Avoid hot or drafty spots

Pick a spot to store your instrument that is far away from both drafty windows or hot heating vents. Again – the ideal temperature for stringed instruments is between 60 and 70 degrees. Be sure to keep your instrument in a spot where you can consistently maintain a comfortable temperature.

Take it from us: just a little bit of maintenance goes a long way to avoiding long tuning sessions this winter, and long-term damage to your instrument. Ms. Nissa’s house gets so dry in the winter, she had to have ALL the seams on her violin reglued this spring! We don’t want that to happen to you, too!

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We’re Hiring!

nissaandersonmusic

Anderson Music Studio is urgently seeking a Suzuki violin teacher to join the faculty at our studio in west suburban Riverside.

We currently boast more than 40 violin, cello, and piano students, but we are seeking the right teacher to help us welcome in even more violin students. We can guarantee that you’d start with at least three students, with more steadily enrolling each month.

This position begins with a six month contract with an option to be hired long-term based on performance. Our teachers enjoy the benefits of a well-established program; you can just show up and teach – no need to handle marketing or parent education.

We are predominantly a Suzuki school but do offer traditional style lessons by request. Willingness to teach both methodologies is a plus. We have a strong preference for educators with music education degrees, Suzuki training through at least book 1, and a minimum of two years of teaching experience.

Teachers are hired as independent contractors but receive ongoing support from our studio director in a collaborative environment. The average shift is 4 hours, usually from 3-7 PM. As an independent contractor, you are able to set your own hours based on classroom and student availability. Pay is an hourly rate commensurate with experience and training, beginning at an absolute minimum of $32/hour, with the option to earn a set salary after the six month trial.

Job requirements include:

  • Teaching private lessons and group classes
  • Constructing and implementing clear plans for student growth
  • Maintaining a consistent and reliable schedule
  • Communicating and collaborating with the director, caregivers, and other teachers
  • Attending studio recitals and occasional community outreach events

To apply, please send a resume to Nissa at info@andersonmusic.studio. If you’d like to expedite the interview process, please also send a performance video as well as a teaching excerpt of at least 10 minutes.

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Suzuki vs. Traditional: What’s The Difference?

nissaandersonmusic

The most asked question in regards to starting lessons is “Suzuki vs. Traditional – what’s the difference?” While both Suzuki and traditional approaches, when utilized by a nurturing and caring teacher, ultimately yield the same results, there are some key differences. Let’s explore.

Infographic outlining the difference of suzuki vs. traditional lessons

#1: Caregiver Involvement

In the Suzuki method, the caregiver is involved during 100% of private lessons, group classes, and home practice. The caregiver’s concurrent learning, dutiful notetaking, and commitment to the routine of practice is part of what makes Suzuki work. Caregivers are always welcome and encouraged to attend traditional lessons (our director’s mom attended her lessons until she was 19 just because she enjoyed it!) but it is not a requirement.

#2 Learning By Ear

Traditional students begin to learn to read music immediately alongside learning to play the instrument. Students learn the placement of pitches on their instruments through quick exercises and short melodies that work on note reading fluency.

In Suzuki lessons, students learn to play their songs by ear first. Students listen to a reference recording daily to help internalize the melody. The Suzuki method sometimes gets a reputation that it’s students don’t know how to read music – this isn’t true. A good Suzuki teacher will introduce note reading when the student’s technique has established a steady foundation.

#3 Starting Young

One of the key definitions of Suzuki vs. Traditional is that the Suzuki method allows students to begin learning their instrument as young as three years old. If you’ve seen a prodigious toddler shredding Vivaldi on their instrument, they are likely a Suzuki student.

This is partially because of the caregiver’s involvement but also because learning by ear is a more organic process for a young child than learning to read the standard music notation system.

Learning to play an instrument and read notation at the same time requires some developed mental multitasking. This means that traditional methods are often better suited to a slightly older child. As a general rule, a student can begin traditional lessons around the age of eight (although we’ve made exceptions for particularly mature students as young as six).

#4 Group Classes

Music is a social activity. Understanding that students learn from their peers, Dr. Suzuki included group classes as an essential part of the Suzuki curriculum. Group classes are required along with weekly private lessons.

Traditional lessons can be an excellent complement to a student’s school instrumental ensemble. However, group classes are not part of the traditional private study curriculum.

#5 Repertoire & Review

Knowledge is not skill. Knowledge plus ten thousand times is skill

-Shinichi Suzuki

Another special element of Suzuki is its common repertoire. Dr. Suzuki carefully selected the repertoire to teach new skills in a certain order. Because of this, students all learn the same songs in the same order. Each song teaches specific skills that often return in later songs. Suzuki students must review their “passed” songs in order to keep all their skills sharp.

Traditional students often learn through short written exercises, scales, and arpeggios. These exercises teach foundational skills, but traditional students don’t review their repertoire as often as Suzuki students.

Ultimately, Suzuki and traditional lessons will both allow your student to develop into a musician. Choosing the right method for you often comes down to personal choices and family routines. To learn more about what might work best for you, schedule a free call with our director today!

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Why Your Child Should Take Suzuki Violin Lessons

nissaandersonmusic

Want to know why your child should take Suzuki violin lessons at Anderson Music in Riverside, Illinois? Here’s five reasons why:

Family Bonding

The Suzuki Method not only encourages the caregiver to participate, it’s required. What other activity do you send your children to that requires you to participate? We can’t think of any.

This presents a unique opportunity for families to grow together over several years. Families who have graduated from the Suzuki method report that it allowed them the ability to work together as a family in new and different ways. Though it wasn’t always easy, they overwhelmingly felt that they wouldn’t trade the relationship that Suzuki allowed them to develop for anything.

Whether your toddler is still at home, your kindergartener is heading to school for the first time, or you’d like an opportunity to spend more time with your pre-teen, the Suzuki method allows weekly opportunities for one-on-one bonding time for caregiver and child.

Comprehensive caregiver support

We’ve heard it a hundred times: “I started to learn an instrument as a kid but I never practiced. My parents didn’t want to pay for it if I didn’t practice, so I quit. I regret not sticking with it.”

You can’t tell someone you’re a musician, let alone a music teacher, without hearing some iteration of that story.

We know that learning violin can be challenging. We also know most parents that come to our studio aren’t musicians themselves, let alone violinists specifically. At Anderson Music, it is OUR responsibility to show you how to be the best support system you can be for your young musician.

Suzuki families go through orientation before even beginning private lessons. Like ground school for pilots or student teaching for educators, we run you through the basics before we let you get in on the action. We also hold regular talks, host meet-ups, and, coordinate practice buddies, and conference one-on-one with caregivers twice per year.

Even Traditional families receive a lesson start-up guide upon enrolling and are always welcome to join Suzuki programming for a low additional fee.

We want your child to take violin lessons long-term, and we make sure we give you the tools to make that happen.

Personalized instruction

Every child is different and we are prepared to help each student learn in their own unique way. Whether your child is high-energy, strictly motivated by games, or even nonverbal, our faculty knows how to adjust the method to meet the student where they’re at.

Every student in our program learns the same fundamental concepts, but we’ve never really taught the same lesson twice – everyone is different.

Community

Anderson Music is a community-minded studio. On a micro level, we are always working to connect our studio parents to each other. Many of our students have become friends outside of the studio and have practice play dates often, and we even go on studio field trips to see the CSO and the Grant Park Symphony.

Keeping it local is important to us. We partner with local businesses like Back to Nature and Brookfield Academy for Mini Musicians to bring enrichment programming to our students. Our students perform at community events throughout the year, and we decorate a Christmas Tree at the Brookfield Zoo every year.

We are also focused on giving back. We plant one tree per student every month through One Tree Planted and we hold supply drives for Ronald McDonald House during the holidays. When you join Anderson Music, you join a group of families engaged in supporting their local community.

FUN

Our students have FUN learning. Laughter echoing through our hallways is a regular occurrence.

Our teachers use tons of strategies and rewards to encourage joy in students’ learning. From weekly stickers and coloring charts to studio-wide practice challenges four times a year, we are always working to keep our students engaged and enjoying the learning process.

What are you waiting for? Schedule a consultation today!

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Spring Recap

nissaandersonmusic

What’s new in music in Riverside, IL? Keep reading!

Spring Recital – May 1st

Our students put on a wonderful performance at our spring recital on May 1st. It has been amazing to watch students growth since our February recital. They did an amazing job – click here to watch a clip of our music in Riverside, IL.

Parent Meet Up – May 13th

We held our first ever parent meet-up, which we’ve affectionally called a “Wine & Whine”, on Friday, May 13th at Imperial Oak Brewing in Brookfield, IL. It was a pleasure to chat with parents, commiserate over practice troubles, and even share hope for the future. Our next meet up will be Wednesday, June 22nd from 7-9 PM at Imperial Oak. Join us!

Twinkles Galore!

Our Twinkle group class completed their own special challenge to play 100 repetitions of each Twinkle in exchange for a candy bar of their choice. Yes – a total of 600 Twinkles in 8 weeks!

Congratulations to Riya, Lila, Dolly, Lottie, Mabel, Archie, Addie, and Nalani for their hard work. You’re all Twinkle pros now and we can’t wait to hear how beautifully you perform the rest of book 1!

music in riverside il; violin teacher with student

BAMM Collab

Ms. Nissa and Ms. Clara from Brookfield Academy for Mini Musicians (formerly Miss Clara’s Joyful Learning) teamed up to offer a very special Pajama Party Story Time! Students and caregivers enjoyed a Mini Musicians class, a special reading of Carnival of the Animals complete with violin music to accompany, and a special goody bag to take home. It was a huge success – stay tuned for a summer story time!

Congratulations to Ms. Grace!

Ms. Grace completes her post graduate certificate in performance at DePaul this week. We are so proud of her hard work! Click here to watch her degree recital

Looking Ahead

violin lessons in brookfield il; an animated graphic with white text saying "summer practice challenge" and a violin

Our video game style summer practice challenge kicks off Monday, June 13th and ends Sunday, July 31st.

Click here to see the list of repeatable “missions.”

Referral Raffle

Beginning this summer, we will be starting a quarterly referral raffle.

For each student you refer to us who schedules a consultation, you will receive 1 entry into our referral raffle.

Winners will receive a $50 gift card to a restaurant of their choice – consider it a special date night on us to say thank you for referrals.

The first drawing will be at the end of August. Tell your friends by sharing this link to schedule a consultation.

This is, of course, in addition to the ongoing referral reward of one lesson 50% off when your referral enrolls!

Special thanks to the Aceves family for being our studio leaders in referrals! Every referral is a huge compliment and helps our studio community grow

violin lessons la grange il; a graphic saying "referral raffle" in black text

Quick Stats from Spring

1 30 minute recital

1 week of conferences

1 parent meet-up

1 parent onboarding course completed – congrats Karla, Kendra, and Leslie

2 new adult students enrolled – welcome Jocelyn and Margaret

4 students graduated from Twinkles – congrats Archie, Addie, Luc, and Mabel

20 new student inquiries in one month – a record!

155 trees planted in our student’s honor (to date)

Stay tuned for our summer recap in August. Until then, happy practicing!

First time visiting us? click here to learn more about ams!
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Monday Motivation: Keeping a Habit

nissaandersonmusic

Happy Monday, practice pals! It’s our final Monday Motivation! Today’s is short and sweet, inspired by Atomic Habits by James Clear

As I write this on the final Monday of our practice challenge, our students are on the precipice of a huge achievement – practicing daily for a full month. That’s no small feat! The dedication and hard work it takes to complete a full month of anything is worth validating. I’m sure there have been days where you weren’t feeling it, but you did it anyway. Congratulations – you’re almost there!

Now it’s time for the obligatory “don’t lose all the momentum you just built up” talk. How can we keep this progress going? I can’t exactly dangle the metaphorical carrot of a pizza party every single month (though that’d be fun).

Here’s a tip from Atomic Habits: Don’t let the “I don’t notice a difference” mindset take over.

Early on in the book, Clear notes that “outcomes are lagging measures of habits.” In an instant gratification society, so many of us give up on something because we don’t feel/see/hear results as quickly as we want to. We tend to underestimate the effect that small changes can have. But anyone who is highly skilled didn’t acquire all that skill in one sitting – they made tiny improvements day after day after day. It’s the 1% rule:

“If you can get 1% better each day for one year, you’ll end up 37 times by the time you’re done. Conversely, if you get 1% worse each day for one year, you’ll decline nearly down to zero. What starts as a small win or a minor setback accumulates into something much more.”

What can you do to help your child continue their 1% daily gains? Here are a few of our tried and true tips:

  • Have a consistent routine. I enjoyed hearing about newfound practice routines from many of you over the course of the challenge. Part of building a habit is deciding when, where, and how something is going to happen. If you put practice time on your family calendar – good – keep it there!
  • Reinforce progress made. We can’t see the forest for the trees sometimes. As practicers, we are so entrenched in the work of making progress that sometimes we lose sight of how far we’ve already come. Remind your child of that! Something as simple as “wow, do you remember when that felt hard?” is huge.
  • Find motivators. Having a determined end goal for something – perhaps, a recital and a pizza party – can help the hamster wheel of practice and improvement feel a little bit more tangible. We can work together to create these goals, but, in case you didn’t know, there’s only 63 days between our February recital and our May recital. Might as well keep the momentum going!

You can hear a summary of Clear’s book straight from him by clicking here.

And, if you’re interested, here’s a reading list of the books referenced over the course of this month:

  • Mindset by Carol Dweck
  • The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle
  • Grit by Angela Duckworth
  • Atomic Habits by James Clear

Happy practicing!

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Monday Motivation: Ignition

nissaandersonmusic

Happy Monday, practice pals!

Our Monday Motivation for this week is about ignition.

Ignition is a concept discussed heavily in Daniel Coyle’s The Talent Code. He referred to it as the “2nd Element of The Talent Code,” meaning that after deep practice, an ignition event is a huge indicator of long term success.

So what is it?

Ignition is an often serendipitous event that sparks a desire to learn something new.

For Dr. Suzuki himself, his moment of ignition to learn the violin happened when he heard famed violinist Mischa Elman perform Ave Maria. He said:

“The sweetness of the sound of Elman’s violin utterly enthralled me. His velvety tone as he played the melody was like something in a dream. It made a tremendous impression on me….I brought a violin home … I tried to imitate him. I had no score, and simply moved the bow, trying to play what I heard.”

For me personally, my ignition moment happened when my elementary violin teacher helped me play Twinkle at an instrument try out event for orchestra recruitment. I still remember it – I very clearly thought “this is the coolest thing I will ever do.” The rest is history.

You’ve probably experienced your own ignition moment. That sudden wave of “whatever this is, I wanna do it.”

Ignition is special. It feels like magic. Coyle himself recognizes that ignition is what inspires the action required to develop a skill, but that ignition cannot be forced.

You can nudge it, though. 

You can’t have ignition without exposure. So, create opportunities to expose your child to things. It obviously doesn’t have to be just violin – but that is my lane – so here are some suggestions:

  • Catch a live performance. The CSO offers concerts for kids regularly and there are free concerts at Millennium Park in the summer. 
  • Come to group class. Seeing how other kids play is what Coyle calls a “primal cue.” If a student overhears a peer playing something really well, they are often inspired to work a little harder the next time they practice.
  • Explore YouTube together. There’s access to tons of world class violin performance, both classical and contemporary. Here’s a playlist to explore. 
  • Don’t force it. Don’t hover. Let them be free to enjoy the experience and see what follows.

Happy Practicing!

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Monday Motivation: Deep Practice

nissaandersonmusic

Happy Monday, practice pals! 

Today’s Monday Motivation is about the concept of “deep practice.”

In the neuroscience world, this concept has earned a few different names, including deep practice and deliberate practice. While the titleage varies, these terms all represent the same concept. Deep or deliberate practice is the kind of practice that helps us grow skill by setting goals, practicing through repetition, analyzing performance, and making adjustments. In application, this cycle of goal, attempt, analysis, and adjustment is constant.

This can be a difficult concept for young musicians. From my own experience, I was never taught the “right” way to practice. For a solid eight years of life as a student violinist, I assumed that just playing through my music assignments was practicing. It wasn’t until I reached high school and began preparing for concerto competitions and collegiate auditions that I learned that this kind of superficial practice wasn’t helping me make progress. It was just helping me plateau.

To be fair, there’s nothing wrong with “superficial” practice now and then. Playing just to play has its merits. Quick run-throughs of pieces can offer you a baseline on the status of your ability. But, without consistent, mindful, deliberate practice, our ability will essentially stay the same.  This was uncovered by psychologist Anders Ericsson in his research of several highly accomplished performers. He found that performers who practiced deliberately continued to grow and develop ability, while performers who didn’t only maintained their ability.

So, in the interest of making continued progress, the notion of deep practice speaks for itself. But here’s another reason why deep practice is essential: it legitimately alters your brain.

Daniel Coyle, author of The Talent Code, has compiled decades of research and observations of what he calls “talent hotbeds” – organizations that have produced an impressive number of highly capable performers, athletes, and even chess masters. 

Coyle spends much of his book discussing the concept of myelination.

Yes, let’s briefly put on our science hats.

Myelin, if you are unaware, is the sheath of proteins and fats enveloping the neurons in our brains. Myelin is what allows our neurons to communicate with each other – the stronger the myelin, the faster the communication between neurons.

How myelin grows around our neurons

Coyle has learned that deep, deliberate, regular practice has the stunning ability to grow more myelin around the neurons of a particular circuit. For example, if we practice violin deeply and deliberately, the neurons in the violin circuit of our brain will literally grow more myelin, work faster. This helps us develop technique that feels easy and effortless. The key to growing myelin is deep and deliberate practice wherein skills are repeated until mastery is achieved.

So, see how deeply you can practice this week. Here’s a playbook for you:

  • Run through a song you’re working on to get a baseline. Try to identify any places for improvement. Ex: play through Pepperoni Pizza and notice what still needs improving.
  • Set a goal based on areas of improvement. Try to take small bites. If you notice that the pizza’s need to sound more staccato, play three pepperoni pizzas in a row with good staccato is a better, more manageable goal than play the entire twinkle with good staccato. Smaller goals are always better.
  • Work on it. This is where the need for repetition comes in – my rule of thumb for students is that if you can do it five times in a row correctly, you’re doing it right.
  • Play it again to assess if progress was made.
  • If progress was made, either dig deeper into the same goal, or set a new one.
  • Rinse, repeat!

Happy practicing!

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Monday Motivation: Mindset

nissaandersonmusic

Happy Monday! 


Today is day 2 of our studio’s annual practice challenge. Each Monday of the challenge, we’ll be posting a little bit of Monday Motivation covering some of the neuroscience of practice, skill building, and talent development.


This week’s motivation covers the concept of mindset and motivation.


Dr. Carol Dweck has spent her career researching mindset and motivation. 
The summary of her findings over her career have separated mindset into two categories: growth mindset or fixed mindset.


People with a fixed mindset believe that all of their abilities are unchangeable and they are unable to improve. Because they believe effort does not make a difference, they often don’t try. These people tend to give up on tasks quickly, especially when they perceive the task to be too much of a challenge.


People with a growth mindset, however, believe in the power of “yet.” They believe in their ability to improve and eventually reach their goals, even if that goal feels out of reach to them in the present. People with a growth mindset are resilient and persevere to reach their goals, no matter what.


Dr. Dweck has found over the course of her research that when a growth mindset is carefully modeled and reinforced for young children, they make HUGE strides in what they can achieve.


In one study, Dr. Dweck discovered the role that specific feedback plays in fostering a growth mindset.


In the study, young children were given a low difficulty quiz. When they were graded, the feedback they were given was brief, but carried different messages. One group of children was told “you must be so smart.” The other group of children was told “you must have worked hard.”


The students were then given another quiz, this time much harder than the previous. This time, the children that were praised for being “smart” achieved less than the children who were praised for working hard. Dr. Dweck was so surprised by the result that she replicated the study several times. The result was the same each time: children who were praised for effort outpaced children who were praised for intellect.

The message is clear: ability is cultivated, not innate, and we can teach children to achieve by fostering the mindset that they can accomplish anything if they work hard.

My challenge to you this week during your practice time is to choose the feedback you offer your child carefully. Spend this week praising their effort rather than their ability and notice what changes it inspires in their motivation.


Watch Dr. Dweck’s talk on growth mindset below.

Happy practicing!

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Suzuki Books Are Not Suzuki Method

nissaandersonmusic

I have some mixed feelings about transfer students.

I love new students of any variety, and transfer students are certainly no exception. Transfer students currently make up a good chunk of my student base. Without my transfer kids, I wouldn’t really be making a living at all.

But.

I’m growing increasingly weary of the state in which my transfer students come to me.

My intro lessons are largely the same with these types of students – show me your bow hold, play the last song you worked on for me, can you play an A/D/G scale, etc. Nearly every time I have an intro lesson with a transfer student, I sit with a poker face that thinly veils my internal horror with the state of the student’s technique. Collapsed left hands, bow grips akin to an arcade claw game, instrument teetering perilously on the chest, and a tone closer to nails on a chalkboard than a violin. Without failure, I am astonished at what the former teacher “taught” the student currently standing in front of me, because to me it appears that the child has scarcely learned a thing except remedial lesson in muscle tension. I grow more troubled as I learn that the former teacher taught “Suzuki method” to the child – because to people who do teach Suzuki method it’s painfully clear that this is not the end result that Dr. Suzuki spent his life trying to produce.

This predicament certainly isn’t the child’s fault, nor the parent’s. I cannot fault the parties who often don’t have the expertise or experience with the instrument to know what a good private teacher can accomplish. The issue is with teachers who claim to teach the Suzuki method without putting the principles in practice, and with teachers who do not have appropriately high expectations for their students.

To my first point, teaching from the Suzuki method books is not teaching the Suzuki method. That’s just using the repertoire that Dr. Suzuki selected. Let’s be clear: there’s not anything wrong with this. A traditional teacher can do great non-Suzuki based work with the Suzuki repertoire, and for a violin teacher who needs a starting point, grabbing the Suzuki books is the path of least resistance because Dr. Suzuki already put the thought in for us. But simply using the book is not teaching the Suzuki method. There are philosophies of the Suzuki method that matter infinitely more than the repertoire – do one thing at a time, learn with your ears before your eyes, prioritize beautiful tone, establish a strong relationship between teacher, student, and parent, reinforce through review. When a student arrives for a lesson and throws the method book onto the stand to struggle through reading a Suzuki piece with terrible tone and horrendous posture, I know that the former teacher didn’t truly teach the Suzuki method, they just used the repertoire.

To my second point, I often ponder the priorities of my students’ former teachers. Maybe this is my education degree talking, but I have always felt that my expectations of my students are a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you expect that your students will play with correct posture and beautiful tone, and prioritize your teaching strategies to that end, you students will develop correct posture and beautiful tone. If you expect that your students will be able to read music effectively, you will prioritize your teaching strategies to that end and your students will meet your expectations. If you have no expectations for your students, or you don’t know how to prioritize foundational skills of successful violin performance, or you’re just taking students to help you pay rent, you have no idea what they should be able to do in six months, one year, five years time. What are students going to get out of lessons with you if you don’t establish your expectations of them and reinforce and build upon those expectations each week? What service are you really doing for these children and their families? I’ve always felt teaching with little to no articulated expectations is futile, and futility is essentially the antithesis of education.

Parents (and adult students!) – do yourselves and your child a favor and talk with prospective teachers about their vision for a new student and what they expect to see out of a student on a weekly basis. If they don’t have an answer, keep looking. If they can articulate their expectations for students without skipping a beat, and they see a clear vision for your child and are willing to put a plan into action, you’ve found a teacher worth working with.

Just some food for thought on this subzero Monday night in Chicago.