Announcing a new giveaway, from the ladies from Piano Stars! You’ve read all about Keri & Carolyn in yesterday’s interview, and now you have a chance to win one of their teaching materials: a Blank Board Game that allows you to customize the game each time you use it!
There are many ways to use this game. The game board is laminated which allows you to write notes, symbols, terms, etc. onto each square using a wipe-off marker. Using your own die and game pieces, each student can move around the board from the START to the FINISH by defining the terms and symbols. Alternatively, you can use the colors of each square to determine what to do: for example, blue could mean to play a scale, yellow could mean to sightread a piece of music, and green could mean to answer a question from a flashcard. This game board is not limited to music — it can be used for any subject. The possibilities are endless!
Here’s how to enter to win this game board:
1. Leave a comment on this post in answer to one of these topics:
— If you collaborate with a fellow teacher when planning studio events, tell us all about it! — Do you have another question for Keri & Carolyn after reading their interview on yesterday’s post? Here’s your chance to ask it! — Briefly describe the summer camps you offer as part of your studio.2. For an additional entry in the giveaway, you may also leave a second comment if you are a follower of the Color In My Piano facebook page. Don’t forget to leave a second comment on this post indicating that you are a follower, so you can increase your odds of winning!
Leave your comment(s) before March 31 at midnight. A winner will be chosen via random number generator. Good luck!
I don’t hold ‘Summer Camps’ but do try to make my summer lessons extra fun and exciting……from taking my extra keyboard outside on the deck and holding lessons there for a week to having a ‘silly hat’ day to ‘pajama day’ and beyond….the crazier the better. This keeps things interesting and light for the summer months.
I collaborate with another teacher every spring and we hold Studio Festival which is an MTNA program that teachers can particpate in. It’s totally run by the teacher however they see fit for their studio. We adjudicate eachother’s students, it works out really well.
I also do summer camps every summer. I highly recommend doing a camp, it has solved many many issues that teachers seem to have during the summer.
I am a follower of your FB page! 🙂
I would like to know if Keri and Carolyn have any special resources or ideas that they use with adult students? I find it hard to get my hands on practical teaching aids that aren’t geared towards children. I teach mostly adults- it would nice to find some games and things that wouldn’t make them feel like they are 5. 🙂
Pick me! Pick Me for the giveaway! 🙂
Most of our games are designed with children in mind because they seem to be the ones that need the extra motivation the most. Our technique spinner set works well with adults. They are colorful, but there are no little kid pictures on them. They are useful to help the students practice random technique exercises similar to what would happen in an exam setting. You spin the first spinner to see which major or minor key you would be playing in & then you spin the second spinner to tell you if you are playing a scale, triad, arpeggio, etc.
We sometimes use the cards from the Piano Stars Game as flash cards for adults (we don’t set up the game board pieces).
I was wondering if you refer students to each other – do you each have different strengths, and send students to each other with those strengths in mind?
I’d love a chance to win the game – it looks so versatile!
Quite often actually! We have no problem referring students to each other for any reason.
Sometimes it comes down to one of us having a space open that will work better for the student. But as far as strengths, because Carolyn was my teacher growing up our teaching styles are very similar. (Even having conversations with us can get pretty funny. We often answer a question with the exact same words and tone of voice!) Carolyn definitely has more credentials so if there’s a more advanced student looking for a teacher I will pass them over to her if I feel they would benefit more!
Here’s my second post – I am indeed an avid follower of your blog!
My summer camps try to be as active as possible, while teaching pulse, rhythm and other theory components. I title them Theory Olympics and Theory Bootcamp (for older students) to emphasize the active portion. We’re outdoors as much as possible, do large rhythm movements, relays, use giant floor keyboards and grand staff, etc.
I also do a composition camp.
What a great idea to have an Etsy shop! The game boards and spinners look really nice! I love to incorporate something fun and colorful into lessons. I would definitely use the games during group lessons, which the students love! Thanks for the giveaway. I enjoy your blog!
I belong to our local Piano Teachers Association and plan events with the other 2 teachers nearby regularly. If we’re participating in a larger, association -sponsored event, we try to schedule our students times close to each other so that we can “cover” for each other if one of us has to be late, or we let our students perform with another group if that time works better for them. We refer students to each other regularly-placing a new student with a qualified teacher close to their home is a big help in making sure that student “sticks with it”. Having a friend “in the business” always helps!
I am offering four music summer camps this summer. two in June and two in August. Each are held for 2 hours Monday through Friday. The first one is “Dynamic Duos.” We learn everything there is about playing duets. The group size is limited to 10 students so we have 5 pairs to work with. My second class is “Beat the Heat.” It is all about rhythm. The third class is based off of the Lemony Snickett book, “The Composer is Dead.” We will act as detectives to solve the mystery of composing. And the last camp is “Music Theory Gymnastics” I am very excited about them and have been planning them for quite some time.
My blog is just a family blog right now. I am thinking of making the leap to a piano studio blog, especially since my studio has doubled this last year.
Thanks for the opportunity!
Elizabeth
This game looks great. Iwas wondering if it would work for french students in Quebec?
Our instructions on the back are printed in English, but because the board is blank you would be able to write whatever you wanted to focus on for the game in which ever language you like! Of course, if you wanted a customized game using terms in French, you could always email us the terms/items you would like to see on the game and we would be happy to make it for you!
I meet with a group of piano teachers each month from all over our Massachusetts’ North Shore community to share ideas and events we have going on in our own studios. This month however, is a shared event at a local mall, students performing from all of our studios to raise money for the earthquake victims in Japan.
I am a children’s librarian and I would love to have this beautiful game board to add a fun interactive dimension to our Summer Reading Program!
What a fun giveaway!! Recently I have started collaborating with another piano teacher in teaching preschool piano camps – SO much fun!! It is great to bring our different strengths and ideas together to create a wonderful musical experience for young children. This game board would be so fun for our camps!
And I follow you on facebook. 🙂
Last summer I did a Patriotic theme summer camp and had patriotic music in all levels for the students to play each week. They recieved points for each song completed as well as games they played on music learning community in their level. They also did a craft that corresponded with their song(s) of the week and viewed things such as web cam from statue of liberty. At end of summer the girl and boy with the highest points recieved grand prize of Baskins Robbins ice cream coupons and bigger prize. As each student reached 50 points they were able to pick something from the gift basket for smaller prizes such as gum, bracelets, pens, etc.
Ah yes, I am indeed a follower of your blog and adding you to my facebook so it’s always there at a glance. Keep up the good work. I know I appreciate any help I can get for my studio and like to keep new & different ideas out there for all my students no matter what their age (4 1/2 – 70-ish!) Thanks! I would love to recieve the game to use-fairly new teacher and just starting to collect resources so any help $$$-wise would be great!!!!! lol
I have held summer piano camps the last two years. My next one will be a duet/ensemble program, where we will work on playing together and listening to each other, as well as (of course) playing some fun games to reinforce various concepts. This game board looks like a great resource!
Hello Joy! Hello Keri and Carolyn! I am for the first time this year offering camps this summer. I am offering a “Voices and Instruments” camp – we’re going to learn about different instruments, making some rhythm instruments, take a field trip to play a pipe organ, make a recording using microphones and make a music video! I hope it goes well. I also teach Spanish, so I’m going to offer a few Spanish camps as well. Also, something else I’m trying this year: We live 3 hours from St. Louis, so we’re taking a field trip to St. Louis to visit Scott Joplin’s Home there. Everyone is very excited about that!
I team up with my friend who also teaches for our annual festival which includes theory testing. We also frequently share ideas for group lessons although we don’t typically hold these together because of the large # of students. I was glad to recently use her idea of doing “All Star Scales” Baseball in my studio to help my students review their technical skills as they raced around the bases. I would love to do a carnival themed piano camp in the future. This board game would be a fun addition to my group lessons.
I also follow you on facebook.
I’d love a chance to win, thank you! 🙂
The gameboard looks lovely and I love the fact that it’s adaptable to any type of game.
Part of my teaching takes place in a community music school with plenty of teachers of a variety of disciplines. One feature we have found to be highly successful is inviting in guest teachers to give masterclasses. It’s been great for teachers to sit in and learn from, but also a fabulous minimal-pressure performance opportunity for the students.
Nice website Keri and Carolyn! I noticed you have some very clever make-up policies for your studio. How has the response been to phone/skype lessons when students are sick? Sounds like a great idea. Best wishes to you both.
We have only had a few students try out our phone lessons (no skype ones yet). It’s a little challenging because you have to explain things more carefully – you can’t just point or show. A phone lesson is not perfect but it at least gives you a chance to hear the student’s progress & assign a new piece or technique key to work on. You can’t catch fingering mistakes but you can hear note mistakes & talk about dynamics. The parents of students who have had a phone lesson are happy because they feel they are at least getting something for their money. The most common reason for a phone lesson I have had so far is for bad weather. The parents don’t want to drive in the really cold or really snowy weather but they don’t want their child to miss their lesson.
It’s so nice to hear from you – we both use your music all the time! Our favorites are your books “Freddie the Frog” & “In the Mermaid’s Garden”. Thanks for writing such great pieces 🙂