My husband and I have been happily renting this house for the past three years:
This Spring, we decided we were interested in buying our own house. We were pre-approved for a mortgage and started shopping.
Finding a house with a good space for my studio was a priority. We found a great house in Perrysburg, Ohio, which is 20 minutes north of where we currently live. It is not as charming on the outside as the rental house, but we hope to be able to increase the curb appeal.
Since last week’s announcement, I have been spending every spare moment of my time writing the course material to be able to offer a six-week course this summer. It is challenging work, but I’m having a blast. I’m happy to announce that the Week 1 coursework is complete and Week 2 is nearly complete.
As I’ve been writing, I have also been revising the schedule of topics somewhat. It is bound to change again as I continue writing, but here is how it currently looks:
I have received a lot of interest and feedback (thanks so much!), and the email list is still growing. Allow me to answer a couple of questions that I have received:
> > > Why is registration limited to 10 people?
As much as possible, I want this course to feel like an in-person group class — except better. I know that I could certainly utilize a webinar format for the course, which would allow me to reach many more people at once. However, I’m not interested in big. I want to keep things small. I want to be able to get-to-know each person who takes the course and work closely with them as they make their way through the material. I want to be able to give detailed feedback on the assignments/projects and be able to have great small-group discussions. Visit the institute.joymorin.com to learn more about the class format.
So, the first offering of this course will be open to the first 10 teachers who register. I definitely plan to offer the course again in the Fall, and I will definitely re-evaluate at that time to decide whether 10 is still a good number. (Registration will open sometime in May. The cost has not yet been set.)
> > > Would you consider offering separate, per-topic courses?
I am writing the course in such a way that the six weekly topics are co-dependent and flow into each other. I do not plan to break-up these six topics, although that certainly does not mean that there will not be certain topics in the future that I could potentially offer as a stand-alone course. We will see how things progress from here!
Thanks for your support, friends, during this new project! Let me know if you have other questions I can answer.
I received nearly 300 responses to my survey about offering an online piano course for piano teachers. I was so encouraged by your comments that I immediately began writing the course material to be able to offer a 6-week course this summer. Thanks so much for your feedback! I am SO excited about this endeavor.
Here is the official announcement:
Here is how the online course will work:
This summer’s 6-week course is intended for piano teachers seeking to learn more about business topics, piano methods, pedagogy, and much more. This jam-packed course is perfect for the new piano teacher as well as for the experienced piano teachers who looking to revitalize their teaching. You won’t be disappointed!
Here is the list of weekly topics I hope to cover between June 9 – July 28:
The dates and topics are somewhat tentative and the cost has not yet been set. Please stay tuned as the details continue to fall into place. 🙂
Registration opens in May and will be open to only 10 teachers (I want to be sure to have time to give feedback to all the registrant’s assignments. I will probably offer the course again in the Fall if there is enough interest.). Visit institute.joymorin.com to learn more and sign-up for the email list for the latest updates about this course and future courses.
Friday marked the five-year anniversary of Color In My Piano! I meant to write this post on Friday, but I have been preparing tax documents all weekend instead. I finished gathering all of the paperwork yesterday and am bringing it to our CPA today.
Enough about the unpleasantness of taxes! Let’s celebrate five years!!
Have you ever wondered why I chose the name “Color In My Piano?” Here is the story: The phrase was coined when, during my senior year of undergrad at Hope College, I was required to write a lengthy essay which reflected upon the past experiences of my life and summed up my current worldview. Not surprisingly, much of paper focused on my beliefs about music and the role of the piano in my life. I believe music is much more than a series of notes strung together. It is a powerful force that can influence our emotions, encourage, heal, and energize. In my life, I strive to keep my music-making and teaching from feeling like merely a job or a requirement. I strive to keep “color in my piano” for both my students and myself.
In case you are interested, below is a run-down of the history of the Color In My Piano blog over the past five years. 
Continue reading “Celebrating 5 Years!”
Just a quick reminder:
There are only THREE days left to shop during the February 20% sale, in celebration of the 5-year blogiversary of ColorInMyPiano.
In the shop, you will find PDF’s of Rhythm Cards, the Prompts for Composition e-Book, and the “Great Composers & Their Music” lapbooking curriculum — perfect for group classes or music camps.
You will need to enter the following code during check-out in order to receive the sale price. This sale won’t be back until next year, so plan accordingly! Copy the code below and then click here to visit the shop.
The code will expire on February 28, 2014.
I love the internet. Without it, I would have far fewer friends and contacts in the piano teacher world, wouldn’t you?
A few months ago, I connected with Canadian piano teacher and composer, Martha Hill Duncan. She stated that she would be in my area in February during her husband’s sabbatical and so I asked if she would be willing to give a presentation about the music of Red Leaf Pianoworks at my home. She said yes!
If you aren’t familiar with Red Leaf Pianoworks — It is a group of Canadian composers who collaborate to promote their self-published piano compositions. They have a website here and you may have seen them in the exhibit hall at conferences such as MTNA or NCKP.
Martha talked about the composers behind Red Leaf Pianoworks and demonstrated samples of their music for us. It was fun to learn a little about each person and get a taste of each person’s unique musical voice.
One of the things I noticed as I was listening to the pieces was how teachable the pieces were, while at the same time requiring students to get out of the typical five-finger positions that many American piano methods promote. I am always on the lookout for supplemental books that get students moving around the keyboard more.
Martha and my colleague try out a piano duet.
We had a lovely morning. Afterwards, Martha, her husband, and I went out for lunch.
Be sure to check out the Red Leaf Pianoworks website here.
One of the questions I asked Martha was whether the Red Leaf Pianoworks has considered selling individual pieces as a PDF download from their website (and with the license for unlimited studio use — I love that!). She said they haven’t talked about it much but may consider it for the future. If this is something you would be interested in, leave a comment below to give Martha some feedback about this! I’m sure they would appreciate hearing from teachers.
Did you know that the authors of the Piano Adventures method, Nancy and Randall Faber, live in Ann Arbor, Michigan? Did you know that the Faber Piano Institute in Ann Arbor is only an hour away from where I live?!
My local MTNA chapter, the Wood-Ottawa Counties OhioMTA, organized a field trip for us to visit the Faber Piano Institute last Friday. We had a fantastic time. The Fabers and their staff were most welcoming and hospitable.
The Faber Piano Institute is located in a building that previously was a library. They created smaller rooms for teaching studios in one half of the building. There are around seven teachers who give lessons at the Faber Piano Institute. Continue reading “Field Trip to the Faber Piano Institute”
A few piano teachers have sent me photos of their piano valentines. It is so fun to see the creative variations that each teacher came up with!
Photo from Leia Sharma:
Photo from Barrymond. She says: “I cut and pasted a top flight poster board on a paper to provide a firm base. Then I used black and pink sharpie to make it a bit colorful. I had a lot of fun making it!”
Photo from Tracy Capps Selle:
Photo from Susanne Gavel. It looks like she printed on both pink and red paper.
Photo from Jennifer Lorys. She gave chocolate to the kids and wine to the adult students!
Happy Valentine’s Day, all!
My suitcase from my vacation in Puerto Rico is still not unpacked…but I am SO ready for my session with MusicEdConnect.com today at 12:30am EST! I have all my games out and ready for demonstration, as you can see.
Maybe I’ll see some of you there! 🙂
My husband and I have just returned from a lovely, week-long vacation to Puerto Rico! It was such a blast. This was the first major vacation we have ever taken together. We enjoyed the culture, food, beach, and history of the island. The warm weather was such a welcome break from the freezing temperatures here in Ohio. 🙂 But I’m happy to be back!
As promised, here is the promo code for the February 20% off sale, in celebration of the 5-year blogiversary of ColorInMyPiano. You will need to enter the following code during check-out in order to receive the sale price. This sale won’t be back until next year, so plan ahead for your summer camps! Copy the code below and then click here to visit the shop.
The code will expire at the end of the month.
In other news: This week, I will be presenting at the MusicEdConnect.com online conference. Have you registered? My session, called “Building Musicianship Through Games & Activities,” will occur Thursday at 12:30pm EST. Hope to see you then!
On Friday, I will be traveling to Akron, Ohio to give a presentation for the Summit County OhioMTA chapter of MTNA. This presentation will be on the same topic — using games to develop complete musicianship in students. If any of you live near Akron and are interested in attending or are already planning to attend, let me know! You can send me an email message here.
Looking forward to a great week!
I am not usually a person to make New Year’s resolutions, but for me the New Year is definitely a time of reflection on the past year and future.
Here are some big things that happened in 2013 that I’m especially thankful for:
A few times this week, this article discussing the distinction between goal-setting and habit-setting came through my facebook newsfeed. The article suggests that success is found in creating a system or process for reaching goal, rather than in setting the goal itself. This may seem obvious, but sometimes we make the mistake of setting a goal without thinking about what it will really take to make the goal happen.
I’d like to go a step further and suggest that in order to increase the chances of success, the goal being set should be process-oriented. Continue reading “New Year’s Thoughts for Piano Teachers”
On Friday, my local MTNA chapter held a workshop given by Katherine Fisher and Dr. Julie Knerr, co-authors of the Piano Safari method. Piano Safari has been on my radar for quite some time, although I have not yet used the method books with a student. I have, however, been experimenting with the technique exercises they have developed.
Continue reading “The Technique Exercises of the Piano Safari method”
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