Tag: piano teaching

Conferences, improving as a teacher, Professional Development

Forum Q&A | Attending Conferences

Joy Morin

The last Forum Q&A post was about assignment notebooks/pages for students.  It was wonderful to read all the great responses!  Click here to read the comments, and click here to read my follow-up where I share my method of tracking assignments.

Being able to attend state and national-level conferences is one of the many benefits of being a member of MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) and other professional music organizations.  I am a firm believer in the importance of ongoing professional development for piano teachers (and any teachers, for that matter).  So, today’s Forum Q&A is all about conferences!

To you, what is the most valuable part of attending conferences?  What tips do you have for making conference attendance more affordable and feasible?  If you haven’t attended conferences regularly/before, what’s holding you back? 

Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below!

Composition, Conferences, Music Camps

MTNA 2012 Conference | Session on Composition Camps

Joy Morin

The last session of the conference I attended was a wonderful one!  It was called:

Get Out of That Musical Box: Teach Students How To Compose!

Dianne Higgins gave a delightful presentation about the summer composition camps she holds each year.  It has been a great success even since the first year she tried it!

The first year, Dianne emailed her students and friends to ask for donations of keyboards, headphones, computers, and other equipment she would need.  She was surprised with the response she received, and only had a few things left to purchase.  Over the years, she has upgraded her equipment and now has 5 computer stations with small MIDI keyboards, and some keyboard/headphone stations too.  She has a separate room in her house for these stations.   Continue reading “MTNA 2012 Conference | Session on Composition Camps” →

Conferences, Professional Development, Studio Business

MTNA 2012 Conference | Getting Started With Online Marketing

Joy Morin

On Monday of the conference, I attended the Faber Exhibitor Showcase and the Keynote Address given by the wonderful Benjamin Zander!  Natalie has already posted notes on these sessions that are very similar to mine, so I’ll let you read her summaries here and here.

The next session I attended was given by the MTNA Collegiate Chapter at Butler University called:

Getting Started With Online Marketing

The presenters began by stating: “First impressions are everything!”  Nowadays, that first impression is often online.  We need a good first impression so that it will turn into a phone call.  Continue reading “MTNA 2012 Conference | Getting Started With Online Marketing” →

Composition, Conferences

MTNA 2012 Conference | WSU’s Adopt-A-Composer Program

Joy Morin

On Sunday morning of the conference, I attended the Alfred Exhibitor Showcase and the Keynote Presentation given by Norman Horowitz and Melvin Stecher.  My notes are very similar to Natalie’s from Music Matters Blog, so I will let you read her summaries here and here!  (We somehow attended a lot of the same sessions…great minds think alike!)  🙂

After that, I attended a session given by the MTNA Collegiate Chapter at Washington State University (WSU) called:

Composition and Creativity: Collaboration With Living Composers In The Private Studio

This session was about the annual Adopt-A-Composer Program that that WSU uses for their Piano Lab School (where piano majors teach students in a supervised setting).  A year in advance, they choose and approach a composer, explain the components of the program, and negotiate terms.  If the budget allows, some years they commission a work or two.   Continue reading “MTNA 2012 Conference | WSU’s Adopt-A-Composer Program” →

Conferences, Studio Business

MTNA 2012 Conference | Prof. Studio Institute: Legal Issues

Joy Morin

3:00pm – Ignorance Is Not Bliss: Legal Issues for the IMT

Led by Lee Galloway, Beth Gigante Klingenstein, and Scott McBride Smith.

Conferences, Studio Business

MTNA 2012 Conference | Prof. Studio Institute: Financial Success

Joy Morin

1:30pm – Financial Success: Taking Control of the Present and the Future

Led by Lee Galloway, Beth Gigante Klingenstein, and Scott McBride Smith.

Why are independent music teachers (IMT) so underpaid?  Beth had quite a list of contributing reasons!   Here’s a few:

Conferences, Studio Business

MTNA 2012 Conference | Prof. Studio Institute: Finding Students

Joy Morin

11:30am – Finding & Keeping Students

Led by Lee Galloway, Beth Gigante Klingenstein, and Scott McBride Smith.

This session involved a lot of discussion as a group.  Attendees raised their hands to share ideas for finding and keeping students.  Here’s a few ideas that I jotted down:

Conferences, Studio Business

MTNA 2012 Conference | Prof. Studio Institute: Creative Curriculum

Joy Morin

10:30am – The Creative Curriculum

Led by Lee Galloway, Beth Gigante Klingenstein, and Scott McBride Smith.

Make a plan for yourself, to focus on (1) continual growth, (2) quality, and (3) innovation.  As Peter Drucker once said, “We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.” Continue reading “MTNA 2012 Conference | Prof. Studio Institute: Creative Curriculum” →

Conferences, Studio Business

MTNA 2012 Conference | Prof. Studio Institute: Studio Documents

Joy Morin

Here begins my notes from the 2012 MTNA Conference in NYC!  I had such a wonderful time, and I learned so much.

Saturday is always an optional day at the MTNA Conference.  For an extra $75, you can attend Pedagogy Saturday or choose the Professional Studio Institute track.  I chose the latter, which was led by Lee Galloway, Beth Gigante Klingenstein (author of The Independent Piano Teacher’s Studio Handbook), and Scott McBride Smith.

9:00am – Studio Documents That Work!

Having studio documents is important for professionalism, to protect yourself, to save time, for marketing, and for organization.  Some documents you should consider having for your studio:

  1. Mission Statement – a statement of the purpose for your life or career.  It establishes goals and can help you stay focused.  It has four parts: (1) What you do; (2) Who your target market is; (3) What benefits there are for them; and (4) What benefits there are for you.  Example: I bring joy to others, enriching lives through the gift of music in a fun, energetic, and inspired environment. Continue reading “MTNA 2012 Conference | Prof. Studio Institute: Studio Documents” →
Resources, Studio Business

My New Laminator

Joy Morin

Just wanted to show off a picture of my new laminator today…

I bought it a couple of weeks ago for $15 at Aldi, believe it or not!  At that price, I figured it was worth trying out.  I’ve been so happy with it and have been laminating a lot of my games and flashcards.

I am off to NYC for the MTNA conference very soon!!  I am very excited.  I will be taking off from blogging for most of next week, but when I return I will have lots of conference notes and photos to share!  I’m also looking forward to meeting some of the other piano teacher bloggers who are going.

Happy weekend!

Reviews, Rhythm

Review: Rhythm Menagerie by Wendy Stevens

Joy Morin

Wendy Stevens from the ComposeCreate blog has created a wonderful rhythm resource called Rhythm Menagerie.

The Basics

In Wendy’s own words:

“Rhythm Menagerie is designed to take away the distractions of note reading, articulation, and other music concepts so that students can focus on having fun while strengthening their rhythm!”

Rhythm Menagerie is a 93-page pdf for teachers to use with their students.  The license permits teachers to print as many copies as they wish as long as they are using it with their own students.  Rhythm Mengerie is for sale on Wendy’s website for $34.99.  (Wendy has kindly offered to give Color In My Piano readers a limited-time discount, however — read to the bottom of this post to learn more!)  Continue reading “Review: Rhythm Menagerie by Wendy Stevens” →