Inexpensive Props and Dual Purpose Furniture!

I get really excited about finding good deals and new ways to use things I already have! When we moved into our new office space we had to get a little creative because there isn’t a whole ton of room! This is especially true in our therapy room. We needed to have somewhere to put all of our instruments and props, but still leave enough room to conduct a therapy session. We purchased two large metal cabinets to run along the back wall of the room and house all of our equipment. They have worked splendidly! When we were putting everything away, I noticed that we had a bunch of little magnets and a light bulb instantly went on! Magnets & Metal Cabinets! OF COURSE! Perfect way to do picture scheduling, highlight important things, and give clients another way to manipulate materials! Perfect! A couple of my clients love helping me put up the picture cards and pointing out where we are in our schedule. This large amount of metal space allows us to get creative and be flexible! One Read More

The Weather & Whether or Not to Cancel

Living in Illinois (or anywhere in the midwest) often means coping with unpredictable weather: the kind of weather where one day it is 52 degrees and sunny and the next we have an ice or snowstorm leaving the roads basically impassible.   Over a foot of snow is usually a pretty good sign to cancel lessons/sessions, but what about those times where the weather isn’t awful, but it isn’t great?  What then?   I have a couple ways to cope with situations like these: 1. Let the Family Choose – When in doubt, you can contact them to see what they are comfortable with.  If you can make it to work but don’t know if families what to make the trek or go out in the -10 weather, simply ask them what they want to do.  I find that families sometimes appreciate a phone call or text message to check-in when these circumstances arise.  2. Listen to Your Gut – Do you feel safe on the roads?  Are you uncomfortable going to work in those weather conditions?  If you don’t feel Read More

Teaching Lessons: Taking Advantage of the Weather

Yesterday, I was sitting outside on my porch swing, doing some work, when my student was dropped off 15 minutes early for her lesson.  She walked up to the house, piano books and ukulele in hand, ready to play.  I didn’t have another lesson going on at the time so we didn’t really have an excuse to wait for the scheduled time to start. I decided to take advantage of the situation and the weather.  The student took a seat beside me on the porch swing and we decided to do our ukulele lesson outside!  It was so gorgeous out, how could I not take the opportunity to do a lesson outside??? After tuning the ukulele, practicing the new chords we had been working on, and reviewing a familiar song, we decided to take things one step further and use the glorious spring weather to write a song. With very little prompting and only a couple suggestions, my student was able to use her surroundings to inspire the lyrics to a multi-verse song with a full chorus and a set Read More

Songwriting for Review – Free Printable

Many piano teaching methods have a “test” at the end of a level to make sure students have learned all that they are meant to.  Often, my students get nervous about all of the words on the page and get too caught up in all the terminology to do well on the questions.  This also only tests their memorization of terms and concepts instead of their application. To combat this and instead work on reviewing the application of these concepts, I’ve developed a songwriting review form that be used with students at ANY level!  Simply fill in the blanks and fill the box with what words and ideas you want the student to incorporate in your student’s song!! Download Songwriting Sheet HERE!     Read More

Freebie Friday – 2.7.14

This week I have shared two free resources on the Blog! Because they have to do with upcoming or current events, I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss them.  So, here they are again. 1. Free Printable Valentines Tag  to go with the Heart-Shaped Crayon Valentines! 2. Free Printable Practice Olympics Chart!  Be sure to signup for free updates on our home page to get all of these great resources straight to your inbox! Read More