Welcome to my Music Studio (free downloads)

I have mentioned teaching occasionally, but it's not something that I have really looked at on this blog. Today, I'd like to give you a glimpse at this year's music studio:

I  haven't had much opportunity to decorate my studio in years passed, because for most of my teaching life, I have either shared my studio with someone else (i.e. I started teaching in my room), or just didn't feel that creative. This year, however, I decided to do something kind of fun--and the kids loved it (which, I'll admit, always feels rewarding!). As you can see, I went for a "back to school" theme (time will tell if I change it up every month or quarter or at all...). I did a fun play on words...

Then I also have some "cheat sheets" up there. The younger me would have frowned on this; after all, they need to KNOW their answers, right? But... I'd rather the student review it 100 times and KNOW it than get frustrated fifty times, because they just can't remember. We'll see if these remain up all year or not.

In addition to all of this, I make my students track down their practice minutes. Their weekly time goal is different, depending on their age and level. This year to keep track for their diligence the entire year, I have created a chart. Each week, I will color in whether they have practiced ALL of their time (four keys), HALF of their time (two keys), a quarter of their time (one key), etc. Here's hoping it's incentive to get those keys colored!

Now, the freebies I mentioned in the title. All of the charts I mentioned are uploaded here (PDFs) for you to have full access to--print and use to your heart's content! And, if you use them, I would love to hear how they worked for you!

If you are new to teaching or are considering teaching and don't know where to start, I published a short book (most people can read it in an hour) to help musicians get started teaching. "Me? Teach Piano?" is only $1.99 for Kindle (though you may also get the paperback for $7.99).

Now that I'm done jabbering, how many music teachers do we have out there? What instruments do you teach? What have you found to be your most helpful teaching tip?