Taking Care of Yourself & Energizing Ideas – Piano Teaching Idea Share #5

We’re so excited to be sharing another Piano Teaching Idea Share! This is #5, and was part of our January Jump Start Webinar. There are, as always, creative and insightful ideas from teachers all over the world, focused this time on taking care of yourself and infusing energy into your lessons!

If you’re unfamiliar with past Idea Shares, here is a quick rundown:

During a webinar, we ask teachers a couple of questions that we believe would be helpful for the entire ComposeCreate® piano teaching community. We compile all of the answers together, and share them in a free downloadable PDF so that we can all benefit and learn from each other! You can access our previous Idea Shares here:

• Piano Teaching Idea Share #1- Encouraging books, creative ideas, injecting energy, online games
• Piano Teaching Idea Share #2 – How teachers are lightening their load
• Rhythm Idea Share #3 – Teaching rhythm
• Piano Teaching Idea Share #4 – Gadgets and gizmos, lifesaving ideas, marketing ideas

January can be a strange time in that it feels like we should be energetic, motivated, and ready to tackle the new year. Yet that’s not reality for many of us! Whether it’s trying to recover from a stressful holiday season, feeling worried about the state of the world, or struggling with family and/or your business, I think every single piano teacher (and human, frankly) could use some encouragement and energy!

This January Jump Start Idea Share #5 focused on two areas – taking are of ourselves and new ideas for the year. Just click the button above to get these ideas straight to your inbox! I found several things on this list that I’ll absolutely be using in my own studio in the coming months, and even ideas for taking care of myself that I hadn’t considered. It’s wonderful to have a community of teachers who are so willing to share their tips and best practices!

Here were the questions and some of my favorite responses:

1. What are you doing to take care of yourself?:

• Kathryn: 22 minutes in 2022 a day (when possible) of playing for pleasure.
• Christina: I stop working after my last lesson of the day as a rule, unless I am taking a class.
• Cherie: Saying “no” more and not feeling guilty about it; knowing my limits.
• Walking – I can’t even begin to tell you the number of teachers who mentioned walking as a way of encouraging themselves and taking breaks (even Wendy mentioned it). It’s good for the mind and the body.

2. What new (or old) ideas are you using to give energy to your lessons?

• Sundy: I have a Post Holiday Blues Party where we learn some blues, eat blue candycanes, etc.
• Kelly: I got Diane Hidy’s Japanese erasers and paired them with Wendy’s giant flashcards and have the students “parachute” the animals onto their targets (the correct key).
• Caroline: I’m going to dial back my expectations for my students. I get so enthused and excited about lots of ideas for my students, but have found that we just don’t have time for everything during their lesson. I’m going to expect less, but expect quality instead of quantity.

Thank you to all of our ComposeCreate® teachers who sent in answers! This Idea Share resource is so helpful to teachers, and we are always amazed by your creativity. If you have any ideas, please let us know in the comments!

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