I’m thinking of Bill Cosby as I write that title.  More importantly, Bill Cosby as he is depicted on Family Guy.

My students often ask great questions.  I had quite the range of questions in my teaching yesterday. 

Let me preface by saying I’ve been having a little bit of trouble with my forehead lately.  A few weeks ago I got a pimple on my forehead.  No big deal, right?  Except, knowing me, I can’t leave it alone, and keep picking at it.  Suffice it to say, the scab is still there, and yesterday I needed to have a band-aid over it.  I figured, whatever, so it looks crazy but it’s better than the alternative. 

Every single student asked me about it.  And I didn’t really want to go into what was really under the band-aid because I was a little embarrassed plus it’s mildly disgusting…and none of them would let it go.  They refused to accept my answer of simply having a "boo-boo" under my band-aid.  They wanted to know more details.  How did it happen?  How big was it?  Did somebody else do it to me or did I do it myself?  Was it the cat?  They just wouldn’t let it go.  I guess an adult having a band-aid on her forehead is a pretty big deal!

(quick google image search for cats and band-aids…PSA:  animals have claws.  deal with it.)

On the other end of the spectrum, sometimes my students ask really good, interesting, unique questions.  I’m teaching one of my students vibrato and we were working on the exercises yesterday.  He stopped and asked, "Do you use vibrato in orchestra?"  I said "Why do you ask?" and he said, very thoughtfully, "If everybody is vibrating at different speeds, won’t that sound bad?"  I had a really hard time answering that question!  Since the answer is both yes, and no.  I ended up talking a little bit about chamber music and matching vibrato, but I may have just confused him.  I just thought it was a great question.  He then followed up with "Should I be practicing more than ten minutes a day?"  To which I replied, "YES" since I didn’t realize he was only practicing ten minutes a day!  I guess I need to ask more questions about practicing….

It’s hard to believe that for me, TECHNICALLY, summer is over.  I am now teaching three days a week at the St Louis School of Music, and their fall semester started on Monday.  And I couldn’t be happier right now with my schedule and my position.  I’m still adding students there (and at home as well) but so far it’s going really well.  I feel so decadent with my mornings free, but honestly, that is just how my schedule is going to be, and I will be SO much happier this way.  Last year was just crazy, and I spent most of the time stressed and unhappy with my students.  This year (and I know I say this every year, but this year really) is going to be great.

Why?  One of my student’s parents last night asked why I teach at the St Louis School of Music when I live in South City (it’s about a 30 minute drive, no big deal).  I told him because the students and parents there are great, and because the school has a great reputation, cares about the product, and respects me as a person.  Plus I do teach out of my home and that doesn’t create any sort of conflict since people don’t drive that far to take lessons here.

I’m sure in a few months I’ll be more tired and rundown, and my new students will have lost all their enthusiasm, but for now, I’m thrilled and excited.

I’ll also add that some of my private students probably won’t be back until after Labour Day, so there are still several weeks of summer left.  It’s sort of half and half.  Plus some of the most exciting summer events are yet to come! (Sisters visiting, Bridal Shower.)

But…the title of my post:  summer memories.  Last night driving home I was reliving my summer in my head.  Since, like I said, it’s basically over.

I was thinking of some of my favorite summer moments…in no particular order…

• Sitting in the backyard on the fourth of July, watching the guys use the broom/spoon combo to get the shuttlecock back from the neighbor’s yard.

• In Chicago, putting our purses in a garbage bag, slinging it over my back and setting off into a river of water to get to the car.
• Running alongside the Chicago Lakefront.
• Running around Forest Park with Jen.

• Learning about barges on the Riverboat Cruise
• Eating bacon-wrapped dates and delicious stuffed focaccia with Karen at Avec, and then the next night again, and then the following night lamenting that we no longer had any and wishing we could have it delivered.

• Laughing with new friends from the Kansas Suzuki Institute
• Memorial Day BBQ…kicking off the summer right!
• My “30th” birthday

• The Circus!!

• Wedding dress shopping…and finding the perfect wedding dress!

(not my dress)

I’ll miss you, Summer 2011!  But you were a GREAT one.  Next summer I’ll be married and probably will be doing stuff like cooking and cleaning around the house rather than going out with friends and having fun.

(That’s a joke, of course.  I can’t clean.)

I’ve been home for 5 days now so my thoughts are starting to come together in some semblance of organization. 

Remember:  I teach children to play the violin using the Suzuki Method, which is a way of teaching that mimics the way children learn language.  They start by hearing the language, and then repeating it early and often.  Once they learn one word, they add onto that.  Throughout the learning process, the parent is loving and supportive.  Most importantly, it is assumed that the child will learn the language.  No one ever asks:  is my child talented enough to learn to speak English?

Suzuki Institute is a place where parents, teachers, students come together to learn in an intense environment for (usually) one week.  I went to the Ottawa Mid-Southwest Suzuki Institute in Ottawa, Kansas.  I took a course for teachers of the method (there are 10 volumes, I took volume 5) that was taught by Susan Kempter, who I greatly admire.  I have already taken all 10 volumes (it’s not a certification process but a registration process) but I really wanted to take another class with Susan.  Last summer I took volume 4 with her, this year she was teaching volume 5.

I learned two main things: 

1)  I already know how to teach well.  I just need to stay focused and organized.  My biggest faults are talking too much and losing track of the goal.  If I stay on top of those things, I will really shine.

2)  I really want to take Teacher training in Volume 1 again next summer.  It’s been too long.

I learned thousands of other tiny things, but those are the biggest things. 

Remember that a child is learning from the second they are born.  What is it you want them to learn? 

If you teach your children, you can change the world.

Okay, so, if you decide to attend Institute, what should you bring?  This is for me, so I remember everything next year, or for you if I’ve inspired you to attend Ottawa!

Hand soap for the bathroom

Trash bags for the room

Travel coffee mug

Water bottle

Twin sheets/blankets/pillow

Towels, including hand towel

Jackets/coverups for the over-air-conditioned rooms

3-hole punch

Healthy snacks that don’t require refrigeration

Binder, notebook, folder, Suzuki books, pencils

An open mind

Humility and kindness

LOVE

Concrete, observable, and reproducible.

Any assignment you give a student in a lesson should be those things. 

Concrete (something very specific that they can do), observable (they can tell what it is and what they should see or hear happening) and reproducible (they can practice it at home and understand what they are doing).  Or maybe I’m not describing that very well.  You probably get the idea though.

I drove home from Ottawa, Kansas yesterday.  It’s lovely to be back, but I’m overwhelmed by what a wonderful week it was.  Returning home from Institute is always overwhelming, because there is just so MUCH that I learn and observe that it takes awhile to get back to normal.  Not to mention that the Institute setting is so unlike the real world, it is so much more utopian in nature, that it’s strange to return to normalcy. My brain is racing with ideas, and wishes, and hopes for the future as far as my teaching and my students…it’s overwhelming.  Did I say overwhelm too many times?

And I’ll miss my friends, new (especially new) and old.  Holly, thank you for being so beautiful on the inside and the outside, and for letting me discover I can be completely at peace not ever being the most beautiful girl in the room, at least when the most beautiful girl in the room is so freaking cool ;)  And Michaela, thank you for being so adorable, kind and energetic, and for making me feel young!

Yesterday morning there were still classes to be observed.  We hit up Scott Conklin’s group for the last time, and Terry Durbin’s Book 4 Masterclass.

Then we had our last hour of teacher training class.  That led to a whole HOST of thoughts as Susan and the class thought I carried a lot of tension in my neck (while playing) that DOWN THE ROAD might lead to pain while playing.  I tried to explain that for me, pain while playing is hardly a "down the road" type of event but more of a "since I was 13 years old" thing, but that fell on deaf ears.  I did realize that I need to get back into practicing more and put more thought into my setup though, as I haven’t done that in some time and my body has changed a bit over the past two years.  We are told to keep careful watch on our students as their bodies change, and I haven’t done the same for myself.  I will.

And there’s Susan Kempter, my teacher all week.  She is truly inspiring and brilliant!

Farewell Ottawa Suzuki Institute!  Until we meet again.

(I will probably do a follow up post in a few days with afterthoughts, just fyi.  So it’s goodbye for now.)

I can’t believe it is the last day of Suzuki Institute already!  The time flies by.  Mainly because you are kept so busy.  But this has been a great summer—wonderful people, inspiring teachers, and fudge.

I had to teach in front of the class yesterday.  It went just fine…I have become better at this over the past two years. 

Advice for teaching: 

Drive the point home.  Stick to the point.  Keep sticking to it.

Make a point.  Activate that point.  Use minimal words, then activate it.

Lead the student to answers.  Isolate and follow through on points.

Prioritize.  Teach technique first, music second.

Do you see a pattern?  I think I might.  Something about "one point, one lesson." 

Lots of class observations as usual 🙂

Our class decided to go out to dinner last night, to a nice place (well, THE nice place) in town.  Oh, wait, first, violin cookies!

(I hope Mike isn’t reading this…or else I suppose he won’t be surprised if I obliterated last week’s weight loss.  Darn fudge shoppe and violin cookies…)

I DID get a 2.5 mile run in before dinner, aren’t I fancy?

The menu for "Cream ‘n’ Sugar."  I had the gnocchi with shrimp…yum!  It is the "nice" restaurant in town.  It wasn’t open last year.  I hope it makes it through the year.

Then I wanted a picture of Holly and I standing so you could see how I spent all week feeling short.  Except I look taller in the photo.  Oops.  Trust me that I spent a week feeling like I wasn’t the tallest woman around.  Just trust me.

Also my head is gigantic.  Oh well.

So today I drive home.  And that is the end of Suzuki Institute for this summer.  It’ll be back to the originally scheduled blogging about…well…very little ;)  Less fudge, more working out, I suppose.  Oh, and more wedding planning!!

Confession:  Today I had a bon-bon.

I had never had one before.  I HAD joked about eating them, however.  When I moved to St Louis a few years ago, it took awhile before people realized that I actually worked.  Let me clarify.  When I moved to St Louis a few years ago, it took awhile before I actually worked.  And the joke was that I simply sat around and ate bon-bons all day.  (Not true, obviously I like all kinds of food in addition to bon-bons, and occasionally I play the violin, yell at children, or go outside dressed in bright colors to run around in circles.)

However.  Here in Ottawa (that’s Ottawa, Kansas, to all you Canadians that keep commenting, so sorry!) there is a delightful fudge shop.  Really, more of a fudge shoppe.

You may recall I visited the other day.  In any case I needed to return today for a quick errand, in addition to wanting to try some more of their delicious chocolate candy.

This is me in front of the bon-bon selection.  It was a tough decision but I chose a dark chocolate peanut butter one.  Yes, I’m still wearing my institute ID even though we are technically off campus.  It’s just easier.  Don’t mock me.

Holly and I decided to walk around campus a bit as well (to work off the bon-bons).

The dorm.

This is a memorial?

The Administration Building where many classes are.

Taking your own picture is hard…

Ok off to class!

Edited to add:  After talking to Chris on the phone, he said "Where are you?  You say you’re at Suzuki camp but it sounds like you are at some sort of magical candy land instead."