Books, Teaching

Did you say something, Susan?

I’m currently reading a book by that title. The author is Paulette Dale. I’m not generally one for “self-help” books, but this book is written to help women gain confidence with assertive communication. I am fairly assertive, but sometimes I find myself agreeing to things or letting people get away with rude behavior and then later kicking myself. The author gives advice on how to deal with various situations and people, and how to assert yourself without being rude or pushy. I like to be agreeable and generally consider myself to be a nice person, but of course that leaves me open to getting walked on. I also sometimes have trouble asking for what I want or need, or at least without using a lot of unnecessary apologies. I find in my life that men generally just ask for what they want and get it, and women beat around the bush, hemming and hawing, and then complain when we don’t get what we want.

I’ve gotten better at asking for money and telling people what I charge for things (lessons, weddings, etc), though I still feel apologetic about it. I shouldn’t, I know, and I also know that my rates are really too low for what my expertise is, but I am working on stating the rate without using a question or being apologetic.

Unrelated:
I love coming back from Suzuki camp and then teaching…it’s so inspiring! I have been having the BEST time with my students as of late and really trying to incorporate some new ideas into the lessons. The time really flies by–*starts saving to go again next year*

Cruise

Cruise planning

July is looking to be a super lazy month for me.  Today I spent two hours at the gym, and then the rest of the day at home.  I did SOME housekeeping, but primarily I have spent the past few hours researching for my upcoming (August) cruise to the “exotic western caribbean.”  I was just refreshing my memory on all the activities I originally wanted to do this summer, and so far have fallen painfully short.  Nonetheless it has been a nice summer so far, even though I will end up doing only two more trips.  One is the cruise and the other a family vacation in South Carolina (my home state).

I am making plans with another couple for a Cardinals game and still want to hit the science center and zoo, but the other things on my list might not be happening.  Several of them were June only events and I just ended up being too busy!  July is quickly becoming my lazy month, plus there are a couple of interesting movies (Eclipse and Inception) that I really want to see in the theater.  I have a lot of running and workouts ahead of me, and also want to try some yoga.  I have a coupon for a week of bikram yoga that I should use this month and another coupon (one is a Groupon, one is from Living Social) for five sessions of yoga from another place.  Yoga and violin seem to go really well together, from what people say and what I’ve read.  Perhaps I should consider practicing the violin as well.

My pottery “journey” is finished for now.  I ended up with a couple of nice, almost round bowls!  I don’t know what to do with all my stuff–I have 20 or so containers of various sizes.  I don’t really feel most of them are nice enough to give away, and the ones that are nice enough I want to keep for myself!

It looks like I will be teaching violin classes at two new schools in the fall.  I’m taking over from a colleague who seems to have done an excellent job and is super organized!  They are both private Lutheran schools, one in St. Peters and one in Collinsville.  I look forward to a new challenge, and I know that I will need to do a bit of preparation to be ready.  I am not as experienced in class settings as I am in private lessons, but I am always improving.  I also have been reading quite a bit about classroom management and various learning styles and all that good child education stuff that I didn’t get as a performance major.  It seems that each year of my adult life I take on a new challenge in my career, and this year is no exception.

I’d love to hear from any readers with advice on Violin class teaching or any advice on cruising!  This is my third cruise so I have the basics down, but any port advice or thoughts would be more than welcome.

Weddings

Fourth of July weekend

Happy Fourth of July to everyone (one day early, yes, I know). I am having a wonderful weekend–last night two of my friends got married at St. Margaret of Scotland Church and then had a lovely dinner/reception at the Piper Palm House. I had played outside of the PPH, but had never seen the inside. It’s very nice! Congratulations to Sebastian and Yuna!

The happy couple!

Today I am off to the World’s Fair Pavilion to play for my hairdresser’s wedding. It is hot, but it could be much hotter. The World’s Fair Pavilion is in Forest Park and sort of looks down on the park. It’s a beautiful place.

I have a wedding tomorrow as well-downtown in the late afternoon/early evening. I guess that’s an easy date to remember!

Chris, me, and a friend (Laura)
outside the Piper Palm House


Random thoughts

Back in the Lou

I drove home late Friday night because I had a couple of weddings yesterday. May I just say how thankful I was that all the weddings yesterday were inside, as it was 95 degrees outside. That air conditioning is a wonderful thing!

Today is a day off for me, so I’ve been organizing my binder with my materials from the week…wow, so much wonderful information to digest! I also have a long suggested reading list to get through–many suggestions on how children learn and motivation. I’ll be busy reading for the next few months! First on my list is a new book by Ed Kreitman that I picked up at the institute: Teaching With an Open Heart. He’s the author of Teaching from the Balance Point, which is a brilliant book on how to teach.

The Suzuki Triangle:  Parent, Child, Teacher

My home away from home!

Food, Teaching

Guy and Mae’s Tavern

Tonight we went out for dinner with the whole Book Four class.  We decided to go to a nearby “town” for barbecue ribs, to Guy and Mae’s Tavern.  We split some ribs, and had potato salad, baked beans, and spicy pickles.  It was all very delicious!  The restaurant is in a tiny town called Williamsburg.  I am continually (I don’t know why, but I am) surprised by how far apart towns in the western half of the US are, and how those towns might not contain much.  But that was some excellent “barbecue.”  Of course, it’s not barbecue as I know it from South Carolina, but that is another story entirely.

Lesson from dinner:  students should chew gum during lessons to keep their jaws relaxed.

Main lesson of the day:  Lighten left hand fingers.  You don’t want to press down too hard.  Try to slide a business card between the fingers and the fingerboard.  You should be able to touch the fingernail and feel it vibrating.

Performing, Teaching

Technique first

It’s been a long two and half days so far here in Ottawa.  Here’s the main thing I have learned with Susan Kempter (who is just WONDERFUL and brilliant!).  Teach technique first–the songs are merely a means to an end.  We want to be able to teach the music, but without what she refers to as the “basic six,” the child is not going to be able to progress properly.

Basic six:

1. Feet

2. Trunk

3. Neck

4. Right Hand

5. Left Hand

6. Eyes

I would expand upon those more, but I’m exhausted after a 14 hour day!  I will try to do so later, but mainly that those aspects of the body must be in alignment and free of tension.

14 hour day you say?  Well, breakfast, 2 1/2 hours of teacher trainer class, followed by 1 hour observation, 1 hour lecture, lunch, 1 hour recital, 2 hours observation, 1 hour of an enrichment class about how to motivate various personality types (by Ruth Meints of Omaha, NE), dinner, evening concert…wow!  I also tried to get in a bit of a walk so the day wasn’t totally sedentary, though today I only managed 30 minutes.  I’ve got my alarm set for up so I can get that out of the way first tomorrow.

Three more long days to go.  Much more scribbling on note paper ahead of me.  Must sleep.

thoughts about violin, teaching, running, life.