The last few weeks have been some of the busiest of the year, with a combination of preparing my students for their RCM remote exams, uploading dozens of videos for my year-end online studio recital on YouTube, organizing the watch party for it, organizing pre-registration for the coming year, and getting materials ready for a full summer of remote exams to assess. But now that I'm into the second week of online exams, things are slowly reverting to a more normal pace. With the large amount of scores I need on hand for giving online exams, my studio resembles a disaster area for much of the week (much to Wendy's consternation). But I enjoy the slightly slower pace of an exam day, as well as the small breaks throughout the day, helpful for mini-walks or keeping up-to-date with reading.
Articles I've written in the last week:
- Praise Students for Their Effort, Not Their Talent - I stumbled upon this exact same concept twice within a few days when reading Carol Dweck's Mindset and Anne-Laure's Ness Labs blog. The act of congratulating students can be a make-or-break moment, and if we give students an identity-level compliment (such as "You're so talented") we can undo all the work that they've put in. On the other hand, complimenting the work that they put in and obstacles overcome can reinforce their work ethic and ensure that they continue along the same path.
- Some Thoughts on Blogging - Even though most of us spend too much time on social media, I'm still a big proponent of blogging. It might not give you the immediate exposure of social media writing, but it gives your writing much more longevity, and it is this which is captured by search engines in order to bring people to your projects many years down the road. But your writing has to be good.
In need of inspiration this week? Try these articles from around the internet:
- Assumptions - As we make the slow transition back to regular life post-pandemic, here are some things to keep in mind from Susan Eichhorn Young.
- How to Do Long Term - Advice from Morgan Housel on how to play the long game.
- How to beat procrastination with the 10-minute rule - A quick video by Anne-Laure Le Cunff on getting your day restarted if you're facing procrastination. This concept really worked for me, and is handy with my Apple Watch - just set a timer and go.
Wendy is in the process of creating several more miniature paintings in her Tiny Delight series. This is the 31st in her series and is actually quite small (10x10). Buying 3 or 4 in a series can be fun to put on your wall in interesting ways. See the entire Tiny Delights series here.
Have a great week!