Earlier this week, Wendy and I finalized our studio policy for the coming year. This is an important document, as it outlines policies and procedures for all current and prospective students, including rates. Last year I wrote a two-part series on writing studio policies during Covid, and the difference from then to now is that things are starting to look quite hopeful in terms of a return to in-person teaching. However, the possibility of a fourth wave and continuing mask restrictions need to be taken into account, and all those details need to be added as well. Our studios are now true hybrid studios, and we have many students who opt to take online-only lessons or who live across the country. This is one of the most exciting developments in piano teaching from the last year - when looking for a piano teacher, you can search much farther afield than ever before to find the right pedagogical fit.
So far the rollout has been a success, and several families have already paid the first month to reserve their time in the schedule. We have at least a dozen people on the waiting list, and the fun part will be in the coming weeks when we play the annual game of calendar Tetris to accommodate everyone in the right spots when creating the studio schedule.
Here are some things that caught my eye in the last week:
- Two Poems by Carla Hartsfield - Carla is a long-time colleague of mine in the College of Examiners, and the first poem Sunny People really encapsulates the challenges and dislocation of being a musician during the pandemic.
- The Best Sales People... - A late colleague of mine once said that the easy part of being a performer or teacher was doing the actual work. Until that time, everything is sales. These tips from Nicholas Bate will help you to complete the hunt so that you can do your best work once the teaching begins.
- The 10 Essential Strategies for Deeper Learning - A useful list from Scott Young.
- Decision fatigue: how a burden of choices leads to irrational trade-offs - Anne-Laure Le Cunff writes about how our limited resources of willpower can lead to bad choices when our self-control runs low, and offers strategies to counteract that.
- For many of us, the freedom to take regular naps has been one of the hidden gifts of the pandemic. Sara Mednick talks about how to take the perfect nap.
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The picture above is a detail from Wendy's For the Love of Circles 2 (acrylic on canvas, 48x24). The entire painting is below, and you can buy this painting and more on our website. Wendy has several smaller paintings drying downstairs, which you might be seeing in next week's edition.
