The Upside of Online Lessons
This year many teachers and music school have had to make the hard, but best, decision to switch to online platforms for lessons. It was something that many of us had never done and we had no idea what it was going to look like. Thankfully there are a ton of tutorials online and many teachers who have been doing Skype lessons for years were quick to create support groups for teachers that offered advice to newbies. Many students were already familiar with some online learning as school districts (in NH) had started utilizing these avenues for snow day learning.
While some may have their doubts on the efficacy of online lessons, there is an upside for both students and teachers.
The Upside to Online Lessons
It provides your students with a sense of normalcy in a time of uncertainty.
Your students have had their whole lives turned upside down! Their schedules, school work, and ability to see friends have completely changed. The one thing that hasn’t changed is that they still have their music lesson and for the time of their lesson they are focused on something else besides the stress of the situation.
It gives your students face time with an adult they trust so they know the world isn’t falling apart.
Even the students who have wonderful home lives need another adult that they can trust. The students who don’t have wonderful home lives need an adult they can trust even more. You can be that support system solely by checking in with them once a week online. It shows them that you care.
Students don’t have to put a pause on their learning.
As teachers, we know that private lessons are an investment into each student. We also know that an extended time away from material leads to some loss of knowledge. By continuing lessons online when you can’t meet in person, it keeps that material fresh in their minds. They’re still practicing and thinking about it.
It’s a wonderful opportunity to provide student-led learning if this wasn’t already part of your teaching.
Asking your students questions like “What did you notice when you played ___?” or “How do you feel when you play ____?” or “What did you think of ___?” allows the student to begin to notice things in their own playing without you telling them exactly what to do. It allows them to learn how to figure things out for themselves which is what we want as teachers! When doing this it’s important to ask them to name things they did well, too. Students often gravitate towards what they could have done better. I like to ask my students to tell me one thing they think they did well and one thing they think they could have done better.
It provides an opportunity to learn new technology that you can use in the future! (Like for snow days, sick days, etc)
I have always wanted to learn how to use online teaching tools such as Zoom, FaceTime and Skype but I always used the excuse “I don’t have enough time!” Now I have nothing but time. For the future, now that my students and I know how to use this technology, there’s nothing stopping us from putting it to use when there’s bad weather or when they can’t get a ride to their lesson.
Music is an escape!
We’ve seen it in the viral videos coming out of Italy and NYC, the Facebook live concerts, and the Zoom rehearsals - music brings us together even when we can’t be!
Are you teaching online or taking lessons online? Tell me about your experience!