Well I never called out Gary for simply "ranting". Like I said before, I understand how frustrating dealing with the public can be (along with all the other things in life one has to deal with). I think I already mentioned in a previous post that I felt he was free to blow off steam in this forum if he chooses. But this is not a "teachers lounge" from a practical standpoint, it's a public forum. As such, when statements are made, one has to always take that into consideration. Like I've said, I'm a parent, I'm here, as are other parents.

I don't know what the "solution" is, or even if there needs to be one. I know the concept of a true "teachers only" forum has been bandied about, though personally I think that we as a total community would be lesser for it. Perhaps a "teachers lounge" forum for non-technical banter/ranting/etc?

Yeah, that's the ticket. A rant-only forum! Not.

I understand all sides of this little dispute, which doesn't help much. It's nice to be able to let off a bit of steam once in a while without worrying about all the niceties. On the other hand, this is a public forum, as bW suggests.

The things I'm talking about are economic issues. For example, I have one first year student who is excellent. I know the parents love what I'm doing. But the dad lost his job, out of the blue, right at the end of the school year. I know they will return if they can find a way, but it may also happen that they will be forced to leave this area to survive. More parents have told me that they have had to stop lesson due to money in the last year. These problems began roughly in late 2007 or early 2008.

One of my neighbors is an architect. Or was. He is now steam-cleaning houses. Two of my relatives lost their jobs, cut.

Another of my parents, an assistant principal, told me that she was given the job of laying off teachers through memos that suddenly appeared on her desk at the end of the year. If you listen to the news, the economy is talked about every night. We are at close to 10% unemployment nationally.

http://www.bls.gov/web/laumstrk.htm

Florida is 39th, a bit above 10%, but I believe this is misleading, because that is the whole state. South Florida, I believe, is worse.

We also have one of the worst insurance problems in the country (insanely high), so that too is driving people out of the state.

The problems I'm talking about are DIRECTLY linked to the economy.

According to statistics I just read, south Florida is at 10%. Where I live, it's 15.5%. Where my friends live in Indiana, it's 20%.

When the economy is bad, we all need to be a bit more creative. I switched to a 12-month tuition plan so that the cost of the lessons is spread out and the cash flow is easier for everyone. I'm considering offering group lessons so that the cost is lower for the students, but I can still make income.

Your glass is either half full or half empty. Be frustrated, yes, but don't stay there. It's not healthy.

It helps to vent/rant/discuss our issues as teachers here in this forum. It is healthy to do that. I live in CA, too, and yes it's tough here. I lost 4 students this spring due to parents losing jobs.
We all have our frustrations and I would ask if we can simply respect and OFFER SUPPORT to each other here, so we can all do better and make our businesses as professional and efficient as possible, so that we can be happier Sorry to sound like a pollyanna here, but I am looking for ways to improve my business and network with other teachers as we go along together. I'M NOT LOOKING TO RIDICULE, CRITICIZE, OR PISS OFF ANYBODY. This is a teachers' lounge, come on everyone lighten up.

Never take a student's action or progress too personally, otherwise you'd just drive yourself crazy. Remember, kids have school, sports, friends, arts, dance, etc....all needing their attention. 25% may be 100% of all they can give at that time.

I reckon if you ask any parent, they'd rather their kids excel in school than piano. Even those that are considered "prodigies" and show exceptional talent need to be given space to grow.

Self motivation really is the best way. I've read alot of stories where kids had to stop playing for a while, just to get their life back. Same thing happens with sports prodigies... think young tennis or gymnastic stars.

Not my parents. They knew I had no interest in grade point average or test scores and supported my desire to score high on auditions. I knew what I wanted to major in, and they supported me. I don't believe I'm the only one who had that experience.

However, I have never pushed a student to follow my course. For most they do need the grades for scholarships, since few will be successful enough in music to make a living in that area, especially in performing.

This is an interesting thread. As you know I rarely post over here in the teacher's forum, but this topic hit home.

For some reason many people feel that they have all the time on their hands when in reality they do not. They under estimate the amount of work to be done, and end up rushing in the end to make up the difference.

I ran into this in some of my college classes. We would have a team project to do. There would be five or six people on a team, and only two or three would do the work. We had a major deadline to meet in order to receive proper credits for these classes and no one shows up for our scheduled meetings.

In the mean time, my heart is pounding in my head, my stomach is in a knot, and I can see the hands on the clock whizz around the face like it's being turned by hand.

Why does this happen? I think because people are not taught how to handle priorities. I blame it on the parents. If the kids were taught that being late, or rushing things at the last minute, is bad then perhaps they would learn to plan accordingly.

The other thing to I don't think many parents realize the hard work that's involved with a performance. Now I know that I'm preaching to the choir here, but the if the parents understood that studying piano or music is just as much, if not more work, than needed to be successful in sport, then perhaps they would take a different view on it. Music is considered entertainment and falls into the cracks as a low priority over sports events and other things.

John

I don't really understand this presumption that people are dense. Yes of course, some people have IQ lower than 100. Roughly half, if I recall. :-)

Someone can have very different preferences (or priorities, if you will) and that does not make them stupid. And some people (children) have very different work styles, and that is not necessarily the fault of their parents.

On priorities, someone who uses music as a pastime may not see the urgency that you teachers see. They may not sweat the consequences as much as you sweat them for their children. This does not mark these parents as stupid. They may know full well that true mastery requires diligent effort over a long time span. They may know full well that to become the star guard on the basketball team requires endless hours on the tarmac handling a ball and practicing footwork. Their son or daughter may be doing this work at the same time that they are shirking on your assignments. Or their child may be spending every pre-dawn morning in a swimming pool practicing strokes and building endurance. It may be a bit of a conceit to think that everyone must accord what you do the same importance and prioritization that you give it.

As always, good communication helps. If they're telling you (or pretending to you) that piano lessons are crucial while their and their children's behavior suggests the opposite, well, that's a recipe for acid indigestion.

On work styles: I have known many successful people who are last minute rushers. My first college girlfriend was one ...... long story. Needless to say, I'm not one. Actually, I have not known many last minute rushers who are failures. I suspect that is because failures tend to get weeded out and therefore the people who tend to succeed in whatever it is that they do begin to associate with fewer and fewer failures of any sort. On the other hand, I have also known many successful tortoises -- the people who plan carefully and who work slowly and deliberately toward an end. People sort of like .... me!

Many of our work habits are reflections of who we are .... they're hard wired. My wife and I are methodical. I have two children. One is methodical and the other is a procrastinator. I dare anyone to say that my 'rusher' child is MY fault. Go ahead, make my day.

I agree with you. One of my students rarely practices more than an hour a week. Her parents are very intelligent. She is very intelligent. But she is aiming for law and entry into one of the top schools for that. Her grades are high enough so that she has a very good chance. She chooses to continue taking lessons, every Saturday, and when she says that most of the time she has no more opportunity to practice, I believe her. We always concentrate most on reading, on being able to pick up new music and get the big things. I have told her again and again that she may have more time later, and if she does, I want her to have a strong reading foundation, then she might be able to accomplish many things that she has had not chance to do as a teen.

My take: actions speak louder than words. When people say that piano is very important but put little or no time into it, I simply assume they are not honest with themselves, and I kick back, take it easy. There is no sense in pushing in such situations.

I don't think you will find too many people who work that way when preparing performances though. I do it only when I have to, and I am able to get away with it because of my reading ability. But for a program played in public, as a soloist? There I would say that last minute rushing is almost a sure recipe for disaster.

I would add that the way public education crams everything at the high school level makes a procrastinator out of all honors students! Such cramming makes students exceptionally good at managing time and delaying the delayable; however, it also makes things a lot less perfect.

In retrospect, it's probably better to accomplish fewer things, but do them more perfectly, instead of trying to do everything and be halfway decent at many things. Some of the classes I took in high school and college are a complete waste of my life and time, which should have been spent at practicing piano more.

I try to tell my high-school-age piano students the same thing, but I'm afraid many of them are heading for the procrastination route. These kids believe--if they don't do 50 extracurricular things--they'll never get into Harvard.

I'm sure this is a sentiment most of us can share. Yet I'll wager it's easier to say in hindsight than prospectively. Most high school students (and many in college) really don't know what they want to do. They're still discovering who they are.



And if they do 50 extracurricular things they most assuredly WON'T get into Harvard. The top places are not looking for the proverbial 'jacks of all trades' precisely because of the rest of that phrase.

I would say that public education rewards cramming. It's all ABOUT cramming. The students I have who have high grades and who score well on standardized tests all agree with me: the goal is to pass the tests, not to learn.

Piano is different. Cramming is useless. It doesn't work well. The idea of not practicing after a lesson and then trying to get it all done one or two days before the next lesson leads to total failure.

However, there is obvious carry-over from good piano practicing habits to at least some other subjects. Cramming is also useless for doing well in a forgeign language, and those students who attempt to cram for tests eventually outsmart themselves. They do not absorb vocabulary or structures, so they build on quicksand.

Indeed. The rushers aren't likely to succeed at this sort of task. But what I'm really talking about are the people who are able to condense a lot of intensity into short bursts. The ability to do that is not incompatible with the ability to plan for the long run. My wife is actually a planner and an intense burst worker. I am most definitely NOT an intense burst worker. If I start an important task the night before, I will not do a good job. My wife, on the other hand, can work intensely on something for six hours straight and produce an amazing outcome.

This intense burst skill is probably more innate than learned. I suspect this skill can be quite useful to a musician, though one cannot learn the instrument this way.

I think most people are "mixtures". However, working in intense bursts and doing so right before a deadline are not the same thing to me.

This may have something to do with "steady practice". I have never practiced steadily. Repetition makes me crazy, and the whole idea of doing the same thing, day after day, is a mind-killer for me.

I definitely think you are on to something, and I do think it is linked to our basic personality.