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When I was a kid, I hated music.

quote 33I liked to sing and to dance and move around – but this serious music stuff with music books and sitting straight and doing things properly and repeatedly, no, not for me.
This was boring.
I was just not interested in that.

I am sure you have kids in your class that are just like I was.
Nice kids – but not interested.
How can you make them getting hooked and spark interest in them?

As you can see, even for the most uninterested kid in the world (me!!) there is hope, for today I am a professional musician.

Every kid, every student, in fact every person you come in contact with has so much passion! And you can connect with this fire and help it grow.

So how does this work?

 

The answer may surprise you: show how much you care.

Learn as much about your students as you possibly can.
Listen and watch them.
(- discreetly and tactfully, not like a rat in a lab ;o))

Being great as a musician is not enough to be a great teacher as well.

What makes you a great teacher is taking it from the formal level – of a teacher teaching a student how to make music – to a personal level.

 

You have to know a lot about music.
What is even more important is that you know as much about your student.

Get to know your students on a personal level.
What do they like? What do they not like? What makes them shine and sparkle? What is funny for them? What gets on their nerves?
What for would they spend all of their pocket money?

Relate to that when you teach.
Show interest in what is interesting to them, in their story, in their individuality.

 

Make things as personal as you can.
When you take note of the unique individual you are with in the lesson, your students will mirror your interest.

 

Theodore Roosevelt said: “People don’t care how much you know, once they realize how much you care.”

How can you be more personal with those around you?
How can you care more about the people that are important to you?

 

Much love,
Anselma

 

 

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