I am not a fan of strict rules.
But I have to admit that in education they are key.
Looking back into my notes that I made to educate myself in pedagogics, I found this quote:
Healthy rules are like a house. The give us a place to live in.
And that’s so true!
Even if you don’t like rigid rules and regulations and you have a tendency (like me) to break out of tight frameworks, children need a clear structure in which they can grow.>>
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Recently in a beautifully illustrated book I found a picture of a man with one normal and a dull, blind eye. The title of this piece of art was “The Sage”.
– What?? Err?
Would a wise man not have two very clear eyes, representing his crystal clear vision and understanding of the world?
Does not wisdom come from seeing things as they are – clearly and realistically?
I took a closer look and found a comment on the side: “A sage is a person who distinguishes wisely what is good and what is bad.”>>
When you are anything like me you have a pile, a shelf or a living room full of music books at home. These books are a treasure!
They bring the music, the spark, the shiny world of art and inspiration into your life.
They bring all the magic.
Well… wait a minute! – Do they? Really??
Let’s take a closer look.
Nice books, maybe with some scratches here and there.
Beautiful cream coloured pages with black little dots and lines.
Lovely to look at.
And fancy!
Your not music making friends will see these books as a clear sign that you are a genius.>>
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Google funded an interesting study about productivity and leadership called “Project Oxygen”. They wanted to know if management really matters or if a company would benefit most, if everybody was his own boss, basically managing themselves.
The answer was intriguing.
The best results in this study showed teams, not individuals.
Particularly teams that worked under the direction of a motivating manager.>>
Recently I read a study about hockey teams in Canada.
A study among the most successful high-school hockey teams stated that in order to have a high performing team two ingredients are needed:
1.) motivation and 2.) disciplined physical training.
There were highly motivated teams and teams that had a history of discipline and hard training units.
Guess, what teams were the most successful ones?
Yes, the teams where motivation and physical discipline were well balanced.>>
One of the biggest challenges we do have as musicians is the live factor.
I remember situations on stage where I was literally shaking in my boots with a beautiful teeth tremolo ;o)
Of course there are “unicorns”, people who are born to perform in front of an audience. Who just love it being starred at.
But I have to admit, I am totally not one of them.
I was very fascinated by this book I read about circus artists. The tightrope walker risks her live every evening. It is a life-death situation, day after day.
The interviewer asked her, what gives her the guts to go up there and walk every day this dangerous line.>>
I 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.>>
No matter if a child should do homework or practice an instrument at home, this is many times and in many cases a problem.
Discipline is synonymous for boring.
And children don’t like to do boring stuff.
(I can understand that, I don’t like doing boring stuff either. Do you???)
So clearly I can relate to that and know from personal, first-hand experience that homework and having to do something consistently and consequently at home sucks.
Wasting time, hanging out, fooling around and dreaming is much more fun.
No matter what age I am in ;o)
With that said, what can we do to motivate our students or children to do some work at home (homework and practicing)?>>
When we teach, we need one special skill:
We must be patient like an elephant :o)
Learning takes repetition. We humans learn by getting the same information over and over and over again. And over. Again.
And again.
And one more time.
Again.
Sometimes we get it at the first time.
But most times… err… what was that again? How did that go?
I forgot. Can you show me…? Again – and again and —
– you get the point, don’t you? :o)
So, how can we deal with impatience?
I have good news for you. I know one simple trick, that makes you even more patient than an elephant.
The Elephant Strategy is to stop comparing.>>
Did you ever come across those people who talk without taking even a breath?
They talk and talk and never seem to stop.
The moment you want to add something, they are already at their next point.
The weird thing is that people tend to think, because they talk a lot, they are good communicators.
They are not.
Having no problem speaking does not make someone good at communicating.>>
