December 1, 2025 • 21 mins
Teaching doesn’t require superhero energy; it requires humane rhythms, clear anchors, and courage to pivot. We sit down to unpack the real weight of lesson planning during a busy season, how we manage exhaustion without guilt, and why lowering the pressure can raise the music. From the “sacred 45” minutes that protect our focus to the 15-minute pauses that keep us present, we share small rituals that sustain big care.
We also tackle neurodivergent-friendly strategies with honesty and warmth. When plans flop, we don’t panic—we adapt. Along the way, we invite your questions for a crowd-sourced Q&A in January and share details about our upcoming teacher chat on Zoom.
If you’re craving practical ideas for piano pedagogy, neurodiversity-aware teaching, and low-stress recital planning, you’ll feel right at home here. Press play, save your favorite tips, and tell us what you’ll try next. If this conversation helped, subscribe, share it with a colleague, and leave a quick review so more teachers can find it.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (01:19):
Welcome back to another episode of the Creative
Piano Pedagogy podcast.
I'm Elizabeth Davis, one of yourhosts, and I am here with my
friend and co-host, Tara Mock.
And we have some more delightfulteaching tips and things to
share with you today.
And we're so glad you're tuningin.
SPEAKER_01 (01:41):
So happy to have another short podcast episode as
we head into the holidays.
I think we both have had longweeks with migraines, and so
we're keeping it light andfriendly today.
Yes.
So this week I had anopportunity to be on a small
panel for a piano pedagogy classat Western Carolina University.
(02:02):
Um, and I loved it so much.
Um the other young lady on thepiano uh on the panel, sorry,
migraine.
The other young lady on thepanel has just started her
teaching career, and wecomplimented each other very
well.
(02:22):
But uh I thought the studentsasked such amazing questions,
and I thought maybe if you'dlike to, Elizabeth, we could um
kind of have a continuation ofthat discussion on today's
podcast.
And then you spoke to the SuzukiAssociation of Indiana.
You also had amazing questionsand they did.
SPEAKER_00 (02:43):
They were wonderful group to speak with and just
talk to um at their coffee chatthat they have on Sunday
evenings.
So we have some good questionsbetween the two groups, and I'm
so glad that you had this ideafor today's episode.
SPEAKER_01 (03:00):
Fantastic.
All right.
So, first question, and it'sthis is not in any particular
order, um, but I thought thiswas a brilliant one.
How do you cope with exhaustionand lessons not going as
expected?
What I shared with them is thateven, and I had a therapist tell
(03:24):
me, even if I am only at 80%,say that particular day, I am
still a good teacher.
I don't have to be 100% everyday.
And it is okay to take a break.
And I have discovered that myrhythm is really to have about
three lessons with about a15-minute break, so I can have a
(03:45):
moment to breathe.
Um, and we talked a little bitabout that last episode, too.
Or in the newsletter, maybe Ithink it was in the newsletter.
I think so.
SPEAKER_00 (03:54):
Both.
I think it's it's just a themethat's been on both of our
minds, and we've been talkingabout this away from the podcast
as well, just about the busytime of the year.
And this is something that'sprobably not talked about
enough.
The exhaustion and the heavymental load of teaching
neurodivergent learners.
(04:14):
Um, just having to have your ownemotions and mental clarity in
check and be extra ready forthem, be several steps ahead and
be always on, if that makessense.
It can feel very exhausting,even if you have the best
(04:34):
students in the world justdealing with unpredictable
behaviors and not knowing whichversion of your student you're
going to have in your lessoneach week.
It's a bit tiring andexhausting.
Um, I really appreciate what youshared about you've learned that
having a break after every somany lessons works really well
(04:54):
for you.
I shared in the newsletter, um,this week's newsletter, that I
have a sacred 45.
I really very, very passionatelyprotect the 45 minutes before my
first lesson of the day.
I just have to have that time tomentally prepare.
(05:15):
And I think another thing I wishI would have known as a young
teacher was that my energy doesnot have to be amped up to
excite my students.
I think that's a bigmisconception a lot of younger
teachers have, especially.
And even a lot of seasonedteachers who are teaching
hyperactive kiddos, like wedon't have to be on, and your
(05:35):
energy does not have to exceedwhat theirs is to get them
excited about piano.
So that's one thing I do to helpmyself not get too exhausted.
Just be myself whatever I amthat day, is what I have to
offer.
SPEAKER_01 (05:50):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
The other part of the questionwas what about when lessons
don't go as expected?
I think I almost expect them tobe unexpected.
Didn't somebody have a sloganone time, expect the unexpected?
(06:10):
I don't I don't even know.
Probably, probably it was, but Ithat probably needs to be a
motto for students.
Oh, absolutely.
Not just neurodivergentstudents, but any type of
student.
Just expect the unexpected.
You never know what's going tocome out of their mouths or what
the day is gonna be like.
SPEAKER_00 (06:27):
I have honestly learned to not expect anything.
I I really go into each lessonhoping that we start and end the
lesson with making musictogether through improvisation
or playing music together.
But what happens in between, Idon't really know.
I can have the best plans in theworld and have all their
(06:50):
favorite activities or or builda lesson that's their favorite
things, and it can absolutelyflop.
So I just really don't expectanything.
SPEAKER_01 (07:00):
Yeah, I think, and I I think I probably learned a
little bit of this from you, butalso just knowing what each
student loves and what they loveto do and what they really don't
like to do.
So if I have a student who isreally having an off day, I'm
gonna tap into, oh, I rememberthat they really like
(07:22):
improvisation.
Let's just shelve everything,and we're just gonna do
improvisation to help them feelcomfortable.
SPEAKER_00 (07:28):
Right.
And this is where some of thatexhaustion comes from, just
adapting in the moment.
It can be very thrilling andexciting, but at the end of the
day, we're glad it's the end ofthe day.
And if other teachers feel thatway, it doesn't make you a bad
teacher to be tired afterteaching, even if you love what
you do.
It's okay to be tired.
SPEAKER_01 (07:48):
Oh, absolutely.
I think I I told the studentsthat, like in the end, this is a
job.
And some days you're gonna likeyour job, and some days you're
not gonna like your job.
Um, even though I do think Ihave the best job in the world.
Um let's see.
A question that you had was uh,what do you do when
(08:09):
neurodivergent students forgetto bring their books to lessons?
SPEAKER_00 (08:14):
This is a really hot button topic in the cesspool
that is the Facebook groups.
Tell me, tell me how you reallyfeel, Elizabeth.
Dark mirror field of depressionand negativity, honestly, and
then a few little glimmers ofpositivity.
I'm unfiltered today, Terry.
SPEAKER_01 (08:36):
Just a little bit.
SPEAKER_00 (08:38):
It's so true.
I mean, I have been there as aneurodivergent kid coming to
lessons.
So, you know, that was me as achild, but also, you know, a lot
of people are like, well, it'sthe parents' response
responsibility, or the kidshould be old enough, or I
refuse to teach you if you don'thave the materials you need.
Here's the thing.
(08:58):
If that had been what happenedto me as I when I was a child
taking violin lessons orwhatever, I probably would have
had a lot of lessons where theywould have said, you don't have
your books, you can't have alesson, or whatever it might
have been.
I'm so grateful that they weregracious with me and they're
like, Oh, I have another copy.
Don't worry.
(09:19):
Or the parents are maybe goingthrough a separation and the
books are in somebody else's caror in somebody else's house.
Hey, this is why I keep an extraset of books in my studio.
Or this is why at the beginningof every week I go through and I
prepare a lot of no-prepactivities that we can use in
lessons.
We're gonna compose today.
So to me, it's actually not ahuge, huge problem.
(09:44):
If it becomes repetitive, then Ihandle it and I might talk to
the parents and say, hey, can weget the books in the car the
night before?
Or can we put the books in thebackpack or whatever?
But this happens to absolutelyeveryone.
And I just really think we needto remember that we're teaching
humans and we are human.
SPEAKER_01 (10:01):
What do you think?
It's it's not a hill to die onfor me.
I keep copies of all the books.
I in my mind, um, I need copiesanyway, yes for appropriate
planning um and my ownresources.
And so if I am ordering a book Idon't have in my library, I
(10:23):
would for a student, I'llactually buy two copies.
So I have a I have a copy.
SPEAKER_00 (10:27):
I do the same thing.
And I also honestly think ifyou're dealing with a
neurodivergent student, they'reprobably gonna feel badly that
they forgot their books becausethey already have some like
guilt and embarrassment aboutnot exceeding their own
expectations anyway.
So if you berate them and make ahuge deal of it, that may be
their excuse to quit instrument,like piano altogether.
(10:48):
Um, and that sounds a bitexaggerated, but I I don't I
don't want to be harsh onsomething that deserves grace.
It's not a big deal.
SPEAKER_01 (10:56):
Yeah, yeah, not a hill to die on.
Nope.
Um, okay, how this was aquestion I got, and um how do
you handle recitals?
Uh it's a very open-endedquestion.
My short answer was I mean, thepossibilities are endless.
There's so many wonderful ideasout there.
(11:18):
And I told them I look forwardto your creativity in presenting
recitals.
But basically, I told them I Itry to keep it varied, different
times, um, different lengths,different locations, um, but to
each to each their own.
SPEAKER_00 (11:33):
What about you?
You know, Tara, I think you didsomething really cool at
Halloween for your students.
So can you share what you hadyour students do in lieu of a
formal Halloween recital?
SPEAKER_01 (11:44):
Yes.
And this was also thanks to you.
You said, what about a virtualrecital?
Because I was lamenting that Ijust the date snuck up on me and
I didn't know what to do.
And I always have grand plans ofputting out a yearly studio
calendar and having itscheduled, and it never comes
together.
But you said just do itvirtually.
And so what we did was they justpicked out a favorite piece,
(12:08):
very low-key.
They came to their, I always letmy students bring their wear
their costumes to lessons,Halloween weeks.
They loved it.
And um they came and performedtheir pieces.
I used my camera system that Ialready have set up in OBS to
record it.
Awesome.
Easy peasy, literally hitrecord.
(12:29):
We could take as many takes asthey want.
They already know how to do thatbecause thank you, technology.
Right.
And then the next week I had thevideos preloaded into Canva, and
we had a little intro sectionwith their name and their um
title of their piece and thecomposer, then the video, then
(12:49):
kind of an outro section.
And so cool.
It was fun.
I pulled up a stool to my deskand said, Okay, let's find a
font.
I had to explain what a font wassometimes.
Let's find a video.
Hilarious, hilarious andbeautiful video productions.
Oh, uploaded it to YouTube, um,which doesn't take long at all,
(13:12):
and created a playlist.
And now on their monthly um uhor weekly goals that we're doing
for the National Park Challenge,one of their goals is to listen
to two of those performances andperfect.
SPEAKER_00 (13:27):
And they share their performance with their family or
friends that weren't there thatwouldn't have been able to come
anyway.
Oh, that's so cool.
I love it.
Um, my recitals are often verysimilar to that.
I have a good uh in the past,I've had a lot of virtual
students, even before COVID hit,uh, and we had to do that, or a
lot of people did.
So I've done very, very similarthings, and my students think it
(13:51):
is an absolute riot to get to betheir own video directors.
We end up with some prettyhysterical angles and things,
and they love it because theycan share and invite other
people.
I'm doing a Christmas party kindof similarly this December,
where my students are gonna gettogether on Zoom and we're gonna
share our favorite pieces.
We're gonna play some games, andit's just gonna be very fun.
(14:14):
I have done the big fancyrecitals and the Steinway holes,
and you know, all that kind ofthing too.
But there's just something aboutthese smaller, more intimate,
fun things like my backyard, mypatio recitals that I have in in
the spring.
Um, so I I have learned toreally enjoy more low-key things
like that.
(14:34):
And I'm encouraging otherteachers, if you haven't or if
you've been wanting to, it's agreat, great thing to do.
Just experiment, and I bet yourstudio families will absolutely
love it.
I think we have time for onemore question.
SPEAKER_01 (14:50):
One more question.
Okay, let's make this completelyrandom.
Are you ready?
I'm so ready.
It's a it's a popular question,but um maybe our listeners
haven't heard this yet.
What is your favoriteThanksgiving dish?
SPEAKER_00 (15:07):
Oh, okay.
Well, Thanksgiving is one of myvery favorite holidays.
Um, I truly, truly love it.
My favorite dish sweet potatocasserole with the pecan
topping.
100%.
It could be a dessert, but it'snot not in the style.
(15:27):
Not in the style.
Absolutely.
I look forward to it everysingle year.
It's probably the first thing onmy plate, and I will eat it left
over until it is gone.
Um, what about you, Tara?
SPEAKER_01 (15:41):
Oh, I love it.
Um green bean bundles.
Um I learned that.
Oh, just you wait.
This is good.
I learned this from a friend inJacksonville, Florida.
Um, but you take canned greenbeans is fine, but you um you
kind of half cook bacon, likecut the bacon in half and then
(16:04):
put it in the oven, but onlycook it about halfway.
Then you take uh canned greenbeans, maybe put five or six in
a bundle, wrap that with thebacon.
Oh, then put that back on acookie sheet, and then after
you've got them all done, thenyou sprinkle brown sugar over
the top of the bacon.
Oh my word.
(16:25):
And then a little bit of garlicpowder and put it back in the
oven for a little bit longeruntil the bacon is a little more
cooked.
Oh, Tara, I'm so hungry.
I'm hungry now, too.
My mouth is watering.
It's absolutely amazing.
This has been a family requestevery year for both Thanksgiving
(16:46):
and Christmas.
SPEAKER_00 (16:47):
I see why.
It sounds absolutely amazing.
I'm gonna try that.
It's you can't mess it up.
I mean, that sounds so good.
Well, if you're listening andyou don't celebrate
Thanksgiving, I'm sorry.
Um because we have really goodfood and Thanksgiving time,
(17:08):
especially in the South.
Oh, it's like a wholesmorgasbord.
Um, what a fun question.
I love these random questionsthat you're thinking of for the
ends of our episodes.
Um, and what a fun thing to talkabout today.
These questions we received fromteachers.
I think we have plans to doanother one of these in January
with some crowdsourced questionswhere listeners can send in
(17:29):
things if if they've gotquestions about something that
they've been wanting us to talkabout or a student that they're
just really puzzled on.
We're gonna have an opportunityfor people to send in their
questions.
And that's gonna be really fun.
I love crowd-sourced questions.
Oh, yes.
Well, thank you for spendingtime with us today and listening
(17:51):
to what we had to say aboutpiano teaching and maybe some
things you can try in yourstudio or adapt for your own
students.
You don't ever have to take whatwe say and do it exactly the way
we do it.
That's not the goal, but takewhat we share and then think,
ooh, if I tweak this, I thinkthat would work beautifully for
(18:13):
my students.
And that's what we want.
And that makes us very happy tohear that um you've tried some
of our ideas or checked out theblog or checked out the new
website, and you're findingthings that support what you're
doing.
That's that's our goal, right?
SPEAKER_01 (18:29):
Absolutely.
And I would say too that if youtake if you take an idea that
we've suggested and you tweak itand you make it your own, or or
you use it as is in your studio,we would love to hear about
that.
We love celebrating those winsand successes with you.
It just Oh, absolutely.
Very, very fulfilling, makes myheart happy.
SPEAKER_00 (18:50):
Oh, yes.
Um, the last thing I'll share isthat our November newsletter
just went out and went on alittle bit late because we
wanted to make sure that websitewas launched first.
But we are going to be having aBlack Friday sale.
So that will be um something youcan look out for.
And if you're interested injoining our upcoming December
(19:12):
teacher chat on Zoom, it'scompletely free and it's open to
teachers anywhere that have beenteaching for one month or a
hundred months.
Um, so that registration link isin the description of this
podcast.
So please join us if thatinterests you.
And we will look forward tobeing back with you next time.
(19:33):
Thanks for being with me, Tara.
You're welcome.
Happy holidays.
Alrighty.
Welcome back to another episode of the Creative
Piano Pedagogy podcast.
I'm Elizabeth Davis, one of yourhosts, and I am here with my
friend and co-host, Tara Mock.
And we have some more delightfulteaching tips and things to
share with you today.
And we're so glad you're tuningin.
SPEAKER_01 (01:41):
So happy to have another short podcast episode as
we head into the holidays.
I think we both have had longweeks with migraines, and so
we're keeping it light andfriendly today.
Yes.
So this week I had anopportunity to be on a small
panel for a piano pedagogy classat Western Carolina University.
(02:02):
Um, and I loved it so much.
Um the other young lady on thepiano uh on the panel, sorry,
migraine.
The other young lady on thepanel has just started her
teaching career, and wecomplimented each other very
well.
(02:22):
But uh I thought the studentsasked such amazing questions,
and I thought maybe if you'dlike to, Elizabeth, we could um
kind of have a continuation ofthat discussion on today's
podcast.
And then you spoke to the SuzukiAssociation of Indiana.
You also had amazing questionsand they did.
SPEAKER_00 (02:43):
They were wonderful group to speak with and just
talk to um at their coffee chatthat they have on Sunday
evenings.
So we have some good questionsbetween the two groups, and I'm
so glad that you had this ideafor today's episode.
SPEAKER_01 (03:00):
Fantastic.
All right.
So, first question, and it'sthis is not in any particular
order, um, but I thought thiswas a brilliant one.
How do you cope with exhaustionand lessons not going as
expected?
What I shared with them is thateven, and I had a therapist tell
(03:24):
me, even if I am only at 80%,say that particular day, I am
still a good teacher.
I don't have to be 100% everyday.
And it is okay to take a break.
And I have discovered that myrhythm is really to have about
three lessons with about a15-minute break, so I can have a
(03:45):
moment to breathe.
Um, and we talked a little bitabout that last episode, too.
Or in the newsletter, maybe Ithink it was in the newsletter.
I think so.
SPEAKER_00 (03:54):
Both.
I think it's it's just a themethat's been on both of our
minds, and we've been talkingabout this away from the podcast
as well, just about the busytime of the year.
And this is something that'sprobably not talked about
enough.
The exhaustion and the heavymental load of teaching
neurodivergent learners.
(04:14):
Um, just having to have your ownemotions and mental clarity in
check and be extra ready forthem, be several steps ahead and
be always on, if that makessense.
It can feel very exhausting,even if you have the best
(04:34):
students in the world justdealing with unpredictable
behaviors and not knowing whichversion of your student you're
going to have in your lessoneach week.
It's a bit tiring andexhausting.
Um, I really appreciate what youshared about you've learned that
having a break after every somany lessons works really well
(04:54):
for you.
I shared in the newsletter, um,this week's newsletter, that I
have a sacred 45.
I really very, very passionatelyprotect the 45 minutes before my
first lesson of the day.
I just have to have that time tomentally prepare.
(05:15):
And I think another thing I wishI would have known as a young
teacher was that my energy doesnot have to be amped up to
excite my students.
I think that's a bigmisconception a lot of younger
teachers have, especially.
And even a lot of seasonedteachers who are teaching
hyperactive kiddos, like wedon't have to be on, and your
(05:35):
energy does not have to exceedwhat theirs is to get them
excited about piano.
So that's one thing I do to helpmyself not get too exhausted.
Just be myself whatever I amthat day, is what I have to
offer.
SPEAKER_01 (05:50):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
The other part of the questionwas what about when lessons
don't go as expected?
I think I almost expect them tobe unexpected.
Didn't somebody have a sloganone time, expect the unexpected?
(06:10):
I don't I don't even know.
Probably, probably it was, but Ithat probably needs to be a
motto for students.
Oh, absolutely.
Not just neurodivergentstudents, but any type of
student.
Just expect the unexpected.
You never know what's going tocome out of their mouths or what
the day is gonna be like.
SPEAKER_00 (06:27):
I have honestly learned to not expect anything.
I I really go into each lessonhoping that we start and end the
lesson with making musictogether through improvisation
or playing music together.
But what happens in between, Idon't really know.
I can have the best plans in theworld and have all their
(06:50):
favorite activities or or builda lesson that's their favorite
things, and it can absolutelyflop.
So I just really don't expectanything.
SPEAKER_01 (07:00):
Yeah, I think, and I I think I probably learned a
little bit of this from you, butalso just knowing what each
student loves and what they loveto do and what they really don't
like to do.
So if I have a student who isreally having an off day, I'm
gonna tap into, oh, I rememberthat they really like
(07:22):
improvisation.
Let's just shelve everything,and we're just gonna do
improvisation to help them feelcomfortable.
SPEAKER_00 (07:28):
Right.
And this is where some of thatexhaustion comes from, just
adapting in the moment.
It can be very thrilling andexciting, but at the end of the
day, we're glad it's the end ofthe day.
And if other teachers feel thatway, it doesn't make you a bad
teacher to be tired afterteaching, even if you love what
you do.
It's okay to be tired.
SPEAKER_01 (07:48):
Oh, absolutely.
I think I I told the studentsthat, like in the end, this is a
job.
And some days you're gonna likeyour job, and some days you're
not gonna like your job.
Um, even though I do think Ihave the best job in the world.
Um let's see.
A question that you had was uh,what do you do when
(08:09):
neurodivergent students forgetto bring their books to lessons?
SPEAKER_00 (08:14):
This is a really hot button topic in the cesspool
that is the Facebook groups.
Tell me, tell me how you reallyfeel, Elizabeth.
Dark mirror field of depressionand negativity, honestly, and
then a few little glimmers ofpositivity.
I'm unfiltered today, Terry.
SPEAKER_01 (08:36):
Just a little bit.
SPEAKER_00 (08:38):
It's so true.
I mean, I have been there as aneurodivergent kid coming to
lessons.
So, you know, that was me as achild, but also, you know, a lot
of people are like, well, it'sthe parents' response
responsibility, or the kidshould be old enough, or I
refuse to teach you if you don'thave the materials you need.
Here's the thing.
(08:58):
If that had been what happenedto me as I when I was a child
taking violin lessons orwhatever, I probably would have
had a lot of lessons where theywould have said, you don't have
your books, you can't have alesson, or whatever it might
have been.
I'm so grateful that they weregracious with me and they're
like, Oh, I have another copy.
Don't worry.
(09:19):
Or the parents are maybe goingthrough a separation and the
books are in somebody else's caror in somebody else's house.
Hey, this is why I keep an extraset of books in my studio.
Or this is why at the beginningof every week I go through and I
prepare a lot of no-prepactivities that we can use in
lessons.
We're gonna compose today.
So to me, it's actually not ahuge, huge problem.
(09:44):
If it becomes repetitive, then Ihandle it and I might talk to
the parents and say, hey, can weget the books in the car the
night before?
Or can we put the books in thebackpack or whatever?
But this happens to absolutelyeveryone.
And I just really think we needto remember that we're teaching
humans and we are human.
SPEAKER_01 (10:01):
What do you think?
It's it's not a hill to die onfor me.
I keep copies of all the books.
I in my mind, um, I need copiesanyway, yes for appropriate
planning um and my ownresources.
And so if I am ordering a book Idon't have in my library, I
(10:23):
would for a student, I'llactually buy two copies.
So I have a I have a copy.
SPEAKER_00 (10:27):
I do the same thing.
And I also honestly think ifyou're dealing with a
neurodivergent student, they'reprobably gonna feel badly that
they forgot their books becausethey already have some like
guilt and embarrassment aboutnot exceeding their own
expectations anyway.
So if you berate them and make ahuge deal of it, that may be
their excuse to quit instrument,like piano altogether.
(10:48):
Um, and that sounds a bitexaggerated, but I I don't I
don't want to be harsh onsomething that deserves grace.
It's not a big deal.
SPEAKER_01 (10:56):
Yeah, yeah, not a hill to die on.
Nope.
Um, okay, how this was aquestion I got, and um how do
you handle recitals?
Uh it's a very open-endedquestion.
My short answer was I mean, thepossibilities are endless.
There's so many wonderful ideasout there.
(11:18):
And I told them I look forwardto your creativity in presenting
recitals.
But basically, I told them I Itry to keep it varied, different
times, um, different lengths,different locations, um, but to
each to each their own.
SPEAKER_00 (11:33):
What about you?
You know, Tara, I think you didsomething really cool at
Halloween for your students.
So can you share what you hadyour students do in lieu of a
formal Halloween recital?
SPEAKER_01 (11:44):
Yes.
And this was also thanks to you.
You said, what about a virtualrecital?
Because I was lamenting that Ijust the date snuck up on me and
I didn't know what to do.
And I always have grand plans ofputting out a yearly studio
calendar and having itscheduled, and it never comes
together.
But you said just do itvirtually.
And so what we did was they justpicked out a favorite piece,
(12:08):
very low-key.
They came to their, I always letmy students bring their wear
their costumes to lessons,Halloween weeks.
They loved it.
And um they came and performedtheir pieces.
I used my camera system that Ialready have set up in OBS to
record it.
Awesome.
Easy peasy, literally hitrecord.
(12:29):
We could take as many takes asthey want.
They already know how to do thatbecause thank you, technology.
Right.
And then the next week I had thevideos preloaded into Canva, and
we had a little intro sectionwith their name and their um
title of their piece and thecomposer, then the video, then
(12:49):
kind of an outro section.
And so cool.
It was fun.
I pulled up a stool to my deskand said, Okay, let's find a
font.
I had to explain what a font wassometimes.
Let's find a video.
Hilarious, hilarious andbeautiful video productions.
Oh, uploaded it to YouTube, um,which doesn't take long at all,
(13:12):
and created a playlist.
And now on their monthly um uhor weekly goals that we're doing
for the National Park Challenge,one of their goals is to listen
to two of those performances andperfect.
SPEAKER_00 (13:27):
And they share their performance with their family or
friends that weren't there thatwouldn't have been able to come
anyway.
Oh, that's so cool.
I love it.
Um, my recitals are often verysimilar to that.
I have a good uh in the past,I've had a lot of virtual
students, even before COVID hit,uh, and we had to do that, or a
lot of people did.
So I've done very, very similarthings, and my students think it
(13:51):
is an absolute riot to get to betheir own video directors.
We end up with some prettyhysterical angles and things,
and they love it because theycan share and invite other
people.
I'm doing a Christmas party kindof similarly this December,
where my students are gonna gettogether on Zoom and we're gonna
share our favorite pieces.
We're gonna play some games, andit's just gonna be very fun.
(14:14):
I have done the big fancyrecitals and the Steinway holes,
and you know, all that kind ofthing too.
But there's just something aboutthese smaller, more intimate,
fun things like my backyard, mypatio recitals that I have in in
the spring.
Um, so I I have learned toreally enjoy more low-key things
like that.
(14:34):
And I'm encouraging otherteachers, if you haven't or if
you've been wanting to, it's agreat, great thing to do.
Just experiment, and I bet yourstudio families will absolutely
love it.
I think we have time for onemore question.
SPEAKER_01 (14:50):
One more question.
Okay, let's make this completelyrandom.
Are you ready?
I'm so ready.
It's a it's a popular question,but um maybe our listeners
haven't heard this yet.
What is your favoriteThanksgiving dish?
SPEAKER_00 (15:07):
Oh, okay.
Well, Thanksgiving is one of myvery favorite holidays.
Um, I truly, truly love it.
My favorite dish sweet potatocasserole with the pecan
topping.
100%.
It could be a dessert, but it'snot not in the style.
(15:27):
Not in the style.
Absolutely.
I look forward to it everysingle year.
It's probably the first thing onmy plate, and I will eat it left
over until it is gone.
Um, what about you, Tara?
SPEAKER_01 (15:41):
Oh, I love it.
Um green bean bundles.
Um I learned that.
Oh, just you wait.
This is good.
I learned this from a friend inJacksonville, Florida.
Um, but you take canned greenbeans is fine, but you um you
kind of half cook bacon, likecut the bacon in half and then
(16:04):
put it in the oven, but onlycook it about halfway.
Then you take uh canned greenbeans, maybe put five or six in
a bundle, wrap that with thebacon.
Oh, then put that back on acookie sheet, and then after
you've got them all done, thenyou sprinkle brown sugar over
the top of the bacon.
Oh my word.
(16:25):
And then a little bit of garlicpowder and put it back in the
oven for a little bit longeruntil the bacon is a little more
cooked.
Oh, Tara, I'm so hungry.
I'm hungry now, too.
My mouth is watering.
It's absolutely amazing.
This has been a family requestevery year for both Thanksgiving
(16:46):
and Christmas.
SPEAKER_00 (16:47):
I see why.
It sounds absolutely amazing.
I'm gonna try that.
It's you can't mess it up.
I mean, that sounds so good.
Well, if you're listening andyou don't celebrate
Thanksgiving, I'm sorry.
Um because we have really goodfood and Thanksgiving time,
(17:08):
especially in the South.
Oh, it's like a wholesmorgasbord.
Um, what a fun question.
I love these random questionsthat you're thinking of for the
ends of our episodes.
Um, and what a fun thing to talkabout today.
These questions we received fromteachers.
I think we have plans to doanother one of these in January
with some crowdsourced questionswhere listeners can send in
(17:29):
things if if they've gotquestions about something that
they've been wanting us to talkabout or a student that they're
just really puzzled on.
We're gonna have an opportunityfor people to send in their
questions.
And that's gonna be really fun.
I love crowd-sourced questions.
Oh, yes.
Well, thank you for spendingtime with us today and listening
(17:51):
to what we had to say aboutpiano teaching and maybe some
things you can try in yourstudio or adapt for your own
students.
You don't ever have to take whatwe say and do it exactly the way
we do it.
That's not the goal, but takewhat we share and then think,
ooh, if I tweak this, I thinkthat would work beautifully for
(18:13):
my students.
And that's what we want.
And that makes us very happy tohear that um you've tried some
of our ideas or checked out theblog or checked out the new
website, and you're findingthings that support what you're
doing.
That's that's our goal, right?
SPEAKER_01 (18:29):
Absolutely.
And I would say too that if youtake if you take an idea that
we've suggested and you tweak itand you make it your own, or or
you use it as is in your studio,we would love to hear about
that.
We love celebrating those winsand successes with you.
It just Oh, absolutely.
Very, very fulfilling, makes myheart happy.
SPEAKER_00 (18:50):
Oh, yes.
Um, the last thing I'll share isthat our November newsletter
just went out and went on alittle bit late because we
wanted to make sure that websitewas launched first.
But we are going to be having aBlack Friday sale.
So that will be um something youcan look out for.
And if you're interested injoining our upcoming December
(19:12):
teacher chat on Zoom, it'scompletely free and it's open to
teachers anywhere that have beenteaching for one month or a
hundred months.
Um, so that registration link isin the description of this
podcast.
So please join us if thatinterests you.
And we will look forward tobeing back with you next time.
(19:33):
Thanks for being with me, Tara.
You're welcome.
Happy holidays.
Alrighty.
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