It’s spring! At least my trees and the irises think so—along with some of my students, who suddenly are exhibiting signs of spring fever. (also, it’s supposed to be 89°F today here in Tucson) For me, that means it’s time to think ahead to the summer months and do some planning. In that spirit, here are some handy tools to check out.

Make More, Teach Less: Jennifer Foxx

Many of you are familiar with the resources on Jennifer Foxx’s Music Educator Resources (formerly FPS Resources and recently migrated fully to Teachers Pay Teachers.) Her newest offering is a video course on running summer music camps and workshops.

There are two courses offered; Basic and Premium. The Basic Course ($49) covers logistics, scheduling, fees, lesson planning and more. The Premium Course ($79) adds sample documents, activities, game tools, a upgraded lesson creation, and theme ideas to the basic course.

Once you enroll in a course, it is available to you anytime- 24-7. Your course never expires so it will be right there when you are planning for future years. Jennifer’s camp resources are go-tos for summer activities and now through her courses we can learn how to use them for joyful summer learning.

One Year Piano Practice Planner: Catherine Shefski

Catherine Shefski has designed a practice planner with plenty of room for dreaming and creativity. There is also space for goal setting, technique & repertoire.

The planner also features a Practice Hacks section. In it are suggestions and tips on hand position, stretching, technical elements, fingering, interpretation, articulation, efficient practice, memory, and performance.

The One Year Practice Planner costs $15 and right now there is 20% off if you use the code EJRRFQG9 at check out. Deeper discounts are available for more than 20 copies by contacting Catherine Shefski directly.

This volume is just the right size to keep and use right by the piano. It isn’t cute or distracting in any way which means, when filled, it will beautifully reflect the qualities and growth of the musician who used it.

Practising the Piano Online Academy: Graham Fitch

Graham Fitch of the blog, Practising the Piano, is developing a new Online Piano Academy to expand the resources he offers pianists and teachers. His goal? To create the ultimate, intuitive and interactive online resource for mastering the piano.

The resource will include multimedia resources, annotated scores, masterclasses, guest experts, applied theory, improvisation, and healthy playing. Subscribers will have input into content and topics and there will be printable content for use in lessons and practice.

You can contribute to the funding for this project at Indiegogo. There are lots of perks for contributing from 50% off a subscription, to 10 free online Academy Lessons, to a fully set of Practicing the Piano Multimedia eBooks. Once funding is secured, the resource is projected to launch in July 2016.

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