Looking in the Mirror
Last week, I was given the gift of seeing myself and my teaching from without on two different occasions. Firstly, Matthew Odell was at the college to do a workshop…
Amateur Exploration
Last Sunday, on the way back from our family reunion, I was listening to an episode of The Splendid Table wherein Lynne Rossetto Kasper interviewed Nigella Lawson. In her introduction,…
The Ikea Effect & Teachability
I felt a jolt of electricity when I heard the NPR story, Why You Love That Ikea Table, Even If It’s Crooked. In the first place, I could happily…
What’s Up With This Memory Thing?
“What's up with this memory thing?”, asked one of my new transfer students. We talked about different levels of knowing and understanding and the fact that committing something to memory…
Middle Parts & Orphans
“I’ve played piano for over 30 years and nobody has ever told me to start in the middle of a measure,” said one of my adult students last week. She…
Not Harder, Just More Complicated
This semester, I have been tutoring a foreign graduate student. He is struggling with English and with his practice skills. I think that his main problem has been this: He…
Jack of all Trades
When you teach in an outlying area, you have to keep quite a few irons in the fire. This semester I have renewed my relationship with the harpsichord. Ours is…
Some Sage Advice
Often when I am teaching and practicing, I say or do something successful and think, "How did I know that?" Sometimes, I can mentally thank the person who blessed me…