Vintage PA: Leaving People Better Than You Found Them
It's easy to teach when everything is going well, when families support each other, when children are perfectly behaved, when students are healthy. It's a lot tougher when parents are…
Scary But Not Dangerous
One of my adult students has chosen to work on Haunted Spot from Schumann's Forest Scenes. "I just don't know how to go about this," she said when she brought it in.…
PA Shorts: Cleaning The Closet
When the teeny-tiny game parts fell between the cabinet and the lowest shelf I knew I was in trouble. The book whacking me on my head was the last straw. Things…
Playing Hardball
Last week I was blindsided by a situation and forced to play hardball. I would never have chosen this battle but it was apparently my time to fight. After some…
PA Shorts: Do It Again…
The following funny struck a chord (voiced of course) with myself and many others when it went live last week. Most of us who are teachers have experienced both sides…
Vintage PA: Body Parts, Chocolate, & Equality
I often have the privilege of judging and evaluating piano piano competitions and festivals. It is a joy to hear all levels of pianists dig deep and play their very…
Not Exactly Pre-Reading: 1-2-3 Line Read & Play
With the beginning of the school year looming, the teachers I am mentoring are again full of questions about how to best help their beginning readers—especially those who look at the…
PA Shorts: Time Is Time & Some Cats
"Time is time. You understand it? We have to be first to the_______" A tour guide said this multiple times each day while we were in his charge and it has…