One of the most valuable lessons I learned about teaching music came from a place that didn’t involve music at all. Over the summer, I worked in a learning center teaching phonics and comprehension to children with learning difficulties such as ADD, dyslexia, and autism. As a teacher, I was given extensive training about how to achieve maximum results with these students. Here, I learned about the importance of always maintaining extreme positivity while working with the students.
These particular students had experienced failure in school settings in the past and this really prevented a lot of growth. Every child is talented and good at something, and a good teacher’s job is to find out what that is, and make sure the student knows this. As the confidence in the student builds, he or she begins to excel at other things too.
After I applied this knowledge to my music students, I could quickly see their accelerated improvements. Confidence in their playing grew, as did their motivation to learn more and practice more. As a teacher, it’s very easy to get into the mindset that we are there to correct students and let them know what they are doing wrong. I have found that it is equally important to let them know what they’re doing right!