Do you pre-plan lessons in your studio? The truth is, I haven't always done this.

As a young teacher, I loved planning and sequencing activities for every individual lesson, but it was challenging to predict what we'd realistically get through and so much was dependent on a student's preparation and practicing during the week. Would they be ready to begin this new piece or would we need to spend another week reviewing concepts in a review piece?

I began making quick lesson sketches when a student would hand me their lesson notebook and pre-planning other activities to reinforce rhythm, aural skills, and technique. But these activities were often more general, more level-specific than student-specific, and they weren't tied to the student's repertoire.

When the pandemic happened, I found myself without my students' notebooks to reference, so I started writing digital assignment sheets.

Today, I'm sharing my lesson-planning workflow: the steps I take every day before teaching to plan individual lessons for my students. Plus, at the end, I'll answer a few questions I received on Instagram that are related to this topic.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

How to Use Notability for Digital Assignment Sheets in Your Studio

Notability app

iPad + Apple Pencil

Ep. 039 - A Creative, Integrated Approach to Teaching Music Theory

RCM Piano Syllabus

Sight-Reading and Rhythm Every Day (Helen Marlais)

Ep. 045 - The Blues Composition Project

Piano Literature for Teaching & Performance: A Graded Guide and Annotated Bibliography (Jane Magrath)

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew