PPP107: The First 24 Hours - Teacher chat with Dawn Ivers and Becki Laurent

Today’s episode brings you not one, but two teachers! Today, Becki Laurent, Dawn Ivers and I chat about the topic of practice and the value students receive when they practice within 24 hours of their piano lesson.Becki and Dawn are not strangers to the podcast. You can hear their previous episodes here:Becki LaurentEpisode 037: Teacher Interview with Becki LaurentEpisode 046: Our Favorite Music Education Apps with Becki LaurentDawn IversEpisode 061: The Importance of a Good Practice Environment with Piano Teacher, Dawn IversEpisode 080: Ten Books to Read with Your Piano Kid

Today's topic idea came from Becki's session at TMTA

Becki presented a session at the Texas Music Teachers Association Convention this past June. Hosting one of the most active conventions for students, the Texas state convention also has many parents and grandparents in attendance. Becki seized this opportunity to share the value of practice, and practice that occurs as soon after the piano lesson as possible, with parents.I am so glad that Becki and Dawn agreed to bring this conversation to the podcast today!

Different Types of Practice

Practice happens in your home all the time. Students are practicing chores (or how to avoid doing chores), homework, social skills. Children learn and hone their skills through practice constantly.Different teachers of various subjects have different practice rules:Driver’s ed includes written work along with active driving with the instructor critiquing along the way.  Until a student earns their permit, ALL their practicing must be with the instructor.Competitive swimmers practice daily and their coaches are often instructing from the side of the pool. Unless they have access to the pool at other times, ALL their practicing is done with the instructor.The same is true for sports, dance, gymnastics, etc.Piano lessons are not the same as these other activities. The majority of practice happens away from the teacher. Teachers use lesson time to instruct and correct, yes, but in essence, teachers use the lesson time to teach students how to practice at home on their own.Many times, after a piano lesson, students won’t get back to the piano until the next day or after several days.That is a problem…. 

The Curve of Forgetting