Making a list...checking it twice...or more!

Happy New Year!  I hope you enjoyed family, friends and some rest over your short breaks!  I had lots of things I planned to get done and realized all too quickly those plans were unrealistic!  I didn't get much done, but I did manage to put together a couple of ideas for my studio.  Here is one of them...

I put together these simple sheets to add to the front of each student's notebook.  I try to be very encouraging to each of my students and try to point out something great they've done each week.  I know that it's hard for me to remember what it was like to first learn to play an instrument and how each and every simple accomplishment should be a big deal.  So each time one of my student does something - finally remembers where to find middle C, completes their first 5-finger scale, gets their fingering correct through an entire piece, learns all their notes on the staff or finally remembers the correct rhythm on that passage we've been working on for the past 3 weeks...I want to make a BIG deal out of it.  Hence, this little piece of paper to track it all! 

By recording it in one place, it also becomes a way for my studenst to see how far they've come and hopefully be a constant encouragement.  When they feel discouraged because they are having difficulty with some aspect of their playing, we can simply pull out this sheet and see just how far they've come!

I'm also hoping it might spur on a bit of extra practicing in hopes that their list becomes VERY long!  I'm very happy to add lots of extra sheets in their notebooks!