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What a year 2020 has been! I know we are ready to close this chapter and look ahead to the hope that 2021 brings. As the pandemic continues to linger, here are five things to consider in your teaching for 2021.

#1 – Offer small things that excite students.

Our students have been through so much! While the pandemic has been hard on parents managing working at home and school responsibilities of children, children have had to adapt to so many new things. 

Be sure to have little things at your studio that excite students. If you are teaching entirely online, you can still communicate about these things online.

Here are a few ideas to lift students’ spirits:

• Have a candy jar game for your studio. Coordinate it for a season or do it “just because.” If you don’t want to offer candy, put something fun like seasonal erasers in the jar. Kids really enjoy the game of guessing!

• Make a paper chain for Christmas pieces learned, scales learned, or any other skill you want your students to complete. 
  
• Have a studio challenge. For Christmas, I have had students hang paper ornaments on a tree for each piece they learned. You can also do a Happy Birthday challenge where each student can hang a candle on a cake for learning Happy Birthday. Check out my 10 arrangements for any level here. Students really enjoy seeing the efforts of their peers! This is especially important while all group activities are limited.

#2 – Don’t forget about the parents!

If you are teaching in-person, you may be seeing parents a little less. Most of my students’ parents choose to wait in their cars these days. If you are seeing the parents of your students a little less, be sure to send an email or text to touch base.

Here are some extra things you can do:

• Make videos or recordings of students to send to parents. I don’t use social media in my business and prefer to just communicate directly with parents. Even if you do use social media, I would recommend some one-on-one communication. Make it personal!

• Send a regular email newsletter of updates to parents. You can read about how to do this in Gmail on the Color in My Piano blog. At the start of each school year, I tag parent email addresses in my Gmail with a tag “2020 students” so that I can easily send group emails.

#3 – Adjust to the students’ new demands of life.

I have a whole post about teaching students in challenging times here. 

#4 – Do an online contest.

So many contests have gone virtual this year. In the past (before the pandemic), I had my  own solo festival with an online judge. Having my own festival allows me to create a performance opportunity that fits the needs of my students. Read more about how to have your own online contest.

#5 – Try something new.

This year has forced me to lighten up my usual lesson demands. To lighten things up, I added improvisation activities to many lessons. I have found that it’s a great stress reliever for students to create during their lesson, rather than practice. 

To incorporate improv into your lessons, you can use Forrest Kinney’s Pattern Play Book 1. These are appropriate for student-teacher duets or for older students (such as middle or high school) to play on their own. Many of the prompts for improv duets have the student play on just black or white keys. This allows me to use the improv activities for all ages. I highly recommend this book.

Trying something new in your studio is a great way to keep students interested and refreshed during a difficult yea

2020 has been a long year! What are your studio plans for 2021?