Exasperating

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From time to time on Tuesdays, I will host a "piano class," rather than individual lessons. This is a time for all of my students to come at the same time, perform for each other, learn something together, and enjoy some treats. It gives them a chance to relax from the intensity of a one-on-one with me.

Yesterday was that day. As each student took her turn at the piano, I realized why this job is so stressful:

My teacher/student relationship with each one of them rests on my ability to determine just exactly how much disappointment is the right amount to show each week.

It's a tough balance, and I don't have it figured out. They want to be encouraged, but I can't encourage garbage. But if I show my true feelings about their lack of progress, they burst into tears. And then, on the very rare occasion when one of them does have a good week at the piano, I'm so over-the-top enthused that they think they've mollified me and can slack off for a few weeks.

It makes my head want to explode.

Comments

cool mum said…
ooh...sounds rough. I feel for you, and as a former slacker piano kid I can also relate! Piano lessons are just tough all around.

I was one of those weirdo kids that would be breaking into tears while playing a song I knew I hadn't practiced...that was without the piano teacher even saying one word or even showing that he cared that I hadn't practiced! Something about the idea of practicing was so repulsive as an elementary and middle schooler...even though I liked playing in general. It's a mystery to me.
March 19, 2008 at 5:13 PM
Amy said…
I think that's part of the frustration! I, too, was a piano slacker who, somewhere in high school, stopped living up to my "piano potential," and my teacher, who is now my daughter's teacher and a very dear friend, always let me know that I wasn't meeting her goals for me - which, in high school, did not line up with my goals for me.

So part of me wants to give these girls a break, and part of me wants to grab them by their Roxy girl pigtails and shake them.
March 19, 2008 at 8:46 PM
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