Five Things I’m Loving This Week–February 4, 2016

This post was orginally published on the Plucky Violin Teacher Blog on February 4, 2016 so links and resources may not be current.

Hello teacher friends!

Here’s this week’s round-up of violin teaching resources, tips, and tricks.

1.  I love this blog post from a fellow Suzuki teacher titled “A Student Hit Me.”  Read it, it’s not what you think!  All joking aside though, I’m excited to see a possible remedy for the limp fish bow hand!
2. This is an old blog post, but I think it’s a great one!  It’s by a dedicated Suzuki mom, and it’s called “Being a Suzuki Parent Is Harder Than Being a Homeschool Parent.”  It’s a good post to share with parents in your studio.
3. I may be a little biased because this article was written by my cousin-in-law, but I think this article in the Deseret News (major paper here in Utah) is fantastic.  Tiffany Lewis is a journalist, and Suzuki mom.  In her recent article, she compares the long road of parenting to the long journey of becoming a proficient Suzuki violinist.  I loved it.
4. Here’s another great blog post about motivating children to practice.  I loved the suggestion about giving very specific praise before pointing out something that could be improved.
5. For your listening pleasure, my favorite rendition of Ysaye’s Third Sonata “Ballade” performed by Ilya Kaler.  It’s…stunning, it gives me chills.

Have a great weekend, and be plucky!
Brecklyn


Reader Interactions

​Comments

1. Gregory Marsh says
   February 5, 2016 at 6:47 pm
   (Edit)Thank you for continuing to find and share these great resources! I’m getting all sorts of teaching ideas.
   • Brecklyn says
     February 6, 2016 at 1:44 am
     (Edit)I’m so glad, thank you Greg!
2. Elise says
   February 6, 2016 at 10:54 pm
   (Edit)I loved all of these, but especially the article by your cousin. I will be sharing this with the parents of my beginners’ group, who have their own informal class & “support group” while I work with the beginners group. Thank you so much for finding these gems and sharing them!
   • Brecklyn says
     February 6, 2016 at 11:27 pm
     (Edit)Thank you, Elise! I love the idea of having a parent class and support group. How do you put that together? Does someone else lead that class?