A graduate student in my Suzuki Pedagogy asked me how I was preparing for class and doing well.

For background, our Suzuki Ped seminar class meets once a week with our professor. In our time together we go over the teaching points of pieces, play the pieces, and ask/answer questions about how to best teach. We have occasional written assignments to turn in such as book reports, interviews with parents, or written reflections. At the end of the semester we meet with Carrie as a group and take turns performing and discussing the specific teaching points of the pieces in the books we worked on.

So what he was really asking is how I PRACTICE teaching.

How does a violinist practice? They play scales. Learn to play new pieces. Listen to recordings.
How does a football player practice? They run plays on the field. Lift weights in the gym. Review tapes of their competition.
How does an architect practice? They draft plans. Build models. Absorb the designs of master architects.
How does a chef practice? They hone their cooking skills on familiar dishes. Flex their creativity to build new ones. And broaden their taste horizons by tasting dishes and traveling the world.

These practice of skill based disciplines are easy to imagine. I’ve read books, watched documentaries, listened to podcasts about the routines of athletes and artists and writers.

But what it takes to practice a discipline which is more dimensional, such as teaching the violinist, owning a company or restauranteering, is more difficult to visualize.

I believe if you were to stumble upon a masterful teacher deliberately practicing their multi-dimensional craft, you would see the following
– playing an instrument
– writing
– teaching
– breaking down footage

So, Jake (my friend from class), here’s how I practice teaching

PLAYING

I play my violin for 1.5 hours per day. I do 30 minutes of technique, 30 minutes of advanced repertoire, 15 minutes of applying technique to Suzuki review, and 15 minutes of re-learning and memorizing Suzuki pieces (I’m currently on Book 6).

WRITING

I think writing is to the mind what the gym is to the body. I have several writing practices related to teaching which hones the way I think.
1) Keep notes on my students/classes (info on my process here)
2) Maintaining this blog. Keeping up with once a week posts here pushes my mind to produce a (hopefully) thought provoking, polished piece about the Suzuki Method.
3) The Way I Teach (right now) in Evernote. I devote time (0.5-1 hour per day) to the difficult work of thinking through the best way, the way I CHOOSE, to teach. I do this with piece by piece analysis, analysis of task sequences, fleshing out productive activities or games, and lesson planning. This is also where I integrate fundamental changes in my ideas of the way the world works into all aspects of my teaching.
4) Journaling. I keep another notebook in evernote for my daily journal. Part of my morning routine is free journaling without abandon for about 10 minutes. But I’ll use the same page, titled by date, to record any big ideas which are sparked throughout the day and developed through meditation, practice, or sleep.

TEACHING

The most obvious of the practices is to practice teaching. Make sure you have an opportunity–even if only one student, even if you do it for free– to practice teaching. Ideally you will have a few students to teach privately, and one group class.

Just plunge in feet first and try to swim. Eventually, as this becomes more and more comfortable, I would choose one intention for the teaching day. Set this teaching intention based on what you’ve seen in your footage.

BREAK DOWN FOOTAGE

Some shortcomings in your teaching will be obvious, some won’t. The time you spend teaching is sacred time between you, your student, and their parent. Record this time so you can pull it apart, study and analyze it to be better later.

1) record yourself (my process here)
2) collect footage of other teachers if you can
3) sit down with this footage and analyze it (at least once a week). What you are looking for will change as your teaching develops, but I’ll provide a consummate post about how to analyze your teaching in the near future.
4) Set intention for changes (one per day) in the upcoming teaching week

So that is all I do — but it is far more than most. To merely teach is the equivalent of only sawing away on new repertoire on your instrument. To develop your teacher requires disciplined practice in a few modalities: playing, writing, teaching, and reviewing footage.

As you look ahead at the landscape of your teaching week make sure you SEE playing, writing, and footage review on your calendar alongside your teaching commitments. If you are trying to develop your teaching, especially as a young teacher, consider what the balance of these practices should be. Your time spent writing and review footage should far outweigh your time spent in lessons with students so as not to develop bad habits.

Start these practices early, and in balance, and your ability to teach will develop exponentially.