I shared a job description for a studio teacher on threads.

We know that work will expand to fill the time that you give it. I could spend all day, every day thinking about teaching. But as I take on more responsibility at ITE I crave a clear definition of what exactly my ‘studio teacher’ role is asking of me.

I parsed out a job description into three levels: basic, intermediate, and fancy. I thought through this as if I were hiring someone to take over my studio for me. Or as if I was describing what I would expect a new cello teacher to do if they joined our school.

Here they are…

BASIC

• Never miss a lesson
• Answer emails/texts
• Take attendance
• Take student lesson notes (post)
• Plan lessons (pre)
• Prepare students for recitals, auditions, orchestra
• Schedule students for summer (in May) and fall (in August)
• Attend school recitals and concerts
• Continuing education (1 training/year)

INTERMEDIATE

• [All of the beginner expectations plus…]
• Record everything (document all processes, video every lesson)
• Studio handbook, update every fall
• Resources for parents
• Watch students practice, give feedback
• Graduation recitals
• Studio recital (1/year = Feb)
• Summer studio gatherings (3/summer)
• Parent/Teacher Lessons (2/year), FAQ follow up after
• Transparency report (1/year = May)
• Fall/winter/spring gift, birthday cards, thank you’s
• 24/7 text support

FANCY

• [All of the beginner and intermediate expectations plus…]
• Host weekend workshops
• Assist with instrument shopping
• Prep for competition/music festivals/college auditions

This exercise was helpful because I realized a few things.

I can do this basic level of required effort in about two hours of work per week. 

Just the basic ‘studio teacher’ job is manageable with very little overhead. With just one or two hours on note taking and lesson planning per week I can do most of my own studio work. All other work time may be given to other, more important projects. I can use a timer to make sure I am limiting studio work to just one hour a week.

There’s no point being advanced if I’m not doing the basics well. 

Advanced teachers never don’t do the basics. I shouldn’t be dwelling on recording every single lesson, or putting together a list of summer music camps, if I’m not even taking my attendance on time or writing down my student lesson notes. Basics first. Fancy doesn’t make up for a lack of basics.

The distinction between recurring responsibilities and projects.

Student lesson notes and lesson plans are recurring responsibilities. I must do them every day. Scheduling in May and August are recurring responsibilities. I must do them twice per year. Writing our studio handbook or collecting resources for parents are a single project. I do them once and can use them forever (with minor updates). Once the basics are covered, I put energy into one project at a time. The projects add value to the studio without any additional recurring effort. It is often better to lean into a one time project and see it to completion than to start a recurring initiative. 

It’s interesting to note that all of the BASICS are recurring responsibilities, whereas INTERMEDIATE and FANCY are more project or event based. So first we must manage our schedule. Then we can use a few deep work blocks to take care of one project at a time.

One way to ensure the my Basic recurring responsibilities are always met is to schedule them. For example, I now always do my attendance on Monday mornings.

I plan group lessons on Friday and then post my lesson plans on Threads right after. 

The schedule for summer and fall come out on May 1 and August. 

Having those details scheduled means I don’t need to think about them any other day of the week, or any other part of the year.

Once you have fulfilled your responsibilities, it is your duty to stop working on that function. Define STOP.

We must define what “good enough” is. We must learn to stop when it is healthier to stop than it is to keep going. Without focus and clarity, I would keep working forever. With ambitions to work in other roles and pursue teacher trainer status, I must reign in my studio teaching to what is manageable. I must get my arms around the work and compartmentalize it into a subset of my work week. If I keep allowing it to expand past the bounds of my own work container then I will never have time for other roles and responsibilities.

Through doing this exercise (telling myself exactly when to stop) I’ve actually raised the quality  and reliability of my work on the whole. I reliably take attendance on time without having to be asked. I often have my lessons scheduled before other teachers have even asked their students for availability. I have a lot of ready made resources to share with families. And I feel like I have the bandwidth to host one time events without losing track of the basics.

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The key here is not to use my job description, but to write down yours. Show yourself what you are asking of yourself. 

Evaluate whether you are actually taking care of the things you would expect another teacher to do.

Where are you sinking energy that you don’t need to? 

Where do you keep assigning yourself tasks and projects that actually don’t need to be done. And how much time would you give yourself to get this job done? 

I hope the clarity will both increase the quality of your work and, in a way, set you free from it.