Kathryn Drake

Suzuki Violin Teacher

The Shallow Work I Don’t Do

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shallow work

Tynan, a fellow longhorn, once shared an interesting story on his site. He was at cruising altitude, eating the provided in flight meal compete with fish, vegetables, and other edibles. However, also included in this meal was chocolate pudding. Now Tynan has talked extensively about his commitment to eating well. For years he was a vegan paying hundreds of dollars while traveling to eat fresh, wholesome meals. He didn’t want to eat the cup of chocolate pudding, but the cup sitting right there on the tray in front of him proved tempting to some part of himself.

Instead of letting the tempted, rationalizing voice in his head continue to work on his own resolve, Tynan simply picked up the provided bags of salt and pepper and dumped them on top of the pudding. He went so far as to mush pieces of trash into the container. In one split second the pudding went from tempting to disgusting. He had no more desire to eat the pudding and no nagging left to deal with. In other words, one moment of willpower saved him from needing to maintain willpower over a long stretch of time.

At the end of his post he suggests that there are many other arenas in which we can apply the same principle, so I’ve spent about two years deploying this tactic. [Read more…]

Observe Suzuki Violin Lessons 009

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I just posted my ninth observable violin lesson on my Youtube channel! This one features my pre-twinkler, Santi, in his ninth violin lesson.

At this point in Santi’s development we have switched him from his box violin to a real violin, and are working on establishing the perfect place for it on his shoulder. This lesson is chock full of repetition, but because of that you have the opportunity to observe the strategies we use to keep Santi engaged.

Watch Santi’s skills build through repetition in the video below or on youtube. [Read more…]

The Card Game

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card game

In teacher training with Ed Sprunger, Ed Kreitman, and Michiko Yurko I learned about the importance of games in instruction.

Using the container of a game allows parent, student, and teacher to…

  1. Structure provides feedback
  2. Interests of parents and teachers are aligned with the success of students
  3. Parent and teacher acknowledge to the student that fun/energy/excitement can be part of hard work (and ultimately our goals for students)

I use a handful of games I’ve picked up in lessons, observations and trainings as often as possible. One of my favorites is Ed Sprunger’s “Card Game” which I will describe in detail below.

MATERIALS

Deck of playing cards (no jokers)

RULES

The teacher determines an activity, or series of activities for a student to do. Student draws at least one card from a deck without looking. If the card is a number, the student does the activity that number of times. If the card is an ace, the student does the activity eleven times. If the card is a face card, the teacher must perform the activity. The game is complete once all of the cards have been flipped and the activities finished.

[Read more…]

Teach Students and Parents to Go Deep

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parents go deep

Last week I introduced several ideas for how teachers can protect the deep work at the core of their professional lives.

I shared that my deep work happens daily in violin practice, lessons with students, weekly deep writing sessions, and a deep thinking and planning session at the beginning of each semester. My routines for scheduling and doing that work is clear in my mind. And because deep work profoundly increases my ability to provide value, most around me are directly or indirectly supportive of the deep work that I do.

Knowing that the deep work I did with violin, running, and academics growing has shaped the person I am today, I think critically about how to coach students and parents to do work in that mode. Through parent conferences, practice, and a regular reiteration of one is important to me, I think my students cultivate an understanding of deep work that many of their peers don’t have the chance to. [Read more…]

Observe Suzuki Violin Lessons 008

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I’ve posted seven lessons on my Youtube channel of work with pre-twinkler, Hayley. Each shows my introduction to important pre-twinkle teaching points, but most important you can get a sense for how I structure lessons and how a develop a rhythm for productive lesson work.

Take a look each episode in the series here.

This week I’m launching a series of lessons with another pre-twinkle, Santi. Notice how the cadence of lessons with Santi differ with that of Hayley’s. You will see me work through similar skills, but using different words, different activities, and different games.

The adaption of my teaching to the unique nature of each of my students is something I’ll work on for the rest of my life. But I’m excited you use the next few Observe Suzuki Violin Lessons to study the way in which I’m already tailoring my teaching.

Watch Santi’s lesson below or on youtube. [Read more…]

Feedback: Simply Say What You See

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mdoao83l1iu-etienne-boulanger

“I REALLY LOVE THAT!”

“I really love that!” is one of the most dangerous comments a teacher can give a student.

Acknowledging how correct your student’s behavior is in the form of “likability” causes harm in several ways. It implies that…

1. If they do something incorrectly you won’t like them
2. Their success is dependent on someone else’s evaluation
3. The reason we do something is because someone else decided it was correct

Let’s study how the a typical bow-building lesson segment unfolds…

– Teacher: can you make a bow hold?
– Student makes a bow hold
– Teacher: “Uh oh, that one’s not quite right. Can you do it again and think really hard about your bent thumb?”
– Student makes another bow hold, carefully checking pinkie and thumb and wrapping middle fingers over the stick
– Teacher: “That’s beautiful, I love that one! Way to go!”

So on the surface it appears a great teaching moment just happened. The student did something wrong, the teacher suggested a correction, the student made the correction, the teacher praised the student, the student will be more likely to make the correct bow hold in the future.

But consider the way in which the teacher in the scenario needed to withhold praise in order to effect change. Not only is this an inefficient method, it is not ethical.

The student becomes dependent on the teachers continual dispension of loving affirmation in order to perform every aspect of their skill set. It is by using the phrases “I like … ” and “I love…” when evaluating student behavior that we find students continually checking their teacher’s face and body language to decipher the correct sequence of correct behaviors. Students are paralyzed — unable to differentiate excellence without the help of their teacher.

In other words, the locus of control is with the teacher and not the student.

To avoid this, offer honest feedback without a value interpretation. Just say what you see.

  • Say “Your thumb is bent!” instead of “I like your bow hold!”
  • Say “Your feet are together!” instead, “I don’t know about that play position…”
  • Say “Your fingers are tall because you are playing on your inside corners!” instead of, “I like your violin hand frame!”
  • Say “Your D was sharp every time you played it!” instead of, “I didn’t really like your intonation this time.”

By only saying what you see, you hand the locus of control back over to your student. It is then their job to interpret what your comment means, what must be changed, and what to look for/listen for/ or think about in the future to cause a different outcome. [Read more…]

Go Deep

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go deep

Over the next few weeks I’ll be exploring the way a philosophy on deep work guides my life. Today I want to take a close look at the particulars of the deep work I do, the way I do it, and how I train students and parents to do the same.

MY FRONTIERS OF DEEP WORK

After understanding the distinction between deep and shallow types of work I found myself relieved. Finally I could separate in my mind the most important things I do (improving in violin, running a business, learning) and the trivial things I do (airing up my bike tire, filing taxes, sending emails). All of my work is necessary, but I learned I didn’t have to manage all of my work in the same way.

Next week you will hear about how I take care of the minutia that fringes a life of deep work (details like flat tires and an email inbox), but first I need to explain what I acknowledge as the core of my work.

Cal Newport in his book DEEP WORK defines deep work as…

professional activities performed in a state of distraction free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.”

By that definition, I identify three frontiers of deep work in my life.

[Read more…]

Observe Suzuki Violin Lessons 007

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My seventh observable lesson is now live on my Youtube channel! This one features my pre-twinkler, Hayley, in a lesson we had together over winter break.

At this time I was working hard to catch her left hand development up to her right hand. You will see me review, repurpose, and introduce left hand strengthening activities both in high positions and in first position. One of the most crucial parts of the lesson for me was in deciding when it was appropriate to transfer the skills we had been developing at the “high mark” to the tapes in first position.

Watch Hayley’s left hand strengthen in real time below or on youtube. [Read more…]

Integrate Recording Into Teaching

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recording

As I recorded my own pre-screening audition last semester, I also found myself making recordings of my students’ playing for the annual String Project Honors Recital tape submission.

Though I was playing Mendelssohn, Bach and Paganini while they were playing Lightly Row, the Ant Song, and Witches Dance, there were similarities in the way we all responded the camera lens.

By focusing a camera on the live performance of a piece, suddenly mistakes and inconsistencies were glaringly obvious. It seemed as if the expectations of our own playing increased tenfold as soon as we went from listening to ourselves while playing to watching a video after playing. My students and I found reserves of energy to make a piece just that tiny bit better to capture on video that we didn’t know we had.

Encouraged by the changes in my own playing and in that of my students, I began taping other students who weren’t attempting to audition for the honors recital. With the tool of the camera, we were able improve their playing as well. [Read more…]

The Distinction Between Deep and Shallow Work

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depth

The meetings that Mary Oliver suggested and I discussed last week are ones that I am familiar with, but needed to be reminded of.

I am lucky to have come to know those meetings of the conscious and cautious selves as a grew up. My parents led me (and perhaps I was drawn to) activities that required focus, and risk, and challenge.

Day after day my mom and I would meet the violin head on, working patiently without distraction. I gave my entire self out on countless rugged cross country courses when the pain felt unbearable, but also liberating. I came to know my selves in preparing my first few research papers and *real* tests in high school. As I started meditating in college I felt that marriage of conscience with a higher, nobler self.

I’ve had the fortune to understand the connection, and the power of connection, of my selves to my work that comes in seriousness and in stillness. I understood it physically, kinesthetically, emotionally, and perhaps even mentally. But not intellectually.

I didn’t have the words to name the power of this connection until I read Joshua Waitzkin’s incredible book The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence.

[Read more…]