51 replies to this topic

[Leese]

Delighted to see this, signed up straight away. 

[ten left thumbs]

OK, looks like we start tomorrow. Everyone got their pencils sharpened?

[musicposy]

I'll be interested to know more about this. I can't start this week as I'm in the thick of maths exams (don't ask!) but it looks as though you can start any time and do I could pick it up next week if people find it good.

[WindWaker]

I've signed up (although I'm not teaching yet, I want to get as much preparation and ideas as possible). It looks good so far - I like online courses, it's free, and you can do the bits at any time rather than having to be available at a set time. The week 1 stuff looks good so far, pointing out areas you should be thinking about within a lesson. I'm pleased ABRSM are engaging with the teaching community.

[mel2]

Currently fussing around trying to find a discreet place to put my phone in order to record some lessons (this week's task). Wherever I put it, I can see it being a distraction for the children; adults should be ok with it.
I've had lessons recorded before so am prepared for the horror, but someone else has always set up the camera!
There was a bit of an outcry against the task among the cohort so I should check if we are still doing it!

[ma non troppo]

Recording your student's lessons!? Seriously? There's no way I would even ask them. Once people are being recorded they behave totally differently anyway. I'm not surprised people are against it.

[Piano Meg]

Recording your student's lessons!? Seriously? There's no way I would even ask them. Once people are being recorded they behave totally differently anyway. I'm not surprised people are against it.

 

We had to do it for the PPTC course. Just two students. They and their families were fine about it and, although I'm sure I behaved differently(!), it was still useful. 

 

I think I put my phone perpendicular to the piano/pupil on the opposite side to where I sat, but as far back as possible. Since the pupils were looking at the piano and me, they didn't seem overly distracted by it. I also made a big thing about the fact that it was for MY learning, and not about them.

[mel2]

^^
Quite so. The thing to assure them is that it's my teaching that is being picked apart, not their playing. I think the idea is that it measures how you respond in any situation, whether the student 'plays to the camera', curls up in a corner or throws a wobbly.
If they can ignore it and carry on as normal, so much the better. I have found that observing myself in action is exquisitely painful but a sure-fire way of finding the truth! It's quite good for a critique of one's playing, too. Ouch!

Edit to add: I've just been on to the ISM for help with a consent form for participants/parents just to cover my back. I'm sure they will come up with better wording than anything I could design.

Edited by mel2, 11 June 2019 - 11:50 .

[ma non troppo]

I have done, and continue to take part in a lot of professional development (both as giver and receiver). During a real "paid for" lesson, however, I want my students to feel it is all about them, not about me. I wouldn't want to put students and their parents in an awkward position by even asking - it's like when I have been to the doctors and they ask if a student can sit in on my appointment - one should feel that it's perfectly OK to say no, but how many people don't feel able to and go along with it then feel (even more) uncomfortable? I have a very easy going and relaxed raport with most of my students and this would feel intrusive and invasive of the flow.

[ten left thumbs]

I did a recording today - a lesson with an adult. I've done it before and not had anyone bat an eyelid. But, it did help a lot that I had a good amount of time to prepare, and the best prep I did was buy a cheap (but big enough) tripod on which to put the phone while recording - this helps a lot. 

 

I don't agree with ma non troppo that it is all about the student. We are two people, in close quarters, regularly, focussing on the same thing: the student's learning. There is interaction. A different teacher would do it differently. I expect my adult students and the parents of my child students to realize that I am a human being too. I don't often have 'needs' as such during a lesson. Really my only needs are to be paid on time, to be informed of changes and to be dealt with with courtesy. If I just explain to someone that I need to be recorded for a course, then most folk are quite OK with this. 

 

A few will not be. From my other life, I do know that some people refuse to have students for medical treatment. It does happen. When I was a student midwife, most folks liked students because it meant we could spend more time with them. But some people refused, as is their right. 

[ma non troppo]

Some people do find it hard to say no, even though they feel uncomfortable.

I am paid to give the best lesson I can and I cannot do that whilst being filmed. I would feel tense and so would most students. Everyone is aware of the camera. If you explain what you "need" (other than the obvious things you mention with which I agree) to a student it isn't "their" lesson anymore, surely?!

Perhaps give a free session to someone (an adult) willing to be recorded?

[mel2]

I have given free lessons in the past when the student was being recorded - it may be a 'sweetener' if needed.

I found numerous potentially irritating mannerisms in my performance in past video recordings; it gave me the chance to try and iron these out and behave like the kind of teacher I aspire to be.
Of course, anyone is free to 1) decline to be filmed (I would if pounced upon by a journalist in the street with a camera and microphone) or 2) pass up the difficult challenge of observing a warts-and-all student's-eye look at how they present a lesson.

Having tried a dry run using my laptop on a table behind the piano and seen how decrepit I'm looking these days, those recordings are going nowhere public!

[ten left thumbs]

...d. I would feel tense and so would most students....

Ah, well, I supposed it boils down to how you feel about it, which is going to be personal, after all. I didn't feel uncomfortable or tense filming myself, however, I felt fairly uncomfortable this morning when I tried to watch said recording. Do I really sound like that? Yuk! How does anyone put up with me? Horror of horrors... 

[mel2]

 

...d. I would feel tense and so would most students....

Ah, well, I supposed it boils down to how you feel about it, which is going to be personal, after all. I didn't feel uncomfortable or tense filming myself, however, I felt fairly uncomfortable this morning when I tried to watch said recording. Do I really sound like that? Yuk! How does anyone put up with me? Horror of horrors... 

 

Um. I recorded one this morning, too. It was an adult who seemed well able to cope. Not all would, admittedly.

 

Haven't had the courage to view the recording yet but will feel more braced later. 

[Rach123]

Does anyone who is currently signed up think this is a good course for an aspiring music teacher? (or do you have to already have students?)

 

On the subject of recording, I don't like recording myself because i don't like what i sound like on recordings