What I'm doing wrong with My Teaching

-Eliana Yi

The title of this post sounds rather negative, almost repentant, but I ask that it not be viewed so. The problem with many people’s attitudes about learning is that it is based on the fundamental principle of improvement—which is accompanied, for some reason, by the shaming of “unimprovement”, when that is the most natural component of learning anything. It is “unimprovement” that shows just how much one knows, and “unimprovement” that teachers should care about the most. Most teachers are reluctant to address weaknesses as they are. They are afraid of hurting their student’s feelings (such a well-intentioned act of love!)

I, too, am afraid of hurting my student’s feelings. I’m afraid to address my student’s weaknesses: to tell them that they are sliding backward from their goal, or that they must turn back to the fundamentals…I’m afraid because I have the same attitude as them. Mistakes are shameful. They must be eradicated or buried as soon as possible. If they are not, social consequences occur, and along with them the feelings of guilt, exclusion, even abandonment.

I need to shake off this fear of being wrong. I will be wrong. I will always be wrong about something. I need to learn that mistakes are a good thing. In fact, they are the most helpful tool to learn. The more I understand my mistakes, what I’m doing wrong and why, the less I fear them. They will become friendly to me, and I will care about them and will want to change them because I love them.

I’d like to practice embracing my mistakes by listing them here, for all to see. My goal this year is to become comfortable with them, then to understand why they are my mistakes. What fundamental source do they come from? What basic truth do I need to re-address? How can I keep myself from committing these bad habits?

Some of my “wrongs” are listed out in the chart below, as well as my procedure for how I will work on them:

The Misdeed	Why it exists	The solution
Telling students that they “did a good job” when they actually did not perform a task up to my expectations	I know how it is like being in their shoes. Validation is so important, and I crave for it. I shower them with praise even if they don’t deserve it because I care about their feelings.	Always thank students for their effort in the lesson. Be honest and straightforward when giving criticism (use a kind tone of voice, but never give empty praise).
Moving on to new pieces before finishing the old ones	Staying on one piece for a long time is frustrating. I’m afraid my students will want to quit piano if I keep them on a piece for too long.	There’s two solutions: Give students easier pieces so they don’t stay on one too long It’s okay to take time with a piece. Take the risk. The student will learn. She will improve. Running away from pieces will impress on a student that it is okay to run away from other problems.
Not using enough metronome	I don’t want to hear them struggling with the metronome. We will both get frustrated.	The metronome tasks I am assigning them is too hard. They probably don’t have a fundamental understanding of rhythm and time. We need to play a really easy piece and use the metronome through that piece. Then work our way up to pieces at their level again. The student won’t like it at first. I will have to get over my fear of their disapproval.
Not demanding enough practice time…with some students, I’m afraid to even talk about practice time with them. And now it’s a Catch-22: they don’t practice…so they don’t produce results. They get frustrated. I get frustrated. Piano is a bad time.	I’m afraid my students will resent me for making them practice.	First, I must understand my student’s schedule. Second, I need to figure out a practice time that works for them…that requires their commitment but is not overwhelming. Third, I must be insistent. Building up practice habits will make this less of an issue over time.

There are many other things I must improve. If anyone wants the rest of my list, I’m more than happy to share. The more I expose my weaknesses, the less I have to hide, and the more I will trust myself in my ability to improve.

For my own students (and my student’s parents), keep me accountable and tell me when I make these mistakes. Help me become a more useful teacher to you all.