Polyphony.(Professional Resources)

Q What are ways to be more aware of one's own teaching style and characteristics? I want to avoid getting into a rut in my teaching.

A The beginning of moving away from a rut or sameness in teaching is first the realization that we may need to change--an awareness of just what is happening in our own teaching. Then, with that awareness, we can begin to make a shift. I find video or audio taping to be, perhaps, the most helpful way to connect with one's own teaching style and mode.

It is my belief that every studio should own and regularly use a video camera. While many uses of video cameras exist in teaching, here I will talk only the most basic use, that of taping student lessons. Last week while video taping lessons for my students' own use during the following week, I, in fact, was the one who learned the most. While reviewing the lessons to give to the students and post for their review, I saw an enthusiastic and insightful teacher who, for one, talked too quickly. I saw wasted words in a lesson that still was paced quickly, but not succinctly enough. Now, more fully aware of what I was doing--stepping outside myself via video--I knew clearly what I wanted to change. Where I wanted to begin. An awakening? Yes, perhaps unexpected, but also welcomed.

When we are able to see ourselves as others see us, we can more objectively balance the aspects of performance or teaching we wish to keep and those we will change. How easy it is to set a video camera on a tripod and turn it on--for the student to hear and see, for the teacher to hear and see and/or for the parents to hear or see what a child has accomplished.

As a routine, all of my students audiotape their lessons each week to refer to in practice. Of course I can tell who studies the audiotapes and who does not by the performance in…