Here are some recent aspects of piano pedagogy I am excited about using with my students recently:

1. At the beginning of the school year I chose about 10 of my students to take part in a portfolio project. About once each month, those students and I choose one piece that they have worked especially hard on to record on my computer. At the end of the year I will burn these audio portfolios onto a CD so that the students can listen to their progress throughout the entire year. It is working beautifully! Not only are the students excited about the project and the progress they are making, I am finding that recording finished pieces gives us a reason to work just a bit harder to put the finishing touches on certain pieces, and it recreates the environment of a low pressure performance throughout the entire year. Playing and singing always feels different when someone is watching or you are being recorded, and I am hoping that learning to cope with that difference throughout the year will make playing at a recital in the spring much less scary for these students.

2. Last month I read a professional book about using questions more effectively in the private lesson environment, and I have been experimenting with asking better, higher level questions, and having students explain more concepts verbally.

3. I am always emphasizing the ability to find patterns in music, and many of my students have actually started to seek out patterns on their own when I hand them new music.

4. My younger students have been doing some composing with alphabet refrigerator magnets. They love it, and it is great practice for my prereading students who are learning letter names for the keys on the piano, but haven't begun to read notes on the staff yet. I love using manipulatives, especially with young students. Things are so much more exciting if they get to move something around.