This October we will be having our 7th annual Candy Corn Challenge! I know candy corn is a hotly debated candy, but I promise this is a challenge that works!

A little while back I wrote about how I use sticker cards as an ongoing incentive program.

This program had worked splendidly for 5+ years of my teaching, but I was noticing that several of my older students were getting frustrated at how long it took for them to complete 25 pages of music...especially compared to the little ones.

Then, something I've known for a long time finally hit me. If I'm to reach my students where they are, I must acknowledge the importance of instant gratification in addition to delayed gratification in their lives.

Every generation experiences a faster paced and more stimulating world than the one before it. It's only natural that this generation needs immediate feedback more than I did growing up. Now I run a studio-wide incentive program every few months that provides them with instant feedback.

For the first Candy Corn Challenge, I put together personalized theory packets for each student. At the time, it seemed like a good idea, but putting them together took ages and keeping track of those packets turned out to be a nightmare.

Last year, I overcompensated for my mistake and played Halloween themed games. It was fun and the planning was easy, but in addition to taking up a lot of lesson time; the older one's were bored with some of the games and the little one's hadn't learned many of the concepts yet.

This year's version of the Candy Corn Challenge is a hybrid of the last two. I've laminated some of the theory sheets I created that first year and added some letter name and interval cards. Starting next week, all students of the academy will start their lessons with a level-appropriate theory task. Every correct answer and every wrong answer that they fix on their own earns them a piece of candy corn!

Still wondering why candy corn?
1. You get a lot of candy for a little money. 4.5 pounds for under $10 at BJ's. Score!
2. They're small candies, so I don't feel badly giving even the little ones a few pieces.
3. I don't like it, so I won't be tempted to eat it. :)

Head over to my store to get your own copy of these Halloween themed worksheets & games.

Like many other piano teachers, I use the beginning of the school year to set goals for my students. I do a mid-year checkup in January and then set a separate goal for the summer.

I call my student's goals their "Mission Statement" and they are responsible for helping create it each year.

The Goal Setting Process

I highly recommend that you get your students involved in setting their goals for the year. The importance of having students choose their own goals cannot be over stated. When children are able to have a say their own learning, they feel empowered and take more responsibility in their studies.

But choosing goals can be really hard for a kid, because you don't know what you don't know.

I've come up with some questions to help my students set their Mission Statement for the year.


Questions for Young Beginner Piano Students

For young piano students (5 & under) I ask them these three questions:

1. What do you love about piano?
2. What do you want to be good at?
3. How does playing piano make you feel?

Most of them don't give me a completely coherent answer - okay, let's be honest, the little ones ramble - so I listen and then rephrase their response to fit into a two to three sentence Mission Statement.


Questions for Elementary to Advanced Piano Students

For older students, we get a little more involved. They choose one "what" question and one "how" question from the following list.

• What do I want to accomplish this year?
• What do I want to learn more about?
• What do I want to be better at?

 

• How do I want to feel when I play, practice, & perform?
• How do piano lessons help me to become who I want to become?
• How will I find joy in my music this year?

Students choose one "what" question and one "how" question from each list to answer and together we create their Mission Statement.

I have them start their Mission Statement with "I (name)" then answer their two questions.

After they've written it down, we take it over to the Mission Statement board in the waiting room. Putting it on the board makes official and keeps them accountable. I've found it really helps my students stay on task throughout the year.

I've created this printable to help you and your students set their goals for the year.


Do your students set their own goals?
When do you set your student goals? Do you use a different method of setting those goals? I've love to hear your thoughts!

Over the past several weeks, I've been sharing several resources I've created and used in my music studio as we transition to online music lessons.

In March, I shared 11 benefits of online music lessons. Last week were student and parent guides to online lessons.

In today's post, I'm be sharing dynamics practice sheets.

These fun llama-themed sheets - from my "Llama Hear Ya Play!" series - will help your students understand reading and playing with dynamics on the piano!

The theory sheets can be emailed to your students or printed and put into their piano practice packets!

Using the packets
There are 3 versions of the dynamics practice sheets: Pre-Reading, Beginner, and Elementary.

Each packet has an informational page that introduces the dynamics forte & piano, their definitions, and a description of how to play them properly on the piano. The next page provides your students the opportunity to practice these dynamics with easy to read and play exercises.

Packets can be used as an introduction to dynamics in your students' lessons or you can send it to your students as a fun supplement to their daily practice routine.

Download includes:

• Piano & Forte definitions
• Writing Piano & Forte
• Playing exercises
• Answer Key
• 3 color options including B&W
• Full color page & printer friendly versions

Click the photo to download the Llama Hear Ya Play! Dynamics Packets or on the link below.

 What would Valentine's Day be without a little music teacher love? Here are 5 of my favorite music  activities that I have used with my students over the years:

1.  Valentine's Composing  A couple of years ago I came up with the idea to have my students compose their own pieces for Valentine's Day. Not all of my students were reading on the staff, so I put together this little composing activity for them to use.


2.  Puppy Love is an adorable note reading game from Andrea & Trevor Dow over at TeachPianoToday.


3. Valentine's Cookie Memory I love the many different levels this game incorporates. I'll be introducing a lot of new symbols to some of my little ones and testing the memories of my older ones. I decided to print the black and white version onto 2 sided color card card stock, then I laminated them. Personally, I think they're adorable, thanks Sara for this freebie :)


4.  Susan Paradis has a plethora of awesome piano and music activities, games, & songs on her website, I won't list them all today, but here's where they can be found.


5. I have no idea where I got this worksheet from, but it's a hit every year!

Do you do holiday activities with your students? Have you used any of these?