Take Your Time: Don't Become Blinded by Your Frustration
Published: Jan 8, 2020 | Category: Insights Learned from Students
Frustration surfaces when pride has gripped your sensibilities. Students can become frustrated for a variety of reasons. But the kind of frustration described in this post is the kind that comes when pride has risen in a student who thinks they know more than the teacher. It is a dangerous place to be when pride enters in.
Sometimes, when a student is frustrated, he doesn't want to do what the teacher asks. Sometimes, a student thinks he knows everything and refuses to listen to your instruction. When a question arises for him, and the answer is right there in front of him, frustration has him blinded to it. As he answers with a scowl, he retorts with an "I don't get it."
It's not that he doesn't get it. It's that he doesn't want to do the work that is before him.
Too often, students plow through their pieces or practice without thinking about what they are doing. Too often, students play too fast, which means they have practiced too quickly; the outcome is a play-through riddled with unnecessary mistakes. Their practice is often more about checking off a list of to-dos than checking on the things that matter.
Are my fingers sitting correctly on the bow? Am I playing the correct finger pattern in this passage? Students need to be taught how to think critically through when practicing. The teacher prepares, shows, guides, and nurtures while instructing. Carefully-planned lessons translated to the student means the expectation is that he practices at home. Specific detail by way of written detail provides all the necessary ingredients for the student. Or a video of the how-to is supplied. However, when a student chooses to override what the teacher shows, he is in danger of missing something so beautiful.
Students must learn to listen, practice correctly, and take their time! It is not a race. When you start, even if your "talent" unveils itself early on, you must start from the beginning to get to where you think you are. Sometimes you must go back and pick up what you tried to drop and forget. Think about the frustration you find yourself in because you did not listen while ignoring to read what is right in front of you!
Don't allow the pride of frustration to usurp the joy of learning.
It is so simple when you take your time. All the notes fall into place when you take your time! Take your time to listen, to reflect, and then you will get an understanding. Take your time!!!
Sometimes, when a student is frustrated, he doesn't want to do what the teacher asks. Sometimes, a student thinks he knows everything and refuses to listen to your instruction. When a question arises for him, and the answer is right there in front of him, frustration has him blinded to it. As he answers with a scowl, he retorts with an "I don't get it."
It's not that he doesn't get it. It's that he doesn't want to do the work that is before him.
Too often, students plow through their pieces or practice without thinking about what they are doing. Too often, students play too fast, which means they have practiced too quickly; the outcome is a play-through riddled with unnecessary mistakes. Their practice is often more about checking off a list of to-dos than checking on the things that matter.
Are my fingers sitting correctly on the bow? Am I playing the correct finger pattern in this passage? Students need to be taught how to think critically through when practicing. The teacher prepares, shows, guides, and nurtures while instructing. Carefully-planned lessons translated to the student means the expectation is that he practices at home. Specific detail by way of written detail provides all the necessary ingredients for the student. Or a video of the how-to is supplied. However, when a student chooses to override what the teacher shows, he is in danger of missing something so beautiful.
Students must learn to listen, practice correctly, and take their time! It is not a race. When you start, even if your "talent" unveils itself early on, you must start from the beginning to get to where you think you are. Sometimes you must go back and pick up what you tried to drop and forget. Think about the frustration you find yourself in because you did not listen while ignoring to read what is right in front of you!
Don't allow the pride of frustration to usurp the joy of learning.
It is so simple when you take your time. All the notes fall into place when you take your time! Take your time to listen, to reflect, and then you will get an understanding. Take your time!!!
