Let’s writeabout more learning tricks, with a focus on Teacher Toolkit. Successful teachers are reflective: In order to avoid becoming the stuck and stubborn teacher, successful educators take time to reflect on their methods, their delivery, and the way they connect with their students. Reflection is necessary to uncover those weaknesses that can be strengthened with a bit of resolve and understanding. Successful teachers seek out mentors of their own: Reflective teachers can easily get disheartened if they don’t have someone a bit older and wiser offering support. You are never too old or wise for a mentor. Mentors can be that voice that says, “Yes your reflections are correct,” or “No, you are off because….” and provide you with a different perspective. Successful teachers communicate with parents: Collaboration between parents and teachers is absolutely crucial to a student’s success. Create an open path of communication so parents can come to you with concerns and you can do the same. When a teacher and parents present a united front, there is a lower chance that your student will fall through the cracks.

Use visuals or gestures. Know your students and choose age-appropriate visuals and gestures. Including students in the development classroom signals can increase buy-in, particularly for older learners. Provide directions versus asking questions. This recommendation can lead to the quickest change. It may not be all that you need to do, but it’s definitely one of the first 10 things you should try! Remember, if we ask a question, we have to be willing to accept yes or no as an answer. Read extra details on Teacher Guides.

Learning is not only for young people. Seniors in a digital world can be easily overwhelmed by all the new technology around us. We are surrounded by an array of digital devices, whether its smartphones, social media, tablets, banking machines, or laptops. There’s no avoiding it, so we should learn how to use all these technological advances to make life easier. It’s easy to become tech savvy seniors when you begin to learn more about the technology around you.

Be mindful of the word choice you’re using. The new words the Internet has created in our dictionary might not make sense to someone who barely uses a computer. Instead, ask them what they already know about technology so you can use analogies to what they’re already familiar with. A very good website for senior learning is Tech learning for seniors.

Music education is hot this days, many people try to learn music, for various reasons. There are a few podcasts that focuses on teaching people about music and one of them is The Music Educator by Bill Stevens. Engage your students instantly by teaching them their favorite songs or genres. All kinds of music can be valuable resources for teaching and learning. There is no need to stick to the genres that have traditionally been associated with music lessons, such as classical and baroque music. Our music teaching app Solfeg.io has a massive song library where you can find music that will appeal to your students. Use Solfeg.io to break the music down and choose specific musical elements to teach to your students. Perhaps the chord progressions, rhythm, or melodic patterns would make a good lesson, and one the students are sure to remember.

Advice of the day for music teachers : Meet with Student Leaders: Another great way to start the new school year is to meet with the student leaders of the upcoming class. This meeting can be either formal or informal, but either way the goal is to establish a positive relationship with the student body. Feel free to share ideas with the student leaders, or even brainstorm fun classroom activities.

You can listen to the The Music Educator podcast by using the app from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.themusiceducatorpodcast.android.music. You can learn more about Bill Steven by visiting his website at https://www.4themusiceducator.com/.