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Are Frustrated Students Frustrating You? (All Teachers)
I just remind them that part of the reason they’re here is to make mistakes and that mistakes are a healthy thing in order to assess and improve. I also remind them that it’s all fun and should be enjoyable and not stressful, otherwise tension will make things less achievable! It’s about loosening up and not fearing these errors…!
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10 Replies
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Yep, 100%. I always say “this is the place you can make mistakes. Make every mistake here so that when you get on stage there are none left to make”. Or something along those lines.
I feel like the crux of when I get most frustrated with students is when they don’t believe in *my* advice. If they don’t believe in themselves and beat themselves up for making mistakes then at least they’re showing a whole lot of bravery showing up for each lesson. It’s when they’re having their doubts about me as a teacher that things can become difficult, because then it’s difficult to connect with them and get results.
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Well said Kat! The amount of times I’ve said “This is the place to make mistakes. Otherwise, why else would you be here? If there were no mistakes, I wouldn’t be of much help!”
When have they had doubts??
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It’s only rarely I get a student that seems like they’re not ready to improve. I don’t mind if they doubt my advice and ask for clarification – I enjoy those moments where we can discuss things and get nerdy:). But maybe a couple of times a year I’ll get the commitment-phobe come in. This is the kind of person who has tried 10 different singing teachers in the last year and then doesn’t quite believe me when I come up with some new advice they haven’t heard before, but is also cynical when they hear something familiar. To be honest I don’t really understand this mind-set. The other kind of commitment-phobe I’ve witnessed is the one who’s tried swimming, then tennis, then oil-painting, and then has finally come to you. The kind of person that doesn’t know what they’re looking for and doesn’t really want to practice or even improve; they’re just kind of lost. These people are also usually really “busy” but are bad at prioritising your (and their own) time. They never practice and they’ll reschedule you 3 times in a row so they can fit in some other hobby and not even think that they’re putting you out haha.
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Mid-life crisis.
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haha exactly!
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