A Mind at a Time

Dr. Mel Levine is a well-known education expert and pediatrician. He wrote this book, entitled A Mind at a Time, to parents and others who care for children to give them a better understanding of learning patterns. I didn't find anything written directly for music teachers, but most of the things he wrote still apply. For example, Levine talks about mind profiles. He put it best in saying: 

Some of our children are blessed with profiles that are magnificently matched to expectations, while others are saddled with profiles that fail to mesh with demands.

To the parents of children that may not be blessed with such a marvelous profile, he counsels to take heart. Don't give up on them, and don't allow them to give up on themselves. Fix weaknesses by pursuing strengths. 

Every child has a creative side. It's up to them to pursue it. Levine says:

In being creative, kids unshackle their minds and discover novel possibilities for self-expression and mental free play. 

Everything I've studied so far in this project tells stories of kids finding an escape in music. But all of them needed a little nudge from an adult figure - either a parent or a teacher. I'm excited to be in that position!

Sometimes, though, students and teachers clash. To address this, one cannot rewire the student, nor can one alter the expectations of the teacher. No one is at fault when there just isn't a good relationship. But how can it be dealt with? Compromise and acceptance. Through all walks of life, there will be people we don't get along with. Unfortunately for some, this begins in an elementary school classroom, or with your childhood piano teacher. Here's a little side-note from my life.

I have 4 sisters. We all grew up playing piano and competing in soccer.  My oldest sister, Jennifer, was a goal-keeper, just like me. As a goal-keeper, you get pretty beat up - your hands especially. Jennifer was really good at soccer, but she was even better at the piano. She even studied it in college and is now a great teacher. When my family moved to Arizona, Jennifer started taking lessons from a lady here. This teacher did not support Jennifer's soccer playing, mainly because of her torn-up hands. This teacher felt that piano was everything. You can't do soccer and piano. That's impossible. She was the kind of teacher that would smack your hands every time you made a mistake. She was a little intense. Jennifer didn't take lessons from her for very long. Why? Because she was constantly being put down by her piano teacher!

Moral of the story: Putting each other down will get you no where.

The next thing that I found really important was what Levine said about motivation. 

Generally speaking, an individual is motivated if he finds the goal attractive.

We are motivated to do something if we feel we can actually achieve it. Otherwise, motivation is nonexistent. But who sets the standards for what students need to achieve? Teachers? Parents? Themselves? We can't let students feel like they have to meet certain standards. That's when self-confidence begins to crumble. They feel they'll never be as good as the person next to them. That's what worries me about having a piano recital. I'm afraid that my students will look at each other's performances and think, "Wow. They learned way faster than I did. I'll never be that good." That is the last thing I want to happen! I want to have a recital so we can celebrate the progress that's been made over the past few months. I always want to stress that EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT. Some minds just aren't made for certain things. My mind, for example, fails at history and biology. Those subjects focus so much on memorization, which just isn't my thing. I work with processes and free-thinking, like math and music. The way I see it, music is just like math. You start simple, learning the fundamentals. Then you're exposed to more difficult concepts which, with practice, will come.

We cannot allow discouragement to engulf the minds of students. 
We want them to succeed.
We want them to want to succeed.