CPTP112: Having a Mission and Planning Lessons Effectively with Leila Viss

Planning lessons effectively is definitely an art, not a science. There are many things to balance and the actual lesson might look quite different in the end – but with experience it does get easier.

Leila Viss is not only a fantastic piano teacher, but she's also helping to shape future piano teachers at the La Mont Piano Prepatory Program. Through her work there and at her home studio, she has picked up some helpful tips for planning lessons effectively for both groups and individual lessons.

Leila shared a great quote in this interview as she spoke about the spiralling of concepts:

"You have to make the knowledge ready for the child, rather than waiting for the child to be ready for the knowledge." – Jerome Bruner

...And so many more gems! Whether you're a newbie teacher or a veteran, you're definitely going to learn a heap from this episode.

Transcript

If you'd like to download a PDF transcript of this episode, please click below.

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In this episode, you’ll learn

• Why lesson planning is important for piano teachers
• How Leila plans for her group lessons
• Why you need a mission statement for your teaching
• Common mistakes that planning can help us avoid
• How to teach students to practice and give them ownership
• The why, what and how of planning lessons effectively
• Where technology fits into the planning process
• How much input students should have in the lesson structure

Links Mentioned

• 88pianokeys.me
• Balancing the Eye and the Ear with Bradley Sowash and Leila Viss
• Cult of Pedagogy podcast with Norman Eng
• Simon Sinek TEDtalk
• Play is more than just fun TEDtalk

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Thank you for Tuning In!

There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, and I’m grateful that you’ve chosen mine.

Whether you’re at the gym, on the bike or in the car, I know that you and your students will get lots out of what you learn in the long run.

Just make sure you try out some of the ideas before they get lost in the business of your next lessons!

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Are you planning lessons effectively?

Do you fall into any of the traps or mistakes Leila mentioned? Does your lesson planning process look like hers?

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