Gratitude

Here is a tradition I started last year and plan to continue annually at our spring recital. I write a thank you note for each of my students. They are not lengthy notes -- perhaps one or two sentences long. The act of thinking and writing these notes helps me focus my attitude on the things that I find special about each student and our relationship.

For my youngest students, I might draw a note in picture language and include a few stickers:

For other students I might include a little card with one or two quotes that can be hung up in the child's bedroom or placed inside the instrument case, which is where many of my students kept them this past year. 

This "thank you" task may take a few minutes of my time, but I like the way I feel about my students, their parents, my studio, and the past teaching year after I have finished.

Thanks! Until next time,

Happy Practicing!

----- Paula -----

© 2016 by Paula E. Bird

A Lesson in Gratitude

Here is a simple teaching and parenting tip that applies to any time of the year.

My studio will offer its spring recital later today. As part of the preparations, I sat down and wrote out thank you cards to each of my students. The cards are small and my messages are brief, but what I wrote is unique to each student and comes from the wellspring of my heart. Inspired by Dr. Suzuki's writing individual haikus for students, I included brief cards with tiny messages that were full of life's meaning, which I found in a local stationery store.

As I wrote my cards, I thought about each of my students, what made them unique and special to me, and how much I appreciated them and was grateful for the opportunity to spend time with them every week.

This was a small gesture on my part, but the activity brought forth such feelings of warmth and goodwill and was worth every minute of the time I spent doing it. I highly recommend this exercise to teachers and parents. Do this little and often.

Parents: how nice would it be to teach your children to make a similar gesture back to the teacher?