A Visit to the Practice Shoppe with Leslie Thackeray

As I have been focusing on the topic of review and how important it is, I recently spoke to Leslie Thackeray from thepracticeshoppe.com about her website. I love to explore the items that Leslie has listed, because they spark a creative idea or two in my head about practicing and teaching my students better. I especially appreciate all the free downloadable charts that Leslie offers for review and repetition purposes. There is a review chart for everyone of every level.

Because I enjoy browsing Leslie’s website, I thought I would find out more about her and how she came to create her site.

Leslie: I started playing Suzuki violin when I was 4 and don't have many memories of practicing as a young child, except that I hated it. My mom never let me quit. She knew I liked playing, because when I'd perform, I'd be happy with myself. I sure dreaded practicing each day though, to the point that I would do all sorts of things to try to get out of it (taking long baths is one thing I remember in particular).

Paula: You are jogging my memory of my own childhood. My mother set a kitchen timer for 30 minutes, and the hard and fast rule in my house was that practicing got done first thing after school. If a friend came knocking at the door to ask if I could come out and play, my mother politely told them to come back when my 30 minutes were up. How did you handle the practicing issue with your own children?

Leslie: As a mother practicing with my own children, I kept thinking of fun ways to practice so it wouldn't be such drudgery for my children. I saw a cute bead counter at my daughter's violin teacher's house and wanted one for myself. When I looked online, I found they were too expensive for me to afford at the time. My husband is always up for a project, so I told him what I wanted, and we went out to find the right materials. I remember we had all this extra time because it was Thanksgiving break 2009.

After playing around a bit with some different ideas we finally came up with our bead counter. I emailed a bunch of my teacher friends and asked if they wanted to buy some for their kids or students for Christmas (to recoup the cost of the materials). The response was extraordinary and I was overwhelmed with orders all Christmas season. I've improved the quality of the product so it would last longer and withstand the wrath of children.

Since then I’ve used the bead counters nearly every day in my practicing with my children and my teaching with my students. It's incredible to watch the concentration of the student to finish a task 10 times when I pull out the bead counter.

Paula: You have many colorful bead counters, and the themes are terrific. You also sell other things besides the bead counters. Tell us how you started doing that.

Leslie: We have an amazing Suzuki Institute here in Utah, and we decided to sell the bead counters at the Institute. Again, the response was great, so I decided to see what else I could sell to the parents and teachers at institute. Every time I wanted something for practicing with my kids or for my studio, I would search and search for the best price and buy it in bulk so I could sell it to other teachers and parents around.

As teachers, we use so many different doodads and gadgets from lots of different places. My goal is to provide some of these fun practicing supplies all in one place for a good price.

Paula: My favorite part of your website – and the pages that I visit the most – are your links to downloadable review and practice charts. There are so many charts and such clever themes. How did these charts come about?

Leslie: I was always searching online for fun practice charts for my own kids. I never could find very many creative ideas, but I figured I could come up with some. I feel that I can put these practice charts online really quickly and share them with everyone for free. I always love finding free printables online.

I love when I get emails from people who love my practice charts, because it makes me feel like I'm helping someone for very little of my time. These free printables are the biggest draw to The Practice Shoppe. I love when people give me their practice chart ideas to add to the website. I would love to be a major source of practice chart printables among Suzuki teachers and any music teacher.

Paula: I see that you have added dice, some jewelry items, puppets, and other specialty items. I have a huge collection of dice in my own studio. There are dice for all sorts of purposes.

Leslie: I also love using dice in my teaching and have searched high and low for all sorts of dice. The kids love to roll dice to see how many times they have to practice. I have some more dice in production that will be coming out soon. I'm so excited to launch these new products.

Paula: Thanks, Leslie, for taking the time to talk about your website. For anyone who is interested in seeing these products on Leslie’s website, visit: www.thepracticeshoppe.com.

If you would also like to read my interview of Sue Hunt about the importance of review and Sue's new book Review -- Making it Fun, Gets the Job Done, you can find the article here and the book on Sue's Music in Practice website here.

Monday Morning Check In: What’s in Your Toolkit?

It was a new beginning last week. It was a new beginning of the school year, of the school semester, of the new symphony season, of the new quartet season. There were a lot of things I needed to do in advance of the new season start, and I wrote last week about some ways to beat the stress that comes with that territory. This week, I write about the things that might be in your toolkit when it comes to making a fresh start. This toolkit would apply to parents, teachers, and students. The things in my toolkit are completely essential to my getting through the day. Without any one of these things, I suffer the effects of stress. Here are the things in my toolkit:

Calendar

Companies send out calendars, and I amass many. I hang them up everywhere that I can see them: the kitchen, the bathroom, my studio, my office. These are wall calendars that show the month at a glance. I find that I forget to turn them over to a new month. However, these wall calendars are not my working calendars. I just like to see the month at a glance now and then so I can gain a sense of time as it passes.

For my working calendars, I use two: my iPhone calendar and the Smithsonian appointment book calendar that I receive annually as a Christmas gift from my father. I use my iPhone calendar all the time and carry it with me everywhere. I store everything on it, as it gets saved up in the Cloud. Anything stored on Google calendar, such as the Artisan Quartet events, are automatically put on my iPhone calendar too. As a nice bonus, the Cloud also syncs all my other Apple devices (iPad and MacBook).

I use the Smithsonian appointment book for weekly planning. The book shows one week at a time, and I sit down on a Sunday and write out the week’s appointments. I do not write individual student lessons. I prefer to pencil in blocks of time in various locations. This gives me an immediate visual sense of when I have time to do other important things, like my training runs, my writing, errands, or home chores. It also gives me a sense of how busy the week will be and where I will need to conserve my energy. This calendar stays home at all times and open to the particular week. My husband can see at a glance where I am at any given moment. I also jot brief notes about any important things I need to accomplish during the week and any habits I may be trying to establish.

Daily List

I write out a short daily list of things that I need to do each day. My list format provides for 8 things, but I try to keep myself to around 6 things. This comes from the Mary Kay Ashe suggestion about the Six Most Important Things. Over the years, I have come to agree with Mary Kay that six is about the right number. When I stray too far over six things in a day, I feel tired. My next day does not go as well because I have overused my energy the day before.

I put every place that I need to go on this daily list. There are days when I have written: university, studio, symphony, grocery store, gym, practice, and then I realize that I have come to the end of the list. When was I going to get to those other things I needed to do? There was a time when I was concerned about how my plan to list all the places I needed to be as well as the things I needed to do would fill up the list and leave little or no room for me to add the other things I needed to do. I have learned that I need to cut back on some things in these cases, that having to be in places takes about the same amount of energy as having to do things. Now I count these as equal items.

I may not look at my daily list during the day, but I know it is there. The act of writing down my list at the beginning of my day is enough to stick it in my head the rest of the day. If I need to remind myself of something, I will take it out and read it. The best value I get from my daily list is that I waste less time on unproductive things. Instead of chatting in the hallway about nothing important, I will recall that I had planned to practice, make a phone call, visit the music library, answer an email, or do some writing.

Along with the daily list, I sometimes fill in an hourly worksheet as well to help me carve out time for some projects that I might not otherwise be able to find time for. Periodically, I find that it is helpful to fill out an hourly worksheet to keep me aware of how much time I might be wasting on unproductive activities, like watching television.

Handbook or Practice Journal

I wrote a series of articles about how to use a practice journal, log, or record. Here are the links:

using a practice record

practice log

using a practice journal

Currently I am using the practice record, which is one sheet of paper. One page covers four weeks. I make up handbooks with these record sheets for my students.

Morning Pages (aka 750words.com)

I have written several times before about the value I get from doing morning pages. I enjoy the quiet moments in the morning while I drink my coffee and “drain” my brain of whatever is swimming around up there. Sometimes I rant about something. I may work through something that concerns me. I might come up with a schedule or an article outline or sketch. The morning pages are whatever I need them to be at the moment I write them. I have used a composition book for this purpose for many years, but recently I have been using the website 750words.com. This is a free site. I find that it takes me about 13-18 minutes to use the website, since I type so fast. If I complete handwritten pages, it takes me 23-28 minutes. For now I will stick to the website. I carry a thin Moleskine notebook in my purse to capture any thoughts during the day.

Swish & Swipe Tools

I borrowed this expression from the flylady.net website. The flylady has some great ideas for keeping our homes free of clutter and dirt. The purpose of the site is to help us get rid of CHAOS or the “can’t have anyone over syndrome.” I am not terrific at following all the steps, but I do a basic weekly cleaning when I have the time, and I rely on my “swish & swipe” tools in between cleaning sessions.

Yes, my swish and swipe tools are a roll of paper towels and a bottle of Windex or other glass or ammonia cleaner. This stuff works on just about everything. I have a bottle of cleaner and a roll of paper towels in every room. When I find a minute or two, I pull out my tools and wipe down a counter, shine up a microwave or dishwasher, wipe down doorknobs or light switches, swipe at a refrigerator counter, or clean a toilet or sink. Life sparkles much brighter. This really does brighten up one’s outlook. Try it! Clean that kitchen sink before bed and notice how nice you feel in the morning when you see it.

Dry Erase Marker

This is my favorite tool. I pack one in every suitcase when I travel. Did you know that dry erase markers work on glass and mirrors? Sometimes they work on certain laminated surfaces (test this in an inconspicuous area first to see if you can erase the marking). I have a small dry erase board in my bathroom, but I also use my mirror, which I do when I travel. I make a list of the events that need to happen in the morning or whenever I need to get ready to go somewhere. I make the list in reverse order:

• Appointment
• Leave
• Shower and dress
• Breakfast & dogs out
• Feed farm animals
• Alarm & dogs out

Every night before retiring, I enter the times that I must start these tasks in order to be able to leave for my appointment in time. I wish I could just enter a blanket time to start the process, such as setting my alarm 3 hours before leaving, but I find that I need the bullet point list in order to manage my activities and time better.

Running Shoes

I list my running shoes because they represent an important part of my life. I am not a fast runner, nor am I to be found in the front (or midsection) of a race. I carry a pair of running shoes in my car at all times, along with the other necessary running clothes items, in case I find myself passing by the gym or the hike and bike trail on the way home.

My running shoes represent an important segment of my life. Mostly they remind me of the need to exercise on a consistent basis. Additionally, my shoes remind me of the valuable lessons I have learned while training for race events: perseverance, discipline, stick-to-it-tiveness, goal-setting, positive outlook, advance planning, training, problem-solving, focus and concentration. I encourage my students to engage in running activities, and I know of several students who have followed my advice. Two students became ultrarunners, which is something that will change their lives forever. Another student became a marathoner, and she achieved this before her senior recital so that she learned very valuable lessons that prepared her for the recital event.

Briefcase

I needed something to carry things. I have relied on tote bags for years. I still use them for many things, such as gym clothes and studio supplies. Still, I thought that I needed to start carrying something around that exuded more class than a tote bag that bore a logo, even though the logos were respectable (State Bar of Texas, Armadillo Suzuki Institute, TSUSSI-TX State University Suzuki String Institute, Hummingbird Hill Doxies, Artisan Quartet).

Last month I bought something for this purpose to celebrate my birthday (August 7). I bought a Day One briefcase purse, and I love it! It has a cushioned pocket for my laptop and iPad, and it has other inner pockets to hold supplies. It is large enough for all sorts of over-sized music, and it is stylish enough and sturdy enough to handle what I need to carry around. I no longer look like a tatterdemalion. I used it on my trip, and my new gift to myself worked great! It amazes me how something like this – a tiny addition to my tools – adds to my sense of class.

So there you have it. I thought about listing my computer because I cannot function without my computer. But, things have progressed in technology such that I can move from place to place without carrying a laptop with me all the time. I have my laptop for home and I have an iMac at the university. I have my iPhone and iPad and a wireless keyboard, which weigh next to nothing, for all the in between times. I make all of this work with a Dropbox account. I sync anything that might be needed in more than one place up to my Dropbox account. In this way I have items available for work no matter where I am. I can continue writing articles or my book projects in any location as long as I have access to the Internet.

This week, consider what you include in your toolkit and what items you might need to add. Write a comment about your favorite toolkit item and why.

Happy Week!

P.S.: I finished the August Camp NaNoWriMo as a winner. I wrote over 50,000 words on my writing project -- How to Raise a Parent.

How to Practice, part 2: Using a Practice Record

I have experimented over the years with various practice logs and records for my students to complete during the week between lessons. For my private students I have provided them with handbooks containing monthly practice sheets. Let me include a few examples here:

Basic Practice Log, © 2011 Paula E. Bird

I got this idea from Marilyn O'Boyle, Suzuki teacher trainer extraordinaire (!), and I spent several hours designing it on my computer many years ago. This one page spans a four-week period.

Left Column: As the teacher, I make a numbered list in the left hand column of the items that I expect the student to practice.

Roman Numerals: Each Roman numeral represents a week. Note that the document spans four weeks.

Day: This row is for the 7 days in the week. Usually the first day is the lesson day. Then I note the subsequent days of the week in the other columns.

Numbers Practiced: Here the parent or student records what items in the left hand column the student actually practiced that day. The purpose of this list here is for the parent or student to keep a record of what they actually practice and to become more aware of the items that are NOT being practiced. I discourage a parent or student just placing a check mark in the box unless the parent or student has practiced everything on the list. I check periodically to be sure that the parent or student understands that that check mark is reserved for those practice days when everything is accomplished. The first column is usually the lesson day, so we note "lesson" in that box.

Time: I encourage parents to use this box and notate approximately how much time is spent in practice. Eventually parents stop completing this section, but in the beginning it is helpful to establish routine practice habits.

Listening: The purpose of this row is to remind parents of the importance of establishing a daily listening program. This practice log is at least one way to remind parents to do their listening.

The practice log is a good record of the progress that parents or students make during a month. It is also a handy tool for me as a teacher to diagnose the cause of problems later down the line. For example, when a parent complains to me about their child's apparent lack of progress, I can usually pinpoint the reason just by glancing at the log. Too much white space in the "Numbers Practiced" area or single digit numbers in the "Time" area indicates that not enough practice time is being spent. When a parent complains that a child seems to have an unusually difficult time learning a new piece, I can spot the cause of the problem in the number of white spaces in the listening row.

Practice Log #2, © 2011 Paula E. Bird

This practice log style is similar to the basic practice log except there is a more focused aspect to the left hand column. The focused areas include:

• Main Focus Point or Goal for the Week
• Technique Building Practice and Warmup Skills (Tonalization)
• Working Goals or Songs
• Review Songs for Polishing or Learning/Practicing Skills
• Other

This practice log helps the parent (and teacher) focus on the important areas of goal setting as it relates to practice routines. Sometimes I use it, although I tend to find it distracting for my own purposes. I find I spend too much time trying to decide in what category a practice assignment belongs.

Practice Planning Worksheet, © 2011 Paula E. Bird

The Practice Planning Worksheet is a great document for parents who need something to guide their practice planning for the week in between lessons. In the beginning, I help the parent work through this document so that I can guide them to learn how to set practice goals. Periodically I check in with the parent to see how they are doing. I have found that, just like with vibrato exercises, scale books, and theory books, if I don't check in from time to time, the assignments don't get completed.

This worksheet focuses on improving the weekly focus point or goal (as identified by the teacher or during the lesson) and includes such topics as:

• Technique, Warmup, and Tone
• Working Goals or Songs
• Review and Polishing

There are many different methods and books out there to help teachers, parents, and students keep track of assignments and practice items. In future posts, I will discuss what methods I use with my advanced private and university students.

I hope you are continuing to participate in the 100 Days Challenge, as I am. Be sure to leave a comment about your own preferred method of recording your practice. I look forward to hearing from you.