Autumn. My favourite season of the year. A season of glorious colours and bountiful harvests. And a season of thankfulness and gratitude.
Autumn is a busy season for music teachers. It marks the return of practice routines and new repertoire, and of course returning to regularly scheduled lessons with both new and returning students.
In this busy Fall season, so often we as music teachers are so focused on “building” our music studios – filling “spots” made empty by students who have left our studios and moved on, that sometimes we forget to be thankful for the students that we are fortunate to teach.
Life gets busy. We rush from one rehearsal to the next, one student to the next, and sometimes we get so busy that we forget why we are teachers in the first place. We forget that we have a passion for teaching. We forget that encouraging others to realize their potential is what drives and motivates us as teachers.
It’s important from time to time to give thanks for all the students we are privileged to know and to teach. Being grateful helps us to replenish our creative “well”, which benefits us as teachers as much as the students. Taking time out to give thanks for our students helps us as teachers to recalibrate our energy and to enable our lives and our professional careers to move at a tempo that is less hectic and more manageable.
Each of my students has something unique and special to offer and I learn from them all every week. Every student brings to the studio their own potential, personality, voice and spirit and I am privileged to know and teach each and every one of them. Yes, I teach students, but they also teach me, and for that I am grateful. My students help me to learn more about myself as I share in the journey of learning with them and share life experiences with them. As students discover their true voices, I learn more about my own unique voice at the same time, and for that I am grateful.