An Early Memory of Teaching I'm Not Proud Of

When I first started teaching, I was working for a company called TakeLessons,in California, that went out of business last year. They provided teachers with students, whether in person or online. One of the students who took one lesson with me was auditioning for a music theater opportunity in Wichita. The young lady was eagerly excited about the opportunity to audition, hoping for a "glamorous role". The new student was "tone deaf", putting it kindly, yet my words were something along the lines of "You will do well." Although obviously the student was struggling to sing any notes correctly. I'm sure I did a variety of vocal exercises and I do recall she did a song from Cinderella as one of the songs to audition. Yet I sent off the student to possibly embarrass herself in front of professional musicians. To this day I still don't recall who the person is. After that I knew I needed to make a change in my teaching style, no matter the student.

I always encourage my students, finding good, yet was going to give them "criticisms" and ways to empower them to be successful. I wasn't going to "sugar coat it" either. They need to know if they are flat or sharp when they are singing, they need to identify the best options for the acting scene(s) and how to play a passage on the piano well. They need to know that they are capable of doing more in a good way.

Students need to be built up, yet not puffed up, egotistical, arrogant. We live in a time where people are bombarded with negativity; they need to be lifted up. Yet please don't demonstrate what I did. To this day I don't know what happened to the student who took one lesson. Hope she's thriving and doing well.

I'm sharing this memory so we know that we are not perfect; we are flawed in what we say or do. May we continue to build each other up and help others be successful in this life. That's always my goal.

What is a memory you learned in this life? Thanks for your support. Blessings.