I'm Back!!

March 5, 2007 at 5:47 AM

Hi Everybody,

I'm finally back to update the blog. I had exams and then I had a vacation...Sorry :) So, this is going to be a short account of what happened since I last blogged here!

The Parents

You all know that I talked to Malone's and Joe's parents about attending the lessons with their kids. I also explained how important it is to pay attention in lessons so they can be the home teacher. Both Malone's and Joe's mom agreed finally and starting attending the lessons. I can't tell you all how fast their sons improved when they attended the lessons. We were finally able to get through the first variation on Twinkle,Twinkle. And I got their moms to help with teaching them the rhythm of the second variation. Joe Loved It!! For the first time, I saw him being really excited about his violin lessons, he really enjoyed when he saw his mom and Malone's mom clapping their hands when he stops playing during the rest. And he wouldn't leave when the lesson ended, he wanted to play it more :D

This, however, continued for two weeks only. Their moms soon started to skip lessons again and we are back to the slow improvement thing. Yes, they are now more involved at home and frequently play them the CDs but still...you know! I talked to them again, so they said that they can't keep attending the lessons because they are busy driving their other kids to other classes...so, as a last resort I will set new hours with them, so they don't have any excuse.

Joe and Malone

Joe's behaviour improves but also slowly. When Joe misbehaves I don't allow him to play. I make him just stand or even sit down and watch the lesson. When he comes back to playing is his own decision. You see, he always just wants to leave and he thinks that if he can make enough problems with me then I'd give up and send him home. Grounding him in class doesn't give him that, he has to be here until the lesson ends and it's his own decision if he wants to spend that time playing the violin or if he wants to spend it watching Malone play!! I'd often ask him if he wants to join, when it's been 5 or 10 minutes since he's been grounded, being angry he says: "No, when are we leaving?".

This lasted for a couple of classes, until once I grounded him like always and after few minutes he asked me if he can play again...I gladly said YES :). Of course I still have to ground him a couple of times every lesson...but grounding time is getting shorter every time and now he sometimes even begs and apologizes so he won't get grounded. I think this approach is working fine. I can't make him behave well and I can't make him respect the lesson, but if it's his decision to play, it will automatically reflect on his behavior in class and his improvement.

Have Fun,
Mahmoud Ibrahim - My Violin Teaching Diary

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