Practicing Tips/Suggestions

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I put something up here--my apologies. As the school year rolls on, lots of things pull and tug for time and this has been moved to the back burner.

I am going to use this post to talk about practicing. While not always fun, it's the main way in which students improve. During our lessons, we discuss new ideas/concepts and this is the time students get to "practice" these skills. It really is like homework. Or maybe it would be better if we called homework "practice."

Making practice effective comes partially in it's regularity, not necessarily in its length. 10-15 minutes a day, 3 times per week is considerably more effective than one 90 minute marathon practice session. The reinforcement is repeated, which promotes the retention of the information.

Set a regular schedule for practicing, the same time each day of practice. Maybe even set the timer for 10-15 minutes. While it should be fun most of the time, it's not all the time. Sometimes it takes encouragement to get started. Once practice has begun, that fun will, more often than not, appear and the time will fly by.