Chapter 8: Myelin solidifies good learning and helps students progress faster as they practice deeper. The energy for this deep practice is found through ignition. And great teachers help students practice deeply and care passionately. Great teachers have different ways of teaching students. John Wooden, a basketball coach at UCLA, uses hardly any words in his teaching, but the words he does use are to the point. He skips the praise and the pep talks and focuses on tiny adjustments and practicing deeply. He also taught in chunks, breaking down a single move and focusing on precision. His players worked harder in practice than they did in games and his coaching helped them learn deeply. Mary Epperson, a piano teacher, instead uses kind words and positive reinforcement to teach children the piano. Students look forward to their lessons with her because they want to make her proud. Her love and kind help sparks ignition in students and they want to become the best pianist they can.
Virtuoso: a person of spectacular talent
ESP: Extrasensory Perception
One of John Wooden’s strategies was showing the right way to do something then the wrong way to do it, followed immediately by the right way. I have seen this a lot from choir and voice teachers and I think it is really effective. A lot of the time it’s hard to understand what you are doing wrong or how you could change something to make it better. When teachers show an example of the better way and less desirable way, it becomes clear in seconds what I need to work on. I also think this is important for voice teachers to do because it gives the student a chance to analyze the teacher. When this happens to me in lessons I’m usually able to instantly see what they are doing to make it good or bad and then know what to work on in my own singing.
Chapter 9: In this Chapter, Coyle lists four different things that make a teacher a master teacher. The first he calls “The Matrix”. Master teachers have the ability to help students deeply understand. They usually had an extensive understanding of their field and many had failed in the past and wanted to know why. This led them to persist and discover more about their field of work than anyone before. The second point listed by Coyle is “Perceptiveness”. Master teachers listen and watch perceptively. When they give the student something to work on they watch how the student responds and go from there. They constantly evaluate what works and they go from there. Third is “The GPS Reflex” Basically this means giving concise (kind) commands. After a student has progressed in the area the command was targeted at, more commands are given so the student is always working towards something better. The last thing Coyle mentions is “Theatrical Honesty”. Sometimes instructors need to do different things to reach different students. Being silly and engaging might work for one while being serious and stern works for another. But through it all they maintain moral honesty and the student can sense the character and intentions of the teacher to help them.
Matrix: The ability of a master teacher to connect to a student’s learning and be able to teach them in the most efficient way possible.
I think it is really important as a voice teacher to be constantly monitoring your student and what works for them. Every student is different and exercises that work for one student (or work for you!) might not work for another student. Teachers need to be flexible and willing to accept that there isn’t always one right way.
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