#197. Elbows

#197. Elbows

When we stand in front of a group of beginners (or not beginners for that matter!) we know that we can start by assessing many things that are shared by everyone before we start assessing those aspects of specific instrument sections. Basic things like whether they...
#196. Landing A Plane

#196. Landing A Plane

Picture taking your first flying lesson and being asked by your flight instructor to land the plane by yourself. Or that during your first driving lesson you were asked to parallel park the car. Crazy, right? Absolutely! But to a beginner, some of the very challenging...
#195. Predicting The Future

#195. Predicting The Future

Yogi Berra, in his inimitable way, said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” And I guess that’s really very true for almost every aspect of life. But as teachers, isn’t that what we do pretty much every day? We...
#194. “Success”

#194. “Success”

Decades ago, while reading the newspaper I came across a poem by Martin Buxbaum, entitled “Success.” It astounded me with its simple, yet remarkably profound sentiment. It made me think. It made me reflect. It was so powerful that it has never left my mind. In fact,...
#193. Find It Or Make It

#193. Find It Or Make It

“Aut inveniam viam aut faciam,” which in Latin translates to, “I shall either find a way or make one.” I read those words the other day and immediately thought it was a beautiful expression of an incredibly important facet of what is at the core of being a teacher....