Effective Practice Tracker

The Effective Practicer Tracker is a systematic way to measure student progress, to communicate that progress to parents and to give budding musicians a vocabulary to help them develop effective practice skills. 

WHY THIS RESOURCE?

Initially, this Effective Practice Tracker was going to be just a single post and to be made in response to a question that I posted in my Facebook group called Piano Pedagogy On and Off the Bench.

 

“Would anyone be interested in how I measure progress and how I inform student parents about the progress using some analytics and charts?”

Dozens of teachers were eager to learn my answer.

The post turned into this resource because I encountered a “big picture” moment when crafting my response to the question.

This is because I recently I listened to an episode from Tim Topham’s Topcast podcast featuring Anita Collins. One particular quote of her’s jumped out at me:

“We are breeding resilience out of our children.”

To learn more about how this resource came about, please read this blog post. 

WHAT’S INCLUDED?

A thorough back story is included in this 15-page digital download.

1. How I first came about rating student progress between lessons, and how to track the data.
2. How Anita Collins inspired me to invite students to rate their effectiveness of their practice.

Two rating systems to measure progress and practice effectiveness.

1. A 1-5 scoring system for rating progress between lessons.
2. A 1-5 scoring system for students to rate their practice between lessons.

A spreadsheet for tracking the rating systems.

1. Provides a place to track both teacher and student weekly scores.
2. Includes formulas that provide data that informs you how practicers rank in your studio.
3. Allows you to see who’s making the most progress from week to week with clever visual charts.

A video tutorial

1. Shows how to navigate and edit the spreadsheet.
2. Explains how to use the spreadsheet from term to term.
3. Demonstrates how to create individual reports to share with parents.

Sample letters to parents

1. Provides copy for you to copy and paste into documents as you choose.
2. Explains both the teacher and the student scoring system to parents.

Effective Practice Wheel

1. Graphics to print in two sizes .
2. Instructions on how to assemble the wheel.
3. Instructions on how to use the wheel in lessons so that students acquire a practice lingo and openly share their feelings and approach to practice.