Classes have been refreshing, I’ve a good mix of age groups (youngest being almost 4 and the oldest at 69 years young). I have to say, teaching again has made me feel happy and fulfilled, I wake up everyday looking forward to classes, there’s no sense of dread or boredom. Every student is different, and I enjoy interacting with all of them.
I guess where the real challenge lies is, how do I make every lesson interesting and engaging for each of my students? If there is any real stress/ pressure, it comes from cracking my head, and thinking how I can apply the drum concepts to what they love, especially so for the younger individuals.
In my opinion, the first step to teaching young children, is to get them to like and trust you. Rapport building is crucial in making their classes go smoothly (not saying that this is not important for older students as well). For instance, finding out what the child’s favourite dessert, or favourite cartoon tv show, can actually help to motivate the student. I recently had a class where a young child’s favourite dessert is chocolate ice-cream. So, I linked with playing 16th notes around the kit, while saying “Cho-klate-ice-cream” as he attempted the exercises. Needless to say, the young kid had a blast! I was relieved too.
The onus is on us teachers to ensure that our students, both young and old, continue to remain inspired with the drumkit.
~Teacher Joel~
~Private Drum Teacher from Pasir Ris, Elias Road, Singapore~
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