Teach Better by Dr. Kasia Sokol-Borup

08/18/2022

A break? Did I take a break? Who needs a break? No way, YOU took a break?!
EVERYONE NEEDS A BREAK!

So, I have taken a break from Teach Better. And, from playing AND teaching for that matter. And, I am not at all ashamed of it.
I believe there is real LEARNING that comes from taking a break.
Because when we step away from something, we do forget some skills, but we also forget habits, bad habits.
Every time I walk away from plaing the violin I come back refreshed. Menatlly, yes, that too. But also, I have this new awareness of my body, I feel new muscles. And I wonder...should I use them differently, what IF I do?....
And that my friends is GOLD.

This calm, unstressed space that we bring into work, after taking a break, this calm space is where we hear new things, see new things, remember lessons learned and forgotten... it's like looking through a calm lake waters, deep blue waters, through which you can see to the bottom of this lake. I love this space. It may be stormy and muddy soon (scheduling, not enough time to prepare, practice, email, organize, not enough sleep, "if I have to say 'straight bow one more time....'", too many out of tune notes!), but for now, I will enjoy this space...

I am back in that SPACE excited to teach again. Excited to share my journey with you. Happy New Academic Year!

05/17/2022

I'm reorganizing my kids' "activity closet". The only way to do that is to dump everything out, make a huge mess, and little by little put things back where you want them. Throw away what you don't need.

Somehow, this reminds me of the process of "reorganizing" technique with our students. It absolutely gets MESSY. And just like with organizing closets, anxiety will come, breathing and patience is needed.

I think many teachers KNOW what is wrong when they see and hear a student. I think a lot of teachers know how to approach it. But, the devil is in the PROCESS. It can be very lengthy, and messy. And, so many give up, or settle on something that is not quite where they know it should be. It takes many years to feel calm and confident about a messy process of redoing technique. And often it resembles this image:

Picture your dirty car. With dirty windows.
You decide to wash it. Go to the drive-through car wash. You drive in.
Minutes later, your car, and all windows are covered with soap. It is impossible to see anything! (At this point my throat gets tight, I want to get out so badly).

Pause here.
And picture what will happen if you do actually get out, drive away, "I've had enough", "I can't do this"..."IT IS MORE DIRTY THAN WHEN I GOT IN!"
(This is exactly what we do when we don't follow through with technical work)

Or, you keep on going. And in a few minutes get a shiny, clean car.

I use this analogy every time students have a hard time with the process. Especially, because DURING that process things can sound, for a while, WORST than before.

05/14/2022

Someone said this to me the other day:
"We need you to teach her, her current teacher is a really great teacher, but she is very negative, mean and demeaning".

To which I responded: "I don't understand what you just said to me. And if you don't understand what I don't understand, please repeat to yourself what you just said, many times. And let it sink in".

A GREAT TEACHER and DEMEANING do not belong in the same sentence. Ever. Period!

04/20/2022

I did it!

My dream "vibrato and shifting spot". Complete with the staff and movable notes for note reading and short compositions. A pocket for a metronome, practice sheets and other charts.

My son wants to practice vibrato all the time now!!!

04/18/2022

Press"like" if you know what this lecture was about

And yes, I'm working on that shifting video... :)

04/11/2022

To have this much JOY while making music...
https://fb.watch/cjUA108JO7/

04/07/2022

Shifting, vibrato, and phrasing.

Learning a passage without vibrato is one thing.
A passage without vibrato but WITH phrasing is another thing.
A passage WITH vibrato AND phrasing is yet another.

Make sure you practice accordingly. Removing all expressive tools can be helpful in order to observe basic technique, but do not stop there, because if you do, you had learned something completely unusable in your piece. And when you add those expressive tools without practicing with them you will still often be out of tune.

04/07/2022

04/03/2022

Marbles, and scales.

Try basic scale patterns, then let students try new, invented patterns. Sing them. Write them on staff.
Added bonus, move marbles with the bow, as if playing hokey (bow hold strength, hand flexibility) Super fun!

Marbles make everything so much more satisfying...

04/01/2022

This is myself, coaching sixty middle school kids last Wednesday. I want to say something about this here, because I know it's a safe place to do so. Teaching, and directing such a large group requires many skills. It requires knowledge, but it also requires knowing yourself, and knowing kids. Knowing how to "feel" that huge body of humans. Their needs, troubles. How to connect and communicate. There is a point in each rehearsal where I know "I've got them". I'm in my zone and the fact that six experienced teachers are watching my every move makes no difference whatsoever.

I write about this, because every time I do something this big I remember and reflect on a little shy girl I once was. Shy and scared.

I also reflect today on this as I am fully aware of my shortcomings. Just how possible is it that I read each post I write, or an email, at least three times, and still misspell things? Miss things ...(I'm sure I did here too:)
At the same time, I hear and SEE EVERY SINGLE KID out of sixty?

I write this, as a reminder that talents come in many shapes and forms. As teachers we are in the business of not only teaching what we feel needs to be taught, but also KNOWING the human we work with.

Too often children are misunderstood. I know I was. And yet, I can do THIS: stand infront of so many and know, and focus, and teach and inspire.

I never give up on a student precisely for this reason: most of the things we see are on the "outside", but most of the things that truly matter are "inside".

03/31/2022

My Advanced Pedagogy students learned today how to "vibrate" some else's finger. It's super hard to do. Hard to teach. Very hard for the parents. But, crucial.

It gives the student the gift of a "feeling" of the vibrato.
It shows the teacher how much tension is in the arms, the hand.
It shows if a student tightens or presses with bow arm too much WHEN the vibrato happens.
It gives a student a chance to HEAR nice released, regular, consistent vibrato next to their ear, which they can later recreate.

Let me know in the comments below if you want me to make a video or a live event about this.