Image courtesy of Samuiblue / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’ll admit I came across this video completely by accident. In fact, I wasn’t even perusing arts material. If you want the honest truth, I was reading through Lisa Kudrow’s tweets (because I’m that weird of a FRIENDS fan) and she posted that she narrated this documentary. I’m not sure which is the added bonus, that the video is about the arts or that Lisa Kudrow narrates…but regardless, I watched it and it was highly interesting.

Some questions that came to mind when I was viewing:

• In general, are current teachers encouraging or discouraging creativity in our classrooms?
• How do we encourage creativity in an already creative subject area? 

I’m eager to watch the second episode, “The Art of Connection.” I bet it’s just as interesting!

Watch Creativity on PBS. See more from Arts & The Mind.

]]> http://www.lindsaymorelli.com/video-recommendation-pbs/feed/ 0 http://www.lindsaymorelli.com/what-are-you-creating-for/ http://www.lindsaymorelli.com/what-are-you-creating-for/#comments Mon, 06 May 2013 15:00:14 +0000 Lindsay http://www.lindsaymorelli.com/?p=3748

I recently read a convicting article by Donald Miller, one of my favorite authors and bloggers. When I was looking through my Google Reader, (may it rest in peace one very sad day…) I was immediately grabbed by the title: The Difference Between an Artist and an Entertainer. It was then I experienced a brief identity crisis, thinking, “Oh gosh, which one am I?!” Shortly after, I found solace in Donald’s words. I encourage you to read his article linked above.

As creatives, I will be the first to admit that it’s hard being an artist. We want to leave our mark on the world, but we desire so much for that mark to be well received.

I want people to like my music, but it is foolish of me to think that everyone who hears it will love it. I don’t love every song I hear, so why would any other human being?

I want my students to find my teaching engaging, though I have to accept that there’s going to be students who just aren’t interested.

Being an artist takes a lot of bravery. We need to accept that reaching someone is more important than reaching everyone. Sometimes we need to accept reaching no one.

Can you play for an audience of 2? Can you teach a class of students who have no interest in your subject? Can you write a book that no one reads? 

Be brave. Write that song and sing it. Teach that lesson. If anything, you have brought the inside out, and that’s all we can ask of ourselves. So what are you creating for?

Teachers, for the most part, think you guys are great. We invest in your lives, and we love watching you grow into the people we dreamed you would be. (Or at least I do!) While we want you to understand our content and pass our class, we mostly just want you to take something, anything, from our lessons and bring it with you through your life.

That’s why we want you to be the best you can be. We want you to be great!

There is so much more to being a great student than grades, though they are important! Being great students will shape us into great professionals and great people. We’re given the tools in school to achieve good grades, but it is often overlooked how those tools combined with the following leadership values can contribute to a student’s professional future.

Students – here are 5 ways to go from “good” to “great.”

1. Set future goals.

Sure, you may not know what you want to study in college or what career path is right for you, and that’s ok. Examine the here and now. What are you interested in right now? Writing for the school newspaper? Singing in choir? Acting in the school play? Math? Science? Whatever it is, which may be more than one, compose 2-3 goals that you can complete either at the end of the semester, school year, or by graduation. Make every day thereafter about reaching those goals.

2. Get organized.

This seems like a no-brainer, but it’s really important! Especially in today’s world of productivity apps designed to help you get things done. I use Weave, but there are a lot of other great free apps that just as good. There are even apps geared specifically to students. Check them out, use them. Put your goals in them if it helps! You may want to check out Evernote too, for any class notes, projects, or papers that you may want to save.

3. Do your homework.

Obviously, complete your assignments on time. However, I’m not talking about assignments; I mean be inquisitive, curious, and proactive. Look at your goals. Who has achieved them? How did they do it? Observe them and put it in to practice. It’s about being a student outside the classroom. The more you know about the path, the more likely you are to find it. (<–Click to tweet that!)

4. Take risks.

No, I don’t mean see how many classes you can skip without being caught, or not studying for a test. Please don’t do that!

You may see this as “be an overachiever,” and in a way, maybe that’s what this is. I would say it’s more thinking outside the box. How can you contribute your talents in an extra way to an assignment? Into photography? Maybe there’s a way you can get your science teacher to document your lab report instead of just writing it. Be creative. It doesn’t hurt to ask if you can put your own spin on an assignment as long as you meet the criteria. The benefit will be greater.

5. Help your teachers.

You call them brown-nosers, I call them smart! Helping a teacher out who knows about your area of interest is a great way to do your homework. I used to help my teachers sort music, label music, make copies of handouts. Needless to say, when I got to college and changed my career path to teaching, I knew how to make a copy machine and printer bow down to me. Teachers exist not just to assess you, but to provide mentorship. Take advantage of their knowledge and experience.

So what do you think students? Do you think you can be great? Here’s a challenge: Try one of these 5 items this week. Try it for a month. Tweet me or leave a comment letting me know how it’s going, or if there are ways I can help!

I take really mediocre pictures, probably because the only camera I own is my iPhone. But it’s OK, because Instagram makes me think I take beautiful, sometimes vintage, pictures.

Picture Your Life

Some people criticize those who use Instagram to post photos of their food, their coffee, their cats, their shoes, etc. We’ve all done it at some point. I definitely have. But when I reflect on that train of thought, my motives for posting such pictures were never to brag or make you feel like your food isn’t good, or your cat is not as cute as mine. I believe it’s simply that I want to remember, and invite others, to see the beautiful little snapshots of the most insignificant moments in my day to day life.

Maybe that sounds corny, but once I adopted that view, I started looking at other’s photos differently. While creating stories like, “Ok I get it, you are at Starbucks enjoying a latte in that pristine white mug, with your clearly weathered (or maybe it’s just the Early Bird filter)  journal which probably houses entries documenting your peaceful and carefree life while I sit at home in my pajamas watching Rachael Ray,” I realized I could easily go and take the same picture if I wanted to. Or even better, I could realize the blessing of my flexible teaching schedule that allows me to relax and have some slow, leisurely mornings.

Perhaps you need a little Insta-motivation?

Finding Beauty

Sometimes beautiful moments aren’t visual at all. We can have beautiful conversations and thoughts. We remember those moments in our minds perfectly. Sometimes my favorite photos are the ones captioned, “Had a great time catching up with an old friend today,” or simple statements that if not accompanied by a picture, wouldn’t create value in an onlooker’s mind. Maybe we all just need to look a little closer to the beautiful details of life that we fail to notice. 

The real question is, why shouldn’t we all live beautiful lives? Perhaps we need to look at the big picture, or view life through a different filter.

Make the decision to live a beautiful life.

Since becoming an Apple disciple, I’ve tried the majority of all the free productivity apps to see which one I like best. My criteria for a good app is as follows:

1. It gives me the freedom to create different lists or categories to assign tasks to.
2. It allows me to sync between my mac and iPhone.
3. It lists my tasks in the order of their due date.
4. It doesn’t freeze, shut down, lose my tasks, or ruin my life.

I gave three apps a real chance, meaning I used them for at least two weeks before moving on to another. Some I used for longer periods, semesters even. All of them have really good qualities, but they all had one or two flaws that I couldn’t 100% forgive.

Then I got my iPad, and my criteria changed. I wanted one app that will sync will all three of my devices. Unfortunately, there was only one free app that would do that, and the syncing was problematic.

Enter, Weave.

I had been using Weave on my phone for a while for project based to-dos, namely during the recording and production of my album. A unique feature of Weave is that it tracks income and expenses for each project. I was able to track my monthly album sales in both digital and physical mediums. It was awesome.

I installed the app on my iPad and found that the syncing capabilities were flawless between my iOS devices. I decided that I could easily use Weave as my project management and to-do list app, because it is so user friendly and well organized. My previous categories from other apps became their own “projects.” Here is a screen shot of all my projects:

My original projects on the app are “TRIF (My album, The Room I Found), “Writing, ” and “Arrangements.” Basically, I tracked my income from each of these projects, as well as created to-do tasks within each one. Now I have added all my categories from previous productivity apps. I have a to purchase project, personal, my private lesson earnings/preparation, bill paying (because you can track expenses too!), and website tasks. Once I am teaching I am sure I will add a project or two for that as well! Gosh, I’m smiling just looking at it! Oh the productivity glory!

Still not sold? It even sends a push notification (if you allow it!) on your iPhone in the morning if you have something to complete, or if you haven’t done anything in a few days.

The only catch? There is no desktop app for Mac. But you know, I am extremely forgiving of that because I always have my iPad or iPhone around, and I’m happy enough with all of the other stellar features to not have it in my computer. (You can always go to the Weave website and login for a watered-down version of your to-do list). It’s just that great!

So there you have it, Weave. What are you using Weave for? What do you want to use Weave for? Leave a comment!

“Oh yeah, I have a lesson blog…I should probably use that again.”

I opened up my WordPress.com account and there it was, my abandoned lesson blog. This was my chance to make it how I initially envisioned it; another medium to connect with my students and continue their education outside of our weekly lesson.

Blogs have evolved from personal diaries to content management systems and major influential websites. Private music lesson studios are no exception! Having a website or blog devoted to your studio or lesson service does 3 things for you:

1. It gives you credibility. You have real estate on the internet. Your prospective and current students can see your biography, read your teaching philosophy, and can contact you for more information about scheduling and rates all from visiting your site. You have created a brand or service that you are promoting on the internet. 

2. It takes your students beyond your lesson. The content on your blog can cover a plethora of areas:

• Practice tips
• YouTube videos of artists/performers they may want to emulate
• Pieces they may want to learn
• Interesting articles about music education
• Provide parents with resources

Your blog can encourage your students and their parents to take their education a step further into their own inquiries and discoveries. It creates conversation between student and teacher, student and parent, and parent and teacher. You are now a teacher and a resource to them. 

3. It provides a place to list “things to work on for the next lesson,” or as it is more affectionately known, “homework.” What I did with my lesson blog was create a page for each student that is password protected. Those pages are titled, “Log,” but have a URL that includes their name: lindsayslessonblog.wordpress.com/studentname. This is where I post their tasks for the next lesson. They can also leave comments on the page if they have questions.

You’ll  also notice that my students are listed as categories on the main navigation menu. That is so I can tag posts specific to their instrument/interests so they can have their own “personalized” blog feed.  Of course, all students can access the full blog with all of posts. This is a great way to ensure that the student sees the content that you posted with them in mind. 

“So is it absolutely necessary to blog as a private studio teacher?” you ask. 

No. It’s definitely not necessary. But if you aim to inspire your students to explore our musical world on their own, then a blog is a great medium.

Give it a try, private teachers! Let me know if I can help!

Are you blogging for your students? Share your successes and techniques in the comments section.

I’ve been reading/studying Michael Hyatt’s Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World since Christmas. I realized that while my site was visually appealing and well-organized, to my standards, it didn’t give a good representation of my purpose. At the time, I didn’t know my blog’s purpose.

In order to find the purpose, I had to identify 3 things:

1. What am I passionate about?
2. Who is in my audience?
3. What do they need?

While it was easy to identify what I am passionate about, it was difficult to summarize in one sentence. I love music, teaching choir, writing, songwriting, people, technology…the list could go on! After sitting with these I realized they all have a common factor: they all contribute to my life as a creative.

I love being a creative…it’s the reason I wake up every morning! I’m lucky to pursue a career teaching in an arts field. And better yet, I love sharing my passion for creating and teaching music with others, whether it be others like me or people who pursue different passions.

My mission then became clear: Embrace the life and leadership of a creative.

There is a unspoken brand of leadership that happens in the arts that we fail to regularly acknowledge. Arts teachers lead programs of sometimes between 100-200 students, maybe more. While we aim to instill a love for our own craft in our students, we aim to teach them far beyond the score of the arts. We aim to empower them to be the best they can be through the arts. We want our students to be valuable contributions to society. We want them to be leaders someday, too.

While my audience is not restricted to certain groups or professions, I aim to speak to other creative souls, arts teachers, and even students desiring to pursue a creative career, or even ones who just love the arts.

What kinds of posts can you expect?

Similar to what I’ve been writing about now, but (hopefully) more frequent. I’ve got a few posts coming up over the next couple weeks that fit more in line with my blog’s new purpose, but they aren’t topics new to the site at all.

You know what else is cool about this? It was one of my Goals for 2013. My first check mark off the list!

Here’s to new beginnings!

Liking the new layout? Is there anything that I should include that I have overlooked? Please feel free to leave a comment, and don’t forget to subscribe to my blog for updates!

2012 was great. I released my first album in February, played a few gigs here and there, wrote some guest articles, had an amazing student teaching experience, and finished my master’s degree. Yay for all of that!

So what does 2013 bring? I wish I knew. The transition period from student life to professional life is a little awkward. Teaching jobs most likely will start appearing around April, so until then I have to find some ways to stay occupied, preferably ways that come with some kind of paycheck.

Regardless of what the future holds, I’ve made a few New Years Goals for 2013:

1. Record/Release a 5-song EP by the end of the year. I’m aching to write new music, and the idea of a smaller project is attractive to me right now. Since I have some new free time, why not use it to create? Once the process beings I’ll be sure to document the journey here.

2. Develop this site/blog further. I’ve been reading a lot of great blogs and books about writing, blogging, and creating a platform. The more I read, the more I see a need for change around here. When I have a better idea of what that is, I’ll start making those changes. Until then, my goal is to get back into the swing of blogging to keep it dust-free.

3. Get a teaching job. Student teaching was a BLAST. Seriously. One of the most rewarding and fun experiences I’ve had. Now I am ready to have my own classroom, and I can’t wait to see where I end up!

4. Be more productive. Create more. I have been given the gift of more free time at the moment, so I need to use it for doing the things I love to do!

Looking forward to getting back into the swing of blogging! I hope you are having a wonderful start to 2013!

-Lindsay

For anyone who knows me well, they know my extreme obsession with the TV show Friends. I can pretty much relate any real life situation to an episode, since I’ve seen them all a million times (thank you syndication!). Naturally, I included a Friends reference in my post about accepting life’s little curve balls, and embracing your situational comedy of a life. 

Feel free to leave comments here or on her site!

My story, while not at all jaw dropping or awe striking, is one that illustrates a typical young adult’s learning process; the long way. If you asked 7-year-old-Lindsay what she wanted to be when she grew up, teaching was never one of my ideas.

To read my story, click here!