Teaching

I've been teaching cello lessons for awhile now, and at one of my lessons last Saturday, I met another young cellist. She is a friend of the student I teach. After our lesson, we began to talk about teachers. Hayley, the friend, told me that she had recently quit. Why? I asked. Because, I didn't like my teacher. She doesn't like me. Hayley also told me that she had tried hiring a private lesson teacher, but he never showed up for lessons.

Then my student's mom jumped in and told a story about how she took orchestra in school and played violin, but that she was failing English, and so she couldn't play in any of the concerts. Her teacher told her to not bother playing at all in class. This mom told me that her feelings were really hurt by that teacher.

I didn't teach Hayley anything concrete that day, but I did tell her about some additional opportunities in town, and recommended a few books for her to try if she's still interested in practicing, which she is. At the end of the conversation, Hayley told me I was really pretty. I interpreted that to mean "nice." I think kindness is attractive. I wish more people were concerned with building others up instead of tearing them down.

Learning to play an instrument, or taking on any kind of artistic endeavor is a vulnerable thing to do and I feel like especially teachers of art or music ought to know this.

Teachers, please, think about what you say and do. Your actions impact people for FAR longer than you could ever imagine.

And if you think about it, if someone were to ask you who made the biggest difference in your life outside of immediate family, the answer is almost always a teacher.