Hey Teacher Friend,
One thing I’ve really enjoyed incorporating into my studio since reading Molly Gebrian’s book Learn Faster, Perform Better and then talking to her on the podcast is micro-breaks, or what I usually call brain breaks.
And when I say brain break, I mean about 10 seconds. I had honestly never heard of this before Molly, and it is pretty fascinating.
It almost seems backward, right? If you just played something, shouldn’t you hurry up and play it again while your brain still has it?
But one of the things Molly explains is what is actually happening in the brain during those tiny periods of rest, and why those few seconds between repetitions can be part of the learning itself.
So last fall, when I first started experimenting with this, I made a coloring sheet filled with leaves. If a student was working on something new, difficult, or just needed a little extra repetition, we would play, stop for a few seconds and color part of a leaf, and then go back to playing.
The kids took their sheets home and used them during practice too. Then they brought them back, and we decorated the studio with all of their finished leaves.
It was a lot of fun, it was really beautiful, and I loved that it helped them start building the habit of actually taking those little breaks at home too.
Then, when I heard Molly speak at my district meeting recently, she mentioned another idea: 10 second questions.
I had already started doing something similar with my students, except I had one tiny problem. My 10 second questions were turning into mini-conversations. 😂
Molly made it very clear with her students:
- You answer the question.
- We are not starting a whole conversation.
- It is literally a 10 second break.
Of course I am thinking to myself, well why didn't I think to clarify it?! 🤦♀️ (this is part of why we have teacher friends, for the duh moments!)
So when I got home, I had good old ChatGPT make me 200 ridiculously quick brain break questions, and we’ve been using them ever since.
Things like:
- What is your favorite snack right now?
- What is your go to drink?
- Would you rather watch a movie at home or in a theater?
They answer one question, we giggle, and then we get right back to work. And I have to say, I have learned some very unique things about my students (it's really so much fun)
So I combined both resources into one resource for you right here.
Brain_Breaks.pdf
You’ll get the leaf coloring sheet plus all 200 questions (I mean, you can ask Chat to create some for you too, I absolutely cannot take credit for these, but regardless I thought it was fun)
And this is actually just one tiny piece of why I’m so excited about my upcoming Scrappy Circle with Molly Gebrian on Friday, October 23 at 1:00 PM ET.
Molly is going much deeper into what is happening in the brain when we practice, why rest matters, how memory and learning work, and how we can help our students make better use of the practice time they actually have.
And by the way, this is not just for piano teachers.
If you have an older student who would benefit from this, invite them.
If you have a friend who teaches or plays another instrument, invite them.
Honestly, if you practice anything and want to understand how to do it more effectively, there is something here for you.
- Friday, October 23
- 1:00 PM Eastern
- $20
In the meantime, have some fun with the brain breaks. I would love to hear if you do anything similar and what it would be!
My students have so much fun coloring, and we have been having a blast with the questions.
Talk soon,
Jaci
