I took a break from piano practicing and let me tell you it was not a good idea! When I started playing again, I became very overwhelmed because I felt like I lost a lot of my skills because I hadn’t been practicing enough. My solution was a very simple one the reminder app on my phone! I asked Siri to remind me every day to practice piano and that is what she did! Every day at 4 pm my phone alarm would go off and remind me to practice the piano.

Then I used the timer of my clock app to make sure that I only practiced for an hour. My struggle was that I wouldn’t practice piano for a few days and then I would practice for 3 hours! I was exhausting myself. When I practiced daily, I was able to improve my confidence in playing, and playing became less of a task and more of an excitement.

I think apps already provided on my iPhone like the reminders and clock apps are very helpful and something that I often take for granted. I think students can benefit similarly from apps like these. When I am teaching in my pre-internship, I always have a countdown timer playing for my students to know how much time they have left in the class. This is a tool I plan on using throughout my teaching career. The reminders app will be useful for my students who have access to phones when they are at home. I could even use the remind app that makes it possible for a teacher to professionally message students for reminders such as “make sure to bring your signed spelling test to school” or “today is track and field make sure you bring your running shoes”. These simple reminders could help students prepare for their day as well as cause teachers less havoc because the students hopefully will use the reminders to bring the necessary materials to the school.

The other tool I used for my piano lessons this week was voice memos. I tried my best to play the song “I Can Show You the World” from the Disney movie Aladdin. The voice memos were SO helpful! Previously I have watched videos or used apps to read my music, so I always had to use a friend’s phone to record my videos, however, the voice memos app is different. If I’m not playing or recording a video, I can use voice memos to track my progress. The voice memos allowed me to look back on my first recording of the day to my last so I could see how much I had improved with an hour of practice.

This was my first try playing the song. It is clear that I am struggling, in this first recording. The last recording I took, although not perfect was much better.

I would use voice memos in my classroom whether it be for the students to use to record themselves presenting or the teacher recording a lesson they teach for absent students; the voice memos app is a great tool!

Thanks for reading!

You’re a gem ☺️