Season 7
Episode 137
Incremental Changes Make a Difference
I’m recording this on Monday night after a full day of teaching and an afternoon involving hair, makeup, and photos. I’ve got a big project that I’ve been working on and needed to get headshots done for it because I don’t have any and I’m not good at DIY pictures or selfies or anything related to visual arts. Better to trust the experts with this. I’m fortunate to know Cameron Spooner, an amazing photographer in Dallas, and booked a session with him to take headshots. I’ll link his website so that you can contact him if you’re interested. He’s truly phenomenal and wonderful to work with. I was nervous, shy, excited, and ready to do the best I could so that he could get a few shots that would work.
Cam suggested a makeup and hair stylist named Yvonne who worked her magic to help me look my best. I felt so glamorous and it was a fun experience to get dolled up. We went into Cam’s studio to begin shooting photos and I tried listening and following his directions for what to do. He was very patient with me as he explained how to sit on a stool with one leg bent - but not too bent - but not too straight while the other leg was bent to the side - but not too far out to the side and not too far in… a bit to the right - not that much - just an inch - closer...closer...there. Hold it. Back tall and lean in. Not that far. Just a slight slight lean forward. Hips tucked forward. There. Hands relaxed. Not too tight together. Not so spread apart. At this point I was using jazz hands and laughing. As someone who took dance for years I can hold a dance position, but posing for a picture while keeping my back up and abs tucked and hand relaxed - not too tight or too wide - and leaning forward but not too far was difficult for me. Anytime I was given a direction to try something, I took it to the nth degree. Instead of a slight ½ inch lean forward I would lean five inches forward. When asked to make a change I was eager to do it right so I made drastic changes. I overcompensated for my insecurities and desire to get it right because I just didn’t know how to make just slight small changes. When I finally understood how slight the change needed to be in the way I leaned forward or the placement of my foot or the bend in my knee and I was able to do it, the pictures turned out well. In fact I downright liked a few of them! Not because Cam wasn’t doing his job - he was MORE than doing his job. But because I could see that the slightest small change in my body language made a difference in the message I was sending in the picture. I was more relaxed - less tense. I was softened in my face and demeanor - instead of forcing a joyful look that was uncomfortable to see. I looked like myself and felt like myself instead of a robotic model.
It made me think about how I make this same move with teaching. I’m going along teaching and I want to make a change to my classes so I make a drastic, huge change in how I teach. I feel awkward. The students feel awkward. The lesson is robotic and stiff. I don’t have the joy I usually have because I’m so concerned about doing the new thing correctly.
I am eager to do things right and understand new ideas and implement all the things because I want to be the best teacher I possibly can. So do you.
This week I challenge you to look at what you’ve taken on to ‘improve’ your classes and your teaching. Are the changes so large that it’s overwhelming? Do you feel pressure and lack joy? Is every movement stiff or uncertain and tense? If so, pull back. Make one small change. Just one.
Choose one thing that you are modifying and keep it. Let the rest go. Choose one thing that you feel will improve the sound of your ensemble or the understanding of a specific musical concept or the attitude of a class. Do that one thing. Modify that one thing. Let the rest go.
As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Incremental changes - that slight tilt of the head, the softer resting of the hands on the knee, the slight lean forward - makes the difference. Incremental changes - the way you introduce one new song, the transition between two musical pieces, the new warm-up at the start of class - build upon one another over time. You don’t have to do all the things and try all the new ideas in one class period.
Your outlook will soften and ease as you give yourself grace to do one incremental shift without completely rewriting all of your plans. However you find yourself teaching - in-person, hybrid, online - and however you find yourself as the year continues, give yourself grace and permission to do the best you can while making incremental shifts one at a time, if possible. And in case you haven’t heard someone tell you this in a while - you’re doing an amazing job. It’s been a hard year and the start of this year hasn’t been smooth sailing either. You’re enough. You’re doing more than enough. And what you are doing is making a difference. Hang in there friends - we’ve got this.
Comments
Post a Comment