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The “Whoops” Side of the 80/20 Rule

by Elise Winters

We’ve all heard the maxim that 80% of the results are produced by 20% of the effort. I recently read an awesome book on this subject, by Richard Koch. I highly recommend it. 

As a young teacher I think this was definitely true. Sadly, not in a good way. I’m pretty sure that about 80% of my lesson time was fairly ineffective. (Ouch …)

Fortunately, I was still effective enough with the remaining 20% that most of my students ended up doing okay. (Phew.)

As I look back with hindsight (and hindsight is not 20/20, but it’s still pretty illuminating), what would I have told my previous self?

I would have told my previous self to get rid of the following things (and perhaps some others as well), in my lessons with young students:
– Teaching (and correcting) notes
– Correcting wrong rhythms
– Asking that students get the bowings right
– Developing phrasing and nuance

Stop Correcting Bowings? What?!!!

My youngest self would have been astonished (and possibly a bit insulted) to receive this advice. Get rid of teaching notes? Rhythms? Bowings? Musicality? What is even left? I think she might have told my current self that she was nuts.

But I don’t think that I am. What my previous self didn’t fully grasp is that the best teaching is about leveraging our students’ efforts. In the words of Archimedes, “Give me a place to stand and a lever long enough, and I will move the world.”

Perfectly Obvious

My old self thought she understood this. But what she thought it meant was that lessons leverage home practice. She didn’t understand that within the lesson, most of what seems essential is just using every muscle in your body to nudge a heavy box a few inches forward. There’s no leverage; many of the seeming essentials are just a tempting distraction.

My students who succeeded during this era of my teaching were those who were so self-motivated that they were able to leverage even my (mostly) ineffective teaching to get where they were going.

What makes a difference between an “okay” teacher and a great one (assuming both teachers play well)?

Even the best teachers often see their students just once a week. Clearly something about those minutes must be different, if the sixth grade student in the first school is breezing through Mendelssohn while their peer in the other studio is clambering laboriously up a seemingly perilous Seitz.

The time we spend with our students has to somehow leverage EVERYTHING.

The items I listed above used to comprise about 80% of my lesson time. Over the years I’ve taken these out of my lessons and replaced them with high-leverage items — many of which I didn’t use to teach at all. In the process I’ve been able to do a much better job of untapping the potential of each student, which as Suzuki teachers we believe to be truly vast.

But Wait!!! What About Rhythm? And Correct Notes? And Phrasing?

Do I teach rhythm? YES. But in a more leveraged way. Do I still teach concepts of bow direction and bow distribution? YES — even more than I used to! But always building these in the most efficient and focused way possible.

My students have much better bow and rhythm awareness, are more musically creative, and learn their songs note-perfectly on their own

Practice in Front of the Mirror

In a few weeks I will be leading a Practicum with a small group of teachers. In addition to going in-depth on some specialized areas of teaching young beginners, the course is designed to go into the “inner psychology” of the violin lesson; to uncover the places where your lessons are “leaking energy,” and how to transform these areas to transform your results.

The course is for beginning teachers who want to get good results and skip years of uncertainty, as well as experienced teachers who are ready to take their teaching to the next level. You can find out the details here

We tell our students to practice in front of the mirror. But where is the mirror for us as teachers? It’s hard for us to see ourselves clearly. A good mentor can make a decisive difference. 

I’d love to hear from you in the comments. What are you struggling with? What do you think are the greatest limitations in your teaching? What did you used to do that you no longer do, and how has it changed your studio?

I look forward to hearing your challenges and insights!

Practice in Front of the Mirror

In a few weeks I will be leading a Practicum with a small group of teachers. In addition to going in-depth on some specialized areas of teaching young beginners, the course is designed to go into the “inner psychology” of the violin lesson; to uncover the places where your lessons are “leaking energy,” and how to transform these areas to transform your results.

The course is for beginning teachers who want to get good results and skip years of uncertainty, as well as experienced teachers who are ready to take their teaching to the next level. You can find out the details here

We tell our students to practice in front of the mirror. But where is the mirror for us as teachers? It’s hard for us to see ourselves clearly. A good mentor can make a decisive difference. 

I’d love to hear from you in the comments. What are you struggling with? What do you think are the greatest limitations in your teaching? What did you used to do that you no longer do, and how has it changed your studio?

I look forward to hearing your challenges and insights!

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