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Taking your Teaching Practice or Choir Rehearsal Online
As more and more of the world heads into full on lock down, the majority of you are now looking for ways to earn money from home and that includes teaching online. Many of you are already singing, theory, intrumental and language teachers and for those of you that don't know, most of these lessons can still take place online from your laptop, desktop, tablet or smart phone even. It will take a bit of getting used to but it is all very possible. There are many teachers that have been doing this for over ten years either building up their own personal studio or working for companies such as Your Space Music Lessons https://www.yourspacemusiclessons.com
If like me you don’t teach, there are lots of other online work opportunities to consider such as copy writer, website builder, website tester, content creator, social media expert, blogger, proof reader and so on. Myself and the team will get some information about alternatives in another newsletter over the coming days.
Tools
Ideally a Laptop and headphones. That's it.
- If you do have a separate camera and microphone, it can be helpful but if right now you are looking to reduce your outgoings, get experimenting with what you have before rushing out to buy expensive equipment
- No laptop? Some teachers are making this work armed only with a smart phone
- If you are without any suitable equipment and are on a tight budget, see if your school or friends can lend you anything. You would be amazed what people give away on Freecycle and Marketplace
Internet Connection
As a remote digital worker, I cannot stress enough how important a decent internet connection is.
- If you are currently looking to reduce your outgoings, it may be possible to find a cheaper yet more affective internet connection. https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/postcode_checker/
Platform
Zoom seems to be the favourite platform but try them all. Find out what suits you as it will depend on the device that you are using and the decices available to your students.
- Zoom https://zoom.us/education - up to 100 people
- Zoom is temporarily lifting the 40-minute time limit on free Basic accounts for schools affected by the Coronavirus. Here’s how to get access for your school. https://zoom.us/docs/ent/school-verification.html
- Facetime - inbuilt feature on smart phones
- Skype https://www.skype.com/en/
Timetabling
There are various free online timetabling resources out there
- Setmore https://www.setmore.com
One-to-One Teaching Online Teaching Advice
There are a few hurdles to overcome such as the time delay and where you get students to position cameras but there are some really useful blogs from some really experience online teachers
Billy Gollner gives a clear demonstration of how to set up a Zoom account and a session https://youtu.be/f9j1MyyPCR8
The Online Music Teacher has taught online for over ten years and so is a great resource https://theonlinemusicteacher.com/teaching-music-online-with-zoom/
Advice For Running a Choir Online
Running a choir online can be a lot more complex but Celebrate Voice’s Lynsey Docherty was undeterred jumping in and taking a rehearsal live from her kitchen. It’s not just about keeping your choirs going but also keeping your community connected.
For a full description of how to set up for a choir, the Royal Academy of Music in Denmark have posted the following instruction video https://youtu.be/50NoWIiYECA
Keeping your students’ lessons and choirs going will not only help them, it will help you retain some sense of your normal working life and connection with the outside world in these crazy times. If you are able to keep your students to their normal timetable, this is even better as the routine will be great for you both and also help you to retain them as students as they will stay in the habit of working with you.
If you know of other free resources or tips that you feel would be particularly useful to our community please email [email protected].
Finally, have you stopped to breathe for two minutes or 20 breaths today? Do it now. Your vegus nerve will thank you for it. It's science remember!
Keeping your students’ lessons and choirs going will not only help them, it will help you retain some sense of your normal working life and connection with the outside world in these crazy times. If you are able to keep your students to their normal timetable, this is even better as the routine will be great for you both and also help you to retain them as students as they will stay in the habit of working with you.
If you know of other free resources or tips that you feel would be particularly useful to our community please email [email protected].
Finally, have you stopped to breathe for two minutes or 20 breaths today? Do it now. Your vegus nerve will thank you for it. It's science remember!
Happy teaching,
Melanie
Director & Founder of Audition Oracle