Christina Whitlock, Beyond Measure Podcast

Today, I Confess: Summer Taught Me Some Things... In this week's podcast episode, I promised a rundown of summer reflections in this week's e-letter. ...so here we go, friends! A peek into the wild ride that was June, July, and (some of) August. *while there is SOME teacher-related content here, this is largely a personal reflection. I'll be Back to Business next week! No. 1 - Water Resets: When I was pregnant with my first baby, someone wisely told me, "when all else fails, get cranky kids...

Today, I Confess: It Won't ALL Be Awesome... My ultra-anxious kiddo spent a week at an overnight camp this summer and - as per usual - I found an important Piano Teacher Takeaway in the mix. (Connecting everyday life lessons to teaching is my superpower). 😉 Parenting anxious children has taught me a lot about establishing healthy expectations before nerves have the chance to derail everything. She was excited to go. So many people were telling her how amazing the week would be. As we drove to...

Today, I Confess: Big Lessons Often Come from the Small Interactions In this week's Encore Replay of the Beyond Measure Podcast, I discuss an important takeaway that came from a casual conversation with friends at NCKP in 2023. Of ALL the things I learned at the conference that week, the only thing I felt compelled to speak about on the podcast came from one serendipitous conversation while wandering the exhibit hall. Isn't it funny how that works? This is why I am such a champion for...

Today, I Confess: This is what My Younger Self Needed.... Here's my backstory, in a nutshell: I grew up in the smallest of towns (shoutout to Malvern, Ohio!). I took lessons with the only piano teacher in town; a delightful college student majoring in piano and vocal performance at nearby Malone College. There are MANY things this teacher did well. Most of all, she treated me like I was a musician from Day One. She never made me feel anything less than capable. She was a brand new baby...

Today, I Confess: I Humiliated Myself on Monday... Life has a way of keeping us humble, right? 🤷🏻♀️ This week on the podcast, I shared some mildly embarrassing stories in an attempt to remind teachers how important it is to say EVERYTHING: even things we believe to be "obvious". Let the record show, I try to be a good sport. I can laugh at myself. ...but the universe decided I needed a little more practice in that regard this week... For context, I put over 1500 miles on my vehicle last week,...

Today, I Confess: Some things are NOT working in this season of life... It's that time again, friends... time for me to share things that are NOT working in this season of my life. (If you're not otherwise aware, I have a quarterly-ish practice of sharing What's Working on the podcast, and What's NOT Working here in Confessions). You can find a full listing of other installments in this series in this week's Episode Notes. So, let's get right to it. Things - big and small - that are not...

Today, I Confess: I Broke My Own Rule. Twice. Six days ago, I opened Facebook to see a post by my friend, Elizabeth Davis-Everhart of the Creative Piano Pedagogy podcast (check out our conversation about neurodiverse students here). Elizabeth was the first teacher in my sphere of influence to express outrage over a 60 Minutes post, teasing an upcoming feature on a "new" approach to teaching piano called The Payam Method. As you likely know, the foundation for that teaser (and subsequent...

Don't miss the announcement at the end of today's confession! Many of you have been waiting for this one... Today, I Confess: Change is in the Air The month of May always gets me feeling sentimental (and a little restless, if I'm being honest). I feel it in the air. Some change is good, some is less-than-great... but ready or not, here it comes. 😊 This week on the podcast, I shared three business mindsets essential to running a studio. I also encouraged you to schedule time SOON for a "staff...

Today, I Confess: Sometimes We Fix Too Much This week on Beyond Measure I offered a reminder that - despite having notable room for improvement - the kids are alright. We must be careful not to define our students by their weaknesses. Johnny is more than The Kid Who Always Plays Too Fast. I know *I* want to be seen as more than my shortcomings, so I try to extend the same courtesy to my students. Their struggles do not define them. Check out episode 255 for more on that. There's another...