One of the simplest, but most motivating themes, The Box Club is designed to help students develop consistent practice habits. The mother of one of my students had suggested that it would be helpful to have a daily practice guide that the students could follow to know how to structure their practice time each day. I loved the idea and put together a Daily Practice Guide and included it in the front of the assignment books. Pages full of boxes comprise the next part of the assignment book, with a special place at the bottom of each page for the teacher to sign off completion of that level and assign the student a membership number. Membership rosters were posted on the wall above the piano and the first person to arrive at each level was listed as the Club President. The second was the Club Vice-President. Toward the end of the year, all the students who had been admitted to the club as officers were invited to a meeting at the studio where we planned and organized a special year-end event. We called the event “The Box Club Musical Dinner” and decided to give it a patriotic theme. The event included dinner and a musical show comprised of a variety of selections by all the students and a few guest artists.
The Box Club (2002-2003)
