Yay it's finally saturday
I've got everything lined up for my business. A few people even paid early, which I'm very very happy about. Hopefully next week will go smoothly. The ladies at the music store were pretty bitchy though. You would think that going in there and buying $500 worth of books at full price would be a GOOD thing for them, but judging by the way I was treated it was just a hassle. You would think I was getting the books for free!" Next time I go in there I'm going to comment on their pathetic excuse customer service. Especially considering they were only treating me like that. Yeah, so I went in there with jeans a t-shirt and no make up, but it's a STORE and I'm a customer, right? Should I really have to put on all my fancy piano-teacher clothes just to go to the neighborhood music shop and not get treated like they don't want "my kind" there. They probably would have kicked me out if I were wearing my Willie Nelson t shirt with the giant pot leaf. I'm chalking it up to the same crap I used to deal with at the music studio where I worked 5 years. Old ladies just don't like young women. "How dare you not have wrinkles! Get out of my store!!"
I wonder, am I the only one that deals with this?
More ranting:
I am also learning a lot about the types of things piano teachers say to discredit more expensive teachers (ie, me.) There are a lot of teachers who aren't very good at what they do, and don't really work that hard and/or they are being fully supported by their husbands and are teaching as a temporary side job. They will say things like "I can't believe some teachers actually charge $40/hr." Well, maybe some teachers are better than others. Ever thought of that? And maybe these teachers have more successful students, or don't have additional income. Anyway, just so everyone reading this knows where I'm coming from, I charge over $40/hr, my schedule is completely packed except for a few various time slots on Saturday, and I don't even want to work saturday. I just have to because I have so many people signing up. There is no way in hell I could possibly work for any less. If I did, I would have to put stuedents on a waiting list, and I am trying to avoid that at all costs. I mean, I'm working 6 days a week, and now on monday thru friday i'll be teaching from 2pm-9pm without any breaks or anything. How in the world would I even have time for the people who think I'm too expensive? They all want "after school at 3" Besides, one thing I've learned this week, is there is a hell of a lot more to do than just teaching now that I'm running a studio out of the house. I had to buy a keyboard and a printer, type up a shit load of "don't fuck me over" policy sheets, go to the 'friendly' neighborhood music store on a regular basis to buy books, and last but not least, spend countless hours on the phone dealing with every little issue my students and/or their parents could think of. Nobody pays me to talk on the phone, nobody buys the ink for my printer, and nobody buys my clothes so I can look professional. I've worked til midnight quite a few nights just getting everything together. Now I have an awesome filing system (which took me about 4 hours to put together) for personal and business use. I guess some teachers just don't put in that kind of effort, and those teachers don't deserve $40+/hr. However, it isn't their place to shit talk those of us who actually treat teaching children how to think logically and use their brains in a productive manner as a job. School doesn't teach children how to be creative anymore, instead it teaches them to be brain dead zombies who try to be good so their teacher wont recommend retalin to make their brains even deader. This is what I am up against! I have to not only teach these kids music, but teach them how to use their brains in a way that they can understand music. Teachers should really start respecting not only the work of other teachers, but their own work as well. At the montessori school I am already starting to get a bit of flack from one of the older teachers there. Yes, I get paid more for less hours, but I work really hard to get these kids to learn a specific skill, and compared to what I was learning when I was 4 (my parents were psycho and put me in hardcore prep school) these kids really aren't doing anything productive in their classes whatsoever. In fact, their lack of structure just makes it that much harder for me to pull them into my VERY structured 30 minute lesson program. Now, I admit, I have bad mouthed other teachers in the past.. so I guess I'm as guilty as all the rest. But like I said, some teachers are just better than others, same as any job. I wouldn't be a good teacher if I didn't know the difference.
End of rant.
In other news: For all you Charlie Brown fans, Peanuts Gallery at the Symphony kicks off at 11:30am at Jones hall next saturday. I'm bringing quite a few kid-os, but it's an all ages show. $15/adults, $9/kids. Exposure to theatrical events at a young age really helps children become more interested and more involved in arts. Who knows, you may be inspiring the next Mozart!
I wonder, am I the only one that deals with this?
More ranting:
I am also learning a lot about the types of things piano teachers say to discredit more expensive teachers (ie, me.) There are a lot of teachers who aren't very good at what they do, and don't really work that hard and/or they are being fully supported by their husbands and are teaching as a temporary side job. They will say things like "I can't believe some teachers actually charge $40/hr." Well, maybe some teachers are better than others. Ever thought of that? And maybe these teachers have more successful students, or don't have additional income. Anyway, just so everyone reading this knows where I'm coming from, I charge over $40/hr, my schedule is completely packed except for a few various time slots on Saturday, and I don't even want to work saturday. I just have to because I have so many people signing up. There is no way in hell I could possibly work for any less. If I did, I would have to put stuedents on a waiting list, and I am trying to avoid that at all costs. I mean, I'm working 6 days a week, and now on monday thru friday i'll be teaching from 2pm-9pm without any breaks or anything. How in the world would I even have time for the people who think I'm too expensive? They all want "after school at 3" Besides, one thing I've learned this week, is there is a hell of a lot more to do than just teaching now that I'm running a studio out of the house. I had to buy a keyboard and a printer, type up a shit load of "don't fuck me over" policy sheets, go to the 'friendly' neighborhood music store on a regular basis to buy books, and last but not least, spend countless hours on the phone dealing with every little issue my students and/or their parents could think of. Nobody pays me to talk on the phone, nobody buys the ink for my printer, and nobody buys my clothes so I can look professional. I've worked til midnight quite a few nights just getting everything together. Now I have an awesome filing system (which took me about 4 hours to put together) for personal and business use. I guess some teachers just don't put in that kind of effort, and those teachers don't deserve $40+/hr. However, it isn't their place to shit talk those of us who actually treat teaching children how to think logically and use their brains in a productive manner as a job. School doesn't teach children how to be creative anymore, instead it teaches them to be brain dead zombies who try to be good so their teacher wont recommend retalin to make their brains even deader. This is what I am up against! I have to not only teach these kids music, but teach them how to use their brains in a way that they can understand music. Teachers should really start respecting not only the work of other teachers, but their own work as well. At the montessori school I am already starting to get a bit of flack from one of the older teachers there. Yes, I get paid more for less hours, but I work really hard to get these kids to learn a specific skill, and compared to what I was learning when I was 4 (my parents were psycho and put me in hardcore prep school) these kids really aren't doing anything productive in their classes whatsoever. In fact, their lack of structure just makes it that much harder for me to pull them into my VERY structured 30 minute lesson program. Now, I admit, I have bad mouthed other teachers in the past.. so I guess I'm as guilty as all the rest. But like I said, some teachers are just better than others, same as any job. I wouldn't be a good teacher if I didn't know the difference.
End of rant.
In other news: For all you Charlie Brown fans, Peanuts Gallery at the Symphony kicks off at 11:30am at Jones hall next saturday. I'm bringing quite a few kid-os, but it's an all ages show. $15/adults, $9/kids. Exposure to theatrical events at a young age really helps children become more interested and more involved in arts. Who knows, you may be inspiring the next Mozart!