Building rapport with pupils is much more difficult online and it is essential to ask the pupils general questions to find out what made them want to play, and what their favourite music is. The start of the lesson is a good time to share general topics like how has your week been or what’s the weather like, etc. It is good to back this up with your own comments as the direct nature of remote teaching can leave it feeling like an interrogation!
Alongside building a rapport with your student, think about your eye contact. If you forget to look into the camera the student will not feel like you are talking to them. It will appear like you are talking over their head or over their shoulder!. It’s just the nature of the camera placement on your computer, tablet or phone. You can use a simple trick of placing a sticky dot or googly eyes next to the camera so he can quickly see where it is and to remind me to talk to the camera not the screen.
Finally, think about your posture in an online lesson. Varying this can have a real impact. The two main postures that you can use are a sitting forward posture to deliver a message and sitting back, more relaxed posture to listen to the students’ playing. His posture for playing to a student is slightly further away from the camera to allow the student a full view of the instrument and valves.
Building rapport, maintaining eye contact and good posture can all help you build a positive learning environment for your student, leading to mutual respect and a more relaxed and enhanced teaching experience.
Recent Comments