Month: September 2018

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Noise seems to fill our environment and distract us from our purpose and path. What are some distractions we face and how can we be more effective about handling them?

If you have questions or answers or you would like to comment or leave me a voice mail, you can do so at (512) 537-6356. If you would like to send me an email, you may do so at paula@teachsuzuki.com. I welcome comments and questions about this episode and am interested in hearing about the perspective of other parents and teachers.

You may find more information and useful articles on my blog at: Teach Suzuki Blog.

Until next time,

Happy Practicing!

—– Paula —–

© 2018 by Paula E. Bird

Join the Teach Suzuki Community!

If you would like to make a donation to support the Teach Suzuki Podcast and the blog, click here to donate.

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At a recent meeting with other teachers, a colleague raised the question of whether we teachers were making things too easy for teachers, parents, or students to choose not to participate. I thought this was an important idea to consider in more depth. Are we making it too easy for our fellow teachers, parents, or students to be unengaged or uninvolved?

This episode explores the motivation for teachers or parents to choose to make things too easy. What can teachers and parents do to change this default position so everyone can be more engaged and involved in the learning process? For teachers, this concept will also relate to how we can be more engaged in the community building and sharing process.

If you have questions or answers or you would like to comment or leave me a voice mail, you can do so at (512) 537-6356. If you would like to send me an email, you may do so at paula@teachsuzuki.com. I welcome comments and questions about this episode and am interested in hearing about the perspective of other parents and teachers.

You may find more information and useful articles on my blog at: Teach Suzuki Blog.

Until next time,

Happy Practicing!

—– Paula —–

© 2018 by Paula E. Bird

Join the Teach Suzuki Community!

If you would like to make a donation to support the Teach Suzuki Podcast and the blog, click here to donate.

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Attitude is perhaps one of the greatest tools we have to affect our lives — positive or negative. The Charles Dickens character Ebeneezer Scrooge described his former employer, Mr. Fezziwig, as someone who had “the power to render us happy or unhappy; to make our service light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil. Say that his power lies in words and looks; in things so slight and insignificant that it is impossible to add and count ’em up: what then? The happiness he gives, is quite as great as if it cost a fortune.” This was an employer with an attitude that lightened his employee’s labor.

But what is attitude? Where does it come from? Can we change it? Dr. Suzuki had an attitude about his own personal talent. “I was not born with enough talent to become great,” he wrote in the preface to his book, Ability Development From Age Zero. By the time Dr. Suzuki finished this paragraph, he was able to write, “[T]oday I can say, ‘Talent is not inborn.'”

How did Dr. Suzuki change his attitude from one end of the spectrum of fatal negativity to the other end of  life-giving positivity? This episode explores the importance of attitude in our lives and discusses the importance of self reflection to keep us mindful about our attitude choices.

If you have questions or answers or you would like to comment or leave me a voice mail, you can do so at (512) 537-6356. If you would like to send me an email, you may do so at paula@teachsuzuki.com. I welcome comments and questions about this episode and am interested in hearing about the perspective of other parents and teachers.

You may find more information and useful articles on my blog at: Teach Suzuki Blog.

Until next time,

Happy Practicing!

—– Paula —–

© 2018 by Paula E. Bird

Join the Teach Suzuki Community!

If you would like to make a donation to support the Teach Suzuki Podcast and the blog, click here to donate.

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Today’s episode explores the phenomenon of the swirling carousel and the problems that arise when we crank up the carousel. Come listen and explore some solutions to this perpetual problem of loose pieces that begin to fly off the carousel once we crank the merry-go-round handle.

In this episode I mentioned some tools that I use to solve the swirling carousel problem. If you would like to try these same tools, here are links to the items that I use. Of course, you never need to purchase anything, but if you decide to make a purchase, please consider using these links here, as they will provide a small benefit to the podcast and blog at no additional cost to you.

artist’s sketchbooks, 5.5 x 8.5: This page shows a variety of these sketchbooks. I find this tool to be my most useful. I have one in almost every room of my life!

My bullet journal (dotted). I use a new one every year, and for really busy years, I use more than one. My favorite tool! Here is an episode that explains how to use it:  The Bullet Journal and Other Tools.

I use Frixion erasable pens, because I do not like smeary pencil markings in my bullet journal. I prefer these pens because of the color possibilities. I buy ink refills for my favorites (light blue, pink, dark blue , and green). I use the black pens for the office.

Flylady Website: if you are interested in finding a workable system to keep your house clean enough to invite visitors, check out this website!

If you have questions or answers or you would like to comment or leave me a voice mail, you can do so at (512) 537-6356. If you would like to send me an email, you may do so at paula@teachsuzuki.com. I welcome comments and questions about this episode and am interested in hearing about the perspective of other parents and teachers.

You may find more information and useful articles on my blog at: Teach Suzuki Blog.

Until next time,

Happy Practicing!

—– Paula —–

© 2018 by Paula E. Bird

Join the Teach Suzuki Community!

If you would like to make a donation to support the Teach Suzuki Podcast and the blog, click here to donate.