After my string of summer travels, rehearsals, and performances, I’m back in Houston now in the swing of my fall schedule. This includes a good deal of teaching private lessons and classes, all of which happen in the suburbs. All that driving has put Michele Norris and Robert Siegle back into my life (NPR’s All Things Considered) and a healthy dose of traffic and meals on the run.

I appreciate the break from teaching during the summer, as my heart really belongs on the road and on the stage. But the sabbatical from teaching gives me a fresh perspective when I get back into the routine. Just a few thoughts:

- I taught some strings of private voice students the past two weeks. They were my first lessons with each of the students, and they were all high school kids. There were so many thoughts that came to mind during those hours of teaching, i.e. each person is so different, each voice is so different, everybody has their own way of communicating, everybody has a different balance of what they think they need to work on and what I think they need to work on.

- I also got a general sense with these high school kids that they all seem to be dealing with deep issues.  At their tender ages, they show so much heaviness and searching in their eyes.  They are looking for belonging, for affirmation, to be left alone, to be noticed.  They show it in how they dress, what they say, what they don’t say, and how they interact with their peers.  I feel a genuine sense of humility about being put in these students’ lives.  Staying present to these students as a music teacher alone is a large task, but also being sensitive and understanding about these life situations is incredibly important.

- I am working on a new approach as a teacher this time around. I’m trying to teach and inspire students to learn without having to introduce guilt or shame into the relationship. For example: “WHAT? You didn’t do your homework?” or “WHY didn’t you practice?!?” or “Where WERE you when we met for class on Friday?!?” Instead, I am trying to steadily remind students exactly why what we do is so important. I hope to clarify for students why they need to do homework, why practicing helps, and the significance of attending class in order for the semester to be a successful one.  I also hope to pass on to my students just how special the educational process can be, not just the end goal of knowledge and a degree.