Have you ever stopped to consider how much time you spend on things other than the lessons themselves? There is so much more to teaching than just showing up for the lessons. Think of the prep work, the scheduling, the invoicing, communicating with parents, etc. I spent most of my summer getting my website ready to go. Included in that time was the revising of all of my handouts and posting them on the website so that the students can download them after they login. Today I turned in all the copying that needs to be done. I'm making fewer copies of most things this year since I'm just making a classroom set that students can refer to while in lessons. Still, that was a lot of stuff to get organized.
When I attended a business seminar this summer, they reminded us to figure in all the "other" stuff when setting tuition rates. Monica K. Allen gave us this list of questions:
1. How many hours do you spend with students per week?
2. How many hours do you spend on prep time per week?
3. How many hours do you spend on administrative duties per week?
4. How many hours do you spend on marketing per week?
5. How many hours do you spend on professional development per week?
6. How many hours do you spend practicing each week?
7. How many total hours are you working each week?
8. Do your tuition rates reflect this?
I loved these questions, not just because they help me justify my fees, but because they reminded me of all the things that really do go into being a good teacher. Here's a little about how I will spend my time in each of these areas.
1. Time with Students
This is always a little tricky. I'm trying to get as many students as possible during the school day so that I don't have to stay as late at night. We'll see how that all works out. I'm shooting for no more than 40 hours per week at the school (and that includes some of the admin stuff.)
2. Prep time
This varies a lot for me, but I'd like to start spending 30-45 minutes before I start lessons warming up and getting ready for the day's lessons. Yes, warming up is prep time. Also, I did a lot of the general prepping and organizing this summer, so this time in the morning will be thinking about where I want to go with each student and how I want to approach his or her music.
3. Administrative duties
This is the one that sucks up all the time. I'm hoping that using the Music Teacher's Helper system will make the day to day business (recording attendance, payments, etc.) much quicker. Returning emails and phone calls still requires time.
4. Marketing
At the beginning of the school year I go to Freshmen Orientation and the Parent Open House to talk to people about voice lessons. We also do a day where we talk to each of the choir classes. Beyond that, I don't do much with marketing. I rely a lot on referrals to fill the after school spots.
5. Professional Development
During the 2009-2010 school year (and the following summer) I will be doing the following professional development activities:
- Preparing a recital. This process will include both long hours of my own practicing and work with my accompanist/coach.
- Attending the North Central ACDA convention in Minneapolis. It's a great time to get back into ACDA. I let my membership lapse, but I'm looking forward to getting involved again. Although I'm not currently conducting a choir, I work with choral people and need to keep involved in the choral world.
- Attending the MMTA Convention. The vocal area is small, but growing and this has been a great networking opportunity for me in the past.
- Attending the NATS Convention in Salt Lake City. I've been to 1 ICVT convention and 1 NATS Convention and loved both of them. It's such a great way to get recharged.
- I don't know if I can make the dates and work, but I would also like to attend the Classical Singer Convention.
If you're like I used to be, you might think, "I can't afford to go to conventions. They cost money and I lose money since I can't teach during that time." Both of those things are absolutely true, but it is totally worth it. I am a better teacher because of these chances to network, recharge, get new ideas, etc. It's also nice to hear "famous" people talk about the same things you tell your students every day. It's very affirming. If money is an issue, try setting aside a little from each deposit you make. Or find ways to cut expenses in other others. Just find a way and go. It's good for you and your students.
6. Practicing
This summer has been great for my own personal practice and I hope to continue that during the school year. My students are really overscheduled, but I ask them to find at least a few minutes to connect with their music everyday, whether it's listening to a professional recording, or going over the words once, or actually doing real practice. If I'm asking them to do it, I'm going to do it as well. My biggest problem is that once I get started, practicing is too much fun. Then by the time I'm done, I don't have the time or energy left to go to the gym, which I also really need to do and enjoy doing.
7. Total hours
As I mentioned before, I don't want to be at school for more than 40 hours, but I can see myself easily doing another 5-10 at home with the practicing and administrative stuff.
8. Do my rates reflect all of the above?
I wish that what I make per hour of student contact time was what I made per hour of work time. 50 hours at my rates would be awesome. I would feel comfortable charging more, but we try to keep the rates reasonable so that we can have more kids involved. We also try to stay pretty close to what the other schools in the district are charging. I think that how much you charge should reflect the things listed above, plus your education and experience, plus take into account the local economy.
How much time do you spend working outside of lessons? Do your rates reflect this?
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