It is the heart of the school year. Many festivals and activities are generally held between mid February and late April. If you are a Guild, National Auditions, or Trinity Auditions teacher, the exams can spread into mid May to early June. Now is the time to fortify yourself! Can you consider some things that nurture you personally? Perhaps lunch out with a colleague, or coffee with a member of an organizaiton you have not seen for a while would be in order.
For myself, I find that “shutting down” the studio for the weekend is necessary just to recharge my batteries. if I have programs to print, parents to email, or music to purchase, I try very hard to get that done by Friday at noon. By giving myself 48 hours on the weekends (when the festivals are not being held) I can face my Monday schedule with renewed enthusiasm. At this time of year, pacing yourself is essential. Without getting the extra studio work off the weekends during the busy season, we teachers can get bogged down and discover that we are working non stop for 14 days or more. Once festivals take up the weekend (or part of it) it’s far too easy to never get a day off.
So grab the relief hours now while you can! There’s nothing more satisfying than realizing that you have open spaces after all the special programming is completed for the year! Happy festival season!