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Jelly Bellys and Piano Lessons!?

Posted on September 17, 2011 at 12:10 AM

I've been waiting to blog about the new Studio Incentive for a while. Now we've completed the first full week of lessons, and everyone is happy with this new idea. I purchased 1 pint jelly jars from Walmart to be containers for the Jelly Belly Incentive at a cost of less than $1/jar. Jelly Bellys were slightly more expensive! I've stopped focusing on practice time and am really pushing meeting weekly goals with each piece. Goals are listed on the students' new assignment sheet and are numbered 1 through 10. For each goal reached the student will put 5 Jelly Bellys of their choice in their jar. There is no contest here, just a visual way of seeing their work each week make a difference. It is similar to my last year's incentive of pony beads on practice chains.




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7 Comments

Reply Marcia
03:51 PM on July 20, 2012 
Jennifer-anne says...
I like this jelly belly idea. Do you write out all 10 goals every week? Are the goals very broad? Thanks for the info.


If I ever filled out all 10 goals, they were all small, mini-goals on only a few measures. Quite often with Late Elementary and above I ask the student to tell me the 3 hardest sections of their piece, we work it through together, and those are the 3 goals for that piece. Late Elem. often have 6 or 7 goals max, and these are really the mini-goals. Hardly ever would I expect to assign 10 goals to be met. Mini-goals are *very* specific.
Reply Marcia
03:44 PM on July 20, 2012 
Margaret: A goal could be very simple - Play these measures 2 times hands separately, then play 3 times HT (These goals would be for beginniners to being to teach them how to practice); OR it could be a memory goal on 4-8 measures, HT; OR play all assigned scales at MM=60 per Q; OR work on these phrases, one at time to shape and refine with cresc and dim. and great articulation, make those staccato explosive! Hope that gives you some ideas. Each goal met is worth 5 jelly beans. I'd feel like a real cheapskate if awarding only 1 jelly bean per goal!
Reply Jennifer-anne
01:21 PM on July 20, 2012 
I like this jelly belly idea. Do you write out all 10 goals every week? Are the goals very broad? Thanks for the info.
Reply Margaret
03:23 PM on July 17, 2012 
Could you share some examples of goals you write in your student's assignment books that count as 1 jelly bean earned?
Thanks!
Reply yelena
12:52 PM on October 27, 2011 
I like this incentive program. I might use it the next year.
This year I use the practice chain and Musikopoly.
Thank you for your great site.
Reply Marcia
12:10 AM on October 24, 2011 
They have already had a blast. I settled on small Jelly Jars so each would have a top to screw on. One girl has filled her jar and taken the Jelly Bellys home. She said she was going to share them with her school class. Thanks for commenting. ~ Marcia

Robin J. Steinweg says...
Sounds like fun, Marcia!

I like the focus on goals. This will help them not only with piano, but in life goals.
Does each student have their own jar? When do they get to eat them?
Reply Robin J. Steinweg
11:20 PM on October 23, 2011 
Sounds like fun, Marcia!

I like the focus on goals. This will help them not only with piano, but in life goals.
Does each student have their own jar? When do they get to eat them?