Thursday, April 10, 2014

Music Protection: An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure


The dog ate my music (or at least that's what it looks like)! Fortunately I don't have any pets to destroy my music, but children can be pretty rough on it. 

Contact Paper has become one of my most purchased supplies as a piano teacher other than music of course.  I've gone through many rolls "laminating" cards and game boards for printable games.  It also comes in handy for
making dry erasable resources such as piano lapbooks or snackmats.  But lately after repairing too many books and sheet music I've started a project of covering all of my music books and especially sheet music with contact paper.

I prefer it to laminating for several reasons.  It has a dull finish that doesn't glare as much as typical laminate.  I can do it at my own at home (even with children underfeet), and it is quite forgiveable.  If I don't stick it on straight the first time, it can usually be peeled off carefully for a second attempt.  It is readily available at my local Walmart store.  Another bonus is that it extends the life of my theory books during lab time.  I folded a large sheet of contact paper to make a clear plastic covering to slip over theory book pages for students to complete during piano lab.  After I correct their work, I erase it so multiple students can use the same theory book over and over.  With the explosion of online activities, I use traditional theory books less and less, but it makes a great backup plan in the event of a technology issue or power outage :) 
What are some of your favorite piano teaching supplies?





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