New Teacher Information
Welcome to the EMA faculty family! We’re so glad to have you here. Please read through this information carefully and be sure to reference back here whenever you like!
Keeping Track of Your Schedule
Student schedule changes are always communicated via automatic email and/or text notification, and the instructor’s online schedule is updated instantly. We recommend that you check your online schedule in Opus1 in case there were any changes you missed. Schedule change communications may include notification of new student enrollments, make-ups that were scheduled, withdraws, lesson day/time changes, or student lesson cancellations.
You may view your live schedule online through your Opus1 portal!
Whenever a student or admin staff makes a change (new student, cancellation, time change, etc.), your schedule will automatically be updated. You can always count on it!
How Students Are Added to Your Schedule
The front desk staff is working each day to fill your schedule with new students! Any time a student contacts us requesting lessons, we give priority to our new teachers and teachers who have an open schedule. We find out information about the students and try to match them with a teacher who we think would be a good fit, keeping in mind that schedule availability plays a huge role in selecting a teacher.
When we have added a new student to your schedule, you will receive both an automatic notification email and text. The email will contain a few basic pieces of information such as the student’s age, experience, and any specific goals they have.
When the student/parent comes in for their first lesson, the front desk staff will take them on an official Expressions tour, give the student a new student folder and tote bag, and then introduce them to you to take it from there.
Make-Up Policy
Any time a student gives us 24 or more hours of cancellation notice, they receive a make-up credit on their account and can schedule a make-up lesson with their own instructor or another instructor. Students are allowed to have 4 make-up credits on their account at one time, and they are welcome to choose a slot at any point when they are ready. Any of your available times on the schedule can be used as a make-up lesson, so it is very important that you let us know if your availability changes (even if it’s just for one day). Make-up lessons with other teachers can be understood as turbo-charged practice sessions! Some students only like to take make-up lessons with their regular teacher and will wait until something becomes available, and some students like to try different instruments and will take advantage of that opportunity on occasion.
Because a make-up lesson can be scheduled in any of your listed availabilities, it is extremely important that you let us know when your availability changes. Please let the front desk know as soon as possible if there is a time that you cannot be available for a make-up lesson.
If one of your students or another student decides to schedule a make-up lesson with you, you will be notified as usual via automatic notifications, and your online schedule will be updated accordingly.
Additionally, video make-up lessons are an option for students when they need to cancel a lesson, even if it is canceled with less than 24 hours’ notice. Students will still be given the option to choose a make-up class or a video make-up lesson if they cancel early, but if they cancel late, they only have the option of the video make-up lesson. Video make-up lessons are filmed via LessonMate using your phone/tablet/laptop at the lesson time of your absent student, in their regular lesson room. Once the video is fully uploaded to LessonMate, the student receives an email notification and a link to watch it. The video lessons should be between 10 and 20 minutes long. If a student “requests LessonMate” (requests a video lesson), the color of the lesson on your schedule will be faded. If you hover over the lesson in your schedule, it will say “LessonMate” at the bottom. There are a lot of resources available on our Teacher Resources page including sample videos and lots of fun ideas for video make-up lessons such as teacher guides and associated student guides and homework.
For video lessons, make-up lessons, and late cancellations, you will be paid your regular hourly rate.
LessonMate
Lesson Mate is a platform where you can share notes, videos, audio tracks, worksheets, PDFs, etc with your students! This is also where you record and post video lessons. Once you post a lesson, it will be emailed to the student/parent, and they can look at it. Your sign-in information is provided for you in an email from Lesson Mate.
Teacher Resources Page
This page provides you with many valuable resources, including employee documents, cancellation, and sub-note forms, Zoom lesson resources, the EMA holiday schedule, Piano tuning/repair request form, the digital music library, student of the month forms, video lesson samples, worksheets and inspiration, and more! Check it out here! The password is 1loveteaching
The Teacher’s Resources Page is also where you will find our Subbing Opportunity Board. This board is updated daily as new subbing opportunities become available. If you see something that fits your schedule and personal availability and you would like to claim the opportunity, you will just need to call/email/text us at 248-773-8364 or info@expressionsmusicacademy.com, and our administrative staff will take care of the rest!
Book & Music Ordering
Students are responsible for purchasing their own materials (method books, flashcards, etc). There is a form in each lesson room, which you can fill out with all the information they need in order to purchase it on their own. You can also submit an online Material Request form to the front desk staff. This online form is found on the Teacher Resources page. Once we receive that from you, we will forward it to the student so they can purchase the recommended materials.
We have a laptop available in the teacher lounge of each location which will have scans of the first few pages of common beginning lesson books (for your first lesson with a new student) as well as all the digital sheet music scans we have collected over the years. The laptop is connected to the printer so you can easily print off whatever you need at any time. In the case of a new student, you might want to print off some scans to use for the first lesson and then have them order a book or two after the first lesson is done.
Communication With Parents & Contact With Students
All communication between instructors and students is done through the academy, LessonMate, or your Opus1 portal. Students and instructors are not given one another’s contact information nor do we want instructors or students to volunteer their contact information to one another. If a student asks for your email address, do not give it to them.
This is a key concept in the operation of Expressions! We want our instructors to be able to focus on their teaching and not on scheduling lessons, explaining policies, collecting payment, or answering other day-to-day questions. While this policy is explained to students as well, sometimes they forget. If students or parents ask you questions about scheduling, make-ups, or any policies, please just send them to the front desk. Let them know that the front desk has your schedule and we will help them.
If you would like to communicate with a student or parent during the week, you can send a message through LessonMate or Opus1, or you can send them an email through Expressions’ email address. Just send it to us with a request to pass it along to the student and we will be happy to copy/paste your email and send it to them through the academy. If a parent or student is asking you for your contact information, just let them know you are not allowed to share that and ask them instead to email Expressions and we will forward the message to you.
Another tool available to you is the Student Progress Report. These can be found on the Teacher Resources page and in each lesson room. Use of the progress report is optional but can be a great way to keep parents informed about students’ progress.
There is also a form available to the students called the Lesson Assessment Form, which they can fill out at any point. The form contains questions asking them about their current lesson experience and what goals they have in the near future. It’s a great way to get feedback from parents, especially since you won’t always get the chance to talk to them after every lesson. If someone fills one of these out, we will forward it directly to your email, just like the new student questionnaire when you get a new student.
Level Up
Why Level Up?
This program will help you motivate your students to work harder than ever, keep yourself, your students, and your parents all effortlessly on the same page, grow your schedule as your retention improves, and make your lesson prep time shrink!
General Overview
Level Up is designed to give structure and increased authority to your practice assignments, without changing the way you teach. This program guides students through ten levels from beginning to mastery, each consisting of ten personalized challenges and songs. In each level, you can choose from a database of repertoire with audio tracks, or you can choose from fundamental challenges such as technical exercises, rhythm, and note reading drills, listening assignments, memorization or performance challenges, or anything you would like to assign. Customized challenges or songs can be added to each student’s own personal book with ease by adding a specialized sticker (available at all locations!). You can also create your own custom assignments from scratch. Through our newly restructured challenge books provided to each student free of charge, our students and parents are given a clear picture of their progress and what’s to come by tracking their completed and assigned songs and challenges within a physical book that will showcase all of your students’ achievements. Digital copies of all individual instrument books are available on our Teachers Resources page for your easy reference all the time!
In addition to being naturally motivated by “leveling up”, students are also motivated by rewards like stickers, certificates, wristbands, key chains, and trophies for completing songs, challenges, and levels. The combination of accountability and intrinsic and external rewards creates a momentum that gets your students practicing like never before!
10 Levels and Colors & 100 Steps to the Top
Level Up is similar to the martial arts black belt program, except for music students. There are ten levels with ten associated colors which students work through until they make it to the top. In order to pass each level, students need to complete a combination of ten songs and/or challenges for that level. Therefore, in order to pass the entire program, each student will complete one hundred assignments overall. The assignments are given by you in their lessons and all progress can be charted in each student’s personal book!
Songs & Challenges
We have created a huge database that contains a large list of songs and customizable challenges for each level (this list was actually created and developed with input from our current Expressions teachers). Special QR codes containing links to this database have been added to every level’s corresponding page inside of a student's Level Up book, and through these codes, you (and the student) will be able to access this database specific to their current level. Many songs in this database will have sheet music and audio recordings available to help you and the students decide what pieces they would like to work on for challenges.
Teachers are solely in charge of when their students pass their songs or challenges. There is no formal test or audition. Passing challenges is fairly easy to determine - once the student has achieved the goal that was set, they have completed the challenge! As for songs, most teachers hold their students to higher standards of completion than a regular method book. Think “recital ready” for determining whether a song should be completed. (By the way, Level Up songs make great recital pieces!) All of this is entirely the teacher’s call, though. Teachers should use Level Up to support them in doing what is best for the student and hold to rigid standards only when appropriate. The songs listed for each level can be used to determine the level of proficiency the student should reach by the end of that level. It is up to you to assign what you think is appropriate to help the student achieve that proficiency!
How Long Does it Take to Pass a Level?
Passing levels are based on achievement, not on length of enrollment. That means it might take some students years to pass just one level, and other students might take only a few months to pass a level, although both of those examples are extreme. Our data shows that it takes students an average of about one year to pass a level, with the lower levels taking a bit less time and the higher levels taking a bit more time. Remember, passing all 10 levels indicates a very high level of proficiency, so it will take some time! This is one reason levels are divided into 10 sections (challenges and songs) - so this way students will receive continuous encouragement while completing small, manageable goals.
Transfer and Experienced Students
Many students start Level Up after already having taken lessons for one or more years. These students should simply start at the level that best fits their current playing ability. Choosing what level to start a student on depends on a variety of factors. Not all students need to begin at level 1! Sometimes students come in with some base-level knowledge or prior experience. To aid you in placing a new or transfer student at the appropriate level, we have developed placement guides (one for EACH instrument) found through a link on our Teacher's Resources Page (also found here).
You will see there are benchmarks listed for each level and these are to be used to aid in placing students primarily based on their technical skills and theory knowledge. These guides should be used in conjunction with the Level Up Song Lists as well as your preferred method books.
Students should be able to demonstrate the benchmarks for the current level as well as the prior. If students meet all the requisite benchmarks in a level, they should begin on the level following. If a student seems like they are between levels and you are struggling to decide which level they should be at, choose the lower level. It’s perfectly okay for a student to move quickly through a level, which can help them feel motivated, but getting stuck right away can impede their confidence! You can always customize challenges to fill specific aspects of a student’s knowledge.
Passing Songs, Challenges, and Levels
Every time a student passes a song, challenge, or level, they should feel immensely proud! The teacher will mark it as completed in their book with a special Level Up challenge completion sticker (located at the front desk of every location). Our administrators often celebrate with the student and teacher when this occurs! While this feeling of satisfaction is rewarding in and of itself, physical awards can also be very rewarding, especially for younger students. Rewards at Expressions include the following:
Levels 1-7: Challenge completion sticker added to their book, certificate, wristband
Levels 8-10: Challenge completion sticker added to their book, certificate, wristband, trophy
Level 10: Challenge completion sticker added to their book, wristband, trophy, diploma, and student’s choice of a special Level 10 reward (special brochure provided to help your student pick a reward!)
Belt Colors by Level:
1. White
2. Orange
3. Green
4. Yellow
5. Red
6. Teal
7. Purple
8. Dark Blue
9. Raspberry
10. Black
The wristbands for each level correspond with the official color for that level!
More About Songs
The criteria students must meet to pass a level is two-fold and entirely customizable. Part one of the requirement involves passing a certain number of official Level Up songs from that level. All instruments have official lists of music available for each level through QR codes on each corresponding challenge page in your student’s book. We have been told that we typically have enough repertoire in each level for teachers to choose the perfect piece for each student in terms of the student’s needs, goals, and preferences. There is no maximum number of pieces for any level, and we continue growing the lists as we go. However, if you ever feel like using a piece that is not included in the Level Up database or even if you would like to switch a piece to a different level for a certain student, feel free! Remember, the idea is to teach however you would normally teach, and let the Level Up program work for you by motivating your students to do exactly what you assign! Students and parents will feel like they are following an official, academic curriculum, but what they are really following is your exact plan for them! Whether the student works on one or two or three or four Level Up pieces simultaneously is also up to you. You may not even want them working on any Level Up pieces at certain times. Your job is to determine what is best for your student as you always do and make the Level Up program work for you.
More About Challenges
Part two of the requirement to pass levels includes completing a number of challenges from an available list of challenges for each instrument and each level. As long as the total number of songs and challenges passed for a level equals 10, the student can advance to the next level. You can use any combination of songs and challenges as long as it equals 10. These challenges are specifically designed to be a simple framework which is entirely customizable by the instructor for each student. Feel free to choose the challenges together with your student, choose them all yourself, or a combination of both! You could assign all the challenges up front at the beginning of the student’s journey with that level, or you could assign them as you go. Whatever works best for you! Simply assign typical homework to your student, but watch their motivation soar when you turn that homework into a Level Up challenge! If you have a student who is particularly hesitant to do something (theory assignments, observation of dynamics, correct posture, etc.) try turning it into a challenge! You will see a change in motivation when your student understands they can’t pass the level until they do as you ask. :)
What Happens After Level Ten?
Typically when students reach Level Ten, they are just about to graduate high school. The songs in Level Ten are at a very high level (think university music major audition level), and most students will be moving on from you at that point. The percentage of students who even make it to that high of a level is incredibly low compared to the percentage of students who start taking lessons. In other words, we don’t think you’re going to run into this problem very frequently. If you do have a student who passes the entire Level Up program and is still around wanting to take lessons, they will certainly have a wonderful foundation on which to build!
Who Can Use Level Up?
Level Up can be used by students of any age, including very young beginners and adults! We have many adults at Expressions who enjoy the structure and motivation this program provides. A lot of adults like to understand the big picture and have their game plan broken down for them into manageable goals. Not all adults want to collect the wristbands or stickers, but a lot definitely do! Why not?! We recommend introducing your adult students to the program and letting them decide if they would enjoy it. Level Up can also be used by students of any instrument.
As for very young, beginning students, you can most certainly use the program. You could start by just assigning them one easy challenge from Level 1. Because the challenges are so customizable, you can make it anything you want!
Level Up is Not a Curriculum
Level Up is not designed to take the place of method books or any other structured curriculum or teaching plan, but rather to support whatever plan is currently in place. Whatever assignments you normally give can now be turned into challenges or official Level Up songs to provide a boost of motivation and authority to those assignments. For example, let’s say you have been working with a student on completing all of their major scales at a specific tempo. Turn that goal into an official Level Up challenge and watch as your student practices harder and their parents get on board to support them. You make Level Up work for you and your current teaching methods, not the other way around.
This is one of our most motivational programs and is also one of the simplest programs you can imagine! This is not a competitive program between students, but an individual achievement program. One of the main objectives of this program is to keep it as simple, flexible, and modifiable as possible. Private lessons are beneficial because they provide individual and flexible instruction, and this program is designed to support this idea rather than compromise it. The idea is for you to keep assigning the same things you normally would, and then enjoy the bolstered motivation your students feel to complete your custom assignments, compliments of our program!
Do I Have to Use This Program?
Unless a student is strongly opposed for some reason (you’ve introduced it, they’ve tried it, and they don’t want to participate), we’d love it if all of our instructors would use this program with their students. We have seen such tremendous success with it that we simply can’t deny the benefits!
Recitals
Expressions offers two recital seasons per year! Spring/Summer recitals take place in May/June and Fall/Winter recitals occur in November/December. Generally, recitals take place every Saturday and Sunday of select weekends during those months. There are multiple times available on most Saturdays and Sundays, so lots of times and options for your students to choose from. Students are updated on upcoming recitals months in advance and will have the ability to choose their own recital dates and times through Opus 1 about a month or so in advance of the first recital. When it comes to the length of recitals we try to keep things around an hour so that these days don’t have to be an all-day thing for students and teachers!
As with anything else you do here, how often your student performs and what they perform in a recital is up to you and the student. Generally speaking, our administrative team does try to encourage students to participate in recitals because we feel it is a very strong retention and teaching tool. Each student is welcome to perform one or two pieces in each recital, either solos or a duet with you or another student. We typically encourage our students (at least vocal and piano) to memorize their pieces, but doing so is not required. Level Up pieces make EXCELLENT recital choices, and performing in a recital serves as a perfect Level Up challenge to help move your student along through the levels!
Please keep in mind that it is not mandatory that students perform in any recitals. If a student is not ready or is really dreading the experience and it is hampering their ability to enjoy their lessons, we recommend that your student pass on the experience. Please do not have students sign up to perform a piece unless you are confident they will be prepared. It is best for the student to be able to perform their piece(s) at “performance level” at least several weeks before the recital. Both the academy and you as the instructor are represented every time a student gets up to perform. While we expect a high level of preparation, we do not expect a high level of skill or experience in general. We do encourage brand-new beginners and also very young students to perform in our recitals as they feel ready.
Our recitals are structured in such a way that students introduce themselves. Typically, they just announce their name, the piece, and the composer. We have a recital preparation video and handout available on the Teacher Resources page for the students which you may use if you wish.
Once recital season comes around, you will be able to see on your Opus1 portal which of your students are signed up for which recitals.
We also invite our instructors to perform in the recitals if they wish! Just let us know if you’re interested and we’ll add you to the program.
Regarding your own attendance at the recitals, this is entirely your decision. However, we have found that students and parents greatly desire for their instructor to attend their recital, and they are happier customers when instructors do so. These events are a big deal for our students, and having the support and encouragement of their instructor makes a world of difference for them!
Student of the Month
The Student of the Month program is an opportunity for specific students to be recognized for their accomplishments. The student awarded “Student of the Month” will have their name and photo on display on the designated Student of the Month photo frame located in their lesson location. They will also receive a certificate and a trophy to commemorate their achievements!
Each instructor is welcome to nominate ONE student per month per location they work at. The administrative team will remind you to send in your nominations each month. From there, we will compile each location’s nominations and select the winner through a random drawing.
You may nominate students for a variety of reasons. Here are some ideas for why you might nominate a student:
Made great improvement in some specific area
Competed/performed in a competition, recital, audition or other performance activity outside of EMA
Added a large piece of music to their completed repertoire
Completed an exceedingly large amount of practice hours
Overcame a personal playing obstacle they had been struggling with
Composed a piece of music
Consistency over a long period of time
Excelled above and beyond in a specific area
Teacher Cancellations
Every time you need to cancel, you will need to simply fill out a “Time off Request”, which is found on your Opus1 profile and await approval. We always appreciate notice at least one week prior to the date of your absence. In the event of an unforeseen, short-notice cancellation, we ask that you reach out to us no later than 12:00 PM on the date of your cancellation for a weekday absence, no later than 7:00 PM on Friday for a Saturday absence, and no later than 3:00 PM on Saturday afternoon for a Sunday absence.
In most cases, we can find a substitute to teach your students while you are absent. Prior to your cancellation day, please go into your Opus1 portal and send notes to your students for their lesson with the substitute. Both the substitute and your student will be able to access these notes, so please be sensitive.
To add notes for your substitute in Opus1, simply type the notes for each student into the comments section of their roster.
The notes should inform the student and substitute what you recommend they work on during the lesson. Be sure to mention any details about warm-ups, goals, recital pieces, or assignments. The more detail is included in your notes, the better the lesson your student will have.
If you would rather not leave notes on your student’s Opus profile, you are also welcome to compile an email with your student notes for the day you are absent and email it to our administrative staff at info@expressionsmusicacademy.com and we will make sure it is forwarded to your substitute as well!
Holiday Closings
Expressions will be closed for major holidays throughout the year. Closings for the current year can be found in this Teacher Resources page. Instructors are not compensated for these breaks since we are not collecting tuition from students.
Mailboxes
Every teacher at Expressions has a mailbox for easy distribution of materials and announcements. Please just ask the front desk if you are having trouble finding your mailbox! We do recommend checking your mailbox at least once monthly as sometimes important notes or announcements may be issued there as well as via email!
Teacher Lounge
We have a Teacher Lounge available in each Expressions location. The lounge includes a laptop and copier/printer, teaching supplies, sink, fridge, microwave, and seating. Feel free to make yourself at home!