How to Handle Last-Minute Chair Test Panic (and Make Peace with a Teenage Student LOL)
Last week, one of my 8th graders threw me a curveball. Instead of tackling the lesson I had planned, he casually announced he had a chair test in 5 days—and needed to submit a recording of two perfectly prepared fast excerpts from Romeo and Juliet (abridged version, of course). 🎻
My Teaching Challenge: Breaking Ineffective Practice Habits
Let me share a bit about one of my students: he’s highly motivated to improve his ranking in school contests and, to his credit, practices diligently every day. However, like many teens, his ambition often misguides his focus, leaving him struggling to practice effectively and achieve meaningful results.
His typical routine? Playing through assignments from start to finish, over and over, until he’s exhausted—yet the challenging sections remain just as challenging. Sound familiar? 🙃
To make things more “fun,” he’s also made it very clear that he doesn’t want his mom involved in his practice—not even for gentle reminders. Typical teens, right? 🙄
This is the kind of challenge that keeps teaching exciting (and, let’s be honest, occasionally headache-inducing). But breaking these ineffective habits is where real growth happens—for both students and teachers.
To avoid unnecessary friction and reduce teaching headaches, we had already designed a plan together to upgrade his practice quality by improving his routine. But now here’s the curveball—he sprung this urgent test on me with barely any notice! (Ah yes, typical teens again!)
Cue the urgent mission: How do you make something like this really effective without panic but avoid excessive grinding-type cramming, which often results in high stress and is not very productive?
Here’s what I did:
Pre-Lesson Prep:
I recorded a demo of both excerpts, starting at 52 bpm and working up to the required tempo. Watch the video and shadow the fingering and bowing slowly.
Watch closely and write down the fingerings.
Focus at the Lesson: When he showed up, he was ready to skip the basics and dive straight into dynamics and articulation.
The Result is this 8 Minutes of Magic: The IG Reel I shared. That’s the progress we made in just 8 minutes of fine-tuning his articulation.
Lesson learned: When time is tight, a well-thought-out preparation plan is everything—for both the student and the teacher. Teenagers are well-known for not wanting to be told what to do, so a pre-lesson quick video suggesting what to focus on in their practice can help buffer that issue. When students have a practice aid to guide them, they feel more self-reliant, which fosters autonomy and eventually builds self-confidence. By practicing more correctly, students not only save time but also gain confidence in their abilities. Who knew Romeo and Juliet could spark so much drama offstage—or before a lesson? 😉
What’s your bulletproof practice tip for working with teenage students?
Share it with me! Or schedule a call to learn more.
Happy Teaching and Practicing!!
Shu-Yi
