Teachers of the Year for 2019

Lessonface 2019 Teacher of the Year


Teacher of the Year Lesson Category
Pierre Lalonde Ableton
Leah Kruszewski Acoustic Guitar
Denis Beliakov Akai EWI
Willen Moolenbeek Alto Sax
Chris Roszell Banjo
Yonit Spiegelman Bass Guitar
Ben Baron Bassoon
Kaila Mullady Beatboxing
Wannamaker Lewis Blues Guitar
Hector Crespo Cello
Liz Ramirez Clarinet
Amy Stephens Classical Piano
Dana Herz Classical Voice
Rob Kovacs Composition
Lindsay Artkop Drums
Yoel Genin Electric Guitar
Mike Mitchell Fiddle
Erika Andres Flute
Paola Damico Italian
Melanie Faye Jazz Guitar
Jim Funnell Jazz Piano
Lydia Harrell Jazz Voice
Heather Gerber Keyboard
Hae J. Kim Korean
Thiago Trinsi Lead Guitar
Alan Epstein Mandolin
Steve Boniello Music Theory
Grace Mehm Oboe
Mary Gossard Piano
Kasia Komosa Pop Voice
Leah Hinton R&B Voice
Emily Zimmer Rock Guitar
Willem Moolenbeek Saxophone
Hannah Christianson Songwriting
Natalie Cressman Trombone
Stewart Felkel Trumpet
Michelle Teague Upright Bass
Lisa Williams Viola
Miguel Ramirez Violin
Chantal Kuegle Voice

2019 has been our biggest year yet at Lessonface, with more lessons, students, and teachers interacting, teaching, learning, inspiring than in any year previous. On this final day of 2019, we celebrate the end of 2019 in naming our Teachers of the Year. These commendations are based on a combination of time spent in lessons, and the reviews the teachers received. Many very excellent teachers are unfortunately not included in this list, as we restrict each lesson category to just one teacher of the year. We give huge thanks to all of the teachers (and students) who make the lessons here so excellent, and are looking forward to another great year! 

 Our overall Teacher of the Year for 2019 is Chantal Kuegle, who answered a few of our questions about her approach to teaching and her advice for other teachers and students. Congratulations to Chantal, to all of the teachers of the year listed to the right (alphabetically by the lesson category), and to all of the many other excellent teachers who share their wisdom with students, inspiring us to grow better together.

Lessonface: What made you decide to start teaching online?

Chantal: I move a lot and I wanted to have a more stable teaching schedule. With online lessons, I can travel for gigs and still maintain my students lesson schedules. I also like that I can reach a wider audience with online lessons. I have students from all over the world, many are in places where lessons are difficult to access. 

Lessonface: What do you like most about teaching online?

Chantal: I enjoy meeting and working with students from all over the world. 

What do you teach?

Chantal: Primarily voice, but I also teach guitar, ukulele, recorder, and music theory.

Lessonface: Has anything about online teaching surprised you? (If so, what?)

Chantal: The ease of it all. The platform and zoom meeting rooms are great and easy to navigate. But I am especially happy with Lessonface, they take care of the scheduling, payment, and tech. With this, I am able to focus fully on each student and their individualized lesson plans. 

Lessonface: Any general advice for students and teachers who are considering online lessons?

Chantal: For students, find a quiet space where you take your lessons and that you can also use as a practice space. 

For teachers, ensure that students know what the expectations for lessons are at the start. Go over the general structure of lessons and what is ideal in terms of lesson consistency and practice time. 

Lessonface: What is your usual set-up for online teaching? Is there any technical advice you would give other teachers and students?

Chantal: A quiet space, clean background, a place where you can sit or stand (for voice) or a place that your instrument is fully visible. 

Spend time familiarizing yourself with the platform and with the zoom meeting screen before your first lesson. Use the test room to get to know all the different options in the zoom meetings. The screen share option has been a very important tool in my teaching. I can give students control of the mouse icon, which has been a great way to incorporate interactive activities.

Lessonface: Has your approach to teaching online changed since you started?

Chantal: Yes, mostly with finding resources that work better for online lessons. For example, I often use the screen share option and messaging system for sharing electronic resources with students. I also have developed a large repertoire of instrumental versions of songs for vocalists to have and sing with. 
 


Happy New Year to everyone! Hoping you have a wonderful final few hours in 2019, and wishing you all the best in the new year.

Comments

Mike Mitchell

Thanks to everyone at LF for making this a great place to teach!  Happy New Year.  mm

Pierre Lalonde

Hi everybody!

Thanks for making me the Ableton Teacher of the Year! Its been really awesome teaching for Lessonface! I hope to grow my student base and be able to live simply from this by next January. This is my goal for 2020!



Thanks!

PL

Paola DAmico

Thank you so much to LF for giving me the opportunity to improve my teaching experience over the ocean. 

Hector Crespo

I am so pleased to highlight the outstanding job Lessonface has done to connect teachers with students and students with teachers.  They have taken the time to acknowledge all the teachers of the year showing their care and investment to improve their services for students and teachers to further their skills and accomplish their dreams. Lessonface has been a vital support for my success as a music teacher online as well as my students' accomplishments. I have talked to many of their staff and they are all so gracious and caring individuals ready to respond back quickly and to help in any way that they are able. I could not say enough for their innovation, passion, helpfulness, caring, and exceeding effort to make Lessonface the best platform for online instruction!

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