Oh, What a Year! Powerful Journal Prompts for the Independent Music Teacher

For independent music teachers, June is a natural end of our teaching cycle. Our recitals are over, school is out, and we shift to a summer mindset.

June is also a good time to reflect over the past teaching year, considering what gave us joy and satisfaction, what we’d like to improve, and what takeaways the school year gave us.

It’s important to capture our reflections and ideas before summer takes off and we forget what we want to remember. And that’s where directed journaling comes in.

Directed journaling is a structured writing technique that focuses on a specific problem or theme. Journaling in response to specific questions related to the theme can help better direct our thoughts and make the process more efficient.

Journaling in June also helps us close a teaching chapter and let go of any lingering struggles or frustrations from the year. This helps rid us of mental clutter that might get in the way of us truly relaxing during the summer. 

If you’d like to give directed journaling a try, here’s a list of journal prompts for the independent music teacher to help get you started. 

"Journaling helps you organize thoughts, prioritize tasks, and reflect on experiences. Writing down emotions and ideas reduces mental clutter, improves focus, and allows you to see challenges from a new perspective." - Texas Psychiatry Group

Journal Prompts for the Independent Music Teacher

• Teaching values

  • Do you feel that your core values played a central role in your teaching this year?

  • Would you like your values to play a more prominent role going forward? If so, how can you make this happen?

  • Which of your values do you feel benefit your students most?

• Student retention

  • Are you satisfied with your student retention rate this year?

  • If not, what changes can you make to increase summer retention next year?

• Recital satisfaction

  • Were you satisfied with your students’ level of preparation for the recital?

  • Were you satisfied with the students’ recital experience?

  • Were you satisfied with the audience members’ experience at the recital?

  • Did you enjoy participating in the recital? 

  • Do you feel satisfied with how you planned for the recital?

  • If the answer to any of these questions is “no”, what will you differently in the future?

• Business goals

  • How satisfied were you with the amount of progress you were able to make on your business goals this past year?

  • Which achievements are you most proud of?

  • Which goals would you like to focus on more in the future?

• Business operations

  • How well did your lesson make-up/refund system work?

  • How satisfied were you with your system of collecting payments?

  • How well are your lesson policies working? Do you need to make any policy changes, or changes to how you administer the policies?

  • Are there any other parts of your business operations that you'd like to improve?

• Income Satisfaction

  • How satisfied were you with your teaching income this past year?

  • If you were unsatisfied, how much more would you like to make (be specific)?

  • What steps will you take this summer or fall to increase your income for the upcoming year?

• Teacher self-care

  • How successful were you in managing what was within your control and letting go of what wasn’t?

  • How well did you take care of yourself throughout the year?

  • Are there things you’d like to do next year to better manage your energy, time, and personal needs?

  • Are there any changes you'd like to make in how your business affects your family and your time with them?

  • Were you able to avoid feelings of burnout? If not, what changes do you need to make going forward to keep you energized and motivated?

  • What months or weeks taxed you the most? How can you better plan for these weeks next year?

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