It is the start of a new term after a break that is known for everyone enjoying time with their families and completely taking a break from everything. At times like these, it can take a while to motivate your students to start playing and practicing again; with the first week of term being particularly challenging for many when we are still getting used to a so-to-say normal routine again.

What I have done this term is to let the students themselves decide when to carry on with lessons. Quite a few have opted to carrying on the second week of term; some have wanted to start straight away. The ones carrying on straight away from the first week are generally the ones who have much higher internal motivation and drive to learn. They are the ones who never miss lessons and always want to learn something new. They want to challenge themselves and develop.

As a teacher, I find it so much easier and nicer to teach students who have an internal motivation to learn. Lessons with such students are much more pleasant and we get a lot more out of them. With this in mind, I have found it more suitable for both the teacher and the student to start the lessons when the students chooses to. This way we can get the term off to a better start without having lessons that are not well spent.