Dueling Students at My Door – Time for Swap List Rules

[Knock, Knock.]

I bounded up the stairs to let my next student in (that’s my exercise for teaching days).

I opened the door and discovered to my horror that 2 of my students were standing there. And they were NOT siblings!

Oh dear. In a split second, I reviewed in my mind what had happened during the week. One of the families had asked to do a swap because she couldn’t make her normal lesson and the other family had agreed (or so they had told me). Both parents were sitting in the driveway looking a bit confused, but not nearly as confused as us 3 on the front porch!

I realized then and there that I need a better system for swaps. I’ve got just this situation covered now as you can see in the list below, but do you? Feel free to use these swap list rules in your own studio to ensure smooth swaps without these kinds of hiccups!

Piano Lesson Swap List Rules

Wording for your Studio Policy

Feel free to use these in your own policy. Here is the introductory paragraph I use in my policy to explain no makeup lessons:

Because specific times are set aside for specific students, a student who does not attend a lesson will simply miss the benefit of that lesson.  I will then use that time or other times to plan for the student’s progress, locate materials, etc.  There are no refunds or discounts given unless I am unable to teach the promised number of lessons. However, feel free to take advantage of the “Swap” opportunity which is explained below:

The Swap List Rules

  1. I must be asked about a swap before making it. I must be informed about the swap after arranging it.
    [This is because some parents just don’t notice that they are trying to swap a 45 minute lesson for a 30 minute lesson. I have to okay the swap so that this doesn’t happen.]
  2. The parent who arranges the swap must email me with the details of the swap and cc the person with whom they are making the swap.
    [If they don’t cc the other party, I then forward their email to the family with whom they are swapping so that they can make sure the details are accurate.]
  3. No make-up lessons will be given if any confusion from a swap arises.
  4. Should 2 people arrive at once, I will teach the one whose lesson is normally at that time.
  5. Please inform me if you do not wish to have your name, number, and email included on the swap list.
  6. Don’t forget that phone, Skype or Facetime lessons during the student’s regular lesson time are also an option if you cannot make it to a lesson.

Administering a Swap List

On my “agreement to terms” that everyone signs at the beginning of the year, I allow parents to opt in or opt out of the swap list. If they opt-in, they agree to allow their phone number , email and lesson time to be sent to other piano parents for the purposes of scheduling a swap. If they opt-out, their info will not be sent to other families and they will not be able to swap lessons.

Oh, I almost forget to tell you what happened! I have some fantastically gracious families in my studio and one of them admitted that they had forgotten about the swap and so they humbly gave the lesson time to the other family. But, I have had families in the past in which this scenario would NOT have happened and I would have needed #4 on my list!

Have you ever had this happen?

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12 thoughts on “Dueling Students at My Door – Time for Swap List Rules”

  1. I had a similar situation happen once too! It taught me the importance of having an established policy in place – I don’t always make the right decision when I have to think fast! These are great Swap List rules – thank you, Wendy!

  2. Oh boy! I have swap rules to. Here are mine:

    The student exchange roster is given only to those families who have opted in to exchange with other families when a conflict in your normal piano lesson schedule should arise. Please take the time to read the exchange roster rules before using the student exchange roster.

    1.All exchanges must be done PARENT TO PARENT. The teacher will not arrange changes for any student and students are NEVER to arrange them for themselves. PR30, PR45 and PR60 CAN exchange with each other if each party is willing. (This might mean no lab, or shorter lesson time for the other party) Please understand lesson times that are already set below cannot be changed. (ie: cannot add 15 min. to a scheduled PR45 lesson…)

    2.The parent who requested the exchange is responsible to email or call me within 24 hours to let me know what has been worked out. If two families show up for the same lesson time because the exchange was not confirmed properly, priority will go to the normally scheduled student(s) with no refund or rescheduling for the other student(s) unless the parties agree to share the time.

    3.Exchanges are not obligatory, they are reciprocal. If someone says NO to an exchange request, please respect that. If someone exchanges with you however, be kind and return the favor when possible.

    4.Exchanges are limited to 4 per family per school year. Use them wisely. They are not collective from year to year.

    5.The exchanges list is NEVER to be used to solicit funds for schools or any other organization for any purpose including any kind of SPAM. Those who do so will be removed of the exchange list privilege. Please respect other’s privacy. See below for current schedule

    (I am a little lenient on #4 depending on the situation. Like if it’s a 6 week exchange due to a sporting schedule. As long as the other party is good with it, I’m good with it)

  3. I had 2 students show at the same time. So I am teaching a student when two show up for the next lesson. I am panicked that I did not write in a correct date or time. Actually, the other parent, because Monday had been a holiday, got the lesson day wrong. Whew! Glad it was not my fault, but it did rattle me during the final minutes of the previous student’s lesson. Thank you for your ideas. I am FINALLY going to step out and have a “no makeup” studio after fighting it for 35 years!

  4. Ah these are great ones Jennifer! I love that you talk about using the list for only the intended use. I can see that might be important. And the reminders about it being reciprocal are important. Thank you for taking the time to share these!

  5. Whew! I know what you mean about it rattling you.

    Yay! I am so happy for you that you are moving to a more comfortable no make up lessons. Do let me know how you like it after you’ve had it in place for a while. It’s so much less stress!

  6. How do they find the other student’s time to switch with? Do you use an up-to-date website with names or publish a paper list each semester?

  7. This is interesting – I’ve never had a ‘swap list’ but just might implement one this fall as I have a ‘no make-up’ policy and see how this could benefit my students. My question: Do you compose a list of those who want to be a part of it and include their scheduled lesson day/time slot? Do you give them a ‘hard copy’ or do you email the list to every participant? Thank you for any info you can give me!

  8. LOL, I’ve had that happen in the past to me, too – mainly as a result of rescheduling lessons myself. But in recent years, I’ve been using a swap list with great results.

    I just received a phone call from one of my best little student’s mom, who said her son had a fever and they weren’t sure they’d make it back from the doctor in time for his lesson later this afternoon (I wouldn’t have seen him anyway, with a fever). I have a policy that allows for 2 rescheduled lessons outside of their own swaps. They’ve not missed or rescheduled a single lesson yet. They also bring me homemade dumplings that are to die for, but perhaps that’s beside the point. I do reschedule a lesson in case of emergency illness such as this.

    I wonder, Wendy, does your no makeup policy allow for these circumstances, or do you adhere to it 100%? Would you ask them to try to swap with someone at this point? Just curious.

  9. Hi Teresa,
    That’s a great question and I’ll add this info to the article because it really needs to be there. On my “agreement to terms” that everyone signs and I collect at the beginning of the year, I allow parents to opt in or opt out of the swap list. If they opt-in, they agree to allow their phone number and email to be sent to other piano parents for the purposes of scheduling a swap.

    These days I just email things to people because most of them know that if they don’t check their email, they’ll probably miss an important update about piano since I don’t send out hard copies. However, I can see that it might beneficial to put a hard copy in the front of the binder of all who opt-in. If they aren’t willing to be on the swap list, then they cannot swap lessons with others.

  10. Hi Esther,

    That’s a great question! Of course, I wouldn’t have taught the lesson if the student had a fever, but I offer a number of options for missing lessons and most parents find a way to take advantage of those options. So, I still don’t offer any make ups because there is no need once they see their options of:
    1. Swaps
    2. Youtube options (see this post: https://composecreate.com/5-ways-to-work-smarter-not-harder-as-a-piano-teacher/)
    3. Phone / Facetime / Skype lessons (even kids who are mildly sick can do something here
    4. If all else fails, and there is still resistance, then I tell the family that I’ll use their lesson time to develop material, lesson plans or pick music for a student.

    On a rare occasion, if a student is very ill with a long term illness, we’ll definitely work something out! I’ve also made an exception (only 1 time in the last 5 years) for a student who was prepping for an important competition and really had no other options plus was up against a 2 week Christmas break.

    But for the most part, the answer is, No, I give families plenty of options and they always make it work for them.

  11. Wendy, I finally did this! I felt uncertain putting forward the swap list to my pretty big studio, but your post gave me confidence and I just went ahead. Thank you for the example of what to do, and how it’s worked for you! I noticed teachers whom I respect — you, Diane Hidy, some other great ones, are using a swap list, and thought I should also! so nice to meet you at TMTA, too!!

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