Point it out.
The thing about personal growth is that it’s often hard to see. Hardest, most of all, to see in yourself.
Students work hard, day after day, to develop their skills, but the incremental growth is either invisible, or so gradual that it goes unnoticed.
That’s part of a teacher’s job – to draw attention to the small and large ways that students are growing.
My students in Shades of Blue had an excellent performance today, and they have grown as an ensemble to where they have moments where they are clearly thinking as an ensemble rather than looking to external direction. It’s a marvelous thing to witness, and one that has come slowly over weeks of work and time spent together in and out of rehearsal.
I am highlighting this growth, whenever I can, so that they can contrast where they were with where they are.
The same with the Aces, with my solo private students, and with former students. It’s an incredible gift to be able to take a step back and see how far you’ve traveled; that’s a gift a teacher is perfectly placed to give.