Not enough time in a lesson???

[Chitch]

I have this one student who can't do a one hour lesson because of conflicts with her other after school commitments. She's an excellent player and learns at about the same rate as most people, but it seems really hard to "cram" a full analysis of all 5 of her pieces, technical tests, ear tests, sight reading exercises, and a theory lesson all into 30 minutes. With theory, I can always give her handouts on the important things she'll need to know but with something like sight reading, I can't simply give her the book and say "Ok, take this home and site read everything once" and expect her not to practice it a few times until she gets it right. Ear tests she can do at home and then I'd give her a few short ones to do during the lesson. But those 5 pieces...every single one has about a hundred different things she could fix (dynamically). I don't want to wait too long for her to take her exam because I'm afraid she might grow bored of the pieces.

I'm only concerned with her sight reading and ear tests, I've told her how the examination process works (the examiner plays a short phrase twice, playing the four-note tonic chord once and she's to play back the melody that he/she played), however, during a lesson I'll have to play the phrase about 6 times! How can she improve on this without taking too much time away from the study of her pieces?

[surendipity]

Students don't get bored if they hear they are making progress.  They do get bored if they are recreating the same mistakes over and over.

Take one piece or one small part of the piece during on 30 minute lesson and disect it like you would a lab specimen.  Then tell the student to play only 2 bars a day to mastery and put a date on the piece for next time you will approach it.  Say 2 or 3 weeks.

Then attack the next the same way.

By the end of 2 or 3 months, the pieces (3 or 4, depending on their limitations and grade level) should at this point be mastered and memorized and ready for presentation.

As for the hearing tests.  I am curious at what grade level or school the examination is.

I do believe that the tonic triad is played firstly not a four note cord.

I tell my students this.

I will play the tonic triad.
The first time you are only to listen.  ( a skill hard learned these days )
The second time hum it to yourself.

They all get excellent marks for their hearing tests from grade 1 to grade 8.  (as far as I teach)

Also I get them to sit at the piano and have someone in their family to hum or sing a song to them.  Any song, even if they don't know it.  Any Walt Disney song.
and then pick it out on the piano in various keys.

The big point is to make sure they know they're key signatures.