Okay, maybe I'm dating myself a little- but if you read the title of this post and knew what followed, or read what followed and could finish it off on your own, you are either (a) jamming on your 80's Pandora station pretty regularly, or (b) you have what I like to call MMS*- musical memory syndrome-- it is a very common condition which causes you to recall the lyrics and melody to hundreds, perhaps thousands of songs-- and you could do it FOR YOUR JOB if only someone would pay you to do such a thing. You may wonder, as I do, what in world my brain would be capable of if I could replace those song lyrics with something, anything else-- like vocabulary in foreign languages or, I don't know, baseball statistics.
*this is NOT a real condition. At least I don't think it is. The Google did not think so either.
What in the world does all this have to do with our classrooms? Well, I've started thinking a lot about WHY I'm able to memorize every word in Eric Carmen's classic "hit" "Make Me Lose Control," and why, after all these years, I still feel a little giggly about how he wants Jennifer to "take him over the edge." (And while you may not know this particular song, I'm sure this entire thing is true for you with whatever kind of music you've loved dearly or been regularly exposed to.) And after taking a brain-based learning course this summer (which I'll probably mention a ton in posts to come), I think I may actually have the answer.
Our brains, particularly the female brains, but all brains, really, are hardwired to respond to things, to learn about them and memorize them when we connect to them emotionally. Things that are surprising, funny, make us cry, have a story, are fairly simple to understand-- these are the money spots for getting things lodged into our long-term memories-- which is where we want all that good learning-stuff to go. And music, well, our brains love patterns and so the music-ness of music is what gives those words, those lyrics, that extra kick. It's kind of an immense power, when you really think about it.
The other thing about music is that we generally don't hear songs just once. They are played over and over. That is often by choice, but sometimes, it's simply by virtue of turning on the radio. This is when the songs really get embedded. We memorize lyrics. We begin to grasp them more deeply, think about their meaning, hear the change in various chords and try to understand the emotion behind them. Repetition causes a deeper understanding.
Application: Turn the radio up. On that sweet sound. In Your Classroom. I'm actively seeking more ways to use music in my room in the coming year (energizers/transition times/etc..), but for now, I can tell you what I did that worked really well last year:
Morning Routine: Played the same (upbeat) song 2x on a loop; when it was over the kids knew they had to be sitting in our morning circle.
Writer's Workshop: Classical or other instrumental music played during writing time. If I did not put it on, the kids would ask for it, and then work silently.
Celebrations: My classes' favorite activity was a celebratory dance party. We did an AttenDANCE (another teacher at my school came up with that GEM of an idea, love it!) party every time we had 10 days (non-consecutive) of Perfect Attendance.)
Closing Routine: Same as the morning routine, but with a different song. Once the song was over, they needed to be all packed up and in the circle.
I also had songs, like the "Doubles Rap" and a poem called "The Way to Start the Day" by lindamichellebaron. When students are Star of the Week, they're allowed to bring in music of their choice for the other students to hear during snack time. These are things that I consider part of our curriculum, be it social or academic, and they are equally important and motivating for the kids.
And... here is the CD that was my absolute go-to all year:
1. Zabeedap (The Tarzan Soundtrack) - played 2x for morning routine
2. Viva la Vida (Vitamin String Quartet)
3. Blue Rondo (Dave Brubeck)
4. Little Stars (Jim Brickman)
5. Aquarium (Saint Saens-composer)
6. Bourree (Handel-composer)
7. Celebration (Kool and the Gang)
8. Send me on my way (Rusted Root) - packup song
9. You Gotta Be (Des'ree)
10. The World's Greatest (R.Kelly)
In return, I ask that if you have any music, chants, albums or otherwise that have worked really well in your classrooms, please comment and share!
Lastly, I want to take a minute to consider how all this music-business can, and perhaps, should effect the way we approach other things in our classrooms. I'm really interested in thinking about all the ways I can bring more emotional connection, more storytelling, more musicality and rhythm, more repetition (sans boredom) into the classroom. A musing to return to later on, but feel free to share any suggestions to that end as well!
Finally, if you won't take my word for it, please read Eric Jensen's (founder of Jensen learning) words about music in the classroom:
"We know that music tickles
the reward centers in the brain just like other pleasurable, but evolutionarily
significant, experiences. It also appears that music rewards the listener to
the degree that the music is found to be pleasant. There are many studies which
suggest that the right music can influence the brain's reward neurotransmitter,
dopamine. The beauty of this is that classroom learning can get associated with
positive feelings. Why is this important? Two reasons come to mind: 1)
emotional learning supports long-term memory, and 2) when positive emotions are
associated with school, kids attend classes more and are more likely to develop
a love of learning... Unlike a concrete reward,
music can arouse feelings of euphoria and pleasure."
We're in this together,
~Michelle :)
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