|
The Music
– Music is an essential component to this course. Music sets the
tone for the unique atmosphere of the classroom. It is used to
motivate students as they walk into class each day. Music should
have a very strong beat of the type often heard at sporting events
and pep rallies. It should be loud but not so loud as to disrupt
the classes nearby. Lyrics must be appropriate in word and
content.
Music is also used to
inspire and enhance creativity as is used in advertising, television
and movies. A movie without music would be empty and bland. Why
should the classroom be any different? Movie scores are often great
backdrops for journal writing, goal setting and other inspirational
type writing. Classical music is ideal while students are testing.
Music also changes the
pace of the student’s day and revs them up for the lesson to come.
It does not make them so wound up that they can’t function.
Although they personally might not like the song chosen, the music
has been selected for its upbeat rhythm and also at times for the
positive message it conveys. Students are asked to “bear with”
songs that aren’t their favorites with the hope that one of the
songs they like may be used on a future day. Depending on the
capacity for music in the teacher’s classroom, teachers might invite
students to bring in their own music. It is strongly recommended
that all songs be listened to in advance to guarantee
appropriateness.
Students are very
surprised by the amount of music used in this class. A variety of
issues arise because of having music such an integral part of the
course. Here are some of the questions and how they have been
handled to date:
Student:
“I don’t
like that song”
Response:
The songs are picked because of the type of music they represent.
Not everyone will like every song but bear with this one for today
and one of your favorites might come up later.
Student:
“Can you play my CD?”
Response:
Not until I have a chance to preview it first to see if it fits what
we’re doing and to see if the lyrics are OK.
Note: Even if you
think you know a song, it’s best to preview it before playing it
rather than having something offensive pop up.
Student:
“Can I download songs onto your computer
for you?”
Response:
Not unless we have a paid site to do so. We can’t download songs
illegally and I have to be sure it’s OK with the school in terms of
whether the school’s system allows songs to be downloaded at all.
Also I have to be sure I’m not using up all the memory in the
school’s computer server.
In terms of equipment
for playing the music, find what’s most appropriate for the intended
classroom.
(My Story
- I found that the best way was to load my own CD’s into the hard
drive on my classroom computer, This did not take up space in the
server (as I had done previously) and was easier to manage than
having a portable CD player that would have to be locked up between
classes. If you are only in one room for the entire day, a CD
player would be fine.) |
