Image Map

June 19, 2013

Using Music in the Classroom- Part 1

My husband jokes that he can ask me at any point in my day 'What song are you singing in your head right now?' and I will always have an answer instantly.

He's right. (And in case you were wondering, the song going through my head right now is "I love you, a bushel and a peck..." I often sing that to my kids as we dance around the living room.)

Just for fun, here's the original Doris Day version:


As someone who absolutely LOVES music, I just naturally brought it into the classroom with me. Through trial and error, I figured out a couple of fun ways that music could play a big role in making my classroom successful. I'll be sharing 8 of those ways over the next few weeks. Feel free to subscribe to my feed or follow by email (in the sidebar) so you don't miss any of them!


#1: Start the day off in a calm way.

I've talked before about my quest to find the morning routine that worked for me. One aspect of creating a calm feeling in the room as students arrived came from playing soft, restful music. There was just something about it that made my shoulders relax. And as we all know- just like at home- if 'mama' is in a better mood, most likely the kids are too.

I just seemed to have more patience for the never-ending stories of their *fascinating* trip to Walmart the night before or the fifteenth time I was asked 'where does this paper go?' I could reply with a smile instead of a scowl and that transformed my room.

The other thing I realized is that, for some of my kids, this was the one moment in their day when they were coming to an environment that wasn't chaotic or antagonistic. The reality of our classrooms today is that many kids come from homes that are anything but calm and supportive. It was my job to provide that stability for them, and music was one simple, but effective way to do it.


Check out the rest of the series 8 ways to use music in your classroom :

#1: Start the day off in a calm way

#2: Clean your room in 3 minutes
#3: As a free and easy reward
#4: To lower your stress
#5: To keep the room quiet
#6: To Teach a set of facts
#7: Create smooth transitions
#8: Grab students' attention without yelling

How do you use music in your classroom?

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...