I
had a really interesting experience at my SPED Practicum placement that I would
like to share. The two teachers that I observed both incorporated music into
their lessons. This is not something that I am used to observing, but the
students responded really well to this.
The
first classroom that I observed is a 10th grade English class which
is co-taught by an English teacher and a Special Education teacher. The
students are doing a unit on Poe and had just finished The Masque of the Red Death. The teacher made a connection between
John Mayer’s song “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room” and the story. The students
were prompted to “compare the song to the text using a line from the song,
connect to the text through the theme, character, or setting. How does this
relate to the “real world?” Write 5-6 sentences.” The song was played for the
students and they were given a handout with the lyrics on it. The students made
very basic, surface connections between the story and our society via the
lyrics. They were really excited about this assignment and because it counted
as a quiz grade, they took it seriously.
The
second classroom that I observed in was a 12th grade English class
that was co-taught by an English teacher (different from the first class) and a
Special Education teacher (same one from the first class). The English teacher
in this class is actually the RI teacher of the year, so I was really looking
forward to observing her. This class had just finished reading Boccaccio’s Federigo’s Falcon and answered 14
comprehension questions on it. At the end of the class the students watched a
video by the group Straight No Chaser doing a mash up of “Bad Romance” and “Poker
Face” by Lady Gaga. These students found it easy to make connections between
the lyrics and the story. This was shown at the end of the class so there was a
quick discussion about the connections, but I would have been interested in
knowing where the discussion would have gone if they had more time.
When
I was in high school, my teachers never incorporated music into the lessons. I
very much enjoyed watching how the teachers used music in their classrooms and
the reactions of the students. Music is a medium that is not often used in
classrooms but when used correctly, can be extremely effective. When the music
was playing, the students were fully attentive and quiet. I love observing new
things! This is something that I want to use in my classroom but would like to
observe it more in other classrooms first.
I think having students make connections between texts and music is a powerful strategy. Like Shakespeare, Poe and Boccaccio do not seem immediately relevant to our world today. However, helping students realize that current artisits like John Mayer write and sing about similar themes and conflicts answers that question, "Why do we have to read this stuff?"
ReplyDeleteAs annoying as this question might become, I think it is an important part of the relationship between student and teacher. We are accountable to answer "Why?" for not only our department chair, principal, school district, and state, but for our students as well. "Because I said so" is not acceptable. If we don't care enough to make connections to students' lives and defend our curricular decisions, how can we expect students to respect and take ownership of their own learning?
Courtney: None of my teachers ever incorporated music in the classroom, too, with the exception of a few Spanish teachers. Even then, however, it was only to understand the language, not to make a connection to something else we had done in the class. I really love the idea of connecting stories with pop-culture. It keeps the reading interesting even when some students may not find it as such. We get so wrapped up in the curriculum and shake our fists at the CCSS that we forget that we can still making teaching and learning fun for everyone. I like that you make it clear to us that the students were attentive while listening to the music. I probably would have been too! It was smart on the teacher's part to count it as a quiz grade because many students may have otherwise zoned out to a song they had heard a zillion times before. Hearing it and actually paying attention to the lyrics and their possible connections may help them to hear the song in a different way, also. Way cool lesson. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteVery cool, Courtney. I like that you got to see music incorporated in two different situations with different texts and students (btw, didn't you LOVE Straight No Chaser? We saw them in Cape Cod this summer. So funny. But maybe they are too old for you).
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that the first group only made surface connections. What could support and scaffold them to get to another level of Bloom's, do you think?
Love, love, love using music in class! I feel like when you mix music that the students are currently listening to it proves to them you are not only paying attention to them but you're human too!
ReplyDeleteCourtney I've had the experience of learning how to use music in the classroom and it was wonderful. Our teacher has free write Fridays and gives the students the opportunity to bring in music with no lyrics of lyrics that are in another language so they do not get off topic. We have listened to a selection she chose which was very soothing and we have listened to some instrumental piano music. Both of these past Fridays with music have allowed students to be relaxed and have their ears tuned to wonderful melodies. They have created beautiful pieces of writing on Fridays. My high school teacher used to do this and I am happy that I am learning more ways to incorporate music into the classroom. I also think that it would have been probably very cool to be observing in those classes you talk about.
ReplyDelete