Harnessing the Power (Part II)

In the last post, we compared and contrasted some different "educational" songs to discover what qualities make a song an effective memory tool.
Quick overview...cut the fluff, put the most important content in the chorus, and make it fun!!

Now maybe you're a teacher; you've read the last two posts and would agree with everything I've said. However, you still think "this music thing just isn't for me". We've all heard people say stuff like, "I'm just not the musical type" or "singing in front of a bunch of kids...not my cup of tea" or "I sound like a dying cat when I sing". Honestly for me, the idea of singing in front of a whole class room full of teenagers is a little daunting. Teaching the Best Practice Way explains how many teachers have what the authors call "art phobia", a fear of using the arts (which includes music as well as other visual arts) inside classrooms. So if you fall in this category of teachers, don't worry! You are not alone, and this post is for you. I'll give you 6 Teacher Tips on how to overcome this fear or use music despite your fear.

1. This tip is for all who consider it actual torture (for both you and your audience) to sing. If this is the case, I would suggest assigning group projects for your students to complete and present. I touched on this last post so reference "Harnessing the Power (Part I)" for more info.
2. You don't always have to "reinvent the wheel" so to speak. There are a many great songs (as well as not great songs...see video A on the last post) on the Internet. Use this resource to your advantage. Here is a website called Smart Songs for all you history teachers out there. Watch this Smart Song video on the Bill of Rights. They have songs that discuss in detail everything from the Stock Market to State Capitols to Benjamin Franklin's Way to Wealth and more. What I love about these high quality videos is they contain so much information and very minimal "fluff". You could easily play a song or video as your Anticipatory Set. This would be a great way to introduce a unit or new topic. However, keep in mind if you really want students to remember the lyrics (not just be familiar with the lyrics) repeating the song more than once is important.
3. Use someone else's voice. If you write song lyrics using your content, find someone else to sing the song in class or make a recording to play. If your school has a music department, a choral teacher could make an excellent resource.
   
4. Try rapping. Maybe you can't sing, but you can rap with the best of them. You never know til you try. To get your creative rap juices flowing here are some videos... Math Rap & Science Rap. These videos are both from a YouTube channel called Rhyme 'n Learn.
5. There are ways to make yourself sound better than you actually do. Watch this video. How cool is that? It's true...there is an app for everything. Use an app like the one mentioned in the video, and it will even compose music to complement your song.
6. Lastly, accept that you can't sing well and roll with it. It's our job to teach students. If you sound silly singing, but your students are learning...it might be worth it. Also, asking your students to sing along with you could help relieve nerves and overcome that fear. The more people singing the less they'll hear your voice. Make sure the melody is familiar.
   

Those are the 6 Teacher Tips of the week. I hope I've helped convince you that every teacher can use music in the classroom. And if that wasn't enough to convince you...what about money? You can actually get grants for using music in teaching. Check out the Music is Revolution grant information on this website.