Getting Your Groove In The Classroom

Last winter I found myself pushed as close to the limits of teacher burnout as I ever had been in 30 years of teaching middle school school science. Covid had taken its toll on students, staff, administration at my school, leaving all of us unsettled and uncertain how to proceed. I felt frustrated and unhappy, and bringing my best self to my classroom everyday felt nearly impossible. I needed some kind of miracle that could be used to start each day off on a positive note, inducing “happy neurotransmitters” into classroom brains, and bringing out some much needed smiles. 

It turned out one solution was just a few clicks on my iphone away - music! 

I created “Mike’s Happy Mix” on Spotify. Songs included “Can’t Stop That Feeling” by Justin Timberlake, “Your Smiling Face” by James Taylor, “Get Happy” by Rebecca Ferguson, "Accentuate The Positive” by Dr. John, and 40 other songs that are smile inducing, foot tapping sounds of inspiration. As each class started, I stood at the door and high-fived every student as they entered the classroom, blasting these songs of happiness by the greatest musicians of all time. Starting the class like this was a catalyst that allowed me to turn the year around and find joy again.

If something as simple as playing music when students enter the classroom could have such a profound effect, I wondered how else could it be used in the classroom. It clearly had an effect on my “teacher well being.” How could music affect student well being? Could music help improve their learning? 

I decided to combine my experience as a teacher and as a musician (I’m a keyboard player and I run a student and adult jazz combo) and experiment with new ways to reach and teach students through music. My curiosity led me to look “under the hood” and research how music affects the brain. The following are four ideas that have worked well for me this year, along with some of the neural research that supports the ideas.  

1 - Entry Music

Playing music as students enter the classroom evolved over time to include music other than “Mike’s Happy Mix.” It’s easy to search song titles on Spotify or YouTube to find the right song to fit the day’s particular lesson. I enjoyed playing Tom Petty’s “Free Falling” and John Mayer’s “Gravity” as we were learning about falling objects. On test days, playing Bach or Mozart set the tone for a more “serious” day. (Neural note - the claim that listening to Mozart can make you “smarter” has been disproved in multiple studies.). 

I have an ever-growing playlist called “Science Related Songs” that includes “DNA” by Kendrick Lamar, and “What The Hell Happened To Me” by Bruce Hornsby (I played this song the day we studied genetic traits. The humor of this was lost on most students, but it made me smile every time Bruce Hornsby sings “I must have been stuck in the shallow end of the pool of genes…”). 

The effect of music on the brain has been studied in depth, and neuroscientist/musician Dan Levitin has written two best selling books on the subject. In one of Levitin’s experiments, brain images of subjects listening to classical music revealed that multiple areas of the brain are involved when listening to music. The process begins with the auditory cortex, then moves to the frontal cortex, where understanding of the musical structure occurs, and finally to the mesolimbic system, where pleasure is experienced by the release of dopamine.

2 - Clapping For Attention

Getting the attention of students is always a challenge. In the past I have used passive methods such as ringing a chime and patiently waiting for the class to quiet down as the sound of the chime dies down. The zen-like intention of this method is usually replaced by my frustration when the chime is ignored and students continue talking. Active methods have proven equally ineffective - such as “I need your attention in 5…4…3…2…1…” What happens when the kids are still talking and you get to 1? For me, it was just more frustration. 

This year I have been using hand clapping as an attention tool. I will hand clap a pattern and then have the students repeat the pattern. The wonderful part about this method is that it is fun and musical. I try to make up new patterns each time I want their attention, so my mind is in “creative” mode, rather than “control” mode. Students find repeating patterns fun too, and this minimizes their frustration in having to stop their conversation and listen. On a neural level, studies have shown that synchronized tapping and clapping in groups releases the bonding neurotransmitter oxytocin. One added benefit of this method is that some students who are particularly “rhythmic” are often the recipients of compliments by me when I need the class’s attention (“Thanks Scott - you should be a drummer!”)

3 - Background Music

When students are working independently or in groups, I have always been curious about the use of background music to promote focus and learning. I read a study which stated that there is an optimal level of stress and arousal, and that building the right amount of arousal into background music can promote optimal performance. The article supported a background playlist that starts slowly, and then slowly builds in intensity. I decided to create my own test to evaluate the effectiveness of background music for students. Over the course of three days in my science class, students were given three 30 minute sessions of independent work time to complete a yearlong science project. For each of their work sessions I created a unique background music set list. The first playlist followed the advice of the article - slower music that built into more intense and driving instrumental music over time. For this set list, I selected music in the jazz style that I love. For the second set list I selected slow, relaxing classical music. The third setlist was electronic music that spotify deemed “focus and concentration music.”  

At the end of each study session, students were asked to evaluate, on a five point scale,  how helpful the music was to them for maintaining their focus. I also asked for comments. I told them that a 3 meant that the music was neither distracting or helpful, while a number higher than three indicated that the music was helpful, and lower than three indicated it was distracting. The results matched the claim in the article. The first set list that built up energy over the course of 30 minutes had an average score of 3.30. The other two setlists averages were 3.07 for slow classical music, and 3.03 for electronic music. While the question of which type of music is best for studying clearly requires more research, I noticed that simply posing the idea in my classes that they were “participating in a study about music” added a sense of meaning and purpose to the study session. Similar to the way clapping for attention brings out creativity, bringing a “music study” into the classroom supported curiosity rather than control. 

4 - The Music Of Transitions

Another simple way to bring music into the classroom is during transitions. When students are doing an activity that requires consistent changes, playing music to indicate that it’s time to transition can liven the class up, and smooth out the transition process. A simple example of this is my “clean up” play list I use almost every day in my Makers class.  When it’s time for students to stop working and clean up, the clean up music goes on. Being that clean up songs are written for little kids brings an element of fun and playfulness to the otherwise mundane task of cleaning up. Imagine a group of “too cool for school” 13 year olds are singing “Cleanup… cleanup… everybody cleanup…” to themselves! 

During an activity where student groups were simulating birds competing over food sources, students were given eight chances to compete for food using one of four unique simulated beaks made of tweezers, chopsticks or spoons. When it was time for the 30 second feeding competition to begin, the song “Birds” by the Eels was played. As soon as time was up, the music stopped. This song perfectly fit the mood of the activity, with the chorus of “I like birds” repeated over and over. A clear brain benefit is that the stress of being a “time referee” is replaced by the happy - and often goofy - sounds of music! 

Technology has made it possible to access millions of searchable songs for free. There are endless ways that music can be integrated into the classroom. Modern brain imaging techniques are turning up more and more studies that demonstrate the benefits of music on our well being. I look forward to discovering many more musical possibilities for the classroom in the future!