Reflection 4: Finding the Rhythm of the Classroom

Music has always been something that I have loved and been interested in but never really been able to learn to my dismay. It has lead to me feeling as though I have very little music in my bones except for enjoying listening to it and occasionally making up my own songs when I am bored in the car. Yet, when we discussed music in class this last week I discovered that maybe it wouldn't be so hard to include music in the classroom even though I myself am not quite as musical. For instance the idea was presented that on someday's a teacher could just have students sing all that they wanted to say. This simply delighted me as its actually a game that I already play with my brother occasionally when we are bored in the car or at work. Additionally the musical practices that were presented weren't nearly as difficult as I would have originally thought.

I think in my own classroom I am going to try and find what will work best to incorporate music with what I am teaching, as it might be hard to just do straight lessons on music since I don't know as much about it. I do kinda want to try and learn how to read music so that I can teach it... maybe I could include that with math at the lower levels. Also I really like the idea of making new lyrics to old music, something I also sometimes do with my brother :) It definitely needs to be a familiar tune though because in class when we tried to do it I could not hold on to the tune for the life of me, and I think at least some of the students in my own classroom of the future which have the same issue. Either way I definitely want to continue thinking about how I can include music in the classroom :)