Why is it that we tend to see lots of really hokey, campy songs in elementary school? Is it that many of the teachers were camp counselors? Are they still yearning to be campers (year-round mind you)? Or is it that they feel compelled to bring their students back to their folksy roots? I'm not sure, but I am a bit perplexed by it, particularly as I sit listening to my indie-rock-streaming KEXP!
Of the classrooms I have worked in, across a few different schools, I've only encountered 2 that deviated from that norm. Perhaps it is my bias towards more modern music, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear the kiddos rapping along to Nas' "I Can" or singing the Postal Service's "Sleeping In," or simply using Jack Johnson's "Reduce Reuse Recycle" for the clean-up song. The teachers used some of the campy songs during a sing-along/music time, but they mixed in other songs as well for the students to sing, as well as listen to in the background. There is certainly the issue of function and placement during the day, but why not other genres?
My assumption is that many teachers are afraid of using more modern music during the day because of the appropriate-ness or the content. Perhaps it is a fear of others not approving, and not seeing the music as kid-friendly. I am not sure, but I am going to explore this assumption a bit more during the course of the year.
Meanwhile, the root of all this is a hip-hop rendition of the Lorax that a friend of mine made (I'll upload it soon). He looped a beat from RJD2 and read it, or rather rapped it. The result is the antithesis of the type of reading found here. Both accomplish the stated goal of presenting text in an engaging way, but the former is more modern. The moral of the story... Hip Hop (and other genres) should be used more frequently in classrooms.
Also check out: Langley Schools of Music Project here.
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3 comments:
Isn't the lorax tall? But, I think you are the particular peteman who is shorter than the other fellow contributor to this blog, true?
About music,
I think it is key. Granted, some teachers seem unable to organize papers/files/children's names/curricula/and music. "It's so noisy already." I've met many like that.
But, learning is active. Happily, the 6th grade I'm in right now uses a lot of music. I appreciate the way she incorporates verbal and non verbal music of a wide variety. No, there is no rap per se, but this could be because the school is in the burbs but it could also just be her preference.
I love wide varieties of music, but am not up on a lot of it. I hope to have a computer system that allows for downloading preferences. The students know the music, let me get it from them. It's a thought.
I think music in the classroom is a great idea on two levels. First, I have to say that I loved the folksy weekly sing along in my fifth grade. And it did preface for us the camp experience of outdoor learning we would have as students at the end of fifth grade. Second, I have been a camp counselor. Third, I do always want to be one! But seriously, I think sing alongs can be made engaging and fun and goofy. Often times in classrooms I've visited I have felt like teachers are so serious, that because they are the authority figure perhaps they are afraid to be seen as fun for fear of losing that disciplinarian status or something. I think everyone in our current day and age could use more goofy time in their lives- certainly a few minutes a day to help us not take ourselves so seriously.
I also know that I have used music as a management tool in other settings working with kids. In the afterschool program that I ran and in the art classes I taught previously I used background music during independent work time as a way to both add some relaxation and sensory depth to the environment and as a concrete measure of what "too loud" meant. Kids knew they were being too loud if they could no longer here the music. For the most part this really helped in their self monitoring of noise and the volume level of the children as being "too loud" was not just arbitrarily decided by me when I'd had enough noise- the music provided an expectation, a routine, and a predictor (of my reaction to their volume) for them.
I have to add one more thing. Although it may be a very cool rap rendition that your friend has made I do have to say that I get tired of hearing hokey rap songs by teachers who think they are being progressive or hip simply by utilizing the genre of rap (particularly white and often older teachers here). Even in my school experience teachers attempted this; unless you are a rapper or musician I suggest staying away from this method because most teachers just end up looking like a fool (unless that is what you are going for). If you do it just make sure you are either really talented or not taking yourself seriously at all and that you are in fact trying to get laughs out of your children that are at your own expense!
I think one of things that we find in common with the original post, and with the comments, is that there is so much to being a teacher. We need to have a breadth of knowledge that extends from algebra to zebras, and everything in between. But there does come a point where you either don't know (but the kids do), or you just are doing something that just isn't authentic (and comes across as lame). I would counter the latter by saying that perhaps the willingness to try is a good thing. Can't that be part of keeping the profession fresh? Or is the level of plasticity and foreigness trumping all?
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