Hi! My name is Julia Buonacquista and I am an English-Secondary Education major at TCNJ. I have always loved to read and write, and teaching students to appreciate literature would be something I would be proud to do as a career. Throughout this semester, the thing that has frightened me the most has been trying to find ways to make my classroom into a place where all students feel welcome and where they want to learn. While brainstorming ways I could achieve this, I came to a possible solution; music.

Music has the ability to make people feel things and can help someone understand a topic that may have seemed murky before. By utilizing music in my future classrooms, I plan to create a safe, secure learning environment where my students can be educated on and discuss social issues.

This article discusses the positive influence music exposure can have on a student and how it can improve their educational performances. Korby highlights the benefits that playing an instrument or merely listening to music while studying can have on the growing brain, such as powerfully reinforcing language skills, building and improving reading abilities, and strengthening memory and attention. Studies have shown that the same parts of the brain that are used while learning to read are utilized while listening to music, meaning music strengthens one's reading comprehension.

A simple way to adopt this into the classroom would be to allow students the choice to listen to music while reading or writing in class. My teachers always said that music would distract us from the tasks assigned to us, but I believe that allowing students to listen to music that they enjoy will keep them on track. 

In this article, the author discusses ways that music can be utilized in the classroom. Unlike the last source, which discussed the ways that listening to music can be helpful for this students, this provides examples of ways that teachers can use song lyrics as either short story prompts or as poetry. Because song lyrics fall so close to poetry, it is easy to utilize literary analysis methods while reading them. Music is also a common outlet for an artist to express their emotions, meaning students should be able to find the mood of the song based off the language used. 

In my classroom, I would love to have my students parse through a song like they would with a poem, paying close attention to what language the artist uses and the metaphors/symbolism they place throughout the song. After working on an example together as a class, I would have them choose one of their favorite (school appropriate) songs to work on individually. 

This piece both discusses the benefits of music in the classrooms and provides ways that educators can work music into their curriculum. Not only does music help support class content and help to control the environment of a classroom but it also creates a sense of community among classmates. Music is such a unifying thing and constantly connects people who have multiple differences from each other. Artists also constantly use their platform to bring awareness to social justice issues. By using music in an English classroom, educators can introduce their students to uncomfortable topics about discrimination and human rights.

 I think a good way to introduce a class discussion a certain social issue would be having them analyze song lyrics written to address the topic. After reviewing basic vocabulary words and concepts associated with the issue, we could work as a class to break down the lyrics of a song that discusses it. This way, they start with a collaborative assignment before diving into more in-depth research on the topic. 

I found this source extremely interesting, as it presents ways that music can be used in classrooms where you would least expect it. Although music is extremely beneficial in the classroom through listening to songs and analyzing lyrics, it can also be used as a timer, to maintain a certain emotion in a classroom, and as just background ambience to increase comfort in a learning environment. 

I would utilize many tactics talked about in this article, such as using music as a sort of timer, setting the scene of my classroom, or during mindfulness activities. Something we've learned in this course is how important a welcoming classroom environment is for a student. It affects their focus, their drive, and their comfort at school. By using music, I can create a safe space for my students through the songs that they love!

This piece does a phenomenal job explaining the science behind music and its benefits for the brain. Scientists claimed that the left frontal hemisphere of the brain is the part of the brain to process the syntax of language; a century later, they discovered that music syntax is processed in the same area. Because of this, the brain responds to similar ways when absorbing literature and music (ex: a dissonant chord will trigger the same response as an ungrammatical sentence). The author shares what types of music are most effective as a learning aid, compares the academic performance of students with solely musical training to those with athletic training, and shares ways that music can be integrated into the classroom to improve a student's academic record. 

One of the things that I believe can be most isolating for a student is when they don't enjoy the subject being taught. For students who either hate English class or don't like school in general, reviewing grammatical rules and sentence structure sounds like a nightmare. Throughout this semester, we have thoroughly discussed ways to make our classes inclusive to all students, even those who might not enjoy it. This article offers many ways to achieve this and creates class activities that make literature fun and exciting for all students.