How to Incorporate Music into a Classroom to Benefit Student Mental Health
Incorporating music into the classroom can significantly enhance the learning experience, boost student engagement, foster creativity, and support mental health. This page will provide you with excellent resources to integrate music effectively in your classroom. Here are some ideas for teachers to create a peaceful and mentally healthy learning environment for their students.
Incorporating music during work periods can be highly beneficial for creating a conducive learning environment, keeping all students calm and focused.
As a student who has experienced a teacher using this method, I observed that students quickly developed a routine and came to enjoy this part of the day. Utilizing lo-fi study beats can make the learning space more comfortable and enjoyable. Listening to music allows students to enhance their focus on their work or the topic at hand, helping them maintain a steady work rhythm. This approach is effective even with young children, as it encourages mindfulness and helps them remain calm, benefiting both the teacher and their classmates.
As studies show, our brains interact with music positively. Our brains light up when listening to music, but can also put us into a much more relaxed state helping students not focus on the stress and anxiety school can bring amongst students. Therefore, here is a Ted Talk by Alan Harvey who explains the importance of music and how our brains and bodies react to music.
In today's society, music is readily accessible to everyone through things like the radio, the internet, and even television. If you're unsure about where to find background music for your classrooms, I can provide you with some free options.
Why should you look into using a music app within your classroom?
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Have a great variety of music
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You are able to listen to podcasts and audiobooks
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Many accessible playlists
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Offline accessibility
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Hours and hours of low-fi or calm music
Just remember there are so many options on the internet for music, utilize these features!
Incorporating movement and dance into a class to promote mental health can be a fun and effective way to reduce stress, calm students, increase self-expression, and improve overall well-being of students. By using music to encourage physical activity like dance breaks can help break up the long day ahead and promote learning.
An incredible resource I've observed in classrooms is Calm Connect. This website has a remarkable impact on students, helping create a calm and manageable environment. I recommend using this tool after recess and lunch when students tend to be active, with increased heart rates. It's important to transition students back into the classroom in a calm and focused state, and I believe that Calm Connect can help regulate your classroom in a more productive way.
"CalmConnect is a scientifically based, digitally streamed behavioral health program that harnesses the power of human connection to calm the nervous system and increase social connectedness and wellbeing. This multisensory practice simultaneously engages the user, physically, cognitively, and emotionally, and is designed to shift users from ‘fight or flight’ to a calm and regulated state."
- Prio Health
Using effective apps like Calm Connect or having a brief dance party, especially for young children, can be essential in beginning their day on a positive note. Teachers have the capacity to enhance their students' mental health by incorporating movement and dance. It's crucial to establish a safe and inclusive classroom environment where all participants feel comfortable expressing themselves through movement and dance.
Exploring how music can evoke emotions in your students can be immensely beneficial. By playing various songs and discussing the emotions they feel, teachers can gain insight into their students' mental states. It's crucial to comprehend how your students are feeling and how to support them, especially when they are going through significant life events. Empathy can be challenging, so introducing music as a means for students to express their feelings can be highly advantageous for their mental health.
This is the App Cove, this app uses music to influence your emotions. By using this app you are able to listen to music and journal the emotions you are feeling. Using this within classrooms taking advantage of increasing technology.
Even by having the entire class listen and engage while listening together the teacher plays various songs, students are able to discuss how they make themselves feel, then tie it into literature, creative writing, or group discussions.