…my National Geographic magazines! I came home tonight to find my monthly copy waiting for me by the front door. It may sound sad, but I asked my dad to give me a yearly subscription last Christmas and it was one of the best presents ever. I have to confess, with the first ‘read’ of each monthly copy, all I do is gaze at the pictures – well, I am an Art & Design teacher after all! The photography is amazing and something you can only aspire to. It takes me several more reads to get through the articles, each new one as interesting as the last. I’m getting a nice wee collection now to relook through at my leisure (ok, school holidays!). All I need now are those floor to ceiling bookcases. Oh, and the cosy library space and rip-roaring fire. Ahhh, a girl can dream…

With the end of the year fast approaching (one of my S2 boys told me it was about 90 odd days until Christmas), I know what I’ll be asking for again!

Music in the classroom is something that either you think is a good idea or not.
Up until a couple of years ago, music in the classroom was something I used regularly with all age ranges. I found it to be an effective tool for creating a good working environment, which in turn promotes effective Learning and Teaching. There are some who feel that music in the classroom (outwith the Music Department of course) is inappropriate. However, I was reading a very interesting website tonight – http://www.musicandlearning.com. Chris Brewer (MA FAMI) is a musician, trainer and author with a masters’ degree in Music Therapeutics. She discusses how music can be used as an effective classroom management tool and fully believes that music can help to create learning states that can help to hold attention and increase the ability to retain facts.
Being a teacher of Art & Design, I was very much interested in her thoughts on how background music could facilitate creativity and how it could enhance the ability of the pupil to focus. I remember in my early days of teaching having a particularly challenging S2 class. One of the strategies to promote a positive and comfortable learning environment was to have the radio on the background. There were clear, but simple ground rules: The radio was a privilege, a reward for good behaviour and work. It would only be used at appropriate times during some practical activities and I, in the main, chose the music. It worked very well for this particular class – work was completed effectively and pupils said they felt more comfortable in an environment that was perhaps ‘out of the norm’ of other classes. On a visit one day by the Head Teacher, he asked to see me outside. Concerned I’d be in ‘trouble’ (I was newly qualified and had yet to learn my skill of digging myself out of situations with SMT), I rapidly tried to think of educational reasons for having 80’s ‘pop’ singing out to the world. ‘I just wanted to say what a good working environment you’ve created’, he said. I never looked back from that point.
I think like all learning and teaching strategies, you just have to know when to use them, how to use them and use then consistently. What works for one class or age group, will not necessarily work for another. However, an effective teacher, I believe, should be willing to be flexible in their approach to learning and teaching in order to promote a comfortable learning environment and positive ethos.