I have begun using the music website Spotify in my classroom. You might liken it to Pandora or even itunes. Like Pandora, you can pay for an upgraded version without ads. The advantage of Spotify is the ability to choose the songs you want and create your own playlist. With Pandora, you can choose only a genre or type of music, not the specific songs that are played.
On Spotify, you may follow other users and their playlists, drag and drop songs from a friends playlist into your own, or create your own playlists from scratch. You can play one song at a time, or play the playlist so your songs will automatically play on to the next one. You can also set up a song queue so you can play songs from multiple lists or listen before you place them into a playlist.
My district music specialist introduced me to Spotify and has some great playlists that would be a great start for educators. You can find her page here. She also has a great musical education blog full of ideas called My Musical Magic. My Spotify page can be found here, I'm just starting and will continue to grow my own play lists.
I've started using short 1 and 2 minute songs to time students between transitions and to play classical music as students come to class in the morning to start the day off in a calm mood. I've started playlists of 1 minute and 2 minute songs for timing transitions which you can find on my Spotify page. You can also find my morning classical playlist.
I found another source for 1 minute songs here as well. Not a Spotify list, but you might find it useful for transition songs.
Give Spotify a try and see how using more music in your classroom can help your students focus. Not only is is great for transitions and focus, but you'll be able to quickly find songs to integrate into your lessons. This will save you time and money. I'm just starting focus on more music (and other art forms) in my lessons. I'll be sure to share as I use more and more.
I considered creating my own video tutorial for using Spotify, but found this one below that does a great job. It gives a great overview and some great information to get you started using Spotify.
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How do you use music in your classroom? Have a Spotify account and want to share your link? Feel free to share your ideas and links in the comments.
I am obsessed with Spotify in for use in my personal musical life, and I love this idea of utilizing it in the classroom. The 1- and 2- minute songs are amazing, and I have definitely began following you :) Thanks for the idea, girl!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome. So glad it will be useful to you.
DeleteI use Pandora all the time and didn't know much about Spotify before this. Thanks for all the info!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome!
DeleteI love Spotify = great tips!
ReplyDeleteBuzzing with Ms. B
Yay!
DeleteI have used Pandora, but never tried Spotify. I'll have to give it a try! Thanks for the tips and for the great playlists :)
ReplyDeleteFun in Room 4B
So, I use music all the time and just yesterday decided to try it in my classroom. One question for other teachers who use music- if you have a one or two minute song, do you also put a timer on so kiddos know when to be ready? At the end of the day, I put a timer on and move my computer to the front of the class so the kids can see how much time they have to be ready for our "inspection", but I can't move my computer for every transition. Thoughts? Suggestions?
ReplyDeleteElicia, that's a great question. I have a projector and when I do want to time my students, I use online stop watch and project it on my screen. The music can continue to play if the timer is up. However, I haven't ever thought to do them both at the same time. I think my students have just come to know about how long they have and I haven't had a problem when playing the music. I'll post this question on my FB page as well to see if we can get some more ideas. Thanks!
DeleteI love Spotify, but have never thought of using it in the classroom. I will definitely have to check it out! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteJen
http://endeavorsineducation.blogspot.com/
I am so glad you shared this post. I also love to use Spotify in the classroom. I even made a Colonial music playlist to use during our Colonial Day last year.
ReplyDeleteJan
Laughter and Consistency
Oh Jan, that sounds great! If you see this, do share your spotify so we can follow you.
DeleteThanks for the article. For those who live outside US and want to access Spotify, you can use UnoTelly as I do to get around the geo block.
ReplyDelete