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.
Be sure to head to the next Bright Idea from Angelia at Extra Special Teaching
She's sharing tips on Organizing Student Work for Portfolios
Thanks to Shelley of Teaching in the Early Years for organizing the
Be sure to check the linky below for links to all the "Bright Ideas" this month.
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.
