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Motivate teachers to use songs in their classes

If you followed my posts about creating versions to enhance learning, you might have thought, “Ah, Débora, it's very easy for you to talk about singing, inventing and all that, but I don't have a background in music, I sing out of tune, I don't have rhythm and I have no creativity or talent for music.”

Calm down! All is not lost. Let's talk about it...

I'll start from the end… Talent. I'm one of those who doesn't believe in talent...sorry. As Isaac Asimov would say: “Whoever has talent will succeed in proportion. However, only if you persist in what you do.” That is... it's no use having talent if you don't use or practice. So let's put out what you already have and let's practice, practice, practice.

Thinking about creativity, let's go the same way. It's no use being creative if you don't have food for your processes. Here comes the study part so that the practice is effective. You want to know what to do and how to do it so that you can create and use songs that really motivate your students. For this, you need to expand your repertoire. So listen to a lot of music from various genres, styles, eras and performers.

With regard to rhythm and out-of-tune singing, I come back to practice. If you want to improve the way you sing you have to practice every day. And as I know time is short, I suggest that you sing whenever possible in the classes you already teach. I started small. Sing a song you already know and feel comfortable with. Then, little by little, incorporate new songs. Your students can also help you with new songs. So everyone learns together.

To end this series of posts, I'm going to talk about training in music and fluency in the language. If you are a music teacher, I strongly suggest that you take other free courses in addition to the Bachelor's degree that will help you expand the strategies for using music in the classroom. If you are a polyvalent or English teacher, I also suggest that you take free courses focused on musical repertoire so that you can quickly expand the songs you use with your students. And about fluency, nothing better than using the language to understand how it works and how best to use it in certain situations.

Take risks, learn, consolidate, share. Then tell me about your experiences and attempts.

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