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Student, Music, and Behavior



The other day I taught an iPad science lesson with a group of eight graders. After the explanation and practice student were to work independently on their project. Unfortunately these 8th graders could not work independently and quietly at the same time (not a huge surprise).

The students worked hard to fill the void of silence with smack talk across the room distracting each other and getting off task. Luckily I had a Kidz Bop 23 CD in my bag and I put it in and immediately the talking stopped (the singing, the foot taping, and head bopping started but hey they were all working).

Surprisingly children have difficulty focusing in a completely quiet environment and they seek to fill the void with unproductive noise/chatter. Having some music that can play in the background will help to greatly reduce behavior issues in these situations.

I like the Kidz Bop CD's because they feature songs the kids know but they have been filtered so there is no inappropriate language. The 8th graders scoffed at the kids singing but got over it.

If you have had problems with behavior during independent work consider adding music into the mix and see what happens!
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icesk8abc said…
I completely agree! This is one of the reasons it drives me crazy to have to give the 4 hour state tests in absolute silence.
April 12, 2013 at 9:27 PM
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