Music: bridging the teacher-student gap
As the bell rings to mark the end of the class period, sophomore Jon Zuehlke walks out of class and puts his iPod headphones in his ears. Like many students at Aragon, music is important to him. But this does not hold true for just students. Music also plays a big part in the lives of teachers.
They may not be seen walking around school with headphones in their ears, but they still enjoy music. “I listen to reggae, Kings of Leon, John Butler Trio, and many other things,” says Photography teacher Aimee Reed. Reed also says that she has experienced some students listening to similar music as her.
“Just the other day, I was talking to Ms. Johnson about Tom Petty. It is good when students can talk to teachers about music because it shows that they have something in common with us which helps our relationships with them,” says Junior Taylor Crow.
“I talk to students about music a lot,” says history teacher Ron Berggren. “I have two daughters so I know a lot about what teenagers listen to. It is nice to have something to talk about and music is something everyone has in common.”
Spanish teacher Ana Maria Ramos says that she uses music to teach. “I play Spanish music in class because it connects their teenage world into Spanish culture,” says Ramos. “I had a student last year who was struggling and not paying attention in class so I did activities such as playing a Spanish rap song to engage students that need something to relate to in order to learn. Music is important to students so I use it to educate them.”
“I think that music helps break the barrier between teachers and students. A lot of music is timeless and popular with a variety of age groups and people so we have something to talk about,” says junior Reiko Huffman.
Regardless of whether student and teacher interests in music genres are the same, music is acts as a connection. In a learning environment, or just in small talk after class, music is used as a topic to strengthen the student-teacher relationship.
