EDU 270 - Blog 6

This week I learned about how music affects learning and the development of the brain. I think the biggest take away from this lesson is how education research is not always represented completely in the media. I had heard of the Mozart effect and being a biologist didn't really believe the way it was presented in the media. The way that this will help me in my future classroom is that I now know that while listening to music that makes students happy and relaxed can provide a small benefit, it is not beneficial to allow students to have their headphones in listening to music the entire class period. I have had students in the past that cite the Mozart effect as a reason that I should allow headphones on during exams and independent work time.

However since it has been found to stimulate many parts of the brain, I will also try and incorporate music into some of my lessons next year. If I put facts into a song it may help me differentiate the learning since there are a great deal of things that one must be able to memorize, such as the names of the stages of cell division. This might allow some of the students that learn better through music to remember things better. I know that was how I learned my multiplication tables and it worked pretty well.