The songs of childhood: I'd like to teach the world to sing

 

I'm this many years old- Coca-Cola teaching the world to sing years old, that is. As I was singing this very song (well, the actual song, not the commercial) with my class today, I thought, "Wow. Music really does matter." So much of how I would like to see the world is shaped by the music of my youth. From this Coca-Cola commercial to Marlo Thomas's "Free to Be, You and Me", they taught me and molded me to be a person who wants a better world for everyone. Someone who believes in the inherent worth of every single person. Even old Church Camp songs like, "They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love" helped shape my view of the world, of what church should be, how people should be. 

That's why I sing the songs I do with my students. Yes, we sing those traditional childhood songs, like the ABC's and nursery rhymes, but I like to throw in some non-traditional songs too. Songs like teaching the world to sing in perfect harmony, songs like trying a little kindness, and peace in my fingers are frequent requests. I truly believe that music can help change us. And, by changing us, it can change the world. Idealism matters. Hope is stronger than fear. We are all the same, even in our differences. When we fill our children's minds with the hope that things can and will get better, we empower them to treat others as they would like to be treated. We empower them to be that change that Ghandi spoke of.  We empower the next generation to be great.

Music is a powerful tool that is underutilized in many classrooms today. In many instances, it's viewed as a filler, or as a transition. But when we make music a main focus, we make words come to life. We make learning stronger, too. That's a beautiful by-product, and not my main goal. I could fill a blog post full of the academic reasons to sing in your classroom. It builds phonolgical awareness, it builds sequencing, it increases literacy and numeracy scores. But we don't really need that today. What we need today are kinder, softer people. What we need today are peace makers.Friends. We need lovers of peace over lovers of war. We need critical thinkers who can envision a world beyond the current divide. Music does this. Music makes us better people. My main goal as a teacher is to help parents create a stronger generation. Stronger, not in might over right, but in right is right. A generation that knows loving our neighbor's is more than words. Music propels us to do and be better.

The late Christian musician Rich Mullins once said, "Music is the most useless thing. You can't eat it, you can't wear it, it doesn't help protect you. But your life wouldn't be worth much without it." He was absolutely right. Can we live without music? Sure. But can we thrive without music? No. Will the world become a better place, just because we sing happy, hopeful songs? I don't know. What I know is that music was and is a powerful force in my life and learning. So if I can pass that gift on to children today, then I have done all I need to do.

Sing. Sing a song...

(not going to lie- Sesame Street probably had a lot to do with all of this too)