Teacher Summer Reading: Backlash: What Happens When We Talk Honestly about Racism in America by George Yancy

I typically get to read more during the summer (especially now that I'm done with grad school), so I have been making use of the Libby service offered through my public library to do some reading. Backlash by George Yancy came up as a suggested read for me based on my history, so I figured it was worth a try while I waited for a few other books to become available.

I found it interesting that this book about race was written specifically for white people. Of course, white people are the ones who need books to help them further understand race, but the use of Dear White America as a chapter subtitle was still rather jarring to me. Yancy's letter to white America is brilliant, full of clear explanations of the societal-level workings of racism rather than individual accusations or jargon. Yancy refutes many of the common whataboutisms and arguments against his points in a clear way.

One of Yancy's major suggestions for white people is to listen openly rather than listen to respond. Of course this wasn't a new principle for me, but hearing it in the context of racism was a new take and a different criticism of white privilege than I had heard before. To truly understand the experiences of those who have been hurt by racism, we have to listen and understand rather than becoming defensive.

Throughout the book, many of Yancy's points are made clear through hypotheticals posed to the reader. For example, one particularly striking passage asks the reader to imagine their child was black. Such a simple statement can spark so much emotion in a reader, and makes it easier for one to recognize their unconscious biases and the effects of racism on a societal and structural level.

I would recommend this book, and think it is an important read for white Americans who are trying to do better in regards to confronting their privilege.

Teacher Summer Reading: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

I've been doing a lot of lazy reading on the couch this summer and figured I would write about some of those books (in addition to picture books to use with students). To be clear, I don't *expect* teachers to do summer reading... we work hard enough during the year! But for those of us who enjoy reading over break, here we go!

This week's book was The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg. I was able to borrow the e-book for free via my local library in the Libby app, so it's worth checking there if you'd like to save money and support your library! 

This book was about how our unconscious habits impact every part of our lives, often in unexpected ways. Most people can appreciate that actions have consequences, but the consequences of our habits often span far beyond what we might predict. Because teachers especially have to make a lot of decisions in the course of our work, I think we likely rely heavily on habits to avoid decision paralysis and fatigue. 

The book doesn't aim to eliminate habits, or even label them as "bad" the way so many Pinterest articles seem to. Instead, it looks at the possibility of changing habits to make them better fit with goals and desires. By tweaking what we already do without thinking, we are able to come closer to our ideal selves without the need for extreme willpower or constant conscious decision making. 

Considering habits, especially cognitive habits, made me think about the things I do without thinking at school, from coming into my classroom the same way every school day to planning lessons following a certain routine. It also made me consider my habits outside of school, like binge-watching TV when I want to avoid cleaning or some other dreaded task. Just thinking about these habits, making the unconscious routines conscious, was eye-opening for me and helpful to consider.

The real power of habit is in leveraging them to work towards a goal. I started thinking about what habits I could change in my own life. So far, I've come up with adjusting my typical before-school habit of setting up the room, then making copies or checking email. Though I am very set in this habit, I know that I would be more productive if I changed it so that I wasn't trying to copy when many other teachers were also trying to copy, and I could work on plans or other tiring tasks while I had energy from my morning coffee.

I think this book will help me with getting students into certain habits as well. The book points out repeatedly that other people general can't force a habit change, though they can help develop them. For one, I hope to get my band kids into the habit of practicing frequently. Because they're new to playing an instrument, it's likely not something they'll know how to make a habit of, but as a semi-successful practice-er of 17 years I can help coach them towards building their practice stamina and making playing their instruments part of their daily routine. Additionally, I want to build classroom rehearsal habits with my students - not just the typical routines and procedures - in order to address the way we think, act, and make music in our classes.  

I found The Power of Habit to be an easy read, and an enjoyable one. It does sometimes seem to state the obvious, but never for more than a skimable paragraph. It's worth reading if you'd like to think about the things you don't think about doing! 

Books in the Elementary Music Room: I'm Here by Peter H. Reynolds

When I went to shop at Blue Bunny Books recently, I figured I'd go home with at least one book by the shop's owner, Peter H. Reynolds. I had read The Dot before and students at my school do art projects relating to it, so I wanted a different book to use in the music room. I found exactly what I was looking for in I'm Here.

With simple language and evocative imagery, the book is a first-person narrative of a child trying to find their place in the world. The imaginative illustrations and straightforward text, this book tells a story that will touch hearts and minds.

I plan on using this book as the basis for a student-created soundscape. In a soundscape, students make musical sounds and movements that match a story or idea. For example, the book's phrase "gentle wind" might be represented by wind chimes, or a student making a blowing sound or moving gently across the room. Because the story is short, and the sounds needed range from very literal to more abstract and challenging, there is an opportunity to allow students to choose their own challenge by picking which part of the book they want to soundscape. I haven't decided which grade to use this book with yet, but my process will look a bit like this:

1. Read the story to students
2. Have the class come up with a "scope of work" by listing the sounds/ideas that should be represented by music or movement
3. Read the book again, have students revise the scope as needed
4. Have each student/partnership pick a part of the book to soundscape and plan how to represent their part 
5. Students share their idea with another student/partnership, giving feedback to each other and revising their ideas as needed
6. Student practice/revision time, I check in with them to guide as needed
7. Read the book with soundscape as a culminating in-class performance

I highly recommend this book! While it will be interesting to look at in a musical context, this book has a lot of lessons beyond the music room. 

Teacher Summer Reading: Play It From the Heart by J. Steven Moore

I've been doing a lot of lazy reading on the couch this summer and figured I would write about some of those books (in addition to picture books to use with students). To be clear, I don't *expect* teachers to do summer reading... we work hard enough during the year! But for those of us who enjoy reading over break, here we go!

One of the first books I read this summer break was Play It From the Heart: What You Learn from Music about Success in Life by J. Steven Moore.

The book contains a number of anecdotes about the extra-musical values and skills learned through music education, weaving together anecdotes about student attention, engagement, and perseverance with tales about ensembles truly coming together to support one another. It's a refreshing read for me, as it's so drastically different from the dryly academic grad school readings I've been doing the past few months, full of statistics and footnotes more than passion. This is a book that is truly from the heart, and contains many poignant reminders of why we teach, why we are musicians, and why we teach music. While it didn't tell my story, exactly, it was easy to connect to the students discussed in the book just as much as the teachers. I remember that feeling of pride after a long rehearsal, the steadfast determination to play a show in pouring rain, the desire to take care of one another as a family even when things were difficult. 

The book never preaches, though it does include a few philosophical tangents about how music education inherently includes real-world skills that apply far outside the band room. Lessons such as promptness, determination, pride, and cooperation are a nice reminder for teachers who can get very caught up in the music during the school year. The book never strays into discounting the musical benefits of music education, which I really appreciate after hearings years of "music makes you smarter" demusicalized music advocacy.

For those who believe we teach students in addition to teaching music, this book is a quick, inspiring, honest read. It left me hopeful and eager to get back into the classroom with my students. Also awesome (for those of us with a library database subscription) is that I was able to read it for free online via my university library (shoutout to BU!). So read this, then play from the heart! 

Books in the Elementary Music Room: Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle

I love using books in my music classes! Picture books engage students in so many ways - visually hearing the story (sometimes with a song), seeing beautiful illustrations, and often acting out the story - that enrich their imaginations and help them create music. I'm planning to make a little series out of these posts, but today I'll be discussing Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle.

This adorable little book is the sequel to the well-known Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by the same authors. Each page follows a question and answer format, leading the reader through bright, large illustrations of each animal mentioned. I've used it in general music classes for a few different concepts:

• Vocal exploration (making animal sounds from the book and discussing how they are similar/different)
• Musical phrases (musical "questions and answers")
• Ensemble skills (differentiating between a soloist singing the question and the group singing the answer, or different groups singing the question and answer)
• Sequencing (remembering the order of animals in the book, creating new possible orders of animals and figuring out which words need to change to make that happen)
• Introduction to instruments (two animals in the book are described as "fluting" and "trumpeting", which I used as a chance to demonstrate flute and trumpet)

I also used this book as part of our December Singalong assembly. I learned a simple melody that works with the words of the book from another teacher, and taught parts to all my students K-5. At the assembly, we were able to put the whole thing together and sing the book as a school, complete with student trumpet and flute players for those animals! It was a really nice way to have all the students cooperating towards a common goal and having a lot of fun roaring, hissing, and snarling their way into December break.