Let us have music, art and poetry in schools

As an educator and former teacher of English, I love many things—books, editorials, journalism, doodling, cartoons, museums, sunsets, swimming in a faraway beach, stargazing, coffee, chatting far into the night, movies, plays, poetry, music and art.

My loves have merged into one brilliant fusion.

I remember introducing my students to journal writing to the songs of Britney Spears and Pink. Both have songs entitled “Dear Diary.”

I asked the kids what the singers said about expressing their innermost thoughts on paper, as paper was “patient” as Anne Frank wrote in her diary.

I would play background music as we worked on exercises or activities or as students copied something on the board.

Students seemed more behaved when music, especially something they liked, was played. They sang along and worked happily.

We also talked about music and sang together.

I play music a tad too loudly. Teachers in classrooms near mine close their doors because of the ruckus I create.

But my students and I are all gloriously alive, having fun as we tap our feet and sway to the beat, singing to our hearts’ content.

Pop culture fan

I remember when Dao Ming Si and Hua Ze Lei were the hottest beings on this side of town. I made my English class students use their play cards to compare and contrast members of the group. They had the time of their lives.

Being a fan of popular culture, I make the most of what it has to offer.

I loved it when a class coincided with Chico and Delamar’s radio show “The Morning Rush” on Monster Radio RX 93.1.

As students did exercises, we listened to the program and laugh at the duo’s antics. Gino had not yet joined the program then.

Speaking to second year college students taking up English at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in San Juan City, I presented songs I loved that would be perfect in English classes when topics such as heartbreak, family, relationships, friendship, love and even self-esteem were discussed.

I made them watch videos of David Archuleta’s “Crush,” M2M’s “Don’t Say You Love Me,” Vanessa Hudgens’ “Say Okay,” Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years,” Corrinne May’s “On the Side of Me,” Unkle Bob’s “Swans,” Beyonce’s “If I Were a Boy,” Pink’s “Who Knew” and “Family Portrait,” Avril Lavigne’s “Unwanted” and “Keep Holding On,” Donna Lewis’ “I Could Be the One,” Skylar Grey’s “Invisible,” TLC’s “Unpretty,” Taylor Swift’s “Love Story,” Amanda Marshall’s “I’ll Be Okay,” Vonda Shepard’s

“Baby, Don’t You Break My Heart Slow,” and Googoo Dolls’ “Better Days” to mention a few.

We analyzed the lyrics. Some of them never thought of using what this generation listened to. I told them issues were easier to discuss with the aid of music.

When I talked on editorial writing to students and teachers, I made them listen to Jewel’s “Hands” and Pink’s “Dear Mr. President.”

Then I segued to issues.

Jewel wrote her song when she was 18, broke and homeless.

Who has not heard of music’s “Mozart Effect?” Studies showed that, after listening to Mozart, students did better. The brain is made up of parts that respond to music and art.

I read that in Japan and a European country with very strong music and arts programs, classroom performance in schools was better. Research found that arts improved comprehension and long-term retention.

One does not have to be artistic or a musicologist to integrate music and art into the curriculum.

Mariko Nobori, former managing editor and producer of Edutopia, said, “It (integration) encourages healthy risk-taking, helps kids recognize new skills in themselves and others, provides a way to differentiate

instruction, builds collaboration among both students and teachers, bridges differences and draws in parents and the community. Plus it’s just plain fun.”

So, even though origami-making was not part of the art objectives, I taught it to my kids in Grade 3 at Pembo Elementary School. Armed with my Ed Emberley drawing books, I also drew cartoon faces and animals on manila paper that some of the kids copied.

Actually, when I want to destress, I get my drawing book and copy art that I like. If I like you, you will probably get a Charlie Brown or Jules Feiffer cartoon from me.

I collect books on art, origami and related topics that I share with my teachers.

As a school head, I encouraged my first school, Jose Magsaysay Elementary School to include drawing as a daily activity. I provided teachers copies of Emberley’s step-by-step drawings. We even included drawing as an activity in scouting.

I did not get to give a seminar on art and music integration in my second school but I gave copies of my resources to volunteer teachers of Reading and Academic Enhancement Program who taught selected Grades 3 to 7 girl students in Pio del Pilar Elementary School.

And I told them to start lessons with singing.

Dancing introduction

At present, I am the principal of Maximo Estrella Elementary School, a position I have held for only four months. In my first meeting with teachers and students, I made them dance to Magic’s “Rude” and Soja’s “Not Done Yet.”

I preordered a Swift album and we danced to “Blank Space.”

When I attended an out-of-town seminar, guess what the principals danced to, with me as dance leader? The parents danced, too, when we had our State of the School Address. Now every time, we have a meeting, there is always music to dance to.

I encouraged my intermediate English teachers to join the Bench-Inquirer in Education Serial Reading Program.

Maria Monina Millafre and Arlin Garay Montuya signed in for the program and found themselves totally immersed in the whole process.

I told them I had a reputation to maintain, being in one of those schools with fantastic artistic outputs, as Chelo Banal-

Formoso, Learning section editor, was apt to mention.

And we have done it again. Our students, with the guidance of their teachers, did not disappoint.

As for poetry, although I am not a poet, I like to dabble in it. I give format poetry writing sessions to teachers and students. I read the poems at poemhunter.com. I love Maya Angelou, Sara Teasdale, May Swenson, Pablo Neruda and Charles Bukowski, to mention some.

In all the schools I have worked in, we have poetry reading sessions. We have poem-writing contests and poem reading especially during the National Reading Month and   the month of hearts, February.

We have a wig party and wear our best red or black dresses, as we recite poems we love and those we wrote.

Poetry promotes literacy. It can help us know one another and it builds community. When read aloud, its rhythm, music and sound captivate us. It crosses borders.

Poetry should be part of a robust English curriculum. It opens opportunities for speaking and listening. Poetry promotes resilience in kids and adults. It is not irrelevant nor is it just for pansies or those who are “educated.”

Poetry should be for the masses. We can express our love for God and country through poems.

Find the poems that make you want to revel in them. Find the ones that speak to the deepest part of you; forget those that do not make sense. Recite poems when you are alone or with a group of friends.

Now that classes have resumed, I will give a seminar on art and music. I will encourage everyone to invest on a small compact disc player with a flash drive. We will have music all year long.

We will actually have art, music and poetry because they do not only have inherent benefits but also because they make learning fun. Schools should not only be places of learning but of fun, too.