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Good Memories?

There was a time when I knew 25-30 phone numbers by heart. I suspect it came by dialing them again and again and again. No matter where I went, I had those phone numbers with me, ready when needed.

No longer. Today phone numbers are stored in our phones instead of in our memories. Maybe that’s good, maybe not. With so much accessible on phones, on line, the part of the brain given to storage, and the lines of connection to that storage aren’t being exercised.

Creativity may be sparked by new ideas or research, but it grows through sparking connections between ideas or knowledge. Singing songs regularly in school life offers a great opportunity to stretch our gray matter. Fire off those synapses by digging out songs in our memory.

Teach/learn songs by rote, then post the words as a memory aid and for reading practice. After a week or two, take the written words away sometimes and rely on memory or “figuring it out’ to provide words. You’ll be exercising the brain, as well as giving your students songs that will be with them, wherever they go. You might pick up a few to keep you company as well.

Peace

Lesley

 

150 Happy Birthdays Canada!

Why sing?

Whether its around a campfire, in a classroom, during the 7th inning stretch, at a faith gathering, or on Parliament Hill on Canada Day, singing together brings us together.  Even if we’re not all in tune, we are all saying the same words at the same time.  We are making a joyful noise.

So, singing makes community, but it also remembers community.  Songs are a link to the past  –in their words, and in the emotional memory of times we have sung them.  Singing crosses the great divide within us (the corpus callosum btw sides of the brain) and between us (sharing words and emotions).

Folksongs express  events/emotions that communities experience.  Singing folksongs links us to our history/herstory and the stories of others.  So, Canada, we Can Do Music, and we need to sing.  This 150th year, explore who we are as Canadians by singing our songs  –old and new.

Make a joyful noise!

Salam

Lesley