Keep on singin’
Todd Goodwin

First, I recall Christopher Cross’s “Ride Like the Wind (to be free again)” being the very first song to come on the radio as I drove away from college for the summer – and this was over 35 years ago! I was transferring to a college the next year that would bring me closer in proximity to my husband-to-be. We have been married now for 34 years, and I still ride like the wind to get to where he is.

Second, one of the best math teacher colleagues with whom I have had the privilege to work had her HS algebra students singing silly songs to learn the concepts. They grumbled, but they loved her for it. When she was awarded teacher of the year during an assembly, students in the audience stood up and started singing one of her songs, and the rest of the student body pretty much joined in. The power of music helped her be an effective math teacher, and it apparently made a lasting memory for a lot of students over the years.

Third, I am a visual learner – something I didn’t know when I was in high school. I often listen to books on CD in the car, but it’s a bit of a stretch since I am not good with auditory inputs. Over the years, this has actually helped me better process info when I am in auditory-only settings (e.g., meetings). However, the connection to learning hit home in an unusual way. Sometimes, something would happen and I’d lose my place on the CD – for example if someone took it out and it started back at track 1. But the strange thing was this – as I would fast forward and listen to a snippet of conversation, I’d ‘see’ in my mind where I happened to be driving when I heard those words before. I would think to my self, “I heard that sentence when I was at intersection X” or “I heard this one when I was pulling into the driveway.” So my visual-learner brain made the connections it needed to process and store the auditory input. I had read that the brain learns by making connections, but this was an up-close and personal way to experience that for myself – very powerful and something I have never forgotten. The lesson for me is that by using a variety of inputs (visual, auditory, etc.), not only am I making sure to meet individuals’ learning needs, it also helps students who prefer other learning modes to make connections as well.