We are beginning a new school year which is a new opportunity to begin using classical music in the classrooms during class, in the hallways, in the lunch room, and on school buses to and from school. Classical music played in the background helps students learn to relax, allowing them to concentrate and do a better job on their work.
Our “Question of the Month”, feature’s 11 year veteran teacher, Anna Fontaine Moyer. She is helping her students to become gifted academically in school through playing a musical instrument.
Start preparing now for your first day of school. Dr. Frank’s, “10 Creative Ways to Inspire Students & Curb Teachers Burn Out!” are included in this newsletter with her “10 Secrets to Stop Students Boredom, Inspire Them & Make Them Smarter” and her “Nine Management Secrets for Health Care Professionals”.
The new school year is also a wonderful opportunity to start learning a musical instrument to learn discipline, cooperation, teamwork, motivation, concentration and self-esteem. Studying a musical instrument develops millions of new connections, synapses, between nerve cells in the brain. Many of the world’s scientists, doctors, teachers, authors and mathematicians are also musicians. June’s newsletter was a testimonial to the many Valedictorians, Salutatorians and grads of 2011 who are scholars and musicians. Dr. Frank’s 10 Musical Tips to start your new school year are included in this issue.
If anyone has an experience they would like to share with our readers on the benefits of classical music please send it and it will be include it in the September 2011 newsletter!
August 2011’s article of the month: “Difference Between an Asset and a Liability” by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.
http://madeline-firstimpressions.blogspot.com/
For other articles by Dr. Madeline Frank click on the following link:
http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Madeline_Frank
Dr. Madeline Frank’s new book “Leadership on a Shoestring Budget” is now available through amazon.com. Click on the following Amazon.com link to order your copy of “Leadership On A Shoestring Budget”
Dr. Madeline Frank’s Musical One Minute Radio Show for August 2011:
Anna Fontaine Moyer how have you used Classical music to help your students achieve academic success for over 11 years and what musical instruments do you play?
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/madelines-one-minute-radio-show/Question of the month:
Who is Anna Fontaine Moyer?
For over 11 years, Anna Fontaine Moyer has taught Middle School and High School students in the Virginia Public Schools to excel in math and science through playing musical instruments in her orchestras. Her students have become gifted academically through her work with them. Mrs. Moyer plays the flute, violin, viola, cello, and bass.
Anna Fontaine was born on March 23, 1976 in Jeonju, Korea to Bungon & Richard Fontaine. She began to play the cello in 9th grade and continued through High School. Anna Fontaine was an excellent student in school, graduating from Denbigh High School with honors. She played cello in the orchestra and flute, percussion, and string bass in the band all during her high school years. After high school she decided to attend Christopher Newport University and become a teacher. Anna Moyer decided that she wanted to become a teacher because she wanted students to discover music and all of its benefits: discipline, responsibility, critical thinking skills, motivation, and self-expression. She hopes that all of her students will also develop a life-long love for music itself. Some of her formers students are currently studying to have careers in music.
Mrs. Moyer has seen her student’s progress over the years from poor students to excellent students through playing a musical instrument in her orchestras. Mrs. Moyer said, “A few years ago, I had a student show up in my beginning class who was shy, withdrawn, and very sad most of the time. He had been placed in my class accidentally, as were a few others. As I was introducing the instruments, he seemed to perk up a little bit, so at the end of class I went over to speak to him. I said that I knew he had not chosen this class, but that he was more than welcome to stay and that the rental fees could be waived if that was an issue. His eyes lit up, and he said he would stay in the class. The change over the next three months was amazing. He was so excited about playing that he practiced every day – exceeding his peers and some second-year student’s abilities. More importantly, he began to socialize with his peers and to smile. From his previous behavior, I had gleaned that things were not the best at home. The violin gave him a way to cope; it was his source of strength. He had to move away, but I recently received a note from his grandfather that he is still playing and loving the violin. As for the majority of my students, they end up being intelligent citizens of our society after they graduate. Some have become teachers, nurses, military personnel, and lawyers. They are making a positive impact on our society.”
Anna Moyer Fontaine says her orchestra and band directors in high school taught her to have really high standards for all students and making beautiful music was the goal. Mrs. Moyer says her violin and cello teacher, Dr. Madeline Frank, at Christopher Newport University taught her how to work with kids through kindness and caring.
In her professional career as a cellist Anna Fontaine Moyer has played in Canada with the
Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific and with the Bermuda’s 400th Anniversary Concert Celebration as Principal Cellist with the Bermudian Festival Chamber Orchestra. She now plays in Symphonicity, the Symphony Orchestra of Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Dr. Frank’s, “10 Creative Ways to Inspire Students & Curb Teachers Burn Out!”
1. Effective teachers and administrators agree to have an assignment on the board for students to start on the second they walk into the new classroom. “A well-planned lesson eliminates 90% of discipline problems.”
Before your first day of school have your “First Day of School Script” ready with the “Procedures” that you will use for your class and implement them by rehearsing your class until all the students know your procedures and understand them.( Example: What is your procedure for students having a cell phone in class? Decide your rule for each of your procedures and teach them to your class on the first day of school.) Harry K. Wong and Rosemary Wong’s book “How to be an Effective Teacher the First Days of School” is a must read for all teachers’. Here are a few of the Wong’s articles: “Effective teaching”:
http://teachers.net/wong/FEB09/
(for Elementary School Routines & Procedure Power PT. click on middle of the page for power pt.)
“A First Day of School Script
http://teachers.net/wong/JUN00/
“Teaching Procedures is Teaching Expectations” says, H. & R. Wong
http://teachers.net/wong/JUN02/
“Stress Free Teacher” (Middle School)
http://teachers.net/wong/FEB02/
Middle School/High School script:
http://teachers.net/wong/MAR03/page_2.html
The Wong’s say “The First Five Minutes are Critical”
http://teachers.net/wong/NOV00/
(Have your smile in place, your student’s seat assignments ready, and your first assignment on the board for the students to get started immediately after sitting down and have your classical music on in the background.) * School starts the first minute the students enter for the new school year. Be prepared! Start preparing and rehearsing this summer. Remember students need to feel safe and secure! They need rules.)
2. Before the first day of school decide how you are to dress for success in bright colors to get your students attention. Remember first impressions are the most important.
3. Do you remember the middle school and high school Chemistry and Math teachers playing Classical Mozart Symphonies in the background of their classes and how much better behaved and smarter the students became? Well you can do this too! Put on your Classical music and help your students get smarter and work faster.
4. Don’t just lecture tell a story. Make the material visual. Be creative by becoming a teaching artist! Example: Dr. Madeline Frank’s “Musical Notes On Math”, teaching fractions and decimals to children in K-5 through the rhythm of music,Winner of the Parent-to-Parent Adding Wisdom Award.
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/musical-notes-on-math/
5. Make your course come alive. Make it fun to learn. Remember that Alicia Keys and Dr. Condoleezza Rice both studied the piano learning Classical music and skipping grades in high school. They were both at the top of their high school classes all through school because they played Classical music every day. Playing Classical music made them smarter! Dr. Albert Einstein was able to win his Noble Peace Prize and make his scientific discoveries by playing Classical music on his violin or piano every day. Dr. Judith Resnik astronaut and electrical engineer made perfect scores on her SAT’s through playing her Classical piano music every day for one hour. Louis Armstrong learned Classical music on his cornet at age 13 and his life was changed forever! Your students can be smarter too by playing Classical music every day!
6. Involve your students in your course by posing a problem and helping them solve it! Make them into detectives. (Sherlock Holmes and his side kick Dr. Watson) Help your students work cooperatively. (In a musical String Quartet members work together cooperatively with set goals and without violence.) Put on your Classical music to help your students concentrate better.
7. Help your students gain self-esteem and self worth by showing them kindness & patience.
8. Romayne Leader Frank, Mother, friend, Family Advocate , teacher, & Lawyer, always said “every child has one gift.” Find that gift and accentuate it!
9. Dr. Frank’s favorite saying is “every student is a gem in the raw.” Start with that thought and work with your students. Believe that each of your students, on the first day of school, wants to learn your course and desires to learn.
10. Does anyone here like to work? No, then make it fun to learn. Put on your Classical music!
© 2011 Madeline Frank
A recent survey asked public school students in grades 5-12, what characteristics make a good teacher.
Many students said a good teacher “is passionate about their subject, has the intelligence to inspire students to learn by keeping the class material fresh and interesting by making the class seem to go by faster and getting all the students involved.” A good teacher “listens and cares about their students never raising their voice and is willing to help any student who needs help.” A good teacher “thoroughly explains the subject matter is always patient and never makes fun of any student. A good teacher has a good sense of humor and tells good jokes to help teach the material.”
For all students from Dr. Frank’s “10 Secrets to Stop Students Boredom Inspire Them & Make Them Smarter”
- Have your Classical music on your CD or iPod to improve concentration. Stay focused, relaxed and remember more. On your first day of work, school or shopping have your materials ready…paper, pencils, pens, notebooks, and calculators. Be prepared! Be on time! Don’t be late! Have a smile on your face and put your best foot forward.
- Dress for success. Remember first impressions are the most important.
- Be a detective like Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson! Think of the right question by putting your classical music on to help you think better like Einstein, Schweitzer, Condoleezza Rice, Judith Resnik, Louis Armstrong and Alicia Keys.
- We remember the stories of Albert Einstein, Louis Armstrong and Condoleezza Rice. Their stories are easy to remember and with humor the story is even more powerful and visual. So, use stories to help you remember and put on your Classical music to help you get smarter.
- Romayne Leader Frank, Mother, friend, Family Advocate, teacher & Lawyer, always said “every child has one gift.” Find that gift by playing classical music!
- Dr. Frank’s favorite saying is “every student is a gem in the raw.” Each of you is a gem! Believe in yourselves and put on your Classical music to help you!
- Do you remember the workers at IBM, Audi, AT & T, and Hallmark and how they grew calmer and were able to concentrate more and work faster and more accurately through listening to Classical music? Well you can do it too! Put on your Classical music CD.
- Do you remember the middle school and high school Chemistry and Math teachers playing Classical Mozart Symphonies in the background of their classes and how much smarter the students became? Well you can do this too! Put on your Classical music and get smarter and work faster!
- Remember that Alicia Keys and Dr. Condoleezza Rice both studied the piano learning Classical music and skipping grades in high school. They were both at the top of their high school classes all through school because they played Classical music every day. Playing Classical music made them smarter! Dr. Albert Einstein was able to win his Noble Peace Prize and make his scientific discoveries by playing Classical music on his violin or piano every day. Dr. Judith Resnik astronaut and electrical engineer made perfect scores on her SAT’s through playing her Classical piano music every day for one hour. Louis Armstrong learned Classical music on his cornet at age 13 and his life was changed forever! You can be smarter too by playing Classical music every day!
- Dr. Frank asks her students to remember one thing “If I take this action will it make me proud?
© 2011 Madeline Frank
For all health care professionals from Dr. Frank’s “Nine Management Secrets for Health Care Professionals”
- Before your first day working with your new clients, “Design Your Treatment Plan” with your “goals and objectives” clearly stated. You will have to plan this in advance. Decide on your procedures- rules- and how the first minute you will start to work on teaching your client the way you want their plan of treatment to begin. Clients need to feel safe and secure. When you arrange an appointment with your client be on time! “Consistency is very important.” Have your smile in place, your first objective ready, and have your classical music on in the background.) * Your session begins the first minute the client enters your room. Be prepared! Start preparing and rehearsing this summer.
- Before the first day of working with your client decide how you are to dress for success in bright colors to get your clients attention. Remember first impressions are the most important.
- Have Classical Music on in the background to relax by, sooth your clients, and to improve concentration.
- Don’t just lecture tell them a story. Make it visual. Be creative! Become a teaching/Artist.
- Make your material come alive. Make it fun to try something new!
- Help your clients gain self-esteem and self-worth by showing them kindness and patience.
- My mother, Romayne Leader Frank, Mother, friend, Family Advocate & Lawyer, always said “every person has one gift.” Find that gift and accentuate it!”
- My favorite saying is “every student is a gem in the raw.” Start with that thought and work with your students. Believe that each of your clients wants to improve and get better. It’s amazing what a positive attitude can mean to your patients. Believe in them and yourselves. Start with your Plan with your goals and objectives- have your classical music in the background, your smile on your face and your knowledge to help them improve.
- Does anyone here like to work? No, then make it fun to learn! Put on your classical Music.
© 2011 Madeline Frank
Dr. Frank’s 10 Powerful Secrets of her Non-Invasive Medicine…Music
- Research shows that children and adults study better and get higher grades on tests while listening to Mozart and Bach.
- Studies show that shoppers buy more things while listening to Classical Music.
- Play Classical music in classrooms for better concentration.
- Play Classical music in school cafeterias for a calmer lunch period.
- Play Classical music on buses to make school buses safer.
- Parents make sure Bach and Mozart are on your child’s iPod.
- Play classical music in the hallways while students are changing classes.
- Numerous studies have shown that students studying musical instruments for extended periods do up to 20% higher on achievement tests- IOWA, CTBS, and SAT than students not studying musical instruments.
- To help someone you love remember, play the music they love best!
- To lesson tremors and improve balance and movement, play a loved one’s favorite dance music and have them move to it.
© 2011 Madeline Frank
Classical music has the power to organize the brain while listening to it as background music while you are doing your homework , to help you relax after a hard day of work or while doing exercises. Begin listening or playing your musical instrument for 30 minutes at a time. It helps because of its highly developed mathematics and therefore exercises the brain as physical exercise exercises the body. For more scientific evidence, medical evidence, test results, and true stories of the world’s scientists, medical doctors, and mathematicians who have studied and played musical instruments since they were children go to
“The Teacher’s 11 Secrets to Success” , and “10 Secrets to Stop Students Boredom, Inspire Them & Make Them Smarter” in her fourth grade class August. – Dec 2008.
Below is Mrs. I’s list of how she put Dr. Frank’s creative tips into action:
- She began preparing for her new students, a month before the semester began, by studying their files, to more effectively deal with their problems.
- On the very first day of school, students were informed about procedures and practiced them.
- Mrs. I dressed appropriately and at times dressed to reflect the theme of the lesson or story.
- Mrs. I prepared daily so that time was spent on learning activities and not preparation during school time.
- She encourages her students to do well and gives examples that students can relate to of why it is important to do well and stay in school.
- Students know that Mrs. I take’s an interest in them and tries to see the good in each student and looks for positive things to say about her students.
- Classical music is played. This helps students quiet down, stay calm, and focus more on their work with fewer distractions. They really enjoy the Classical music and ask for it.
- Students are spoken to in private, concerning behavioral issues and are not embarrassed in front of other students.
- Cooperative learning groups and differentiation are used in the classroom. Students get to be a part of completing tasks successfully as a group in a fun but challenging atmosphere.
- Articulation, inflection, and timing are encouraged when reading and when learning key phrases and clues.
Mrs. I says “that by using Dr. Frank’s tips, a classroom environment is created where students want to come to school. They enjoy learning, and every child finds a measure of success.”
“Using Music in the Classroom” (2001) by Dorothy Lockhart Lawrence, editor of PPOV from the Advanced Brain Technologies, Ogden, Utah. “Welsh science teacher Anne Savan couldn’t believe the difference it made in her chemistry lab. When the government insisted that all children complete the standard National Curriculum, Savan became concerned. For some reason her new group of pupils in the mid 1990’s was the most challenging ever. Her class of boys had special educational needs plus emotional and behavioral difficulties. One of her students had such poor coordination he made 19 attempts at a lab experiment requiring the student to put a peanut on a spoon, then heat it in the flame of a Bunsen burner. He never achieved it and his behavior resulting from his frustration was uncontrollable.
Chance observation of a television program gave Savan the idea that music of a certain frequency might help students with poor coordination. She began to play classical music, .. orchestral Mozart as she tried Mozart’s piano concertos but that was not effective “during daily science lessons over a period of five months. The response to the music was dramatic as the pupils became calm and cooperative within minutes of entering the room.”
Savan says, “No one spoke, quarreled, asked to borrow anything, wanted to go to the toilet for the whole lesson. I have not had such a relaxed lesson .. ever.” The next five months of classes with Mozart Symphonies “produced the same results, calm, cooperative students who were able to complete each lesson.” … “Savan believes the music may have relaxed her pupils enough to improve their physical coordination and lower their frustration levels enough to allow them to perform manual tasks effectively and efficiently.”
“Granite Falls Educator Is Nation’s Teacher of the Year” (April 26, 2007) by Lynn Thompson from theSeattle Times Newspaper. The nation’s teacher of the year is Granite Falls music teacher, Andrea Peterson. Andrea Peterson, 33, teaches choir and music classes at Monte Cristo Elementary School. She plays “almost every instrument in the orchestra, sings, composes music, and writes lyrics for her students on subjects as diverse as ocean ecology and Shakespeare.” Superintendent Joel Thaut, says, “Music isn’t a subsidiary subject in Granite Falls. It’s part of everything we do.”
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2003680199_teacher25m.html
“Opera Enlightens Local Elementary School” (Feb 15, 2008) by Steffaney Clark from the Gulf Breeze News. The students at Navarre Primary School in Pensacola, Florida created an entire opera, words, music, and sets, with the help of the Pensacola Opera Company and their music teacher, Ann Leffard and their art teacher. “The opera takes the entire year to complete” and this is the school’s second year working with the Pensacola Opera Company. Jamie Pahukoa, a second grade teacher said the opera “focused on reading, writing and basic skills. It shows that there are more creative ways for kids to learn than just handing out worksheets. We learn together and it boosts their self esteem and gives them a sense of pride for what we accomplish during the course of a year.”
http://www.gulfbreezenews.com/news/2008/0214/Front_Page/007.html
“How the Arts Make Kids Smarter” (July 7, 2007) by Mary Belle McCorkle and Shirley Kiser from the Tucson Citizen, Tucson, Arizona. Gene Jones, a retired businessman moved to Tucson in the spring of 2000 and “became president of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra board, attended a national conference for people running symphony orchestras. There, he heard of an experimental program in North Carolina that brought orchestra players into the classrooms not just to expose kids to the pleasures of music, but also to help classroom teachers impart curriculum and teach basic skills.” (Since 1994 the Bolton Music Residency Project in Winston-Salem, N.C. has worked “with at risk students to improve learning and test scores by having a classical music quintet coordinate music instruction with classroom curriculum.”.) This North Carolina program was so successful in raising children’s test scores that Jones decided to fly several of the Tucson educators to North Carolina to see the program at work. They were so excited about the North Carolina program that they decided to implement a similar program in Arizona .
“Seven years later, Opening Minds through the Arts, the program they excitedly sketched out on their way home, is in 36 TUSD schools, serving 17,000 students for 32 weeks a year. It’s been so successful at pleasing teachers and parents, and raising test scores, that Harvard University has studied it as a model for arts integration.”
Evidence & Articles supporting the benefits of classical music in your daily life, in the Public School Classrooms, and while doing homework after school:
Mrs. S teaches 7th grade Math at Davis Middle School in Hampton, VA.: “Students perform better on tests and quizzes while listening to Mozart Symphonies in the background.”
Mrs. C’s high school math class in Colorado: “The students asked for music in class. I told them I would play only Mozart. At first they objected but soon decided they liked the music, because it made them feel better and able to focus more on their lessons. Consequently, not only did the grades get better, so did the discipline. Then the students began requesting Mozart.”
Mrs. G had her fifth grade students listening to classical music, played softly, while the children did creative writing assignments and when they did problem solving in math. It created a calm atmosphere conducive to problem solving and creative thinking as well as an appreciation of music that they might not have experienced. The results were so good that she incorporated this into her teaching for the last five years of her teaching career.
Mrs. JC had her fourth grade reading class of 22 students, listening to Mozart and other classical music during class for the entire school year .The children have consistently made 100’s on tests and work. These are just average students not exceptional.
Mrs. J has 4 children, ages 18, 15, 11 and 7 who have been listening to Mozart and other classical music while doing their homework after school since March 05. She has seen them become more focused and relaxed, finishing homework quicker, with more accuracy which has led to higher grades.
Northside Middle School in Norfolk, Virginia is using classical music in halls and class rooms with very good success. “Classical Music Plays at Norfolk School”
Articles for teachers by the experts Rosemary and Harry Wong & Associates:
http://teachers.net/gazette/wordpress/june-2010/
http://teachers.net/gazette/wordpress/barbara-pressman/feels-invisible-substitute/
Lesson Plans:
http://teachers.net/lessons/
For High School Lesson Plans:
http://teachers.net/lessonplans/grades/high_school/
“A School That Achieves Greatness” by Rosemary and Harry Wong
http://teachers.net/wong/NOV08/
Free Lesson Plans for Teachers:
http://teachers.net/lessons/
For more scientific evidence, medical evidence, test results, and true stories of the world’s scientists, medical doctors, and mathematicians who have studied and played musical instruments since they were children read“The Secret of Teaching Science & Math Through Music” by Madeline Frank, Ph.D. Click on the link:
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/the-secret-of-teaching-science-and-math-through-music/
“Musical Notes On Math”by Dr. Madeline Frank teaches your child fractions and decimals, the fun way, through the rhythm of music, Winner of the Parent To Parent Adding Wisdom Award. For more information click on the following link:
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/musical-notes-on-math/
For Tips on how to use “Musical Notes On Math” click on the following link:
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/pg47.pdf