Students love music. It helps them to relax and is an important strategy used by adolescents to entertain themselves. In our schools, students also like to use music to compliment their learning. Music is exciting and engaging. Using it well forces students to think critically about how the piece helps them convey their intended message. To facilitate this process, classroom teachers must educate students about the legality and ethical issues of using copyrighted music. This is something most educators are accustom to as copyright has been a part of education forever. The bigger challenge for many teachers is directing students to sites that are easy to navigate, reliable, and have libraries that align with learning objectives. There are a few free sites that are very easy to use and provide great resources for students. These include, The National Archives, Jamendo, and Incompetch. Another resource, that has become very relevant of late is Youtube. They've added 1000s of free songs that are searchable by artist, theme, mood, and duration. It is extremely easy to use and there seems to be a song to suit almost any need. This is a great short video to guide students and teachers through the process. Flip your classroom by sending the link out to students the day before using the tool! Doing so will build excitement and will create a community of experts who are ready to help those for whom this is a challenge. Who knows, they may even be able to help their teacher:)
