An Idea for the New School Year

I took a class this summer that inspired me in the Music classroom with some GREAT ideas.  One I would like to share for the start of the school year is as such: work out with the principal or higher powers in the school, that every morning as the students are walking into school, music is playing over the PA system.  It should be the same song or type of music every day for a week and then the following week a new style of music and song selections.  This music can play while students are walking into school and getting their materials, then before the morning announcements start, the music teacher can tell the students what the song title was, who the song was by, and a little information about it.  The music can be themed from week to week, change with time periods in history, whatever, teachers can be creative, but it is yet another way to expose students to music of all different genres.  It can even be correlated with other content areas, for example if the art department is studying Romantic period art, that era of music and composers are listened to.  For another example, if the English teachers are studying short stories and poetry, folk songs can be played.  The possibilites are endless and eventually, all the teachers can work together to tie the various content areas together from one classroom to the next.  What a great way to also build staff cooperation and team building!  Schools that have done this have also found it to be calming to students and it has created a smoother flowing morning.  There are less disruptive problems and less disorganization in the hallways, as students have a tone set by the music that they hear.  It is certainly worth a try, or at least I think so.