Welcome to Edgy Tips, a side project of the Cultiv Pedagogy Podcast where I share one quick idea to make your teaching better.

This is Jennifer Gonzalez and I am your host.

This Edgy Tip is sponsored by Stash 101.

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Today's Edgy Tip is use music to buffer silent activities.

As I sometimes do, I'm going to start this with a personal story.

I apologize in advance if this is TMI.

All of my middle school and high school years took place in the 1980s when we were very high-waisted, very tight, non-stretchy genes to school.

A personal consequence of this trend was that after sitting in desks for a few hours every school day, basically holding in farts, my digestive system would become very bloated and somewhat noisy.

This was not an issue in classes where we were doing some kind of lab, doing group work or watching a video, but at those times when we had to read silently or take a test,

ugh, the internal gymnastics I had to do to keep my intestines from calling attention to themselves, let's just say it was hard to focus on the learning in those situations.

What would have helped tremendously is just a little bit of background music, some kind of classical or jazz or even new agey stuff, something that wouldn't be a distraction, but would provide just enough buffer noise to block out those little noises.

When we want our students to quietly focus on something like reading, writing or test taking, true silence is almost impossible to give them, because the typical classroom has all kinds of little noises that can break their concentration.

We have the obvious bodily noises that not only distract but also embarrass students.

Then there are the leg bouncers and pencil tapers, students who need a little bit of physical movement to stay focused.

Noise is flowed in from the hall and from out in the street, devices, ping and chirp, all of these sounds can distract students who are already struggling to maintain focus.

By adding a little bit of music in the background at a low volume, you make all of those other sounds less noticeable, smoothing out the bumps in their auditory landscape and creating a sanctuary where sustained concentration is more likely to happen.

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