It’s 7:45 a.m. on a Wednesday in Room 254 at Genoa Middle School. The classroom lights are low. Pharrell Williams’ song “Happy” is blaring from the computer speakers with the music video playing on the whiteboard. LED lights frame the board, flashing in tandem with the occasional elevated sound — laughter, a round of applause or language arts teacher Tracy Jados’ voice.
The room is set for sixth-graders to start writing.
Jados’ classroom set-up is designed to help students better understand mood and tone. But by creating an environment that appeals to students’ senses, she has fostered a space where students are engaged with each other in addition to their writing assignments.
“I try to make it exciting and fun,” Jados said. “I believe in looking at the positive side of things and they start to pick up on that. At the beginning, it’s so important to be comfortable in language arts because we’re laying foundations here.”
In the sixth grade, students are expected to write in various forms, from informative or explanatory texts that explain ideas to narrative pieces that capture descriptive details. And getting middle schoolers to express themselves, especially when they are not inclined to do so in front of their peers, can be a challenge.
Jados prompts her students to start thinking and writing shortly after they’ve filed into the room. She kicks off class with a 10-minute quick write, using music, lights and images to spark different ideas. It’s OK to make mistakes, she tells them. Just keep writing.
After several days into Blended Learning, her first period class knew the drill. One morning, she had classical music playing as she greeted students at the door while they entered her room. After several moments, she peeked into the room and found many of them dancing by their desks.
“It’s the rapport I’m trying to establish with them,” she said.
At the start of the year, Jados struggled to find students willing to volunteer to present their work. Now, they are interested in sharing whether it’s what they composed for their quick write or what they put together for a recent Two Truths and a Lie assignment, where they wrote three narrative passages about themselves — two factual, one a lie — and presented to the class so they could vote on the lie.
Ultimately, these efforts are designed to help students build their confidence in their writing, Jados said.
Kyrah McKenzie had never written with music in the background until Jados’ class. But she has found the practice helpful. Now she plays jazz at home while she’s writing stories.
“It gives you a better feeling when you write,” she said. “I really like it.”
Meanwhile, Braden Schafer said he has struggled to focus when writing, often distracted by background noises like the hum of an air conditioner. But the music and the mood in Jados’ class has helped him focus when it comes to writing.
“It makes it even more fun to do,” he said.