Amanda Larsen

When I first unwrapped the plastic cover of Sound Health's Productivity, I had no idea of the incredible sound I was unleashing! When I compare other years of teaching to the few months that I have been using the CD's, I am amazed at the difference in student attitudes and abilities to work and learn. I teach in a middle income school where neither extreme affluence nor poverty greatly affect the teaching environment. My biggest challenges are helping kids to focus on their work and helping all students with various learning abilities succeed in a classroom setting. My goal has always been to make my classroom feel like a community. This is a place where students feel comfortable, excited to learn, enjoy their relations with others, and feel respected. Using Sound Health has been instrumental in accomplishing my goals and providing each learner with the environment needed for success and achievement.

Each morning my students enter the classroom to the sounds of Productivity. I usually have a self-start activity on the board for the students to accomplish while I greet their classmates at the door, talk to parents, or tackle the small problems that each morning brings. Having the music playing makes me feel like there is another teacher in the room reminding the students to start the activity and stay proactive until further instruction is given. I play the music at a low volume, loud enough that students can hear it over their soft whispers, but quiet enough so that it isn't the focus of the room. The students love listening to it as they work. I believe that by playing the same music every morning the students unconsciously realize that they are to begin working. I set a pattern in my classroom of working quietly and quickly just by playing Productivity. When I play this CD at other times of the day the students associate it with their concentrated morning work and are given the signal that it is time to be productive!

The other CD that I would not be without is Inspiration. Whenever my students are working on a task that requires deep thinking or creativity I run for this music. Once again I play it just enough that the students aren't distracted. It becomes an unconscious background prompt so that creativity and great thinking are on the foreground. I have noticed a tremendous and positive difference, especially during my writer's workshop time, because I play this music. My students' attention is centered on their literary works, and I have been amazed by their inventive masterpieces. My responsibilities as a teacher during this time are less focused on classroom management so that I too can focus more on listening and writing with my students. I have noticed a marked contrast when I forget to play this CD during the workshop. All of us seem to be less inspired and less riveted to the tasks at hand!

I am a teacher who sets and vocalizes high expectations for my students. I would not be able to help my students reach their goals if I did not first provide an environment where they felt comfortable learning. Sound Health helps me create that environment. There are unbearable differences when I forget to play the CD's as opposed to when I remember. By playing the music I see an increase in entire class concentration, a feeling of peace and unity, and an increase in students' abilities to problem solve and achieve. Playing Productivity heightens my students' abilities to complete tasks. Inspiration guides my students to think creatively, and Thinking provides an atmosphere where students can study, test, or work in cooperative groups. All of the CD's have a positive effect on my students' learning and are key factors to the success of my classroom. My job as a teacher became so much easier when I allowed the music to help with my classroom management. I was able to concentrate on what I love doing most - teaching!

Amanda Larsen
5th grade teacher
Windridge Elementary
Kaysville, UT