The Delightful Power of Music to Make Learning More Engaging
. . .Or listen instead on Apple, Spotify, or a different platform.
This week on the BRIGHT podcast, I had the honor of interviewing Ben Ashby — or Señor Ashby as he’s known in his Spanish classroom at Zeeland Public Schools and to his online students at Michigan Virtual.
The person who nominated Ben described him as an innovative teacher who is “YouTube famous in middle-school Spanish classrooms everywhere and [who] does a wonderful job of bridging his face-to-face and online teaching styles.”
Needless to say, I was intrigued.
During our conversation, Ben and I talked about:
The role music plays in learning,
How online teaching has influenced the way he runs his face-to-face classroom and vice versa, and
His hopes for education as we look to the future.
Music plays a significant role in both Ben’s online and face-to-face classrooms. On his YouTube channel, Ben shares hilarious songs and immersive language-learning videos to nearly 5,000 subscribers worldwide.
Ben believes it offers a powerful way for students to engage with learning and cites research demonstrating its efficacy in aiding in language acquisition.
Here’s a sneak peek of our conversation:
One of my favorite moments during this interview was when Ben advised teachers seeking to leverage online/blended learning to make more engaging classroom activities. He says:
“It’s about using your strengths. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. You just have to kind of reinvent yourself a little bit.”
Check out Señor Ashby's interview on the Mitch Albom Show
Videos from Señor Ashby
Channel Trailer
Levántense Music Video (Spanish Classroom Commands Rap)
Locura De Marzo Tik Tok Challenge!
Harry Potter Spanish Movie Talk (Comprehensible Input)
Michigan Virtual
For more than 27 years, Michigan Virtual has partnered with K–12 school districts across Michigan to expand learning opportunities for students and educators alike. Through our high-quality online courses, taught by Michigan-certified, highly qualified teachers, we empower students to learn anytime, anywhere. We also provide affordable, impactful professional development to help educators grow in their craft. Most recently, Michigan Virtual has been at the forefront of innovation and artificial intelligence in education, offering consultation services and professional learning to guide schools in thoughtfully integrating new technologies and learning pathways.
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