The Rock 'n' Roll Classroom: Using Music to Manage Mood, Energy, and Learning

Pump up the volume to increase student learning!

Picture this: a room full of boisterous students suddenly calms. A sluggish afternoon math or language arts lesson turns dynamic. Music pours from an inexpensive MP3 player, and you maintain control of your classroom without a word.

Drawing on both educational and neuroscientific research, Rich Allen and W.W. Wood unlock the mystery of managing mood, energy, and learning with music in this fascinating, one-of-a-kind handbook. No matter what subject or grade you teach, The Rock ′n′ Roll Classroom provides all the notes you′ll need to shake up your classroom, including:

• Playlists customized for specific purposes like reducing stress or increasing focus
• Tips and tricks for accessing all your tunes easily and inexpensively
• Anecdotes from teachers about how they use music to manage everyday situations
• Sample lessons for across all grade levels

Get ready to tune in to this brain-compatible learning method, engage each and every one of your students, improve the power of your instruction, boost test scores and creativity, and turn on the power of music in your classroom!

"This is the book I have been waiting for! I have tried to use music in my classroom for years and have always felt like I fell short, but didn′t know how to fix it. Now I have a better understanding of how to use music in my classroom in a fun and effective way."
―Pamela L. Opel, Science Curriculum Specialist
Gulfport School District, Biloxi, MS

"Teachers will rock their students′ day with The Rock ′n′ Roll Classroom. This comprehensive work not only applies to enhancing classroom instruction, but has a world of information on the topic of music as it affects us every day."
―Beth Madison, Principal
Robert Gray Middle School, Portland, OR

Richard Allen is an international consultant with more than 25 years experience coaching trainers and educators. Cofounder and president of Education Illustrated, he has taken the TrainSmart strategies beyond the United States and Canada to such diverse countries as the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Brunei, Russia, Jordan, and Brazil. Allen is also a popular keynote speaker at international conferences, and he facilitates moti­vational and teambuilding workshops.

Allen started his educational career as a high school math and drama teacher. In 1985, he became a lead facilitator for SuperCamp―an accelerated learning program for teens―and has since worked with more than 25,000 students worldwide. He completed his doctorate in educational psychology at Arizona State University, where he studied how the human brain receives, processes, and recalls information―knowledge that informs all aspects of his training strategies.

Willy Wood, MA in English, is a highly sought-after speaker on how the human brain learns and effective teaching practices. He speaks regularly in school districts across the United States and at national and international brain and education conferences, with a focus on sharing and modeling practical classroom approaches extrapolated from current cognitive psychology and neuroscience.

Mr. Wood began his educational career as an English teacher, teaching high school and university level literature and writing classes for 14 years. He then served as the Communication Arts Consultant for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for five years. During his time at DESE, Mr. Wood wrote the state’s Curriculum Frameworks for Communication Arts, led the development of the state’s communication arts assessment, and started the state’s first intensive K-3 professional development model for improving reading instruction (the Missouri Reading Initiative). During his time as a teacher and state educational consultant, Mr. Wood became fascinated with exploring the biological underpinnings of effective teaching and learning. He left DESE in 2000 to become a full-time educational consultant and presenter so he could share his passion for brain-compatible teaching practices with educators around the world. He now serves as President of Open Mind Technologies, Inc., an educational consulting firm. The author lives in Missouri with his wife, Debbie, and has three sons. He can be reached at his email address: wordmanw@yahoo.com.