BSM students can now enjoy a new side of Spotify: playlists of their favorite teachers. Teachers like Ms. Baker, Mr. Delozier, and others submitted their favorite songs to the Knight Errant Spotify.

The teachers’ preferred songs span nearly all genres, ranging from rock and country to pop and rap.

Math teacher Mr. John Groess has an incredibly varied music taste, listening to pop, hip hop, rock, jazz, and Latino music. He attributes his music taste to the many situations he’s been in throughout life. “Traveling internationally, you hear different types of music from different cultures and then just with different sports teams or different things like that, that’s where I got introduced to them and then I liked them,” Groess said.

When grading, the vast majority of teachers listen to classical music or no music at all. Groess also does not listen to music while grading complicated assignments, such as proofs, but when grading more straightforward assignments, he listens to Disney music. “[Disney music keeps] me in a good mood so that I don’t get angry at my students when they do poorly,” Groess said.

Many teachers play music during class, for a variety of reasons. Some, like Groess, think that adding a tune to a lesson makes it more memorable. Others use music to calm or excite their classes when the time is right. “It’s something else in the room that can add to the atmosphere. Sometimes, on lab days, when it’s kind of a mellow lab, that’s when I’ll play music. If students are really antsy, sometimes you can play songs that can mellow them out,” science teacher Mrs. Abbi Baker said.

Baker’s favorite genre of music is the soundtrack from the DreamWorks movie Trolls. The movie is important in her household, and she associates the music with her own traditions. “We have a tradition at my house where if… it’s been a bad week… we’ll turn off all the lights, except for these blinking disco lights, and we’ll play the Trolls movie. It’s just kind of a feel-good movie; it’s bright and colorful, and it’s just got uplifting music,” Baker said.

Students also listen to music in school, while working on homework, studying, or playing games in their downtime. Teachers have their own opinions on whether or not this is beneficial to their students. “If they’re trying to study, I’ve seen studies that show if they’re listening to songs without lyrics, that can for sure help. But a lot of times, what I see is when they spend more time choosing the songs that they’re gonna play versus actually doing the work, then that can be harmful to their study process,” Baker said.

Students and teachers generally have very different music tastes, but sharing songs in class can help teachers connect with their students. “If we listen to the same artist or the same song, it’s something we have in common, even though there is an age gap and… a cultural gap. There’s just kind of a rhythm to it and sometimes it can get us all in the same flow and rhythm, whereas on other days we might have someone whos really excited versus someone who’s really calm. It can kind of get us on the same pace,” Groess said.