The Final Exam Playlist
I was recently inspired by Hip Hughes in his podcast Teacher's Aid to play Pump Up music on test days. Today and tomorrow are the last 2 days of school and they are filled with Final Exams. And, every year, a few seconds before the final bell rings, I hit play and blast Alice Cooper's School's Out For The Summer on full. But this year, I also decided to create The Final Exam Playlist; a list of songs I play during the 10 minute passing time breaks and at the beginning of each class.
I wanted to get my students more relaxed and more I Got This!
Here's how it went down during 3rd hour today. I started nice and easy with Till I Collapse by Eminem.
“‘Cause sometimes you just feel tired, feel weak
And when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up
But you gotta search within you
And gotta find that inner strength
And just pull that shit out of you
And get that motivation to not give up
And not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face, and collapse”
Then, it had to be Stronger by Kanye.
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, stronger
Just me, myself and I
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn’t mean I’m lonely when I’m alone”
Yeah. You getting warmed up yet? How about Remember The Name by Fort Minor next?
“This is ten percent luck
Twenty percent skill
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure
Fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name”
When students were all there and seated, and before the last song ended, I had the Eye of The Tiger by Foreigner rolling and I might have done some air boxing while at it, I don't remember... The kids were rocking out too! I even caught a glimpse of a girl singing along. Oh yeah!
“It’s the eye of the tiger
It’s the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor
Stalks his prey in the night
And he’s watching us all with the eye of the tiger”
I was passing out the tests as the song was ending and then something unexpected happened. It was The Final Countdown by Europe and it was a chemistry final test taking party! I said I'll turn it off when I'll get back to my computer.
“We’re heading for Venus (Venus)
And still we stand tall
’Cause maybe they’ve seen us (seen us)
And welcome us all, yeah
With so many light years to go
And things to be found (to be found)
I’m sure that we’ll all miss her so
It’s the final countdown
The final countdown
The final countdown
The final countdown
Oh”
When I hit pause there was a loud collective gasp.
Do you want me to let the song play to the end? - I asked.
YES!!! - shouted strong teen voices.
I'm not sure how that affected their performance on the first few test questions, but it was awesome!
Here are a few of my honorable mentions: Lose Yourself by Eminem, Heart of a Champion by Nellie, and Radioactive by Imagine Dragons.
Tests, especially finals, are stressful. Let's not add to the seriousness of them, but rather take actions that help pump students up and help them feel strong and competent. How about that playlist my teacher homies? Think about it.
You have the power to change the world. Use it often.