That Music Podcast: A Podcast for Elementary Music Teachers

195 | Filipino-American History Month in the Music Room with Melissa Fuller Flores

• Bryson Tarbet, M.M.Ed. • Season 7 • Episode 195

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In this episode of That Music Podcast, Bryson sits down with Melissa Fuller Flores to chat about celebrating Filipino American History Month in the elementary music classroom. Melissa opens up about her personal ties to the Filipino community and how music plays such a special role in Filipino culture. Together, they dive into fun, hands-on ideas you can bring to your classroom, think clapping games, folk songs, and partner-picking activities, all while keeping cultural respect front and center. Melissa also gives a sneak peek of her upcoming masterclass inside Elementary Music EDGE™, featuring Filipino folk dances and a timeline of important Filipino American musicians. This episode is all about making your classroom more inclusive and showing how music can be a powerful tool for connection and understanding.

Episode Chapters:

  • 0:00 Introduction
  • 8:26 Celebrating cultural months with intention
  • 16:16 Hands-on ideas for Filipino-American History Month  
  • 29:22 What to expect in Melissa’s upcoming masterclass
  • 34:22 Takeaways

Links and Resources: 

Have questions or want to share feedback? Reach out to us at hello@thatmusicteacher.com - we’d love to hear from you!

You are listening to that music podcast with Bryson Tart, the curriculum designer and educational consultant behind that music teacher in the elementary music summit. Each week, Bryson and his guests will dive into the reality of being an elementary music teacher and how music can truly be transformative in the lives of the students you serve. Show notes and resources mentioned in this episode can be found@thatmusicteacher.com.

Bryson Tarbet:

Hello everyone and welcome back to that music podcast. I am super excited for this episode. We're gonna be getting ready for some fantastic actionable ideas to celebrate Filipino American history Month and beyond in the elementary music classroom, and I'm super excited to have Melissa Fuller Flores joining us. Melissa, thank you so much for joining us here on the podcast. Yay.

Melissa Fuller Flores:

Thanks for having me, Bryson. I'm so happy to be here.

Bryson Tarbet:

Well, before we get, you know too, in the weeds, in the classroom ideas, can you share a little bit about your connection to the Filipino community and why music plays such an important role in Filipino culture?

Melissa Fuller Flores:

Absolutely. Well, my, before we even get started going forward, I just want to establish that. My experience of being Filipino American is my experience. I am not a monolith by any means. Um, the, the American experience in general is very, you know, layered and then you add in, you know, the Filipino American experience that is also very layered and varied. So, um, I've met many Filipino Americans all across the country presenting and good things like that, that a lot of things have resonated. In a way where our experiences weren't exactly the same, but the, the feeling and the messages were still the same. So just wanna put out first that my experience is my own, but it is likely very similar, um, in a lot of ways to other Filipino Americans. My mom was born in the Philippines, actually. She and her family kind of had a co, I don't wanna say complicated, but. Varied way of coming to the states. My grandfather was a sugarcane plantation farmer in Hawaii before Hawaii was a state, and that was actually a way for a lot of Filipinos that made their way to the states, whether through Hawaii or the grape vineyards in California. And he. Wanted to leave the Philippines and went to Hawaii to make a better life for himself.'cause he didn't want to just be a farm hand in the Philippines anymore and make little to nothing. He saw a lot of, they call 'em Anos, that he saw a lot of Filipinos come back from the Philippines, uh, from Hawaii to the Philippines to um, visit their family. And they were on like nice clothes and had pictures of fancy cars in America. And he was like, I want that. So he. Went to Hawaii and didn't realize that it was like super hard work and living conditions were not great. He worked in Hawaii for about 20 years and he was kind of courting my grandmother through letters and she, they got married and went to Hawaii, had my. Uncles and my grandfather was older so he was getting ready to retire. So he sent, um, my grandmother back to the Philippines to start building their house at a concrete, which is a big deal.'cause most of the houses were not made of concrete or the studious of materials. And while there, my mother was born. Then, uh, after that my aunt was born very. A couple years later in the, in Hawaii. So my mom is the only one who was born in the Philippines of her siblings. And there a few months after my grandfather passed away, so then they picked up and they moved back to the Philippines. So it was kind of varied back and forth until my mom's older brothers and herself, they joined the US Air Force and. They were able to travel the world and be a part of the US military that way, and that's where we bring in. Melissa Ding. I was born in Florida and um, grew up on Air Force bases surrounded by Filipino culture. Because a lot of the gis would be stationed in the Philippines and bring back wives. And um, that's, there was a really rich Filipino culture on bases. And I remember being four years old and learning how to dance. The ling, if you don't know, it's the one with the bamboo sticks. Uh, we'll chat more about that later. Um, and. In that I was, I didn't realize that in those early days, that is what really rooted me in my musicality, my musical experiences. I really didn't make that connection until, honestly, I started presenting and I thought that, you know, me being in band since I was in sixth grade. Led me to being a music ed major in undergrad, or even getting my master's in clarinet, not realizing that what really made me a musician was that early time being engrossed in karaoke, singing off in the background, or my mom trying to force me to sing karaoke and Tagalog and, um, never really worked. I ran away a lot of times and just, it's not anyone's fault that my, my journey of being Filipino like. Kind of like severed over time. It's no one's fault. It was very much I joined band. My mom was a single mom. She was busy doing her single mom work life, and I very much became engrossed in band and in the two thousands. And really a lot of times it's better now. A lot of band music is just very western, uh, and it's no one's fault. I just. And I, and we moved to rural Alabama where I was the only brown kid. Um, there was, there was a lot of people who are white, a lot of people who are black, but I was the only brown kid until my cousins got old enough to, and we were in the same school. And it was, it was really hard. And in terms of like, I didn't catch microaggressions that were happening then, but now as an adult, I'm like, oh yeah, that was that. Um, but it really, it really wasn't. Anyone's fault. And I feel like I lost a good 20 years of my heritage. Um, and I, yes, I was still connected to home with like the food, like, I mean, who doesn't love a good lumpia, who doesn't love chicken adobo or feels comfort, um, of having Segal on a rainy day. But it of really feeling my heritage and feeling engrossed in it didn't. It didn't really start happening and blossoming more until the last maybe five years. And it's, it's not that I was trying to hide myself or anything like that, it was just something that unfortunately, naturally happened that way. But I'm very happy to be having the, the passion and the experience of being an elementary music educator of, um, taking the things that I learned as a kid and making it more. Accessible not only to teachers to teach their students who are, who don't have a Filipino background or Filipino background, but also our students themselves, to create a space of curiosity and wonderment and support through these experiences.

Bryson Tarbet:

I, I want to touch a little bit on that. First of all, lots of great information in that. I thank you so much for sharing that story and how it connects to, to everything. And I, but I think one thing that I feel like sometimes teachers can get stuck on or torn on is like, should I include, you know, quote unquote, you know, the, the months, the different months, you know, and in my classroom and, you know, when I have all these other things. And you, you really brought up a really good point where, which. You're doing all of these things that you're doing in the music classroom through that content, and I think right there is honestly a big takeaway. We can walk away from this conversation and, and have a big takeaway already. Um, so let's talk a little bit about that. Why do you think it's important for elementary music teachers to highlight, you know, these, these specific months, specifically, you know, Filipino American History Month, um, and then others in the classroom? Especially through the lens of using that as the, the method rather than the goal. That makes sense.

Melissa Fuller Flores:

Yeah. Like a vehicle. Right.

Bryson Tarbet:

Exactly.

Melissa Fuller Flores:

And yeah, I think that in a perfect world, um. We can celebrate, uh, Filipino American History month beyond October. Um, but we do recognize that we have a lot of things, not only in a curriculum, but things that are happening behind the scenes, like administration type things, things like that. There's a lot that goes into being a teacher and you add the, the added what can seem to be a barrier of not only. Not feeling like this different culture other than mine is accessible or I'm too scared to go near it'cause I don't wanna mess up. I think that being able to take a moment to highlight it in October, um, is not only to appreciate the culture, but that the history, like that's, that's the point in it. Right. Um, um, Filipino American History Month and. People don't realize that we got Bruno Mars and Olivia Rodrigo from somewhere, right? There's this whole history of what led those artists like Darren recent Tony, um, award-winning, Nicole Sherzinger and Darren Chris, right? Like those people, they came from somewhere. Not only. Musically, but what has led to acceptance? What has led to a platform, what has led historically for Filipinos to be in such a place that to be celebrated and recognized because they've given so much to, uh, to America in general. So, um, it's very important to do that, to recognize. Where we've come from to see where we can grow forward. And that's so important for our students too. Now going back to, you know, teachers who are fearful or they, they feel like they have that barrier. Honestly, I feel like that's your greatest tool for you to learn with your students. Yes, we're having to do a little bit of stuff like on the front end to, you know, lesson plan and all that good stuff, but being open with your students being like. You know what? I just learned this too, and I really wanted to share this with you and approach it with curiosity, approach it with well-meaning. So it's really great to be learning alongside with your students, but I really, for the sake of little Melissa and honestly, your students. That are Filipino, please do not put them on the spot or assume, just like I said at the beginning, is that not everyone's Filipino American experience is the same. And there are plenty of Filipinos that don't know how to dance ally, that don't know certain folk songs. I mean, there's certain American folk songs that we don't know that we're learning about, right? And. In, in my approach, it's very much I present the thing and I don't even acknowledge, don't even acknowledge a kid in the room. Sometimes I don't even look toward them because I don't even want them to think that I'm coming to them to put them on the spot. I almost knocked off my water to put them on the spot and. Let them come to you. I've had some students, let's say I was doing an Indian folk dance, and I had a kid who was, he came up to me after class was done, and he was like, I do that with my family on the weekends. I'm like, oh my goodness. Do you feel comfortable telling me more? I would love to know more. Like not even still be like, hello everybody. This kid knows more things. Um, so very much encouraging the kid and supporting the kid, like wow. Tell me more about like your experience or what you know, if you feel okay. And I remember specifically after that specific kid told me. Their experience of dancing the Indian folk dance. I was like, you know what? I think that your class, like the kids in your class would really enjoy that. Do you feel like you might want to share that in the future? There's no pressure. And like, yeah, I'll think about it. And you know, they came back the next week and I was like, did you think about it? Do you still feel comfortable?'cause I think they would really enjoy it. And they're like, yeah, I think so. And you know, just giving them an opportunity that way. Like, oh, Melissa has a connection with this. Melissa, would you like to share? And it's okay if they back out in that second too, right? Like things can ebb and flow. They just got, let's say it's a second grader, they just got their brain seven years ago and learning how to, you know, withstand emotions. And I am, I got my brain much longer ago and I still don't know how to withstand emotions. So it's very much creating a space for kids not only to feel empowered and celebrating their or. Celebrating and sharing their culture on their own terms, but also creating a space for your classroom, for your kids in your classroom to create that, that support and curiosity and beyond the, like, the pointing of the fingers, right? You're not intentionally meaning for that to happen, but that's, I feel like that is also a really great connection too. How we can support all sorts of cultures beyond their history months. Right. Um, and we're teaching our kids how to be world citizens, not just citizens in our towns, but it starts like their, their world right now is their classroom or their school. And for us to be able to. Allow them to grow and to being, you know, world citizens. That's where it can start and it starts in our classrooms. I think that's what's so powerful about music classrooms is because not only do we get to see them many years and get to see them grow, but also grow as, as humans, as supportive humans. And you can only imagine like what's gonna happen whenever they get to. Leave school and what kind of humans they get to be. Maybe they meet somebody on the street, um, when they're in college and or you know, at a restaurant, they get sat at the same table. I don't know. I'm just coming up with scenarios that like, wow, I remember in school I learned this thing. Um, I thought that it was really cool. And they learn not to be like, did you learn this? Is it, do you know this? Right? So it's very much. I don't know, creating spaces that are safe for everybody beyond Filipino Americans.

Bryson Tarbet:

Yeah. And I think a lot of the, you know, for lack of better term guardrails that you discussed is just like really good practice of setting up the way you present anything. You know, allow students to bring their own experiences into it without assuming they're gonna have a, a specific experience or even any experience. Um, and I, I think it's a really good reminder for us that. Those connections that music has to culture and to history and to literally everything is, is really ingrained in ways sometimes that we don't necessarily see. So by kind of making sure we're aware of that assumption, um, or, or the lack of assumption, I think is a, a really good way for us to, to structure. Implementing these, these, these things that might be new or a little bit, um, out of what we would normally teach, um, or what we've taught in the past. So let's, let's kind of zoom in and see if we can get really practical, because I think I'll, I I think we've covered a lot of the, you know, why you should do this and why it's important. Um. What do we do? What can we do? You know, do you have some actionable ideas for elementary music teachers to celebrate Filipino American History Month this October?

Melissa Fuller Flores:

Yeah, absolutely. Some, some quick actionable ideas in the show notes. We're gonna have a book list, uh, not only resources that have folk songs and activities to go along with it, but also picture books. And in some of the picture books, there's also some music. Speaking a picture book. This is a little plug. This is my mom's book for the people who are listening in an audio medium. Uh, my mom wrote a book about the story of my grandfather being a sugar cane plantation farmer, and it was a labor of love for my mom did it for her capstone project. She graduated college, go mom. And she did a lot of digging and a lot of historical research on it. And I was like, man, people deserve to see this. So one Mother's Day slash. Her birthday 'cause they're about a month apart. I got her a children's book illustrator for her birthday and Mother's Day. That is

Bryson Tarbet:

awesome.

Melissa Fuller Flores:

And, uh, dear people who are listening, I'm just, uh, you know, flipping through the pages of a beautiful, um, illustrations by Nicole Lim. She's a Filipino artist. She's currently living in Manila and there's a picture of my grandfather in the back and also in the back. I transcribed some recordings of my mom's singing some of her favorite Filipino folk songs and they're in the back.

Bryson Tarbet:

Oh, that is so special.

Melissa Fuller Flores:

Yeah. And there's also recordings there too. And you know, that's a pretty great segue of using recordings. You don't need to know how to say all of the, the words in the different dialects and um, that are in Filipino use recordings to your advantage. And, um, there are some really great ones that are on Spotify and YouTube. I will create a playlist for you in the show notes and, um, that'll be there. And one of them that I really love to use with a recording is Bahai Kbo. Um, Bahai means like, home. Kubo means cube. We were talking about how my grandmother went back to the Philippines to build a stronger house. Um. Um, the homes are called NEPA Huts, and they're made of like bamboo and grass and things like that, and they're in cubes. So kubo means cube and bahai's co. Um, home, but Bahai Kbo, and it talks about all of the vegetables are growing in the garden. Like though that the, the NEPA hut is very, you know. Uh, she's very demure. Uh, she's like the, the houses are very simple, but it still has lots of growth and lots of nourishment in the garden and all of these different things. So what I love to do is a clapping game with Baja Cobol. If anybody is familiar with four white horses on the river, a a a up tomorrow, right? That's a four person clapping game. And in the notes I'm gonna have a video of what the game would set up. So let's imagine, Bryson, you and I are partners. We're across from each other, and then we have partners on our left and our rights. And so it's very much like a clap. You and I clap above and the other people are below us. Clap again, underneath, you know, that sort of thing, going side to side. But along with Baja Kobal, the thing that's different a a lot of times in Filipino music is that it's in three, it's in triple, it's not indual. It's a lot of people like to argue that it's in triple because of the Spanish. Invasion acquisition, that whole thing, you ain't colonization. Um, but that's Filipino American History Month. There you go. Um, but, uh, teachers, you can, you can decide if you want to get that, that detailed if you want with your older kids, but, um. Anyways, so Bryson, you can decide if we wanna take that or not. Um, but Baja Kubo is really great a, a great, you know, three meter feeling. And what I love to do with my own students is I took the QR code of my mom's singing. I'm like, this is my mom singing. We do the clapping game and you can start hearing the kids go, like, they don't know the words, but they have the melody, and that's just, you know, a gateway that's just, you know.

Bryson Tarbet:

Yeah.

Melissa Fuller Flores:

Yeah. So don't. Don't I encourage you not to feel scared about knowing all the words.'cause you don't need to. You can get there with your students learning alongside of them. Right. Another thing that I love to do, speaking of games, I'm a game person in my classroom 'cause I like to play. Um, there's a game where, um. You need to have somebody in the middle and you basically, like you're closing your eyes and you're spinning and it's like a randomizer, right? How many times in our classrooms that we're like, I don't know who to pick, my Popsicle sticks are all the way across the room. How do I do it fast? Uh, have a student in the middle, close their eyes point, and they also like take their their hand and cover their eyes too, because, you know, we have some GDPD sometimes, um, and. The, um, the little Diddy is, I'm clapping the beat. I'm trying not to make my microphone go crazy. Um, but when. Drop on somebody. That person could be the next person for whatever game. The game doesn't have to be a Filipino song. That could be your thing that, that who's next. Like I love playing bump up tomato with my students, but we use Boom di to get the next person in there. Um. But, uh, if you want to do a Filipino game with it, another one to do this was shared with me by my good friend Melissa Stoffer, who is also Filipino American, but who also has a very different Filipino American journey. She taught this game. Um. Everybody watching, you can just do, do what I do and Bryson's gonna do it too. So I'm gonna tell Bryson with my words, if you're listening, you are gonna take your hand flat out in front of you and you're gonna take on your opposite hand a pointer finger. So on your pointer finger, on your open hand, you're gonna keep a beat. He. So ska means dip into the vinegar. So what we're dipping is a lumpia, which is a deep fried like egg roll yumminess. And when I was sharing this with my students this past year, you would get some kids to be like, Ugh. This is a very important time to teach. Don't yuck my yum situation, but kids don't know what they know and we are going all the way back to going from known to unknown, right? So over time, as I perfected that lesson, because you know, sometimes we do the same lesson like seven times in a row, right? Um, but um, bless the people who have to do it seven times in a row. I only had to do it three anyways, so, um. With that game, you are saying, um, that you're taking the lumpia and dipping in the vinegar, and a lot of kids are like, Ew, I don't like that. So making a connection with the kids, going from known to unknown. I have. Something that I have them do. I ask who likes mozzarella sticks? And you have a bunch of kids like, yeah, deep fried cheese I'm in. Of course you are. Who likes to dip it into pizza sauce and they raise their hand. Or I can ate marinara and some kids who likes to dip it in ranch'cause we're in the Midwest. Those kids raise their hand. True story. I tell them this. I love taking mo mozzarella sticks and using it as a spoon to mix my ranch and marinara together. And you have some kids going, Ooh, I needed to try that. And some kids are like, Ugh, I can't. I'm like, Ooh. No thank you that we are, we're learning not to yuck each other's yum. Just like how we learn that it's completely okay. Not to like every song. I don't like every song, but we need to learn how to respect it and this is how we can practice that. Then I raise, um, ask who likes taquitos? Ooh, who likes dip it in sour cream or guacamole? Who likes chimichangas? Have you ever had that? And then we transfer over to, this is called O Lumpia. This is a Filipino egg roll who's ever had an egg roll before.'cause there's a lot of kids who've honestly never had any sort of. Asian diaspora food, and um, some kids are like, oh, I love it. I like dipping it in this sauce. And so I'm like, yeah, this is lumpia. Sometimes we dip it in a sweet chili sauce and sometimes it's vinegar. Everybody gets your lumpia and everybody gets your vinegar, and let's keep a beet. So then after we do the, so. Huli Te Sal Soca, like I said, dip it in the vinegar. Ma huli te that means catch it. So let's say that Bryson, you're my partner, so can you please hold the vinegar? No, sorry. You get to be the, you get to have Olympia first. I'm gonna be the vinegar and he is gonna keep B keep bub salal. The person who has the vinegar is trying to catch the, the lumpia and. On ya. And sometimes you see like the person holding the vinegar, like trying to chase the lumpia, like, no, no, you have to stay there. So on ya. The person who has O lumpia is trying not to get caught. Yep. So then it's s and like you wanna like pull it back really fast so you don't get caught. It's very cute. And something as simple as that. The kids are like, oh my god, that's so crazy. Yeah, no switch. So then we do a switch and I'm like, okay, how about this? Double vinegar and the other person has double, right, double lumpia. Then they do that. Or one lumpia, one vinegar. That's fine. And so they both are having to do it at the same time. Now, in between, those partners say that like, that's your week one, right? Week two, bring it back again. But making it a little bit different makes it so different, right? So in between, they'll find a new partner within the, you're not spinning around, but you're starting to sing. Have a new partner. Right. So within that, then we can go Keith bi. Right. So you can use that as an A and B section and utilize that throughout the year. That's how we can expand beyond October. Right? And then the kids are like, oh yeah, that's right. Now, um, that's, so the three things, book lists, we're gonna have it in the show notes. Especially games and things that are simple and accessible. Don't take on everything all at once. Please don't. Don't be like, I saw tickling online. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna get bamboo. I'm gonna get like the P or PVC pipes. I'm gonna do it all. Okay? It's really hard. Even for adults. Let's start simple so that you, yourself, I feel like this goes for anything, right? You, yourself. Like let's get some momentum and your students too, right? So that's one. Two, we have Bahai Cool bowl clapping game with recording, right? Utilize the recording. Do it a couple weeks, right? Um, so that eventually maybe your kids will get just the beginning. Bye. Right, like at least how many times as kids that we did that we're like, I know two words and I'm gonna mumble the rest of the sentence. Um, and then three, we have boom di as a partner pick, whether it be one person in a circle spinning around or as a B section when you are playing Sal Sal Suca and Sal Sal Suca is how that you can make a connection to Filipino food. Boom, boom, boom. 1, 2, 3.

Bryson Tarbet:

Love it. And I love how a lot of, like, pretty much all of those, you can just put them in whenever they, they fit naturally. You don't have to wait for a reason to bring them up. And I, I think that's a really good, a really good way to kind of think about these things. So I'm sure that we could just keep on talking and keep on sharing all of these things. Um. But, uh, I know that you're gonna be diving in even deeper inside an upcoming masterclass in our on-demand professional development membership, elementary Music Edge. So, can you tell us a little bit about some of the concrete takeaways and strategies that our teachers are gonna be getting inside Elementary Music Edge, um, especially when it comes to integrating this type of activities for Filipino American History month and beyond.

Melissa Fuller Flores:

Absolutely. So since podcasts are primarily a, you know, audio medium can't quite teach you some folk dances. Um, but since folk dances are, as I said, the way that I was connecting with my Filipino heritage at its peak because I was. Doing these folk dances at different, um, Asian American Pacific Islander like festivals every May on lots of Air Force bases or even off base, because I don't know if people know, but, um, Filipino American History Month is fairly new, uh, of 20 21, 20 19, around that time. It, it, um, so, so that, somebody asked me at my, um. Previous school district to, to write something for Filipino, uh, American History Month. And I texted my mom, was like, did you know this was a thing? She's like, no. Well, wonderful. So glad that we have it. And also thank you so much for allowing me to, you know, uh, talk to the good people about it, but. Expand during edge. So in edge we are going to do some Filipino folk dances, some something, some, some things that are primarily for your older kids or just your younger kids or something that you can do with all grades. Sometimes I like to have so, um, movement and things like that, that applies to every grade, especially when it is a new cultural dive that I can just practice and practice and learn how to do it on different levels. So we'll allow to do that with, um, some, a dance called Pearly Shell. It's a hula from Hawaii, but it's very popular in the Filipino community because of all of the Filipino, uh, plantation workers that were in Hawaii. My mom, I was like, mom, why? Why is this? Hawaiian dance. So popular amongst Filipino. She's like, 'cause kids at my school were Hawaiian and they taught us Filipino kids how to do it. And we like it. I'm like, sounds great. Um, um, and then a ticky tick, it's a duck. So that's a little duck dance for our littles. Incorporate it within, you know, a, a farm unit. Right. A lot of people's kindergarten farm music unit is at the beginning of the year. So, you know, October time and or Ali Tap tap, that's a firefly. There's also a great picture book that goes along with that will be, I did a rendition of Ali Tap Tap Dance that is, um, more accessible and with scarves, you know, adding props just kind of very much intrigues the mind of the little children that they're just like, yes, let's gimme a prop. Um. And then bene Suan. Bene Suan is something I watch my mom do, and it's, you have a, this is not what we're really doing in class, but you have a candle on your head and you have two candles in your hand, and you're moving in three, and you're like weaving this candle. You're like, Melissa, you expect my chil, you expect me to gather many different candles? Even if I don't light them on fire at school, you expect me to do that? No. We're using things that we already have in our classrooms so that you don't need to go out into the world and spend your own dollars on or your budget on that you can spend other things on. So all the dances will have, um, you know, natural scaffolding for different. Ages of students lower and upper elementary and extensions to be able to go upon, um, beyond that. So I spoke earlier about, uh, how four white horses plays along with Baku. I would either, I taught four white horses before, or I do it after. I can still bring it back after as an extension and a connection. Right. Um, and then also a, a little bit of a timeline of Filipino American music and musicians. Beyond the people that I talked about before, right? Darren, Chris, Nicole, she zinger, Olivia, Rodrigo, uh, Bruno, Mars. Those are the. Uh, so sweetie, uh, she was, she's saying that you are my best friend. See, I don't know the rest of the words, but anyways, she sung that song too, so, and she's Filipino, so, oh, her, HER, uh, amazing. So all of these musicians then and now that, uh, you can highlight in your classroom. So lots of fun things you should join.

Bryson Tarbet:

We are really excited and personally I am very excited to see because I just know that you, when you present you, you. You do it well and you do it with lots of energy and lots of of actionable things. Um, so elementary music edge members, again, you're gonna be getting, um, access to this recording into the membership. Um, if you are not a member, check out the show notes wherever you are watching or listening, and you can join, um, to check out Melissa's training. So Melissa, can you give us a final quick piece of advice that you'd give to a music teacher that is looking to make their classroom a little bit more culturally responsive this year?

Melissa Fuller Flores:

Something that I didn't touch on that I feel is very important, and it goes beyond just Filipino American History Month, is that when you're introducing something that's new. Our younger kids or just kids in general, they don't know how to process some like a feeling or experiencing something that they've never felt before. And whenever that happens, a lot of kids giggle because it's like, it's a very foreign feeling within them. Either hear in their chest or hear in their brain like something's tickling. Not because it's funny, but because it's just different. So their instinct a lot of time is to giggle and. I front load that because there have been a lot of times in my teaching being a younger teacher and also having, you know, a lot of my younger years of people. Either laughing what I brought to lunch or laughing about what I did on the weekends of, you know, just dancing Filipino dances and things like that as a young kid. So like, that was very triggering for me as a teacher. So I really took time to reflect. Okay, why? Why? Why are they laughing? They're younger, right? They're learning how to navigate the world. It's just because they're not used to that feeling of feeling something different. So I front load that and I do it every time that I introduce something from, you know, beyond what they're likely used to. Right? So for instance, I did speak earlier about going from known to unknown when talking about the food when I showed a Ling video. Some kids were like laughing like they just 'cause like they couldn't fathom what was happening. So before I did that, before I would show the video, I'd be like, you're likely gonna see something that is, that you've never seen before. And or maybe you have thought about something that's similar. You might feel something like in your chest or in your brain that's like tickling and it may want you to laugh and it's okay for you to learn something that's new, but I want you to think about what it. What it might sound like to the person on the outside. Think about that. You're sharing something with somebody that is so special that like you are really excited to share with them, like your favorite stuffy or something, and somebody giggles. They're excited, but you think that they're making fun of them. It's the same. It's the same thing. So instead of like, when you start feeling that feeling, I really encourage you to either show the American Sign language, sign for. I have a connection. So like, you know, thumb in pinky pointing toward you and pointing outwards like going shake, shake, shake, um, or uh, a, uh, a SL for applause. Like you're really excited. So, you know, you take, your hands are open and you shake, shake, shake, give it, give them something else to do, or else they're going to go into their default of like, oh, that's tickly, that's funny. Now you're still gonna have some kids that do it. And it's just very much like a, like a quietly like. Hi. Like, I hear that you're giggling. Do you feel something like, you know, a little different? Yeah. Remember, don't forget, we have these tools so that we don't like, so that other people don't think that we're, we're making fun of this special thing. And you know, you're gonna have students who are, who are, uh. Purposefully doing that, but that is unfortunately a learned behavior from somewhere. And there's many different learned behaviors that we experience in our classrooms and that that same approach, I feel like is needed of, you know, like a side conversation or, or something like that. So just they, they might laugh, really front, load it, give them something else to do that's quiet so that they can also get that energy out, but also enjoy it and respect it.

Bryson Tarbet:

I, I love that. And I love how you mentioned learned behaviors because you're right, a lot of that is a learned behavior, but that means also means that we need to teach what they should do. And I love that you gave them very explicit, like, this is how we can respond to this. This is why I think it's a great opportunity to bring into so many different areas of our lesson. Um. Melissa, thank you so much for a wonderful episode. You gave lots of really great information. Um, I'm really excited to be able to get you in front of our members inside Elementary Music Edge to dive a little bit deeper. Um, so to Melissa, you personally, uh, as well as to all of you listening, thank you all so much for making a difference in the lives of the students that you teach.

People on this episode

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Bryson Tarbet, M.M.Ed

Host
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Melissa Fuller Flores

Guest