Chiming In- Arianna Lambert's P3

Arianna Lambert is a Grade 4/5 teacher and Google Innovator in the Toronto District School Board​​ who loves integrating technology and mindfulness in the classroom. Through inquiry and Entrepreneurial Thinking, she works with students who are engaged in meaningful learning opportunities while looking at ways to make the world an even better place. Last year, she had the privilege of co-facilitating the STE(A)M Certificate Course for Junior Teachers in the TDSB. For the last 2 years, Arianna has been fortunate to co-moderate #tdsbEd, Twitter chats for educators in the TDSB. Through conversations on trends in education from STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) to Mindfulness, it has become an online community of educators dedicated to improving their practice to ensure greater student success, well-being and achievement.

Arianna unpacked her 3 song choices on The Personal Playlist Podcast. She was trying to find songs that, “... resonate with what I’m experiencing currently but have also been songs over time that have made me think about my relationships with people, my relationships to my job or to my career in education…” When deliberating her nostalgic song, she chose it because of her father. “My dad is the biggest music guy I could ever know; loves music from all genres.” This classic rock recording came from the very first album her father purchased when he moved to England. Her father told her the stories of records he loved and why they were meaningful to him. “ When I think of my dad, I think of an amazing hero in my life who really taught me about work ethic and a sense of responsibility.” When she thinks of her father and music, she thinks of this song and the journey beyond the path that is often laid out for us. “We all start someplace, and we all have a journey, and to embrace that and explore that and to enjoy the process....” Here is Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John:

Arianna’s award winning identity song is from the soundtrack of the powerful film Selma. ”I think it speaks to a time that we’re in right now where perhaps people were marching in the past for the right to be able to vote, but there are a lot of emotions and a lot of things that people are currently marching for.” Arianna referred to this past weekend’s March for Our Lives and many of the protests that have happened over the past couple of years, especially in the United States. She spoke of the shootings of unarmed black men and women. Even though this song comes from a movie that recounts three voting rights marches marches from Selma to Montgomery that lead to President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, it continues to be pertinent. She made the point that, “... we’ve supposedly moved so far here in 2018, and yet we’re still marching and we’re still having to be able to ask for equity in a variety of different ways ways and areas in our lives.” Arianna helps her learners stay informed about changemakers. She wants to help her students build awareness of real world issues and what we might be able to do. She wants to give students voice to speak about their experiences and make sure they have a platform and are empowered to share. She also wants to helps kids listen to and consider different perspectives. “I think about the next 20 years or 30 years and will we have the same struggles will we still have the same fights, and will glory ever one day come?” While I usually only play the songs on my show until the chorus, it felt right to play this one in its entirety. Here is John Legend and Common with Glory.

The final song choice is a pick-me-up, motivational and/or inspirational song. Arianna sometimes plays it like an anthem on her way to school. While it came out in 1975, our guest points out how relevant it still is. She would randomly hear it played regularly on XM Radio, and it gets her ready for a wonderful day of teaching and learning.”As soon as she used to hear it when driving into work, it chimed her into readiness for the day. “The part that I love the most is just the beginning when they talk about ‘Wake up, all the teachers, time to teach a new way.” It gets her excited and gets her thinking that, “Every single day, we have the opportunity to try something new with your students...to figure out a way to change the narrative so that they have the best opportunity to ...be able to succeed in a world...that we have no idea what it might turn out like…” Here is Wake Up Everybody by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes.

Arianna is as busy outside the classroom as she is inside of it. She is currently working on a Google Innovator project about using mindfulness in the classroom. She co-moderates bi-weekly Twitter chats for her board with Larissa Aradj, and they are celebrating two years of leading the learning. Arianna presents on Entrepreneurial Thinking and using G-Suite, “...looking for ways to get students to start to create based on their passions and what their interested in, and how do we allow for them to use tool like the Global Competencies in order for them to be able to really figure out what their excited about…” You can check out more of her work on her website, find her on Twitter. She is also a blogger for the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) Heart and Art of Teaching and Learning. I was elated that her P3 was a positive experience and that she had a chance to think about songs that were meaningful to her and figure out why. This also got her thinking about the power of music and wondering how to take that back to her classroom.

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