A Conversation on Liking and Appreciating Books (plus a Groovy Playlist)

School started on Wednesday.

We started our time together talking about the differences and similarities between “liking” and “appreciating” books.

We did not take notes on this discussion, but the more we talked about the denotation and connotation, the more we came to understand the nuance of these words in the English classroom and beyond.

One girl talked about a book that made her cry — she didn’t like it, but she appreciated that it moved her heart. Another person said a teacher made him read a book — clearly, it was written well, but it didn’t allow him to escape into the world books he chose did, so he appreciated the teacher’s book, but didn’t like it. One person said that he first likes a book, and then, in re-reading, he comes to appreciate it. That got us talking about these words on a spectrum.

The conclusion was that if we are always reading just what we “like,” that what we “like” may never be expanded through reading unless we allow new voices, ideas, and recommendations, and for that, we need to be open to appreciating.

The second day of school, we turned to music.

We created a class playlist in the tone of background-ish music, easy-ish listening (not get-up-and-dance). Each student contributed one song.

I asked students why it might be important for us to create the playlist together rather than me selecting music or allowing Amazon Prime to do it for us.

One student said, “So we can listen to music WE like.” I asked him if he thought he would, in fact, “like” every song on the playlist, and he said, “On second thought, maybe it’s so we can be exposed to different music and get to know what our classmates like.”

Indeed.

I explained that there is a pretty good chance that each student will like more songs than the one he/she recommended, but this playlist is more an exercise of appreciation. We will each feel utter joy for three minutes when “our” song plays, but we will feel appreciation for the joy a song brings to a classmate for many more minutes when “their” songs play.  And perhaps, “their” favorite songs will become “ours.”

I intend to pull this thread through the school year as we like and appreciate books.

Here is a link to the playlist if you care to take a look/listen.

As a side note, I enjoyed making the playlist. I knew many of the artists: Drake, Selena Gomez, Marian Hill, Zara Larrson, but here are a few new artists that I am learning to appreciate because, well, they are important to our class members:

Sarah Ainsworth, “Nocturn in C Sharp Major”
Phoenix, “Lisztomania”
MercyMe, “Grace Got You”
Xxxtentacion, “Orlando”
Marshmello, “Want U 2”
Khalid, “Coaster”
Petit Biscuit, “Sunset Lover”
Joakim Karud, “Dreams”

This one by Joakim Karud is groovy: “Canals.” Enjoy!

Also, as an added benefit, the playlist opened my consciousness to the musical interests of my colleagues as I had not done before. Perhaps you know that I listen to books in the car and on my walks/runs. This means, I am not/have not been listening to music of late, so I have had an awakening of sorts.

The next day in the teacher’s lounge, I was talking to a colleague about the playlist idea, and he told me about a group he has just “discovered” but couldn’t believe he was just hearing them for the first time: McCarthy. He recommended I check out “Red Sleeping Beauty.” And then, I overheard another colleague talking about concerts she attended this summer. I apologized for eve’s dropping and asked her for song recommendations, and she shared two of her favorite bands and songs: Iron and Wine’s “Call it Dreaming” and Bahama’s “Lost in the Light.”

My playlist is much richer with the contributions of my students and colleagues. Here’s to developing rich playlists and book lists this school year!