Music is entertaining and fun, but it can also be an effective learning tool. Students at Donegal Primary School (DPS) experienced that firsthand this past year during an initiative called "Music Mondays with Mr. Matt." For the program, singer-songwriter Matt Wheeler presented monthly videos featuring his original songs focused on social emotional learning (SEL) vocabulary students were learning in class. Songs featured topics including exploring emotions, self-control and solving problems.

"I love listening to music, as I imagine you do, and I also love to make music," Wheeler told students in his introductory video in September. "Music is a great way to express your thoughts and feelings, and also it's simply fun!"

This is Wheeler's fourth year offering the series. This year, he played videos he created for the series last year to reinforce SEL concepts and supplemented them with second videos. "In those second videos, I expanded on the ideas from the vocabulary and songs," he said. "I played a bit of that month's song and talked more about the SEL concept from that month." For example, in March, the SEL topic was kindness, so Wheeler shared his song "All About Kindness" as a springboard for further discussion about the concept, including the ripple effect of kindness.

"As I put in that video, when you act with kindness toward another person, that makes them feel good and more likely to be kind to another person," he shared. "If enough people treat others with kindness, we could find life is just that much better for us all."

Wheeler came on board as the DPS resident musician in the spring of 2021. "The artist residency started as a way of bringing the joy of music and song during the pandemic, and it succeeded beyond my expectations," Wheeler commented. For the second year of the series, Wheeler included in-person assemblies at the end of the school year, and last year, he finished a complete set of SEL songs that the students could sing along to at the assemblies.

The "Music Mondays with Mr. Matt" series is funded by a grant from the Donegal Foundation. "This organization provides Donegal School District teachers with grants to support learning and Donegal School District students with scholarships for further education," explained Taylor Morgan, DPS music teacher. "'Music Mondays with Mr. Matt' adds another element to our social emotional learning curriculum. Matt provides students with a musical outlet to explore and control their emotions on a regular basis."

Morgan noted that students' enthusiasm for the series is evident in their excitement to watch the videos and participate in the end-of-the-year assemblies.

And while teaching is a big part of the series, Wheeler said that excitement from the students is also important.

"When I think of the artist residency, the word 'joy' keeps coming back to mind," he said. "This is so much fun - for me, to be sure, but I think that the students, teachers and other school staff would agree on that point - while being constructive and complementary to the school's important learning focus of social and emotional health. It feels like a win-win for everyone involved."