We continue to use music in our classrooms because the women have said that they enjoy having it. In fact, at times when the day becomes too hectic, I forget to put on relaxing music for freewriting. If I do this, at least one will either ask me to put the music on or she will simply get up and turn it on herself. During one freewriting/art activity when I played the violin, the students were asked to draw a picture or freewrite whatever their emotions were at the time. Many drew pictures of themselves on the beach or in other relaxing situations. Some wrote poetry acknowledging their current obstacles, but also included their desire to overcome them. They were asked to say one word or phrase about the exercise at the conclusion of the class. In different ways, they all said the same thing: they felt relaxed, calm, and peaceful doing the activity. I remember being touched by the way the music helped them achieve a higher degree of introspection. I was apprehensive going into the exercise because I was not sure how the students would react to the classical music I played. They did admit that it was a new experience “to listen to that kind of music”, but they expressed their appreciation for the opportunity.
Taking into account this knowledge of catering to the senses, we decided to look at how we could incorporate each detail into a complete transformation of the classroom. When we received the grant from the Women, Violence, and Adult Education project, we knew that we had to “take on the challenge” of transforming the women’s lives. Before we could help facilitate the transformation within the women’s lives, we intuitively knew that this change needed to begin with redesigning the learning environment. Our premise is that a clean, comfortable, and friendly atmosphere will foster learning. We believe that what is on the outside will reflect on the inside and vice versa. If the physical space is beautiful, then it will generate positive emotions and the students will feel worthy of being present in a beautiful place. We want our students to feel the same qualities that the space represents: beauty, worthiness, abundance, and self-care. This promotes self-worth and self-esteem, which we believe, is a core principle of our program. If our students feel self-worth because we have provided an enriched learning environment and special classes that boost self-esteem, then it will carry on to the other areas like reading, writing, and math. This will provide the foundation to help the women overcome any barrier.