@CreatureoftheNight said:

Thanks for sharing. My wife graduated from UNI and is now a teacher in Oregon. We're working on the Phish fan status.

I am also a teacher that uses Phish as a learning tool. In my physical science class I use jams to teach cooperative learning strategies, synergy and improvisation. These concepts are essential to the success of lab groups and allow all students to become leaders, even if it is just for one sentence. Sometimes that's all Page can get in! I'll play short excerpts like the Woosta Hood or the UIC Limb that shows everyone passing ideas back and forth and ask the kids to describe what they hear and who the leader was in the music. Their answers are quite sophisticated and we eventually get to the fact that everyone in the band has a time when they are a leader, just like a good lab group that has the potential to be greater than the sum of their individual parts. They never forget the concepts and some students even say, "Don't be rock star Trey," when someone is dominating the conversation.

Thanks for your wonderful letter and good luck on your teaching career!

Thank you--I love this idea to teach mutual participation in your Science class by analyzing jams! This and all of the anecdotes and strategies you folks have been sharing just prove that music can be used to teach not only content but also management, cooperation, leadership, etc. I appreciate your support of me as a rookie teacher!

That being said..
fellow teachers out there, if you know your principal or district is looking for a passionate and energetic LICENSED K-12 ESL or 6-12 Spanish teacher (no TFA here) I am willing to move anywhere! except for maybe Hawaii, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Arkansas...