February of 2025

Hi everyone!
    My name is Molly Connors and I am a Junior in college with a double major in Early Inclusive Childhood Education (Birth-6th, GEN ed and special ed) and Psychology. I am a double minor in both music and the Honors Program. Along with extra class and GPA requirements, the honors program culminates in some kind of project about any topic that interests you. My passion has always been working with children and music.  

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     As a child, I did not enjoy school, which was very surprising to my parents because they knew I was the type of outgoing, fun, curious child who should love school. Instead, going to school filled me with anxiety, and I struggled to focus and succeed, particularly in math, even though my parents knew I was very smart. My teachers, particularly my first and second grade teachers, worked so hard with my parents to come to my eventual diagnosis of ADHD and anxiety. They worked with me to find different strategies to help calm my anxiety, such a heart necklace that my mom would kiss in the morning, or in second grade I was allowed to call my mom to check in with her about my day before recess . They helped me to identify that tutoring was helpful to give me a head start on what I would be learning early in the school year so that I could build my confidence. As my doctor, parents, and I worked to get me on the proper medication, the observations of my behavior from my teachers were absolutely key to finding the proper dosing. The overwhelming love that my teachers showed me when I felt sad, happy, overwhelmed, or excited, along with the support from my parents, is what allowed me to be a successful student. 

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     The integral part that my teachers played in my ability to succeed, enjoy, and thrive at school has inspired me to want to become a teacher myself. The impact that they had on me is immeasurable, and the idea that I could help even just one student through their learning disability, sad times, or just to learn is what motivates me. 

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     At as young as 8 years old, I performed in my first musical, The Sound of Music as one of the Nuns and fell in love with performing. This was just the beginning, as I have now performed in 17 plays, 2 operas, tens of band concerts, and tens of choir concerts. Singing has always been my first love, but I also play the guitar and the flute as well as arrange music for my college acapella group. Music has always brought me comfort, happiness, and peace all throughout my life. As a child who was commonly anxious, being up on stage performing for large audiences doesn’t seem logical. But something about performing music carried all of my worries away. Music allowed me to meet some of my best friends, make some of my favorite memories, and brought me to be the person I am today. 

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     Knowing that I wanted to be a teacher, I wondered how I could incorporate my love for music into my classroom and share that with my students to provide them comfort, happiness, and maybe even a new interest. For my honors project, I researched how music intervention in the classroom can foster students’ social/emotional, behavioral, and cognitive well-being. After completing my literature review about the results from numerous studies on the impact of music in the classroom and finding overall positive results, I wanted to create a resource for teachers to find lessons with music created by myself and other authors to demonstrate how music can be incorporated in the classroom.