By AshaLee Ortiz

This year’s Super Bowl was especially significant for me, and not just because it was hosted in my hometown of Glendale, AZ. I feel there were several companies that chose to use their 30-second time slot addressing the largest audience of the year not just to sell a product, but to share a message. One in particular, the Coca-Cola Commercial, really caught my attention. So, as my students returned on Super Bowl Monday buzzing about the big game, I decided to capitalize on an opportunity to augment my objectives for the week. 

I teach General Music and Choir to elementary and middle school students. If there is one thing I want my students to take away from my classroom, it’s that all music has a message, and that has power. One of my greatest struggles is trying to get middle school students to make those connections and, for lack of a better word, care about what they are singing. Conversely, my greatest achievements professionally have been when that has been achieved, when they do care—whether in a practice or performance setting, as individuals or an ensemble. Regardless of your content area, I think the desire to get students to care about what they are learning exists in us all.

So as I heard my students singing notes and rhythms indifferently in rehearsal, I stopped. I quickly found the ad online and played it for my students. When it was over, I asked, “What was the message of that commercial? Was it really to sell Coke?” A wise student of mine answered, “They were trying to make the world a better place.”

Now from there, we segued into the message of the song we were just rehearsing. We discussed how, as with a commercial, choral singing can relay a message to an audience. But instead of regurgitating the rest of what happened in my classroom that day, I’d like to let the profundity of that student’s statement resonate for a moment: “They were trying to make the world a better place.”

If the Coca-Cola Corporation thinks it can impact the world with its message of positivity, don’t you think we as educators could piggyback on this trend? Isn’t that why we went into education in the first place—to make the world a better place? How can you incorporate #makeithappy into your lesson plans? Here are some ideas:

1)      Digital Citizenship. It is a 21^st Century Skills objective to teach students about responsible digital citizenship. This commercial opens up dialogue about cyberbullying, which is a very real threat today. It also puts ownership on individuals, asking people to make their interactions on the Internet happy rather than hateful. Ask students questions like:

• How do people perceive you online?
• How do you interact with others through social media?
• Does your digital footprint reflect who you feel you are in person?
• How dangerous is ‘digital courage’? Would you say the same thing you wish to post if you were face-to-face with that person?
• What can you change about your online interaction to ‘make it happy’?

2)      Persuasive Essays/Arguments. Use this commercial as an introduction to a unit about persuasive arguments. Talk about Coca-Cola’s use of pathos, or appeal to emotion, as an effective argument not only to address a social problem, but also to promote a product. Have students write an ACE response in reaction to this video, answering one of the following questions:

• How did this commercial address a current social problem?
• How does this clip demonstrate ways our digital citizenship can affect others?
• How effective was the persuasion demonstrated in this ad?

3)      Civics. What are the expectations and duties of online citizens? Because it is less regulated and monitored, is there a different standard for behavior online than in other areas of society? Should there be? From there, students could create their own #makeithappy commercials, build awareness, and brainstorm solutions for these problems at your school. There’s no right answer for what this would look like—maybe an assembly, a class challenge, or a kindness spotlight. Let students be the innovators in creating a campus of kindness.

4)      The Arts. Have your students learn the song that plays in the background of the Coca-Cola commercial. Students could create choreography to capture the message, or artwork for a community display. In my case, I’m trying to find more repertoire connected to this particular message: songs that talk about being the change you want to see in the world, personal ownership, and most of all, hope. It was a powerful moment for my choir in rehearsal on Super Bowl Monday, and we should adapt and build on those when they happen because, well, that’s what educators do.

Hopefully you have a few ideas of your own about how to extend this concept of treating others with kindness both online and in your classroom. You know your own classroom culture; feel free to adapt these ideas accordingly. And please know, my fellow teachers, that we all have days when the struggle to engage and motivate our students takes its toll. But it is at these times we need to remember what got us into the teaching profession in the first place. Keep “trying to make the world a better place.”

Sites for further reference:

http://www.letsmakeithappy.org/ - an organization dedicated to engaging ambassadors globally for happiness

http://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/- addresses the social problem identified in the commercial, as an additional resource

http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/- outlines expectations and norms for a digital society; also provides additional resources

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/positive-attitude- a collection of positive quotes that may be useful in thematic teaching. 

AshaLee Ortiz has been teaching K­–8 music for the past eight years in Peoria, Arizona. Her program was recognized as one of the best communities for music education in 2013 by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM). She has a bachelor’s in music education from California State University, Fullerton, and is currently working on a master’s in educational technology. In her spare time, AshaLee enjoys spending time with her family, arranging musical mash-ups, blogging, and sleeping.  

Do you have ideas for how to incorporate the #makeithappy movement or other social media or current events in your instruction? Maybe you have examples of ways this idea of positive online interaction is already spreading in your classroom? Please share your thoughts with us all in the comments below!