I never agreed with my administration’s categorical ban on MP3 players. I find that the best way to handle them is to set limits. If we’re engaged in whole class instruction, then headphones are inappropriate. If you’re working individually, taking a test, silent reading, etc, then listen to music.

I’d rather that they pop on headphones than start talking to their neighbor and disrupt the class.

I also like to fill the classroom with my own music. Pretty much on a daily basis, I play something in the transition of classes into the first minute or two of class as the students get settled in.

It gives me a chance to expose them to music they might not otherwise hear (jazz, blues, classic rock). You might even say it has some curricular value for a Social Studies class. At least, that’s what I’ll tell my supervisor if he ever asks…