I’ve been a Catholic school teacher for over twenty years, and I’d like to share one of my secrets with you: music. I’m a music fanatic, and I love having a song playing as students enter the classroom. The right song helps students come into class feeling good about life and ready to learn. An opening song is also a great signal device to start class. I sometimes have an entry task on the overhead, and my students know that it needs to be completed by the time the song ends.
But the music is not just for my students–it’s for me, too. In fact, I don’t think I could have made it these last two decades without the energy, enthusiasm and life-giving joy that music provides.
The following list of songs is from my personal “Affirmations” playlist. It’s not every song, but it’s most of them. Of course, it’s highly subjective. That’s why I’m hoping you’ll share some of your own favorites in the comments section at the end of the list. Here we go…
Nick’s Positive Songs for Use in the Catholic Classroom
The first thing you need to know is that my absolute favorite song of all time is “Over the Rainbow,” so I play that song quite a bit. I have over one hundred covers of the song, from country to alternative to dance remix versions, and everything in between. I think it’s the greatest song ever written. Period.
Second, there are several Catholic artists below that I want to draw your attention to: Matt Maher, Popple, Ceili Rain and Joe Hand. These artists are some of the best Catholic musicians working today, and I highly recommend any of their albums.
Finally, clicking on a song will take you to a page at Amazon.com where you can listen to a sample or purchase the song. All purchases help support the work of Catholic School Chronicle.
Ace of Base
The Allman Brothers, “Blue Sky”
All American Rejects, “Move Along ”
Audio Adrenaline
Bachman Turner Overdrive, “Takin’ Care of Business”
The Beach Boys, “Good Vibrations”
The Beatles
- “Good Day Sunshine”
- “Here Comes the Sun”
Natasha Bedingfield, “Unwritten”
George Benson, “Breezin’”
Boston
Caedmon’s Call
- “Sacred“
- “Thankful“
- “Lead of Love“
David Crowder Band
Casting Crowns
Chris Cagle, “What a Beautiful Day”
Steven Curtis Chapman
Chicago, “25 or 6 to 4”
Ceili Rain
- “Pencil in Your Hand”
- “Love Travels“
- “You Then Me“
- “Jigorous“
- “God Done Good“
- “100 Smiles an Hour“
- “Like a Train“
- “Stomp“
City on a Hill
Petula Clark, “Downtown”
Coldplay
- “Clocks“
- “Speed of Sound“
- “Square One“
Sheryl Crow, “Soak Up the Sun”
Des’ree, “You Gotta Be”
Hilary Duff, “Shine”
Electric Light Orchestra
Emerson, Lake and Palmer
Tommy Emmanuel
Gloria Estefan, “Get on Your Feet”
Feist, “Mushaboom”
Five for Fighting
- “100 Years“
- “The Riddle“
Fleetwood Mac, “Don’t Stop”
John Fogerty, “Sugar Sugar”
The Go-Gos, “We Got the Beat”
Delta Goodrem
Goo Goo Dolls, “Better Days”
Green Day, “Time of Your Life”
Vince Guaraldi Trio, “Linus and Lucy”
Joe Hand, “I Want to Worship You”
Patrick Hernandez, “Born to Be Alive”
High School Musical
Enrique Iglesias, “Hero”
Joe Jackson, “Steppin’ Out”
Jars of Clay
Jimmy Eat World, “The Middle”
Eric Johnson, “Cliffs of Dover”
Katrina and the Waves, “Walking on Sunshine”
Mat Kearney, “Nothing Left to Lose”
Kool and the Gang, “Celebration”
Kenny Loggins, “I’m All Right”
Matt Maher
Chuck Mangione, “Feels So Good”
Martina McBride, “This One’s for the Girls”
Bobby McFerrin, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”
Tim McGraw, “Live Like You Were Dyin’”
Mercy Me, “I Can Only Imagine”
Jo Dee Messina, “Dare to Dream”
Hannah Montana
Van Morrison, “Youth of 1,000 Summers”
Randy Newman, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”
Newsboys
Nichole Nordeman, “Legacy”
Tom Petty
Popple
Dan Powter, “Bad Day”
The Pretenders, “I’ll Stand by You”
Rascall Flatts, “Life is a Highway”
Relient K, “Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been”
Santana
- “Migra“
- “(Da le) Yaleo“
Joe Satriani, “Summer Song”
Joey Scarbury, “Theme from Greatest American Hero”
Sherwood, “The Best in Me”
Sister Sledge, “We Are Family”
Sly and the Family Stone, “Everyday People”
Smash Mouth, “All Star”
Starship, “We Built This City”
The Stray Cats, “Rock This Town”
Survivor, “Eye of the Tiger”
Switchfoot
Chris Tomlin
Train, “When I Look to the Sky”
The Turtles, “Happy Together”
U2
Van Halen
Jaci Velasquez, “We Can Make a Difference”
The Ventures, “Hawaii Five-O”
The Wailin’ Jennys, “One Voice”
The White Stripes, “We’re Going to Be Friends”
John Williams
- Olympic Fanfare and Theme
- Main Title from Superman
- Main title from Star Wars
- Imperial March from Star Wars
- March from Raiders of the Lost Ark
Steve Winwood, “While You See a Chance”
Lee Ann Womack, “I Hope You Dance”
Weird Al Yankovic
- “The Saga Begins“
- “Ebay“
Other Soundtrack Music
- Theme from The Magnificent Seven
- Theme from Rocky
- Theme from Bonanza
- Theme from Peter Gunn
- Theme from The Pink Panther
The good news is that there are Catholic teachers, administrators and catechists who are willing to share their wisdom, knowledge and experience with anyone willing to follow their blogs. The bad news is that there are so few of these bloggers out there. Currently, there are over 7,000 elementary and secondary Catholic schools in the U.S, staffed by over 154,000 teachers and principals, but I could find less than forty blogs by Catholic educators. Even 
