A math teacher in Leesburg, Virginia, uses classical music to relax, entertain, and inspire his students to learn. According to Eric Lane Stewart of Loudoun County High School, the music should be played at a volume low enough for the students not to compete against but loud enough to be heard and to eliminate squeaks and other little distractions. Stewart uses the music in a number of different ways. Sometimes he turns the music on and off to signal the start or end of an activity. He says this method quiets students better than other techniques he has tried. On other occasions, Stewart uses music like the "William Tell Overture" to generate excitement for a chalkboard game. He has even played popular, soft-rock music, asking students to count the number of times they hear a word sung in 20 second intervals. The students then learn how to graph the results. Stewart shared these tips in the November 1991 issue of Mathematics Teacher, Volume 84, Number 8.