Once to laugh , once to learn Teachers use rap and music as classroom tool
When teachers are creative , students remember .
“ When your teacher is wearing a bed sheet with leaves in their hair , they will remember that . They go home and talk to their parents about it ,” said Ridge Road Middle social studies teacher Claire Tamayo . She is one of two sixth-grade teachers in CMS using rap and music to help students absorb and remember lessons .
Tamayo ’ s own teachers ’ creativity has stuck with her . “ I feel like the things I remember best from being a student are when teachers did creative and unconventional things ,” she said .
Tamayo and Kristy Johnson , a math teacher at Thomasboro Academy , both use music to help students learn . It ’ s been shown to have more than entertainment value in the classroom . In 2007 Stanford University School of Medicine researchers studied brain images of people listening to music . The images suggested that music engages areas of the brain involved with paying attention and making predictions . Peak brain activity even continued during a short period of silence in the music . That connection between music and learning is something that Johnson and Tamayo hope will help keep students engaged .
Tamayo writes original songs and creates videos to teach her sixth-grade social studies class .
“ We ’ ll introduce new videos at the beginning of a unit to give them an overview of vocabulary and concepts ,” said Tamayo .
Johnson , also known as Rapper KJ , writes and performs original rap songs for her classes . Johnson said the songs help her build relationships with students .
“ They get excited whenever I say I have a new rap ready . Connecting with students means rapping if your name is Kristy Johnson .”
Johnson , who began her teaching career at CMS five years ago , started writing raps when she was a student at UNC Wilmington . When she started teaching at Thomasboro , she wrote eight new raps designed to teach sixth-grade math standards . She recorded the songs on her iPhone and made CDs that were raffled off to her students after End-of-Grade tests . “ They learn rap songs all the time ,” said Johnson . “ Why not learn a math rap song ?” Last year , Johnson released her second CD : Math So Much Volume 2 . Her school organized an album release party in the library where students could take photos with Rapper KJ and celebrate the end of the school year . Johnson works to make the music exciting for her students . “ I put on the hat and sunglasses and I am not Ms . Johnson anymore . I am now the Rapper KJ . When I hear students rapping about positive and negative integers , it ’ s worth all the time it takes to write ,” she said . To create new songs , Johnson uses the instrumental versions of popular songs and writes original lyrics . “ I think of a topic like surface area and will think of everything I want to include about that . I start writing and then I am ready ,” she said . “ Not everyone learns the same way and our students need to know that someone cares and holds them accountable , even if it ’ s a silly song or rap . It ’ s up to us as teachers to create something different and exciting .”
Tamayo also had an interest in music as she grew up in Mebane , N . C . She sang in youth choirs and participated in a capella groups , often writing original song lyrics . After she started teaching , she realized that she missed music and found a way to bring it into her classroom .
Tamayo has created videos about math skills , continents , global studies , map reading and democracy . She ’ s currently working on a song set to rapper
Kendrick Lamar ’ s music and she thinks it will excite her students . “ They ’ re going to lose their minds when they hear it ,” she said . Creating the videos is a time-consuming process for Tamayo . Her brother and other family members , along with colleagues , help her with filming and editing . She ’ s always listening to music for inspiration . “ The last video I did was on ancient Greece . I was at school , listening to Pandora around 8 p . m . A song came on and I knew exactly what I was going to write . Once I get that inspiration , it will come in waves . And I have to stop what I am doing and write things down as they come to me .” Tamayo ’ s students have come to expect a video for each new unit they learn . “ They get mad if I don ’ t have one and we always have to watch it twice ,” she said , once to laugh and once to learn .
12 • May / June 2016 • Parent Teacher News