This teacher from Fort Worth, Texas, raps lessons to entertain and educate his classes of young students and his latest video sees him dressing up as Goku from Dragon Ball Z.
In school, I found that the maths teachers I liked the most were the ones who were aware that maths is not as exciting a subject as history or chemistry. They were the ones whose whole aura was a lowkey acceptance of, "I know that half of you are going to hate this lesson purely on principle." Maths is logical, but it is also alienating to those who don't get it, and the sizes of classrooms may mean that it's tough for the educator to reassess their approach when the other kids want to move onto the next thing. It might lead to feelings of anxiousness or inferiority in the student, and the issues become entrenched because the student doesn't want to address the problem and the teacher isn't aware of it. So, when an educator goes the extra mile to ensure everyone's on the same page, it's appreciated.
Through her memories of The Pokémon Trading Card Game, FrostedCaribou told us how it's extremely useful for developing maths skills outside of the classroom in a friendly yet competitive space. Check it out here.
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Case in point: here's Thomas Mayfield, an elementary school teacher in the U.S., delivering a lesson about decimals to his class while dressed up as Goku. This rap concluded a "weeklong-themed class review for our state academic test. Evidently, his enthusiasm for the subject is something else and the students rap along with him while at their separate desks. That's another thing I hadn't thought about - if I didn't understand something, I could poke the person next to me and ask them to explain. Being in school while a pandemic rages on, however, that's another kettle of fish to say the least.
Mayfield is renowned as "one of the best 'Culturally Responsive' teachers" who is able to connect to students from minority backgrounds. He's even appeared on The Ellen Show for his creativity when it comes to teaching and the rap is quite comically catchy. "It's digits over decimals, first rule of the game, then we underline the digits all the way to the right," the classroom chanted together. "Then 'X' out the decimal, so you can feel comfortable. Multiply the factors from the bottom to the top... If you've gotta strategy, write it down, let me view it. Goku and Mr. Mayfield, one in the same. So work more and say less Khalid voice, cause we the best!"
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"It's a way we can learn but also in a fun way," agreed Jordan Rasberry, a student at the school, when talking to NBC DFW in an interview. "Mr. Mayfield is one of the best teachers I ever had because we can do videos but when it's time to work, we also gotta work at the same time." Mayfield himself has promised that he'll "be doing it until I can't do it anymore." What a champ.
Featured Image Credit: Bandai Namco, Thomas Mayfield via Storyful