We all have a lot to learn from Taylor Swift.
The pop superstar seems to have invaded all areas of our lives, from the radio to movies to football.
So it’s not surprising that Taylor Swift can also be found in classrooms across the country.
Educators are using Taylor Swift’s music, lyrics and even aesthetic to teach daily routines, figurative language and, yes, even math. They see how enthusiastically students respond to Swift, so they harness some of her power to keep kids engaged in the classroom.
Melody Munch, otherwise known as @mrsmunchsmunchkins on Instagram, is a second grade teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She transformed Swift’s “Bejeweled” into “When I Walk into School.”
Munch plays the song during her class meeting in the morning to help her students learn a new routine for the school year.
“Best believe I’m feeling cool as I walk into school. I can make the whole place better,” Munch sings with the class. “And when I walk in, my teacher says, ‘Good morning.’ My day keeps getting better.”
Another teacher, listed on TikTok simply as Kat C (@kattk13), uses instrumental versions of Swift’s songs to help her first graders relax and stay focused.
In her video caption, she wrote: “I’ve done this for years and none of my students have ever noticed. Until Friday. I heard one tiny voice, across the room from me, singing the words to ‘Anti-Hero.’ I smiled at her and said, ‘You figured out this is Taylor Swift!’ She said, ‘Yes! I love Taylor Swift!'”
@teachwithmrc
One by one, the students began quietly singing along to the music.
The teacher continued, “I feel so blessed to live in a world where one artist’s music can bring together different people, of all ages, and all walks of life. I see a classroom Taylor Swift dance party in our very near future.”
Faith McPeek (@mcpeekteaches on Instagram) brilliantly transformed Swift’s “Cruel Summer” into a lesson in counting by 8s for her third graders.
Her students sing: “We’re in third grade and we’re counting by eights — 8, 16, 24, and 32 — Oh. We are having fun, but we’re learning too. I don’t wanna keep count if I can’t count with you.”
A Pennsylvania elementary school teacher (who goes by the handle @teachwithmrc) used a different Swift song — “I Knew You Were Trouble” — to teach his students how to count by 7s. As of today, the video has 20 million views on TikTok.
