How This Third-Grade Teacher Uses Taylor Swift To Help Pupils Learn Math

For many people, math lessons might have been a bit of a snooze fest, but this third-grade teacher has found a way to make multiplication incredibly fun for her students—with a little help from Taylor Swift.

When learning to count by eight, the bestselling musician might not immediately come to mind, but teacher Faith McPeek used Swift's famous music to create a memorable teaching rhyme. By using the rhythm and lyrics from one of her hits, McPeek helped her third graders master their multiplication.

After discovering how useful music is as a teaching method, McPeek, from Illinois, told Newsweek that "songs have changed the way we do math in our classroom."

It's not just the students who love learning with Swift. McPeek shared her innovative method on TikTok (@mcpeek_teaches), which became a viral hit. The clip of the pupils counting "T Swift style" has already been viewed more than 17.8 million times and received over 1.9 million likes.

"The kids love the songs, and we sing them on a daily basis. We have done songs by Billie Eilish and Lizzo as well," McPeek said.

"I think it works so well because the kids are actually having fun, and it's not just a worksheet slapped in front of them. As teachers, it's our job to meet them where they are and get them engaged. It just so happens that music is a great way of doing that, and it's also a fantastic memorization tool."

Music can serve numerous purposes, whether it's to boost energy, relaxation, or concentration. It's often been linked with memory too, as highlighted by a 2014 study which found that adults listening to classical music were able to perform better at memory and processing tasks.

When it comes to Swift, her music may be classic, but not quite in the same realm as Mozart (depending on who you ask). Yet that doesn't mean it can't be equally beneficial, as research in 2019 suggested that certain music can activate reward centers in the brain, much like food and money do. So, for this reason, music can be an incredible mood booster and motivation because of the pleasure it brings.

McPeek admits that, although she loves Swift's earlier music from the "Love Story" era, she isn't the biggest Swiftie. However, since discovering how useful her music is in the classroom, the teacher is certainly going to enhance her repertoire with more songs.

"I understand this might not work for all students or be the best method, but it's for sure a fantastic building block to introduce students to multiplication. There are hundreds of other methods to help learn, this has just been a great way to get my students excited and engaged," McPeek told Newsweek.

Since sharing her method on social media, McPeek says she's had a mostly "positive response" to her creativity, and she's even connected with other teachers who shared their own ideas. Every class might learn in a slightly different way, but she hopes to show that math lessons can indeed be fun, and as long as it works for the pupils "that's all that matters."

With more than 12,100 comments on the viral TikTok video, many people praised McPeek's imagination, while others have suggested other Swift songs that she could use in future classes.

One comment reads: "This is such an ingenious way of making times tables memorable. Will have to share with my class teacher."

Another person responded: "OMG I wish she was my maths teacher in primary."

While one TikTok user joked: "Cruel Summer by Teacher Swift."

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