How teachers are using Taylor Swift's music to make 'learning fun': 'My students are obsessed'

Taylor Swift seems to be everywhere you look — and now, she's even in classrooms.

Teachers across the country are bringing the pop superstar's catchy tunes and empowering messages to their lesson plans. As it turns out, their Swift-inspired learning tools have delivered surprising results.

"Taylor is just the ultimate person right now," says Sean Connolly, a Pennsylvania special education teacher who goes by @TeachingWithMrC on social media.

Connelly began rewriting popular songs to help students learn multiplication in March. His first video, a reinterpretation of "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys, taught kids how to multiply by 9. When that video raked up hundreds of thousands of views in a matter of days, it inspired him to reimagine other ways to teach math, including using the tune to Swift's "Anti-Hero" to help students learn the multiplication table for 3. He posted a video to TikTok of his kids singing along with math-themed lyrics.

"[The video] blew up to a million views in 24 hours," he says. The post has been viewed nearly 11 million times and liked by over 1 million TikTok users to date — including Swift herself.

Connolly has since reimagined other Swift hits — including "Trouble" and "Karma" for the classroom.

“It’s all about being positive and engaging,” Connolly says of the tunes. “The kids love the singing and they’d even volunteer their time and send me their own songs about math that they wrote.”

It's struck a nerve among teachers, he says, noting that his songs have been downloaded by “thousands of people" to be "used in so many classrooms."

That includes Faith McPeek, a teacher in Illinois who says she was so inspired by Connolly's videos that she decided to create some of her own. She says using Swift's songs was a no-brainer.

“I asked them who we should do and immediately multiple students shouted out ‘Taylor Swift,’” she says of her first song tutorial, a reinterpretation of “Cruel Summer” that helped students multiply by 8.

McPeek's song ended up collecting over 10 million views on McPeek’s Instagram to date. “My students were obsessed with it,” she explains. “We still sing it in class to help us review.”

Since debuting the song, McPeek says other educators and parents requested more. She delivered with other fun rewrites from artists like Billie Eilish and Lizzo. The response has surpassed her expectations.

“I have had some parents tell me that their kids have come home singing it and that it’s been such a fun way of learning,” McPeek notes. “We will 100 percent be using some more Taylor Swift in our multiplication song journey.”

'I don’t foresee the Swift fever going away anytime soon'

Meanwhile, some teachers have found other ways to bring Swift's energy into the classroom.

Kim Edwards, an elementary teacher in Virginia, employed her crafting skills to make student name plates reflecting the pink, green, purple and gold color schemes of Swift’s "Eras Tour," which also incorporated lyrics from “Anti-Hero.”

Something as simple as Swift-infused name plates, she explains to Yahoo Entertainment, put her students at ease and allowed them the space to be open and more engaged to learn.

“Over my career, I’ve come into contact with a lot of teachers who love Taylor for everything she is and who have wanted to incorporate that love into their classrooms,” Edwards says. “Her songs are catchy and even more important, her lyrics are relatable not just to a specific type of person, but to everyone, even a teacher just like me.”

Edwards has since taken her nameplates to her Etsy shop, where she says it’s one of her top-selling items.

“Men, women, boys and girls look up to her as a role model,” she notes of Swift. “The world has seen Taylor grow into adulthood, fearlessly sharing parts of her life that others would do everything they can to hide. The world needs that realness. Teachers need that realness. I don’t foresee the Swift fever going away anytime soon — especially not in the classroom of all places!”

Chelsey Odgers, an elementary teacher in New Jersey, agrees.

The newlywed created a banner for the front of her teacher desk that displayed her new last name, pulling inspiration from Swift’s "You're on Your Own, Kid" song lyric by creating a friendship bracelet garland complete with colorful letter and star "beads."

What started out as a fun craft project, Odgers explains, welcomed an array of positive changes that made her classroom a “joyful” space for her and her students.

"I've been a Swiftie since 2007 and I love Taylor's style," she says. “Creating this garland for my desk was a fun way to add a little touch of Taylor to my classroom. My students and coworkers always give me compliments and tell me how creative and fun it is."

That's a testament to Swift herself, explains Connolly, who says her fearless attitude is contagious.

"She isn’t scared to try something different," he says of the singer, "and that’s why I think she’s so successful [in the classroom].

"Taylor seems so personable while being a mega star," he adds. "The fact that she liked my video and helped start this whole thing I will always be grateful for."