An educator has been praised for his creative approach to teaching the eight times tables. Special education teacher Mr C, known as @teachwithmrc on TikTok, has gone viral after rewriting Taylor Swift's Shake it Off to include multiplications.
In his video, named Shake it Off by Taylor Swift - Count by 8, his pupils sing along to the iconic tune while learning their times tables. Its lyrics start: "I can count by eight. Got so much in my brain. 8, 16, 24444, mmm hmmmm. 8, 16, 24444, mmm hmmmm.
"32, 40, but wait. There's also 48. 56 and 64, mmm-mmm. 56 and 64, mmm-mmm. But I keep counting. 72, 80. It's like I got these eight facts in my mind. Saying I'm gonna count by 8. Cause I'm just gonna count by 8, 8, 8. The haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. I'm just gonna count by 8, 8, 8. Count by 8. Count by 8."
His video has been viewed more than seven million times in just a matter of days - and has received praise from parents and students alike.
One user said: "I would have enjoyed maths more this way! Such a fun way to teach maths."
Another user added: "And now at 33-years-old, I can remember my eight factors."
A third user said: "It would be cool if Taylor Swift just showed up to their class to sing with them."
One more user added: "Now I'm walking around my house singing this instead of the real words."
Mr C was inspired to write his own lyrics after Taylor Swift performed The Eras Tour in Philadelphia this week.
When posting the video, he said: "They [My pupils] hope this Shake it Off count by 8 version goes viral and Taylor sees this one."
But this isn't the first time Mr C has adapted a popular song in his classroom, as he also uses Adele's Hello to teach his pupils about geometry.
He said: "Learn about your lines in geometry by singing along to Adele’s Hello.
"Hello from the other side…we never touch we’re parallel lines! My students are the best. They love doing this."
Do you have a story to share? Email paige.freshwater@reachplc.com.
