ME AGAINST THE WORLD:
"The message I stress: to make it stop study your lessons. Don't settle for less; even a genius asks questions."
These wise words from late rapper Tupac Shakur is exactly the type of message that math teacher, Jake Scott, hopes to impart to his students. Scott, who is prone to switching into his mathematically-equivalent rap alter-ego, 2 Pi (from 2Pac not 2*pi*r), has taken to lyrical lecturing with his algebra class at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md.
Ever since the 3,182 alliterative lines of Beowulf, it's been no secret that rhythm and music offer great mental models for remembering complex sequences, equations or even stories. Just recite your ABCs aloud -- or check out Flocabulary and RhymeNLearn. But Scott specifically uses rap to provide guidance on personal values -- messages that some young ones might otherwise disregard in standard lecture format. It's also great to see administrators at the school back Scott's creative efforts -- you can see it for yourself in this "music" video.
