Giving math a good rap
Matt Hildahl wants students at East Valley Middle School to get rap songs stuck in their heads. Not just any rap songs, but songs he’s written to help teach them math.
Every week Hildahl, an eighth-grade math teacher at the school, dresses up as a rapper named 2 Bitty – half as good as rapper 50 Cent, he says.
With the help of students in his journalism class he videotapes a short segment to air on the school’s in-house TV station.
One week he’ll rap out a math mystery question for students to solve and the next week he presents “2 Bitty’s Tuesday Tip of the Week,” giving students the opportunity to show their comprehension of a basic math skill he presents.
The names of students with correct answers go into a drawing for prizes.
“Anything you can do to get kids excited about math and to build rapport with them is good. Sixth-graders see me in the hall and say ‘rap for us.’ I tell them they have to wait until Friday,” said Hildahl.
Hildahl has seen instruction methods change over the 13 years he’s been a teacher, but one thing that doesn’t change is the challenge to get middle school students interested and proficient in math.
The 2 Bitty character has evolved over the past few years, said Hildahl. East Valley Middle School got the idea of presenting a math mystery question from Mountain View Middle School.
Over the years, Hildahl has presented math problems and solutions dressed as Sherlock Holmes, a clown, a “Blues Clues” character and as Matt Foley, the motivational speaker on “Saturday Night Live.” But it took a lot of time and effort to continue to come up with new characters. The 2 Bitty character was a huge hit with the kids and the rap format worked out well, so Hildahl has stayed with it.
“Everybody thinks it’s funny. Kids remember things better if it’s taught to them in a way they understand,” said Samantha Hainline, 13.
Hainline plays the background rap soundtrack and works an overhead projector that operates as a sort of teleprompter for 2 Bitty.
Jacob Fitterer, 13, operates the video camera. How does 2 Bitty compare to 50 Cent? “He’s pretty smooth,” said Fitterer. “He makes it funny, and it’s cool how he makes it go with math problems.”
Hildahl has been rapping since he was in high school. When he ran for East Valley High School student body president he rapped his campaign speech. He also rapped a speech at his graduation ceremony. “I did the ‘faculty shuffle’ and almost got pulled off stage for it,” said Hildahl.
Hildahl said he’s dreamed of traveling across the country performing motivational rap songs to teach kids about social responsibility – how to become good citizens and students, respect their parents, say no to drugs. He’s written rap songs for his two daughters for their birthdays, and he writes poetry for his wife.
It takes Hildahl about 30 minutes to write his math problem raps. “I’ve been lucky. It just comes to me,” said Hildahl.
He’s also videotaped showing a detailed solution to the problem. He takes it step-by-step and students learn how to show their work, a skill they’ll need to pass the math section of the WASL.
Hildahl wants students walking the halls humming the last stanza repeated in all of his math rap songs.
“Cuz math is cool and important to us and gettin’ good at it is certainly a must. Workin’ on math mysteries, always helps us out. To become problem solvers, 2 Bitty… Out!”