Teach Middle East Podcast
Welcome to the Teach Middle East Podcast, the ultimate audio hub where educators find inspiration, share innovative ideas, and grow together! Brought to you by Moftah Publishing—the minds behind the premier Teach Middle East Magazine—this podcast is your gateway to the latest research-based practices, cutting-edge classroom strategies, and the heartwarming stories of educators from the Middle East and around the globe.
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Teach Middle East Podcast
Rhyming Science: How Matt Green Uses Rap To Make Learning Fun
What can a hip-hop beat teach you about photosynthesis? Join us as we uncover the story of Matt Green, the rapping science teacher whose educational rhymes are taking classrooms by storm. Matt combines his passion for science and his love for music to create captivating rap videos that make learning both fun and effective.
By meticulously editing his content using the CapCut app, Matt ensures that each video is a dynamic blend of timing and visuals designed to spark his students' "light bulb moments." His unique teaching style has left a profound impact, evidenced by the outpouring of gratitude from students who have benefited from his engaging approach.
Check out Matt's YouTube channel Here: https://www.youtube.com/@MattGreenJGM.
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Hosted by Leisa Grace Wilson
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Speaker 2:Hi everyone. This is Lisa Grace coming to you again with a Teach Middle East podcast episode a little bit different than normal. Today I have Matt Green on my pod and Matt is the rapping science teacher. I feel cool just talking to him. I feel like I should burst out in a rap. You know a little something, but you guys don't want to hear that, believe me, and I am not a rapper.
Speaker 2:Maybe he will do something for us. Welcome, matt. Hey, thanks for having me, it's a pleasure, it's a rapper, maybe he will do something for us.
Speaker 3:Welcome, matt, hey, thanks for having me. It's a pleasure, it's a pleasure.
Speaker 2:It's so good to have you on the podcast. I have watched your YouTube videos First of all before we go into it. How do you get all those graphics on the screen?
Speaker 3:Painstaking time I'd like to say I have an editor, but it's actually all me that does it. It's time I'd like to say I have an editor, but it's it's actually all me that does it. It's just you, it's just me that does the editing. I think, yeah, pretty much for the science raps. It's almost all me unbelievable guys.
Speaker 2:If you're listening to the podcast and you haven't seen one of Matt's videos, you have to go and watch it. It's like rap and drill and all of that meets science and it makes it so much fun. But what I love continually about it and my boys watch it, by the way is the graphics Like how you know they come on screen the right time and brilliant.
Speaker 3:The app is CapCut, by the way, and, yeah, the graphics. It's a particular important point of me because it's the timing, musically, when things appear. But then it's the timing information-wise, because having 10 years in the classroom, I know kids' attention-wise and when people understand things, things need to appear in a certain way at a certain time. So yeah, the graphics are very important to me. Hence it's difficult to outsource, because someone might be good animation, they don't get the sense behind it so tell me, matt, where did this start before?
Speaker 2:before we even talk about the whole rapping science, teach a bit. Why did you get into education? How did you get here?
Speaker 3:well, I I love science. I've always loved sciences since I was a kid and in my early 20s I tutored a little bit and I really liked it. And then I got a job in a school teaching and you know it felt it never felt like a job to me. Teaching always felt like a privilege to be able to do two things I like doing, which is help helping kids and and talking about science. And yeah, the job was a privilege even into my last day when I was in school, which was three years ago. I was sad to leave, but it's very difficult to juggle all the things I do in life now. But that's it. It's helping kids understand things and getting that light bulb moment. That's what it is for me.
Speaker 2:It's amazing to think that somebody who has come up through you know, maybe not wanting to be a teacher initially, but then kind of getting into education, could be creating such an impact in the unique way in which you deliver the information. How did that develop?
Speaker 3:it came out of every year. I always tried to come up with ways that make it easy for kids to learn and understand things. So I used to do power points you know the age-old thing that we all do as teachers but try to use certain images, display a certain way, explain things in a certain way or do worksheets whatever we did to make kids understand things. But one summer I said, what can I do this term to help students understand? And I had a song playing and I knew the words to it. I know the words to that song and I never attempted to. And this thing that I'm trying to get kids to learn right now I've got to spend so much time getting them to try and understand it. Then they're going to have to spend all this time.
Speaker 3:But these lyrics we both know when no one taught us, to us the light bulbs of moment here. If I can make a song actually good as good as the song I'm listening to right now then why can't you just learn the lyrics automatically? And then, and then it comes to not just making the song good musically, but it actually makes sense. So whenever I write around, sometimes it can take eight hours because it it doesn't lyrically. It just have to be good, it has to make sense, as if it didn't rhyme. So I don't write it for it to rhyme and have the flow and the tempo and all the musical parts good. If all those bits were stripped by it and I was just talking to you plainly, would it make crystal clear sense. So that's why it's difficult to construct these sometimes, because both things have to work Crystal clear explanation, absolutely perfect wordplay, lyrics and rhyme scheme. And if those two match, then they almost always go viral.
Speaker 2:It's interesting because you use popular beats. Were you always into music?
Speaker 3:Yes, oh yeah, I've always loved music. I've loved music since the young kids, school years. You know I was always listening to 2 Back 50 Cent. You know those are my favourite rappers and yeah, they probably influence the way I write now. But I love a lot of the UK guys too, to be fair.
Speaker 2:Because it's interesting, because when you can relate to the beat then it's easier for you to get the lyrics. What impact has your work had so far that you've heard about, because sometimes the impact is so far reaching? You don't know, but what impact are you aware of that your work has had?
Speaker 3:It's helped thousands of students that I'm aware of personally just from the messages I've got, if not millions. But I couldn't tell you the tens of thousands of messages I've got from kids saying I wasn't a grade two, science was just not happening and I'd written it off as a failure and I've managed to scrape through a pass of a four or a five. I get those a lot. I've had students that already were passing but their parents and themselves wanted to get maybe higher grades but they just didn't feel it was in the tank. They heard the raps and then they start to find a love and joy for science and you know they've passed with seven, seven, seven, eight.
Speaker 3:I've even had students come and say, look, I've got two nines or three nines because of going through your raps. And yeah, and that's what it is really. I want kids to love the subject and understand it easily. I don't want it to be a chore, I want them to just turn on the music. It makes sense. They go to the exams, they remember what it was, but if they forget some of the nuances, the lyrics are just playing in their mind and they can go yeah, that's it, and they can write the answers down.
Speaker 2:It's interesting because my nephew, who he's just finishing up with uni and stuff, I was telling him I'm going to interview you on the pod and he's like, yeah, I know, matt Green, he lets the man them like science and I was like man them. What are we talking about? But how do you feel about it giving access to kids who would probably not be turned on by the scientific terms that you explain in their language?
Speaker 3:that's what it's all about. That's why I do this. You know, science is not a renownedly loved subject in school and I just happen to love it. There are some kids out there that happen to love it, there are some kids that don't, and that was me for history. I hate, I'm still not fond of it now, but I I speak to the version of myself that would have been the equivalent in science.
Speaker 3:So whenever I'm making this, I'm like if there was a rapping history teacher, what would they have had to do for me to actually engage with the subject? It would have had to be quick, explained, well, basically what I do for science, and that's the logic I use. And that's the logic I use, you know, and I don't sort of convince myself. It's a widely loved subject. I know students struggle with it and they don't like it, they find it boring and I'm just. I'm just trying to change that. I know white kids feel like that. They get to year seven and the subject gets stalled for some reason and I'm just trying to put a bit more fire and flame to it.
Speaker 2:yeah, let's go wider with the thing, matt, because a lot of students find school deathly boring. They really do, like they can't wait to be out of there. What's causing that? Do you have any ideas around that, like what's causing kids to be just so bored they want to opt out?
Speaker 3:Oh, it's a very deep question I could just spout immediately. I'm going to give a considered response, I think, being deeply psychological. I think whenever you have to be somewhere, that's always going to be difficult. Right when I had to do jobs that I didn't want to do, I don't want to be there. When it came to teaching, teaching never really felt like a job to me, so I was happy to go there. When it comes to working for myself. Now I can wake up at ungodly hours in the morning because I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 3:So kids don't want to go to school. They can ask the question, but they don't know why. Why are they finding it? If it was amazing, if they were there playing football every day or just playing computer games, they probably would leave out of it. I suppose it's the way that it's taught. We've got like a Victorian-style system that hasn't changed very much. You sit, you've got a teacher explaining, you have to listen. If you're not understanding it, tough and you just have to sort of not passively, but you know it's difficult sitting listening even. As you know, I'm 36 years old now and if I've got to sit somewhere and listen to someone speak unless they're the funniest person ever I I tend to fall asleep and it's. I think most people are like that. I think kids are definitely like that. So if most of your lessons are like that, it's going to be difficult. And yeah, if your day-to-day experience is you're in front of a teacher for an hour listening, then the next teacher listening, and you're struggling, you're not getting stuff, then it's going to be very hard.
Speaker 3:If that turning point is there if you just have one lesson like oh, I get what's going on here and I like it, then you'll like that lesson. If every lesson's like that, then you'll want to go to school. But sadly it's. You know it's not for the fault of the teachers. Teachers work very, very, very hard, it's just difficult. Limited resources and limited amounts of makes it impossible to sort of fix that overnight. I think. Hopefully with the potential of.
Speaker 3:AI and maybe robots not Elon Musk's robots yet, but I think you know, in the next 10 to 15 years I think school education can change massively if teachers have more time to devote to planning and time with students rather than marking and doing admin, and then students can sort of feel that they'll feel that difference. But we're a little wide off.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what do you think that would look like, though? Like what do you envision that set up to look like?
Speaker 3:If I was envisioning a classroom in the future where I was in it, it would be me, 30 students, let's say. And you know I come to front of the classroom, I say today we're doing photosynthesis and I can explain it in 30 seconds maybe. Then they're off to do their thing. They can offer water plants, grow plants, plant seeds, do things in this, and they've got either a robot or some sort of system. So I don't have to go to each individual one.
Speaker 3:If I'm that bored student really not know what's going on the air machine, hey, little man, I can see you're not quite getting this. Where's the trouble? And they go. Well, I don't get what photosynthesis is and I don't know what we're doing. And the computer can go right. This is what it is. You understand that.
Speaker 3:And if it was first good explanation, first time, oh, I do get it right. And your instructions, let's just take these things, do this. And if there are 13 students that feel that way and ai can help them, then the class can move much more fluently. Then I have time to go to week one and say hey, look, I saw for a second ago on this computer system you were achieving 53, but you're now at 70. Well done the improvement there. I'm watching you rather than me not being able to have that interaction because I'm busy marking or something, and I think if AI and computing can take that onus out, then you can have more interactions that are motivational and I think learning will just go off the charts if we have that. I don't think it's an if. I think it will happen. It's just how soon.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that would be amazing because I think it would help the teachers to focus on the human side of things. You know, that connection and things to the support, et cetera.
Speaker 3:And I think that's the thing AI can't replace. I was joking with friends about this recently. I was like, if you know, I can't speak any languages, but if an AI bot was going to teach me French and I went from 10% to 20% and the bot went Matt, you really impressed me, you've done well. You know that can't really motivate me because I know it's about person. Because if there was a physical teacher that could come and go hey, I've seen your percentages, you're doing really well on me. Hey, okay, thank you. Yeah, and that would motivate me. That would motivate me and you need that person, that real person, to push you and they make a difference yeah, yeah, there's just a limit to what ai and I don't know.
Speaker 2:You know, maybe one day they'll figure out something, I don't know. It's just there's. Humans need humans, you know just like birds need birds to flock together. It's just how life is question, though. You have transitioned out of the classroom. What are you now doing?
Speaker 3:I. I now run my company, ggm Science Tutors, so it's nearly seven years old, started as just me as a solo tutor and is now growing to 100 of us. So there are 100 tutors. We have an office manager, andrew, and my wife, who also works for the company, and we, you know, we work hard together, making sure that we can deliver high quality tutors to students that need science. We also provide for maths, english and other subjects, mainly for making sure that we can deliver high quality tutors to students that need science. We also provide for maths, english and other subjects, mainly for GCSE and A-level and G-Stage 3.
Speaker 3:Why did you make that shift? Because I was tutoring one-to-one heavily at the time when I was teaching almost together and a lot of friends were saying they were struggling to find high quality, reliable science teachers and I found a gap in the market, a gap I thought I could plug quite well and quite happily, and I did. I mean it took about a year of backbreaking work to get it in motion, but once it was in motion it started rolling. I enjoyed it. So I just started growing it to the point that I was able to go from five days a week at work to three days, two days, and then I started to complicate my life by by rapping, um, so just at the point I could leave full-time.
Speaker 2:I then had another thing to juggle, which is the rapping and running the company, which is now what I do full-time yeah, so you're on your way to Dubai for the guest show in November and you are going to be speaking at the guest show. What are you going to be talking about?
Speaker 3:I'm going to be doing two, two main shows. The first show is about engaging, so it's about how leaders in schools can raise their game and engage students using a mixture of the strategies I use, which is music in the classroom and how to use certain new AI technologies that can help engage learners, as well as how to get social media on side and use social media to help as well, because this is a difficult one. It's usually taboo and ignored, but there are some things that make social media quite powerful to help engage students. That's what one of the presentations is going to be about. The second one will be more of a sort of show called rhythm and rhyme. Where I am, I showcase a little bit of rapping in science brilliant.
Speaker 2:I'm almost tempted, before we close the podcast, to ask you to wrap something for us, just a little something that some that people can expect, but I don't know if I should put you on the spot like that. What I will ask you to do, though, is to look straight at camera and just invite people to come along and see what you have in store at Guess 2024.
Speaker 3:OK, all right, come and see one or both of my shows at guest 2024, where I'll be showing you ways to engage students using the power of social media music. And ai, can I drop a rap? Drop a rap, mate. Okay, I might have to get.
Speaker 2:I might have to get some lyrics up, you know go on, then I will definitely be clipping this for sure.
Speaker 3:Okay, A shout out to my sponsor Guests in Dubai, the education conference that I will pass by to talk and do experiments and even be on panels to find out more about the source they locked into our channels.
Speaker 2:Ooh, so you are set to be here in November. Do you have any plans for moving, expanding internationally? Matt.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, 100%. We've got a few clients in Dubai. Now we would love to really work with a few schools in Dubai. So we work with a number of schools in the UK and we work with a very, very large building company called Skanska in the UK where we train their trainee engineers. So that's one of our big areas of expansion now. So we'll always maintain helping families. When families need us and they've got their children and they want tutors, we do that. But where institutions like schools and companies need a fleet of tutors to train their trainees, or if a school's got classes that they need, we're doing that as well. Everything we do is online. We've got all the infrastructure in place, so we're just making a big push for that now Brilliant.
Speaker 2:Thank you for being on the podcast, Matt.
Speaker 3:No, it's a pleasure.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Teach Middle East podcast. Visit our website teachmiddleeastcom and follow us on social media. The links are in the show notes.
