Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/2864
at Mission Middle School in Es- condido, stands at the board ex- plaining math concepts to stu- dents and drawing equations. Many of the students get it but some are confused. “You guys sound like you need a little help,” says Kajitani, a mem- ber of the Escondido Elementary Education Association. “Let’s see if the Rappin’ Mathematician is available.” He steps outside and re-enters a moment later wearing sunglass- es. And what happens next is any- thing but typical. “Mr. Kajitani is wandering out there a little bit confused,” ex- plains the cool dude who now in- habits the body of their former teacher. “He says it’s hard to tell which way to move on the num- ber line.” He switches on some music and students break into laughter as he breaks into rap: Alex Kajitani represents state at national competition I t begins like a typical eighth- grade Introduction to Algebra class. Alex Kajitani, a teacher Well forget the Macarena, Forget the Funky Chicken, ’Cause I got a new dance And a beat that’s kickin’. Yeah, the Number Line Dance Is my finest creation. In every math class It’s sweeping the nation. Negative to the left, Positive to the right, It’s the Number Line Dance And I could dance all night! He turns off the music and tells students, “I’ll go look for Mr. Kaji- tani. He’s out there still wandering around.” And a few moments later, lo and behold, their typical teacher has returned. His willingness to make math something students can relate to has made him a superstar to his students and earned him the award of Cali- fornia Teacher of the Year — and put him in the running for the national award as well. He was honored along with California’s four other Teachers of the Year in a ceremony on Feb. 9 in Sacramento, and he will represent the state this spring in Washington, D.C., where he hopes to meet with President Obama. “This is such an incredible and amazing honor,” he says. “It’s won- derful to be representing teachers across California.” Kajitani, a native of Orange County, grew up listening to rap- pers but stopped listening as he became older, because he felt the lyrics were too violent. He says he always knew he was destined to become a teacher — even though he spent years managing a sea- food restaurant and traveling — before landing a job at Mission Middle School. “We’re in a pretty tough neigh- borhood,” he says of his campus. “Our school is 90 percent Latino and 90 percent free- and reduced- lunch. Two-thirds of the parents here never finished high school, so you might say we have a pretty challenging population.” Things did not go smoothly at Algebra teacher and National Teacher of the Year nominee Alex Kajitani of the Escondido Elementary Education Association becomes the the Rappin’ Mathematician to explain difficult math concepts to his students. first for the new teacher. His stu- dents didn’t pay attention. He was frustrated because he would ex- plain the same concepts over and over again, and the next day his students wouldn’t remember it. However, he noticed that they did remember some things: “They would hear a rap song on the radio on Monday and by Tuesday they were singing every word.” “One day I got an idea when I was teaching about adding and subtracting decimals. I went home that night and wrote a rap song called ‘The Itty Bitty Dot’ about the decimal system. I practiced it all night and performed it for them the next day.” He was devastated when his students laughed at him. “In my mind, it was an absolute disaster. I thought I was finished as a teacher. But when I went to lunch that day I walked by the tables and all the kids were singing the song. That’s when I knew I was onto something. The next day they were excited to be in class, saying the day before was the best day ev- er in math class. They asked me if I was going to rap again. They asked me if I was going to quit teaching to be on MTV.” The next week, much to his amazement, his students’ test scores shot up. And he’s been rap- pin’ ever since. Continued on page 38 february 2009 | www.cta.org 23 CTA photos by Scott Buschman