If you’ve ever taught a classroom full of children, you know that getting them to settle down and pay attention all at the same time is a bit like trying to herd cats. (Seriously, teachers should make six figures. Every single one of them.)
Believe it or not, shouting, “OK, everyone! Time to settle down and get started!” is generally an ineffective way to get kids to settle down and get started. Threatening punishment sometimes works, but that’s not very conducive to a healthy learning environment. So teachers often come up with creative ways to grab everyone’s attention. There’s the ever-popular clap-a-rhythm method, which works well for the youngest kiddos. There’s the ear-piercing two-finger whistle for teachers who are talented enough to pull it off. There’s the bell or the bullhorn, both of which are as annoying to the teacher as they are to the students.
And then there’s the unique call-and-response, which one teacher shared on TikTok to the delight of millions.
The video from the account @primrosetheband, which has been viewed over 7 million times, begins with a music teacher facing the class in front of a whiteboard. We can hear the hustle and bustle of the kids in the background when suddenly, the teacher yells out “Hear ye! Hear ye!” and the kids immediately respond, “All hail the king!”
Cute, but it gets better.
The teacher has several call-and-response attention grabbers that are song lyrics, and not necessarily ones we’d expect kids to know. Either this teacher has taught them to the kids directly, or these kids have quite the rock music repertoire under their young belts.
Watch the teacher yell out, “Flip on the tele!” and see the kids respond, “Wrestle with Jimmy!”—a lyric from Weezer’s 1994 song, “Say It Ain’t So.”
@primrosetheband Gotta find creative ways to get them to listen! #teacher #musicschool #teacher #primrose
He also had them do AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” and Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.”
People in the comments were tickled at hearing the kids respond, as well as hearing the teacher’s “Thank you!” every single time.
“THE WEEZER ONE 🙏🙏🙏 I NEED YOU TO BE MU TEACHER ACTUALLY,” wrote 𖤐 little sunshine 𖤐.
“I spit out my water when they said ‘wrestle with Jimmy,'” shared Stoning
“One year at camp mine was ‘y’all gone make me lose my mind!’ And they’d respond ‘up in here, up in here,'” shared Sam.
“Why can’t we continue this in college,” inquired CatTastrophe27. “I swear my lower division classes need this.”
Seriously, learning is a lot more enjoyable when everyone’s paying attention, and getting everyone’s attention is a lot more with a creative call-and-response than with yelling and threats. Give teachers like this all the kudos and all the money. They definitely deserve it.