Educator remixes music to inspire, teach students learning from home
A Maryland elementary school instructional assistant is putting his rhyming skills to the test, using humor and music to inspire students during the coronavirus pandemic.
Sam Ganau, known to his students as "Mr. G," is making virtual learning more bearable by coming up with his own lines to today’s music in order to inspire students at Lincoln Elementary School in Frederick.
"I try to pick a beat that the kids know or have heard on the radio so that they can relate to it," Ganau said.
Ganau came up with the idea for "Freestyle Friday" when children were still in class together, and then started weekly online videos to keep them entertained during the pandemic.
"They are not meant to be staring at a screen all day. They don't get to really get up and move around near as much, and so seeing that, I was like, 'I got to do something,'" Ganau said.
"(The videos) just make me smile, and then when I show them to the kids, the kids light up. Mr. G is just great for doing it," said Paula Courange, a parent.
Courange said the videos are great for her second-grader, Sam, who has a hard time with virtual learning.
"Seeing these videos kind of lights up Fridays," she said.
"I get to show one of the fifth-grade classes live every Friday morning, and I just love watching them either dancing with me or just jaws drop, like, 'What? I didn’t know Mr. G could do that,'" Ganau said.
He's getting a great response on Facebook from parents who get a chuckle, too. Mr. G plans to release more videos until the kids can be together again.