Unconventional teaching methods have often become a point of contention among parents and schools. There’s even a Jack Black movie about this. That didn’t discourage one teacher from Florida from channeling School of Rock, or in this case, School of Rap, after she went viral for teaching her 1st grade students simple money math using rap music. Consequently, her methods and even her choice of attire sparked off a debate online.
The teacher in question is 22-year-old Kals Grace, aka Ms. Cassell, from Florida. Recently, she grew wildly viral after posting her clip, where she used rap beats and lyricism while teaching her students how to count US coins. Cassell was also wearing an above-the-knee dress. In the video, the 1st-grade students appear to be fully engaged and participating in the rap music, whose lyrics are about quarters, nickels, pennies, and dimes.
The clip has since been reposted many times across multiple social media platforms, where both the method of teaching using rap music and the dress led to debates and rumors that people are calling for Cassell to be fired. Sadly, Cassell appears to have deleted the viral video from her TikTok account.
Apparently, the rumors were so troubling that Cassell herself had to address them in a temporary TikTok story post on April 24. In the post, she clarified that, “Claims that I am being fired are false. Claims that ‘calls are growing’ are false.” Additionally, the Florida teacher defended her method, saying “Kids learn through songs” and “fun activities.” To reassure everyone, Cassell also claims “I am doing my job just fine” and that the other teachers are even praising her for “perfectly dress code clothes.”
Lots of People Online Want Her as a Teacher
It’s not clear where the rumors began or whether there are actually people online who still believe that petitions are being made to fire Cassell, but it appears most of the debate hinges on what she wore while teaching in class during that particular video. “How about if she is a good teacher we coach her on appropriate classroom attire then if she messes up again escalate toward firing,” suggests one commenter.
Another commenter on Instagram stated, “The dress is too short for her profession, that’s all. Hopefully she at least has shorts underneath the dress.” Coming in at Cassell’s defense, however, are people attacking the critics, saying, “They’re mad she’s pretty.” Some think her dress was no big deal, “its a lil short but nothing to be fired over they could of told her to js wear something else next time” and others have praised her teaching, “this makes me sooo sad because you can tell she’s such a good teacher.”
