Becoming a Taylor Swift Teacher

Why I Love Being a Teacher Swiftie

I’ve always said that Taylor Swift is going to be my best friend someday, she just doesn’t know it yet. As with most people, I find so much that I can connect to in her lyrics and writing. Plus having grown up with Taylor Swift, I have a special place in my heart for her music. Once I started teaching, I realized that I could bring my love for her to my classroom in so many ways. Check out how I transformed my classroom for Taylor Swift’s Midnight album or how I teach Taylor Swift as Poetry to be inspired for your own Taylor Swift classroom. 

I find that the lyrics, themes, and overall vibe of Taylor Swift speak to many of my high school students. Even if all my students aren’t fans, they still can easily understand and appreciate the Taylor Swift activities that we do. Plus, when I am excited about something, my students become more excited about something. Creativity and pop culture are always a win for high school students! 

How You Can Start Teaching Taylor Swift Now

Are You Ready For It? Thinking you want to become a Teacher Swiftie but you aren’t sure how? The easiest place to start is to find something Taylor Swift related that is already done for you.

 I have the perfect thing: Taylor Swift First Day Stations. Planning for back to school can be overwhelming but these first day stations can be your simple solution and help you save time and energy. Instead of boring your students by reading your syllabus, use these Taylor Swift Themed back to school activities. Each station includes easy-to-use directions, links to necessary paperwork, templates, printables, and examples of these first day in class activities. Not sure how these stations will transform your classroom? Keep reading below to see how you can be in your Teaching Era from the first day of school. 

Taylor Swift Class Stations

Taylor Swift Era #1: Taylor Swift: “Our Song”- DJ Playlist

Focusing on one of the iconic songs of Taylor Swift’s debut album, students will create their own playlist of “Our Song”s. Students have a chance to submit their own song requests with parameters of course. Take your students’ song requests and create a class playlist. Any time that you have independent work, turn on that playlist. Students love listening to music, especially music that they picked. I always warn my students that I will create a Taylor Swift classroom playlist if we don’t have enough submissions. That always seems to increase participation. Plus, playing lots of Taylor Swift will help convert more students to become fans!

Taylor Swift Era #2: Fearless: “Fifteen”- Wonders & Worries

Are there any more perfect lyrics than the first few lines of “Fifteen”? I mean look: “You take a deep breath/And you walk through the doors/ It’s the morning of your very first day”. Besides just being the ultimate perfect song for high schoolers on their first day of school, this song inspired a station capturing that first day feeling. At this station, students have the chance to share any questions they have for you as the teacher or any fears they are thinking about on their first day. Knowing that only you will read these statements helps students to open up and share their thoughts. You might be surprised by the responses that you get. 

Taylor Swift Era #3: Speak Now: “Enchanted”- Getting to Know You

Just like Taylor Swift is “Enchanted to meet you”, get to know your students in this station. Without doing a cheesy icebreaker or first day game. I have my students create a “Getting To Know You” Canva creation. This project has three purposes: first, to show me the level of technology skills that my students have. Secondly, I can learn more about my students without having to go throughout the painful first day of sharing. Finally, I have an easy project grade to start everyone off right in the grade book. Create your own slide to share with your students so you too can skip the painful welcome to my classroom spiel. 

Taylor Swift Era #4: Red: “I Knew You Were Trouble”- First Day Selfie

Everyone knows that the Red album is where Taylor Swift’s personality really shines. Allow your students the chance to do the same. Have them take that iconic first day picture. Challenge them to show off their personality in the photo as well. You can even have them submit the images to you for room decor. As any good teacher will tell you, this activity is a great place to see the personalities of your students as they take their pictures. And just like Taylor sings, you’ll be able to say “I knew you were trouble when you walked in”. Hopefully, you don’t have any troublemakers in your class, but it never hurts to know as quickly as possible. 

Taylor Swift Era #5: 1989: “Blank Space”- Classrooms Expectations Collaboration

Give students some “Blank Space” where they can write in their ideas for classroom expectations. What I love about this activity is that students do all the hard work. They create the classroom “rules” without you having to review them. My students always add the standard rules that I would have in my classroom. Expectations like “We will respect everyone in class” or “No one should talk while Mrs. Rice is speaking”. My favorite ones are the oddly specific ones. One year we had an “Only one pillow per person” rule in our classroom because so many students wanted the flexible seating I offered. 

Taylor Swift Era #6: Reputation: “Ready For It?”- Syllabus Signing

One of the most important parts of the first day is reviewing your syllabus. Think of this as your students’ cheat sheet for the year. You spent time explaining your expectations and requirements for the class so you need a way for the kiddos to read it. I recommend creating a syllabus, having students review it, and then completing a Google Form. You can ask them quiz questions from your syllabus and capture a digital signature for each student and parent. Really this is your way of asking your students “Are you ready for it?”. Ready for your class and all that you will teach them. 

Taylor Swift Era #7: Lover-” Cruel Summer”-What I Did This Summer

Hopefully, your students don’t return to school sharing that they were struggling with unreturned love like Taylor Swift does in “Cruel Summer”. We are hoping that students had a great time off. In this station, students have the chance to share what they did this summer. However, to keep it simple, students can only use pictures and short captions to share what they did. We are trying to avoid the rambling stories about nothing that our students love to tell.

Taylor Swift Era #8: Folklore: “This Is Me Trying”- Goal Setting

I am a firm believer in writing down your goals and visualizing what you want. Teaching students how to set goals is so crucial. But, unfortunately setting goals feels a little gimmicky to students. To avoid the cringe, I created a template to make it simple. This template allows for five simple goals for each student to accomplish in my class. I recommend providing examples or a list of goals that students can choose from if they get stuck. You can have students print off this template and keep it in their notebook or binder. The more often they see it, the better their mindset will be.

Taylor Swift Era #9: Evermore: “Marjorie”- Who Inspires You?

Taylor Swift’s song “Marjorie” from her Evermore album is a song dedicated to her grandmother Marjorie. The lyrics of the song are a mix of wise advice and longing to remember someone who inspired her. In this station, students will choose one person who inspires them. Students can choose anyone even if they have never personally known their inspiration. 

Once again I provide a template so students can fill in the information simply. They can choose anyone that they want even if they haven’t met them. Prompt questions allow students to share who the person is and how they inspire the student. Students have the chance to add a picture as well. Print these inspirations out and you can hang them in your room.

Taylor Swift Era #10: Midnights: “You’re On Your Own, Kid”- Friendship Bracelets

One of the Eras Tour trends was creating Taylor Swift Themed Friendship Bracelets to trade at her concert. The trend started based on the lyric “So, make the friendship bracelets” in her song “You’re On Your Own, Kid”. This station is all about creativity. You have two options: Option #1: Bring in materials to make real friendship bracelets. Option #2: Use a Canva template link to have students create their own digital friendship bracelets.

Students can trade their friendship bracelets if they make real ones or they can download a copy of their friendship bracelets and send them to you to display. Make some of your own bracelets to trade with your students.

More Taylor Swift Lessons

How to Teach Taylor Swift as Poetry for High School Students

How to Create Classroom Transformations That Excite High School Students

SWIFT Poetry Analysis

As you start this back to school season, you can easily bring Taylor Swift into your classroom. A true transformation is all about using what you already have and adding a little Tay Tay. My recommendation is to start small. Even a little Taylor Swift in your classroom can make the whole class shimmer. I would love to see how you become a teacher swiftie with your Taylor Swift class. Show me how you brought Taylor Swift into your classroom by tagging me or sending me a DM @theteacherrewrite on Instagram. If you want to extend your summer just a little bit longer and don’t want to have to think about how to set up these stations, you can use my  Taylor Swift First Day Stations. I can’t wait to see how you transform your Taylor Swift classroom!