--- title: 4th Grade Teacher Creates Welcome Rap Video for His Students description: Chicago teacher Dwayne Reed produced (and stars in) a music video welcoming his new students to the school year — and setting expectations. canonical: https://time.com/4464540/teacher-4th-grade-rap-video/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-24T15:59:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:35:48.775Z og:title: Watch This Hip 4th-Grade Teacher Rap for His Students og:description: Chicago teacher Dwayne Reed is starting the school year off on a high note. og:url: https://time.com/4464540/teacher-4th-grade-rap-video/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch This Hip 4th-Grade Teacher Rap for His Students twitter:description: Chicago teacher Dwayne Reed is starting the school year off on a high note. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Teacher Made an Adorable Rap Video For His Incoming 4th Grade Class  by [Raisa Bruner](/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 24, 2016 3:59 PM CUT  by [Raisa Bruner](/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 24, 2016 3:59 PM CUT This is Dwayne Reed’s first year as a fourth grade teacher in Chicago — but he shouldn’t have any problem getting his class to love him. Instead of sending out a standard introductory newsletter [in advance of the start of school](http://time.com/4457305/back-to-school-quiz/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined"), Reed decided to put together a full music video. Complete with a catchy chorus, his three-minute rap song takes his students through the standards and expectations he has for the year. (No daydreaming!) “So we gotta keep it positive, that’s the key / Have respect for each other, and don’t forget me / Have respect for your selves and the staff and the school / Having fun can be cool when you’re following the rules,” he sings. The video has racked up over 150,000 views on YouTube and got Reed an appearance [on _Good Morning America_](http://abcnews.go.com/US/year-chicago-teacher-creates-catchy-rap-song-4th/story?id=41602015 "undefined") this week, further solidifying his celebrity. Lucky students: this song would make anyone want to go back to school. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4464540/teacher-4th-grade-rap-video/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4464540/teacher-4th-grade-rap-video/"},"headline":"This Teacher Made an Adorable Rap Video For His Incoming 4th Grade Class","datePublished":"2016-08-24T15:59:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:35:48.775Z","description":"It’ll make you want to go back to school","url":"https://time.com/4464540/teacher-4th-grade-rap-video/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Education","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4464540/teacher-4th-grade-rap-video/","name":"This Teacher Made an Adorable Rap Video For His Incoming 4th Grade Class"}}]}] ```