I recently finished Dave Burgess’s “Teach Like a Pirate”. There are so many practical applications to all of life from this book. I’m already asking better questions – -you know, it’s more that I’m just asking questions about how I can improve lessons so they are more engaging and relevant.
PIRATE is an acronym of sorts – P – Passion, I – Immersion, R – Rapport, A – Ask & Analyze, T – Transformation, E – Enthusiasm. I’ve only seen a Ted-Ex youtube video of Dave, but I can imagine his excited speech as I read his words on the page. I see him passionately seeking to help other teachers find their passion and enliven their lessons.
The I jumped out at me – Immersion – be completely and fully present in class. Go with the flow, surrender the need to be in control. It hit me that this is a talent I lack in all of life. At home, spending time with my hubby, how often am I dividing my time with social media. It was a wake-up call to put down the phone, to let go of the unnecessary and focus on being in the moment – be that at home or at work or wherever I find myself.
This helped me on my trip to LA recently. We had the opportunity to break bread and just have fun with so many wonderful people in my husband’s industry (voice acting). A part of me desperately wanted to get all four books read that I had taken with me, but I remembered the “I” and put down the books. This not only helped my husband but it helped me as I had the opportunity to share my vision. Both of us walked away encouraged and ready to take the next necessary steps in our respective careers.
I have begun to plan out my year (I’ve been planning and re-planning since last year ended, but I began to actually put the words onto the lesson template). Dave’s questions in part II are helping me carefully consider every aspect of my lessons. Here are some of the examples from my first days lesson:
What can I do on this first day to make it a positive beginning and about the students? How can I make it fun while teaching the necessary routines? How can I dress like a mad-scientist to get students excited? Is there a video to show or can I create my own video – Harry Carey style mad scientist :)?
I was reading #tlap in part so I could participate in my school district’s online twitter book club. During the course of reading, I was lead to at least three other books (3 books I bought to add to my summer reading list and many more to find in the future) three of which I devoured quickly before finishing #tlap. Inquiry & Innovation in the Classroom by A.J. Juliani, Pure Genius by Don Wettrick, and Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller. Those three books are littered with lesson notes and questions that started with reading #tlap and have only continued.
At the end of #tlap, Dave writes about the most difficult step being to just start and challenges his readers to let go of the need for perfection or whatever and just start. I don’t think fear of failure has been an issue for me. I’ll admit every year I feel like I am experimenting with my classroom and one day/year I will finally have it all together. Dave’s words gave me comfort that that scenario of mine will likely never be the case and it’s okay.
So get out there – pick up Dave Burgess’s Teach Like a Pirate and find out the greatness for yourself. Try it out! If nothing else, in reading all of these books and connecting on Twitter to these authors and more, I am encouraged that I am not alone in my desire to make a real change in public education.