The Purpose and Passion of Teaching

Teach Like a Pirate: Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life as an Educator by Dave Burgess

(Published by Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc., San Diego, CA, 2012)

Let me just start by saying this is by far one of the most favorite education-based texts I have read. It was real, raw, and inspiring. It was not an encouragement to hop on a bandwagon, or speak in regards to one breakthrough way to make teaching more like everyone else. In fact, it was near opposite. In encouraged each educator to be the full version of themselves, immerse themselves in their students, and give students an experience they won't forget.

I agree with the Dave Burgess that our goal as educators is to build life-long learners. Our job is to help students seek knowledge, ask questions, and want to be the best version of themselves. In order to do this, teachers need to seek knowledge, ask questions, and want to be the best version of themselves as well. Collaboration is a huge factor to success in good teaching, as is being true to yourself as an educator.

I remember doing some “crazy” things inside and out of the classroom that other teachers may not have been a fan of. However, my passion for the learning experience was there and the students engagement was through the roof. One example was when I challenged my eighth grade science students to get light to go from our classroom out the end door of the building, one story down. This meant finding a way to get a straight light beam to travel from an upstairs science classroom, out the door, down the hall, down the stairs and out the door on the first floor. The principal was not impressed to find several of my students in the hall during academic time, but the students were impressed that they were able to make it happen despite how impossible it seemed. I could have shown them a video about reflecting light, blah, blah, blah, or I could challenge them to figure out for themselves how it works and they DID!

This book encourages all educators to dive into the content, learning experiences, and mode of each individual class to make it the most meaningful time together possible. When the teacher is excited for the day's activities, the students start being excited to show up and see what's next. It's not a plan of perfection, but rather a plan of teachable moments.

The most important piece to the success of an effective classroom environment is knowing yourself and the students well. The rapport and respect foundation is crucial to meaningful journeys and moments together as a class. I like how the author emphasized laying this foundation in the beginning of the class/semester. Most teachers feel like they have so much to “cover”, but really they have so many humans to get to know quickly. The good rapport established allows the classroom to run like a well-oiled machine, ready for any adventure that comes its way.

Coming from an interdisciplinary undergraduate study, I also loved the way the author pointed out the valuable ways to include music, art, movement, etc. in any lesson or unit. Burgess also pointed out that tapping into student's interests outside of school is a great way to build engagement as well. Beyond engagement, this encourages the students to become the best version of themselves, once again an important focus for each student.

Connecting anything in the classroom to that outside the classroom is so effective. Show your students why what they are learning is important, powerful, and/or necessary. Burgess suggested even tying content to current events, or even a popular TV show. I believe connections are all around us. If you start pointing them out to your students, it will not be long before they start pointing them out to you.

“Much of your success as an educator has to do with your attitude towards teaching and towards kids. The rest of your success is based on your willingness to relentlessly search for what engages students in the classroom and then having the guts to do it.” (pg. 84)

Burgess's approach to being an enthusiastic, true-to-self, engaged teacher benefits all students, all abilities, and fellow teachers. His book was kind of like a big pep talk on how the career of teaching is worth the effort. The rewards are infinite. We chose this profession to make the world a better place and to touch the lives of children of all ages. Thank you to Dave Burgess for reminding me of the passion for teaching I still hold! 

For more about this author, visit:

http://DaveBurgess.com

Story Stones

As summer was winding down and the transition back to school neared, I was eager to do an activity to get the creativity of language flowing. I wanted to combine art, nature, and language to make it most appealing for this particular group of children. Let's take a look at the activity!

All summer the kids were fascinated with rocks and shells, so by August we had quite a collection. This special collection was something the kids hoped to keep, but I knew we could do more than just collect these beautiful treasures from nature. We picked the smoothest, flattest, and most intriguing stones out of the collection to turn into an art activity.

We started our activity by reading If You Find a Rock by Peggy Christian. In this book all types of rock explorations are discussed and it served as a good conclusion to all our various rock collecting throughout the summer.

Each child picked a special spot to paint her rocks. I let each start with minimal prompting, then worked my way around to observe and give leads to ideas as needed. I asked them to paint each rock with a different object, color, etc. Here are some of the things they came up with...

"sunset"

"house"

"ladybug"

The peace and contentment was contagious. They were each in their own world, creating and imagining. 

The stones were lined up on the railing to dry in the sun

and a flood of activity ideas arose... story prompts, sequencing activities, writing prompts, guessing games, poem writing, descriptive verbal communication, etc.

• Writing Activity
• pick five stones that have been painted
• arrange in a sequence of your choice
• write a meaningful narrative including characters, setting, and dialogue
• (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.3)
• Verbal Share Activity (younger children)
• share a few stones with peers by describing painting you did on each
• give detail on features and meaning of picture
• use a clear communicative voice
• (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.6)
• Verbal Share Activity (older children)
• paint a stone, or stones, that inspire(s) you
• use complete sentences that include detail to describe the image you are conveying on the stone
• speak clearly
• allow peers to ask questions and answer them with detail
• (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.6)

The box of story stones has been an attraction for children that have seen it. It immediately calls to be investigated and most children who peer in ask questions. They guess what each one is a picture of, comment on one that may be a favorite of theirs, and of course want to know who created these little treasures. In other words, they have just enough curiosity to start the next activity without even being the person who created them.

What other activity ideas would you do with a project like this? Share your ideas below!