Yes, it's the last day of what I've learned from Teach Like a Pirate . He does share a ton of hooks and lesson ideas in the last half of his book, but that's more resource material for lesson ideas. Did you get your copy yet? Totally worth it! I grabbed the Kindle version, costs less and it's portable for me. :)
So today is the last morsel from me regarding Transformation and Enthusiasm. Before I dive into that, did you read the other parts?
Transformation
In this chapter the author talks about being remarkable - that good isn't good enough. I don't want to be a brown cow when I can be a purple one (or in my case a pink one). He mentions constructing a vision of what your students will get out of your class, this reminds me of those dream boards from way back when. What is my vision, what is my dream?
After coming up with my vision and dream class, then I need to take a realistic view of my current classroom and see what needs to be improved. Summer is the perfect time to do that - I've already done a lot of reflection on here and don't want to bore anyone - but it's basically reflecting on the past and taking ownership of it for the future.
The author mentions trying to blur the lines between education and entertainment. I feel like I am good at this. I sometimes do feel like I'm on a stage when I'm at the whiteboard. I bring in materials, we complete hands on projects, I act out lessons and make them memorable. I hear from past students that they remember learning this or that, and other 4th graders have told me they wished they did those same activities. I know I must be doing something right.
What got me though was when the author talked about the need to stand out from everything else that is vying for my students' attention. It's so hard to be "on" all the time. It's exhausting. It's something to build my own stamina with.
Enthusiasm
The thing I'm taking away from this section is that I will try to create the best situations possible, but I won't beat myself up when things that happen outside my control get in the way. I will breathe. I will work on being a control freak. I will focus on the good things, and not worry so much about the negative. I will smile more.
After this section comes the hooks and lesson ideas - they all tie into this Enthusiasm piece. :)
After this section comes the hooks and lesson ideas - they all tie into this Enthusiasm piece. :)
Okay - here's the Book Study information one more time. I hope these 3 days made you interested in reading the book for yourself. It definitely has made me rethink somethings for myself.
*Before I sign off - wanted to remention that I'm starting to plan a 500 & 500 celebration. If you are interested in helping out please email me at ilovemyclassroom@ymail.com or leave a comment below. Thanks to the wonderful people that have already contacted me!
*Also wanted to mention that today is the last day of my sale over at TPT. Everything is 20% off - including those 5 new products. :)
Have a wonderful Independence Day!
That is awesome that you feel like you are already doing some things from the book. When I read this all I could think about was how my students last year were such behavior problems that I couldn't trust them participating in hands-on activities. I'm looking forward to being engaging from day one so that students have expectations for working with hands-on activities from the start.
ReplyDeleteJamie
Sixth Grade Tales
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I just started reading this book. It is great! I'll have to check back and look at your other comments for the first parts of the book to compare thoughts.
ReplyDelete♬Kay
On the Trail of Learning