Expected, Inspected, & Respected.
"We do not learn from experience … we learn from reflecting on experience."
-John Dewey |
"We do not learn from experience … we learn from reflecting on experience."
-John Dewey |
Should I strive to be more entertaining? Is it in my personality to engage my students through borderline buffoonery? These are the questions that come to mind as I read Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess. To hear him describe his first three days of school, I am impressed and inspired by his tactics to sell his students on education. Some of the methods he uses in his first three days of classes include playing with play-doh, ranting and raving up and down the aisles about how to properly say good morning, pretending to be an airplane that crash lands, literally rolling on the floor, and giving an impassioned sales pitch. The silliness and clowning has purpose - it serves to break down barriers, get the kids to drop their guard and hook them into giving education a shot, making them believe that it's not only good for them but can be fun too. He says that for students, "it's easier to not give your best and then blame failure on a lack of effort, than to be forced to realize you really don't have what it takes. At least you can save face with your peers when you fail if you don't try in the first place." That's why he pulls out all the stops to convince them to put in the effort. His effort at the beginning of the year pays off later when they are receptive to his teaching and they are willing to work and learn. I'm not sure I can take it to the level that Dave Burgess does, but I'm not above taking risks, especially in the interest of providing lesson plans that stick. I had planned on singing Stan Rogers' Northwest Passage to the class and then having the students research the place names and explorers mentioned in the song but apparently, they have already done that exact lesson already. Maybe I could show them this Kids in the Hall sketch? Showing this to 10 year olds seems risky, but I bet they would love it.
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David Wiebe
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