Teach Like a Pirate - transformation and enthusiasm

Being out of town for the last 1.5 weeks with just a couple days to visit with my hubby before heading out again, I just haven't kept up with my blogging. I started this one awhile ago and just haven't gotten back to it. I've got a bit if time while stating at my mom's office in CT so here we go. Hopefully I will catch up with the schedule soon.

 

 

A1: If students didn't have think there I don't think I would be teaching to an empty room but I don't think it would be a packed house either. If they had to be at school and they had to be in someone's classroom I think my odds are pretty good that they would come to mine :-)

A2: I'm not sure I really have any lessons that the kids would buy tickets to but I do think there are lots of things we do that they find enjoyable, engaging and educational. They love special days during the year (like International Dot Day & Earth Day), neat units (like mythology & French stuff with Family Under the Bridge), cool projects (like holiday card exchange & Global Read Aloud) as well as interesting technology assignments to go along with our reading and research. Of course there is always room for growth and I think many of the questions and suggestions in the book are just the kind of thing that get the creative juices flowing. I'm at ISTE right now and it has me looking at some of this from a different perspective - what could be a hook or a prop to get kids excited?

"You have to have a vision of what your ideal classroom experience looks like if you want to have any hope of creating it."

I'm really putting some thought into my vision these days.

I think the blank adjustable classroom that Dave describes sounds perfect in many ways - how cool to transform the space and arrangement for a party or battle or march. I however am more of a theme girl at some time I might be able to let it go but not yet. Instead I like to transform my room to fit my theme. I have blue covers over my lights, ocean creatures all around and a life sized diver hanging from my ceiling. I love my calm space and the kids do too. I do however like to dress up for different activities/events. I wish I had Ms. Frizzles wardrobe. At least I have my pirate shirt.

 

This is something that I have no shortage of! I LOVE what I do and the kids and other teachers know it. I have a lot of energy and I am "on" most of the time. I just got back from ISTE 2013. As I described it to my coworkers I'm hardcore when it comes to these things. There were times they went back to the room, left for lunch, or came in late but I just can't spare a moment. It was not all in sessions, sometimes it was hanging out at the bloggers cafe meeting people face to face or attending a social event but I soaked it all up because I love that kind of thing. That is how I am with school too. I'm always trying to find new things to share with my students. Like Dave Burgess however I'm not perfect (as a matter of fact I appreciated reading that) I don't always get my papers back as quickly as I could or respond to an email right away but no one would ever thing it is because I'm not dedicated. That is apparent to anyone who meets me. As a matter of fact, while visiting with friends at the Fablevision booth at ISTE a gentleman came up and told Terry Shay that he could sense my energy from where he was standing (a bit of a distance away). By the way, Peter H Reynolds (author/illustrator who founded Fablevision) is someone whose enthusiasm radiates from him and I think that's why everyone gravitates towards him.

I liked Dave's variation on the Carlos Santana quote "There is nothing more contagious on this planet than enthusiasm ...the lesson becomes incidental, what people receive is your enthusiasm

 

First Five for Friday

Today I'm joining Doodle Bugs Teaching for the first time for

I am totally settled into summer by now and not getting much done but relaxing, reading, and blogging of course as far as I'm concerned there's nothing wrong with that :-)

Here are my five for this week:

 Wednesday was my 9 year anniversary. Unfortunately my wonderful husband was gone in Vegas for work but we are celebrating this weekend by going to a concert a local venue, Chastain, that we love. We used to get a "take 5" season pass but there just weren't enough things we wanted to see this year :-(

 

This past week was also the one year anniversary of my blog. I have been blogging up a storm lately compared to the past. Last summer I had just started my blog and was joining in on a couple of Link ups but this summer I have gone beyond that and actually done some posts about a few things I have done in my classroom this year. I still have a list of some other things to share so stay tuned.

I have also attended a bunch of webinars this week. I'm a huge fan of Simple K12 and they are doing tons of live sessions over the summer plus they have a million prerecorded ones. Most of the live ones are for members but some are offered free. As a matter of fact, hey are doing a full day of different iPad sessions on June 18 and July 9 so go check it out if you are interested. I love that over the summer I can do PD on my own terms. I can pick out the things I want to do and I can do as much or as little as I would like.

I participate on a racing team on  Wednesday Nights and I have thoroughly enjoyed being  able to stay over on our sailboat after the race each week. They do food and drinks at the clubhouse after each race and during the school year I always have to dash off because I get up so early.

our race boat now- we used to race on a much smaller boat

super cute sailboat shorts the girls have to match - luv them

my old 70s era boat where I sleep - it is more like a camper than a yacht :-)

I go in and out of phases with Twitter. I will check it periodically but I don't contribute much except around technology events. Since I'm heading off to ISTE 2013 soon I have been much more active. I've also been watching the hastag #TLAP (Teach Like a Pirate) since I loved the book. There will be a new #TLAP chat starting up Tuesday for anyone that likes that kind of thing. I followed the final meeting of a previous group last week. I'm @htemske on twitter if you want to follow me. I do expect to tweet some from the event.

I guess that's it for now. I'm excited to go catch a movie and dinner tonight with my bestie from school. I always miss not seeing her everyday when it's vacation. She is going along to Texas so that will be extra fun.

Don't forget to check out what everybody else is doing at...

 

Teach Like a Pirate chapter 2

I- Immersion

As easy as it is to sense immersion, students can also immediately sense when we aren't all there. We all know when we are dealing with people who are distracted or in some way dividing their attention.

A lack of immersion in the present send a clear, although unspoken, message that this moment is somehow less important and not significant enough to be worth undivided attention. ouch I hadn't thought of it that way but it is true.

Most of the time I really am all about the students. For as techie as I am I'm not checking my email every second and looking at my phone. I am teaching and working with students. If someone walks into my room and I am in a conversation with a student or on a roll teaching I will have them wait. I will sit on the floor or pop under a desk if that's where the kids are reading.

I do think we have to grab those valuable teachable moments. It's the best way to validate curiosity. My husband and I laugh about how we survives without our ipads and smart phones with respect to immediate gratification about what we might be wondering. When we are talking about who sang a song, who was in a movie, where a place is located or some other silly thing we can satisfy our curiosity right away. I for one wonder about all kinds of things that I will go on a search to find out about. It's nice when we can indulge the students curiosity and interest as well.

As for the testing piece... My feeling is - If you are teaching the content in an engaging way kids are going to get it. My team of fourth grade teachers are great - definitely some out of the box thinkers and our test scores were fantastic - #1 one in our county for reading & ELA #2 for math & science #3 SS (out of 58 schools)

I agree with Dave Burgess it would be quite a compliment to hear a student say "When (s)he's teaching you, (s)he isn't doing anything else!"

Teach Like A Pirate - Chapter 1

I loved this book! Since finishing it Monday I have convinced my principal and several other teachers to read it. It was so refreshing to me.

Pirates are daring, adventurous, and willing to set forth into uncharted territories with no guarantee of success. Shouldn't we all be pirates. I for one just bought the T shirt so I can wear it proudly.

Here are my reflections on the passion questions.

Content passion - This year I was only teaching reading and language arts. Math and science have always been my favorites so I had to work on being passionate about some other areas. I do love book and I have a very large classroom  library. I feel passionate that students should have choice in their reading and that it is my job to encourage a love of reading. Once of the ways I try and do this is sharing the middle grade books I have loved and also by letting kids share about the books they are reading. I love bringing books to life during read aloud time and when we do class novels by connecting to them anyway we can. I have joined the Global Read Aloud for the last three years. When I do trips to places (like Paris) that connect with a book we read I like to go around and take pictures of the spots in the book. I also to bring the reading alive through readers theater and tableau or any  other kind of active connection. I also like connecting our classroom with collaborative projects when ever possible.

Professional passion - I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being a teacher. I am incredibly passionate about technology integration. My principal worked it out this year that I taught in my classroom four days a week and then while many of my students were gone to gifted pullout I helped teacher integrate technology lessons in their classrooms. Along with that I love professional development whether that is reading books and blogs or attending webinars and conferences. I am always learning!

Personal Passion - I love to sail and I participate on a racing team each Wednesday and for the occasional weekend regatta. I really enjoy scuba diving. My classroom theme in my room came out of that joy. I'm super excited about going hang gliding thanks to a gift from my husband who will not be joining me because he is afraid of heights. The bottom line here is I love traveling (favorite so far was the Galapagos Islands) and anything mildly adventurous. The collages below are from my classroom website.

 

I know my passion must come through because this was a quote from a parent placement letter that was shared with me by the principal. "Great placement this year in a forward thinking, challenging, technology accepting and progressive classroom. Teacher with similar interests and energy was wonderful. My child has excelled when placed with teachers who are younger/youthful spirited, progressive and energetic." I guess since I'm 45 I fall under the "youthful spirited" category :-)

Another quote form the book that I liked was "Light yourself on fire with enthusiasm and people will come from miles around just to watch you burn!"

I look forward to joining in again next time.