Teach Like a Pirate, Part 1 (book review)

One of my on-going goals is always to read more and one of my specific summer goals is to read Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess.  

I first heard of this book several years ago, but didn't snag a copy until I was at ASCD and actually visited the TLAP booth in the convention.  I'd attended a rather awesome session by the author of Play Like a Pirate and won a free shirt, so I went down to claim it.  Low and behold, there was Dave in full pirate attire.  So I snagged both books...and had them autographed.

It's taking me longer than I anticipated to read Teach Like a Pirate, but not for the reasons you might think.

The first reason is my furry helpers.  I love them, but they do get in the way of my work time.  

Sometimes we need to stop for snuggle and scratching breaks.  

The second is because the book's content.  There are parts that seem to sucker punch my heart.  I have to stop, reflect, analyze, and realize that this author is highlighting a point that I didn't even know bothered me.   

Part One: 

Creativity 

For years, I've been described as a creative person.  I enjoy craft projects, scrap booking, and generally making things (except if it's in the kitchen, sorry mom!).  However, this also means that sometimes I'm assigned extra work because "I'm creative" and it "shouldn't take me much time at all".  (Spoiler: Whatever the project, it usually far surpasses the estimate of a time commitment because I'm a perfectionist.)

Deep down, this assumption that creativity just flows through me and is easy for me has always bothered me but I couldn't quite pinpoint why.  Being creative isn't an insult by any means.  But the assumption that it's natural and easy is.

But then I read a few pages from Teach Like a Pirate where the author was so clearly able to articulate all of my feelings with the concise verbiage I hope to one day master.

The author goes on to state: 

"Creativity is rarely about natural brilliance or innate genius.  Much more often creativity results from properly directed attention, laser-like focus, relentless effort, and hard work.   Outsiders see the glorious results but know very little about the sweat and blood that happens behind closed doors.  Creative genius is something people tend to romanticise, but the reality is not very romantic at all.  Like any skill it takes practice and effort.  No one assumes that an accomplished doctor, rocket scientist, or engineer "lucked" their way into greatness.  We have a certain understanding and appreciation for the years of study, sacrifice, and hard work it takes for these experts to reach the highest levels of their profession...Most people would be surprised to pull back the curtain and see the years of excruciating labor, relentless pursuit of excellence, and monstrous obstacles those "naturals" have overcome." (Burgess, p. 38)

Being "creative" isn't something I can turn on and off like a light switch.  Being "creative" isn't something I was born with and it's not something that just happens.  Creativity has been fostered since childhood with lots of painting projects, spilled glitter (sorry mom), and failed attempts at crafting.  Creativity was encouraged in student council and being an RA with finding alternative ways to problem solve and plan events with a limited budget.  Creativity was encouraged in the aisles of Joanns, in the pages of craft magazines, in conversations with others, and through countless pins on Pinterest (it's true!).  There have been hundreds of failed attempts at craft projects in the name of "being creative".  The first burlap wreath I made took almost six hours because I didn't know what I was doing and I didn't like how it was turning out.  (On a side note, burlap with a wired edge works way better for crafting wreaths.)  Being creative, like any skill, takes time, patience, and a lot of trial and error situations.  (Ya know, like teaching...)

The author goes on to describe an interaction with another teacher.  The other teacher used the crushing "six words": "It's easy for you. You're creative."  This was in response to a conversation about classroom management and culture.

The author, understandable irritated, goes on to articulate:

"It's easy for me.  Really? So with our words she dismissed sixteen years of hard work...It wasn't easy when I started, it wasn't easy last week, and it won't be easy next week either." (Burgess, 40).

I've been there, several times.  

The author then comments on the other teacher seeming to make excuses for the lack of management in the classroom.  These excuses deprive her students of their full potential.  Burgess goes on to state "It's not OK to throw up your hands in defeat because you're not naturally creative.  Few, if any, teachers are innately creative." (Burgess, 41).  He goes on to talk of creativity as something that is meant to be "nurtured and developed in all of us".

Creativity, like all things worth having, takes time, questioning, persistence, and a degree of failure.

I can't wait to see what the other 150 pages hold!

Play Like a Pirate (book review)

I was introduced to Play Like a Pirate by the author at ASCD in March, bought the book on site, finished it within a week, loaned it out to friends, implemented new ideas, and promptly forgot about actually finishing/publishing this blog post.  Oops!  

We'll blame it on teacher brain...

At ASCD, the title of the presentation immediately caught my eye:

And by far, it was one of the best sessions I attended.  Immediately my wish list for graphic novels grew and I started a donors choose project shortly after.

After this magical 1 hour session ended (and my frantic tweeting paid off because I won a free Teach Like a Pirate shirt), I wandered down to meet Quinn and Dave (Burgess, author of Teach Like a Pirate). 

We chatted, I followed them on twitter, and I won't lie, I had some fan-girl moments when they retweeted or replied to me. 

Since then, I've shared lots of ideas with fellow teachers.  I wasn't necessarily asked, I just couldn't contain my excitement about the ideas and how I wanted to implement them in my classroom.  I was really eager to share my plans to make teaching fun again (what a novel concept!).

I'm not really sorry about my over-zealous attitude toward the awesomeness that happened in my classroom (or that's going to happen next year).  In all honesty, I'd rather be surrounded by equally passionate weirdos who are innovative, creative, and honest.  Those are my people.  That is my tribe.

 

One and Done!

As {previously mentioned}, I've got some professional reading to tackle this summer.

This afternoon, I sat down with  Your School Rocks...So Tell People! with the intention of tackling a few chapters.

 

 Two hours later, in one sitting, I was done.  

It was a good, quick read that reaffirmed a lot of what I am already trying in the classroom.

My take-aways?

1) Continue to use class dojo to communicate with families about all the awesomeness that's happening in the classroom.

2) They aren't reading the paper newsletter.  Find a different (digital) way to communicate.  I like the idea of weekly podcasts.  I like the idea of them being limited to 2-3 minutes even more.  I'm hoping to figure out how to link them to Instagram instead of posting to Youtube.

3) Respect FERPA. Get permission before posting face pictures and don't use last names.  When in doubt, take artsy, behind the head shots.  It's hard to identify backs of heads & hands.
 
4) Create a classroom/teacher Instagram account.  I've got a personal one that I use and I'm already snapping pictures of class events for dojo, so why not?  In addition to this book being in favor of using social media, dozens of other respected educational articles back up this idea.

I didn't check with administration first, but created one that's totally separate from my personal account.  I shared a message on class dojo with last year's class and explained that families are welcome to follow me, but I won't follow back (thus ensuring their privacy).

One of the big "a ha" moments while reading was how often teens are on social media, so why not use that as a positive force.  One chapter focused on teachers/schools that were sending daily positive affirmations to help students start their days off right.  I have a teacher friend in Texas who has been doing this for years within the Discovery Educator Network (DEN) with massive success.  Why couldn't the same ideas be applied to the classroom?

I'm eager to see how this evolves, but I've got my branding hashtags ready (classroom specific, school specific, and the 50s pod specific). 

I stumbled upon this:

Which I plan to use.  I want the account to feel like a classroom account, so I will be sending students out with the iPads to take pictures.  I'll have them send to me and then I'll post from there. I also like the idea of them writing the captions and mini-blog posts.  Students tend to put forth a lot more effort when they have an authentic audience (meaning not just me the teacher). 

I've got two followers so far, one parent from last year and one teacher friend's professional account.  She used twitter last year and was my inspiration for the project (and who recommended the book to me), so it's nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of in the realm of technology.  Thanks Mrs. K!

Loving Love & Logic

While it took about two months, I'm happy to report that I've finished Love and Logic.  I've {previously shared} that I read the parent edition last summer, but it didn't quite meet my needs as a teacher.  This book is often back ordered, but persistence and patience paid off.  Amazon delivered the book a few months ago and I've been slowly making my way through the pages.

Most of the book isn't filled with earth shattering revelations, but rather small tweaks to my classroom management and instruction.  As a teacher, I've found that one of my biggest challenges is falling into power struggles with students (particularly strong willed, more difficult ones).  I'd often find myself frustrated and wanting to have the last word in arguments.  This cycle wasn't leaving me very happy as an educator.

So, I sought out solutions.  A colleague recommended this book and not wanting to admit defeat with my teaching career, I took her advice, swallowed my pride and read the book (the parent edition) last summer.  This year, I've tried some of the strategies (such as choices and consequences with empathy).  It's making a difference.

There are still days when I'm frustrated by my students' choices.  One of the most difficult things about teaching (that no one tells you) is that I don't get to leave my job at school.  Often times, I'll be up tossing and turning, trying to figure out how to deal with a particular student.

One of my students this year has really gotten under my skin.  He's not defiant, he's not argumentative, he doesn't shout out.  He just simply doesn't do anything.  He is not meeting his reading goals, he's not doing his homework, he's not participating in class, he's not doing much of anything.  He simply sits all day.  Parent contact doesn't help the situation.  He's a smart young man and capable of being successful, he's just choosing not to apply himself or try, which is beyond frustrating as a teacher.  Writing him up doesn't work. I don't want him to sit out of recess to read, because then he'll associate reading with punishment (which is not what I want).  I've tried asking him how he'll solve his problem, but he simply shrugs apathetically.  My usual strategies aren't working.

Luckily, Love and Logic had an idea that I'll be trying in the classroom.  One of my favorite aspects of this book is the real world scenarios and different suggested lines for discussion.  My students have been a little antsy lately (spring fever hit early), so they're going to have a bonus surprise indoor fun break...if they've met their weekly goals and completed all their work.  

However, this student (and several others) probably won't be joining.  Instead, I'll phrase it that they're fortunate to have some bonus time to catch up on their goals and are welcome to join us once they've met their requirements.  It's not recess that's being taken away, but rather a very real consequence to their actions (or rather, inaction).   When the complaining starts (as it will), I'll respond with empathy. I'll state that it's a bummer and ask how they intend to solve their situation. I'll state that they're welcome to join us once they've completed the expectations.

Will they be frustrated? Yes.  Will they get to uncomfortably experience the natural consequences of their actions? Yes.  Will it be a discussion? Nope.  I will let them choose to continue to be off task, but also choose the consequence (not participating in our fun activities).  I'm okay with them living with their consequences because I'm no longer owning their behavior choices.  

Fingers crossed this strategy will be a game changer for my more apathetic students. I don't resort to yelling, consequences (being written up) aren't working, so instead I'll focus on acknowledging the positive choices that others are making.

Something New

The past three years I've been blessed with the opportunity to grow as an educator...in the form of very difficult students and a lot of escalating classroom drama.

So this summer meant a nice break from teaching in the form of complete disconnect. 

I didn't sub.  I worked on long range plans for about two hours a week, but only with a friend.  I read a few books but they were ones I wanted to read.  I spent a lot of time thinking about who I want to be (and a lot of time with Netflix).

As a result, I'm headed into August feeling excited about a new year.  (Exhausted, but excited.)

One of my new things for the classroom this year?

Less colors. 

While bright colors are welcoming and create a warm environment, I think they had an adverse effect on some of my students and only heightened their dramatic personalities.  

This year, I'm going with calming grays and blues.  I'm strongly leaning towards a nautical theme, so I see hints of red and white dispersed throughout the room. 

I'm headed into my classroom on Thursday (after a planning meeting with the other coaches) and am excited to get started.  I will also need to be very honest with myself because I'm still healing from surgery and will not get everything done in one day.

Something else that's new?

I'll be co-teaching with the GATE teacher.  I won't have any SPED students (except possibly speech) and instead of my students leaving for GATE (Gifted & Talented Education), they'll receive their extension services as a push-in model. 

I also just finished this:

I borrowed it from our counselor.  The teacher version has been on back order for what seems like forever, but Amazon tells me it will be shipped out soon.  Some of the stuff wasn't super applicable to the classroom, but there were some good ideas for shifting my instruction.

The biggest take away was choice.  Giving students the opportunity to choose between two options (both of which I'd be okay with) and allowing them to feel control over their classroom and life.  

The second big take away was to get away from the savior complex in which I'd want to solve all of their conflicts.  In doing so, I deprive them of the opportunity to grow and practice creative problem solving.  I'm hoping by setting the norm that I won't be interfering with their small problems will eliminate me hearing about most of their small problems. This doesn't mean I won't listen, this doesn't mean I won't care, it just means I won't fix their lives for them.  Larger problems, like those involving administration or CPS will definitely be addressed quickly and respectfully.  But I don't want to have anymore hallway conversations about the theft of pencils.  It was draining and I don't want another frustrating year like last year (hopefully).

I also saw this book floating around the message boards of my PLN (Professional Learning Network):

So I tossed it into my Amazon cart.  From the reviews, it seems to be just what I need!

Book Reviews

Over the past few years, I've had the opportunity to participate in several book studies with the focus on improving my craft as an educator.  Here is a synopsis of those books:


Questions, Claims, and Evidence

This book really helped me shift perspectives for science instruction.  Essentially, this guided me through setting up my students for success and shifting away from teacher driven science experiments.  Instead, this is replaced with student created extension inquiry projects and helping them write about science.

Building Academic Vocabulary (Marzano)

Even after reading this, I struggle with vocabulary instruction.  It's the highest of the big five components of literacy (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and comprehension being the other four).  It's crucial, especially for my ELL (English Language Learners).  I feel successful with teaching academic vocabulary when it's content specific (i.e. math, science, and social studies) but struggle when it comes to what words to teach whole group. I'm wary of just choosing a list and going from that.  I tend to teach words that are associated with the novels I'm using and more specific lists with my RTI group.  I want to empower my students to monitor their own vocabulary acquisition and give them the space to share these words with their peers. 

I haven't quite decided how this will look in my classroom, so stay tuned!


Waiting for Superman

I led this book study at my previous school...and it didn't go very well.  Part of it was because I was leading it, not an administrator.  Part of it was because I was still quite idealistic about how teaching should work because I had just finished my first year in the classroom and thought I knew everything.  This book, while an interesting read, doesn't give enough credit to the teachers who are working really hard to change the system.

Read, Write, Lead

I was really excited to read this book as part of a book study.  My group was assigned chapter five, which is all about principal leadership.  While I have no issues with my administrators popping in my classroom on a frequent basis, this was a cause of major concern for some of my colleagues.  The chapter also talked about celebrating teachers and students, which I don't think is done enough.  This was my big take away from this book is that while programs and standards may (and do) change, good teaching is consistent.  Good teachers are reflective, collaborative, innovative, and push one another to do better.  

Number Talks

This gem isn't really a book review but rather an opportunity to share that this is a wonderful book that should be used wherever possible!  While the first few weeks of number talks are rocky, especially if students aren't familiar with the format, the pay off, if done consistently, is amazing.  For the past few years, my students have left my classroom with a strong understanding of number sense and problem solving strategies.  This book is a large part of the reason why.  It's worth the money if your school district doesn't provide this resource. 

Up next?  I'll be diving into Love and Logic for some new strategies to use with my whole class.  I also borrowed The Tough Kid Tool Kit to gain some new tips and tricks for dealing with difficult students.  I had a particularly troubled one last year that gave my whole school lots of headaches, but I'm glad next year that kiddo will get the services that are needed.  

What books would you recommend?  Which ones were educational game changers?

Dear Lemony Snicket...

Many of my small groups absolutely love The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. 

 One group is reading the prequels but is quite upset only two of the four have been released. 

 

 I told them this is how I felt growing up waiting for Harry Potter sequels and to deal with it.  (Perhaps not the best teacher response but they need realize not everything in life is handed to them immediately.  Sometimes they have to wait for what they want.)

For one of our must do activities, they were instructed to write a letter to an author, sharing their feelings about the book.

Here are some of the responses to Lemony:

Quite the sassy remark!

I love their passion.

Happy reading!

Sassy Hermione

I clearly love books. But more importantly, I love when my students love books.

For one of our must do activities, my students had to describe which character changed the most in their novels.

This student absolutely loved the sassy changes in Hermione Granger.  His specific evidence is when she slaps Draco Malfoy in the face and argues with Ron on a frequent basis.

Another student also loved that sassy moment from Hermione.

This activity challenged students to take their favorite portion of the book and create an eight panel graphic novel.  I like letting them be a little creative and draw, but still with a purpose.  This lends itself to having students apply their quotation skills and summarize their favorite parts.  

I love seeing how much fun they have with their must do's.

Just doin' my job...

One of my parents came to me today with a very pressing issue.  

She had a doctor's appointment later that day and needed a book to read.  Naturally, I came to mind as someone to recommend a new book.

This makes my heart so incredibly happy that I'm immediately thought of as a credible person to recommend books.

I know she's read Number the Stars, Tuck Everlasting, the Bad Beginning, and Who Could That Be At This Hour? with her daughter this year.  So I recommended one of my new favorites:

I gave her a quick synopsis and she was sold!  If you haven't checked out this book, I highly recommend it!

Book Review

I read this novel with one of my small groups for the first time this year:

As I previously stated, I was really impressed with how well my students handled the complexity of the characters.  I really enjoyed the story and I'm glad my students did as well!  

They are just finishing the first novel, so I read the second ahead of them so I'd be prepared for our discussions.

My teacher guide is available here on TpT and a bundle guide of both novels will be available soon!  

I was pleased with the ending of both books, but then discovered this:

Ah yes, a third book!  Time to write a grant proposal :)

Happy reading!

Bookopoly

For my final bulletin board of the year, I wanted to do something a little different.

So I decided we are making a bookopoly board.

Based off of the classic Monopoly game, I had students create game pieces about their novels.  On the front, they had to list their novel, author and one intriguing quote from the novel.  I was very impressed with some of the quotes they picked because they did a great job at capturing the essence of the book or inspiring reluctant readers to give the book a try.

(Hostile Hospital)

(The Strange Case of Origami Yoda)

(Tiger Rising)

Instead of "go to jail" which has a negative connotation, players are instead invited to go to the library to select a new book.

The chance cards encourage readers to take a chance with a new book while community chest tells them that reading is a wealth of knowledge.

Water works addresses that books sometimes make readers emotional and that's perfectly alright.  The electric company touches on the fact books challenge our preconceived notions.

They had lots of fun making their pieces!

Final picture:

Final meeting for Book Club

Last week was our final meeting for Battle of the Books.  Our school competitions are this coming week and the district finals are on the 25th of April.  I'm excited to take my winning team to face off against the other schools.

I haven't given them any instruction on the books and they held their own small groups.  I'm really proud of how much work they've put into this competition.

One of them even made treats, which was adorable:

Plus they're loving book jeopardy! 

I promised my students we'd play with our small group books during standardized testing time (since they'll need something fun after a long day of bubbling!).

I love watching how much they love reading.

These are my students...

My kiddos had some awesome opportunities this week.  We had a historical presentation from the Mount Vernon association, a Q & A session with a police officer and those that earned the reward got to learn about reptiles.  

So we talked about being grateful for these opportunities and wrote thank you cards.  I modeled one for them, we brainstormed sentence frames and I let them write.   They partner edited, I provided stationary and whatever part of their letter that was unfinished became homework.

Over ninety percent were returned today, which was pretty exciting to see.

I separated the letters into piles and flipped through them until I found this:

Yes, my lovely student decided it was totally appropriate to offer a book recommendation to a complete stranger at the end of her letter.  I think I'm proud?

These are the students I've raised.  There are no boundaries and we should just tell everyone about our books, whether or not we were asked.

At least they're loving reading!

Book Recommendations

In our small groups this week, one of our must do activities was to create a book recommendation for another student or a teacher.

I modeled writing to a fellow teacher about why she should read The Lost Hero.  My kiddos had a lot of fun with it.

I found this note from a student in the dropbox.  I particularly enjoy the "if you read it, I'll read it" part.