"Teach Like a Pirate" book review

Hello to a VERY snowy Saturday at a great coffee shop in Colorado Springs! I was definitely MIA last weekend as I got SLAMMED with a nasty cold. I didn't get the flu (thank goodness), but I did miss three days of school. I spent four days laid up in bed (minus watching the Super Bowl). It was definitely something... But I am well rested, back to getting to the gym, and am drinking some chai tea.

I decided to change it up this week and do my very first book review! I discussed with Mari, a fellow #sunchatblogger, about blogging what we're reading. She's jumped in and created a book-focused blog! I'm not entirely there yet but did want to blog about a book that we're studying for Skyview's mentoring group. (I'm a mentor for another teacher. Have I mentioned that? I still struggle with the fact that I'm helping a new teacher, even if it is the second year of me doing this.)

ANYWAY. We're reading Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess. The book is split into three parts. The first part is called "Teach like a PIRATE" (passion, immersion, rapport, ask and analyze, transformation, enthusiasm). Even though he explained that PIRATE was an acronym on the first page, I didn't read closely enough to realize this acronym until I was 3/4th of the way through the book. I kept thinking, "What does this have to do with being a pirate?" Duh Rachel. Get 👏🏻 It 👏🏻Together 👏🏻!

We were tasked with reading the first part before our mentoring meeting this past Wednesday. We were given a handout with discussion questions. As an introvert, I was not very excited to do a full group discussion. I wanted to discuss the book with "my people" in the building because I can easily communicate and collaborate with these people. As our whole group conversation continued, I shut down. I'll admit that I acted like a baby because the conversation did not go as I believed it should. That's a "me" thing that I have to get over.

The meeting did push me to read the rest of the book ASAP. Part two provides "hooks" to engage your students in your classroom. If a teacher doesn't walk away with one, ONE idea to incorporate into their classroom then they have <begin blunt honesty> a fixed, instead of growth, mindset. I legitimately have no other answer than this <end blunt honesty>. Part three is about "building a better pirate" which is just a way to conclude the book by looking at next steps in the classroom.

So what are my thoughts on this book? I'm going to bullet point the list because it's how I think, collaborate, and function :)

• As an introvert, this book makes me uncomfortable (in a healthy way) as it pushes me to be more creative, innovative, and "out there" than I already am. I have to work on being more silly (I don't like looking stupid) and be more humor. On days when I'm crabby, I still need to put on a show. 
• Dave talks about bringing personal passion into your classroom. I started doing that the last two years through sharing good news. I often talked about my photography and shared my pictures with my students. A few asked for my Instagram handle which I gladly shared. This has spilled into my current position as a broadcasting teacher, and now I take pictures of my students working on the broadcasts (and a few of them have asked to post as well!)
• The six words: "It's easy for you. You're creative." BOOM! This spoke to me because I've heard people use these six words against me. Yes, I'm creative, but it's because I practice. It's because I'm not afraid to take risks and try something new. This section made me realize that I need to share more about my failures in the classroom. It's taken a lot of failure and mistakes to get where I am now. The last six years has not always been easy. Turns out I can "fake it until I make it." My colleagues are none the wiser, but they should be... 
• "If your students didn't have to be there, would you be teaching in an empty room?" When I taught history, I know that some students would show. Teaching broadcast, I've heard on the regular that students come to school for my class. If I ever go back to teaching history, I would really challenge myself to make my social studies class like my broadcasting class. 
• If you don't read the whole book, please check out part two, the "hooks" section. Dave covers thirty-two different thematic hooks with multiple ideas for each. This part is helpful for new teachers, to give them ideas, and for experienced teachers, to encourage them to refresh their curriculum. 

I am quite glad that I finished reading this book. It cemented a lot about what I've already done, and what I currently do, as a classroom teacher. It also pushed me to continue to grow and learn so that I can fulfill my promise that I made in my phone interview for Skyview nine years ago... "I am a good teacher, but someday, I'm going to be a great teacher. You want me on your staff."

Thanks for reading. I'll see you next week :)

- Rachel

@historicalipad

My Teacherspayteachers website

You gave students choice... and it bombed...

  

...now what? It's time for a reflection.

My co-worker and I just finished our cross-curricular project, and boy has it been a unit! We were quite euphoric with how it turned out, and were glad that the project was more of a success than we anticipated. One thing is nagging at the back of my brain - how did giving students choice work? Was THAT successful?

To answer that question, I am going to jump into "story time" and travel back to last summer. Right before the school year began, I attended a GAFE (Google Apps for Education) conference here in Colorado Springs. I was pushed by many of the attendees and presenters (in a good way) to update and elevate my curriculum this current school year. The big "buzz word" was choice: giving students a choice in your classroom. And I believe it, and I believe in it, so I tried to provide my students with choice (to give them a voice). It was a complete and utter failure.

Sometimes I wonder why teachers and teacher bloggers don't talk more about their failures, and, when giving advice, don't always talk about what might go wrong. I feel like I had a preconceived and naive belief about how choice and flexibility would transform my classroom. I would liken this to all the feels that teachers get when watching Robin Williams' speech in A Dead Poet's Society.

That was going to be my classroom this year... I was wrong. What I failed to take into account, and what I was never pushed to question, was who the students were that I had coming into my classroom. My students had eight years of traditional schooling. Often times, in my own opinion, I did not see rigor and high expectations in their previous classes. Students, in the past, did not have the option to make their own choices and did not have the capacity and maturity to make wise decisions on their own. This led to a very rough beginning to the school year (no Robin Williams moments here!) and a lot of reflection about what best meets my students' needs.

So... I gave my students choice... and it bombed. What are the next steps?

Number one: don't give up! So it didn't work this time. Why didn't it work? Figure that out, then don't do that again. It is okay to fail, but do not punish your students if the failure is one you.

Number two: figure out what your students need. Many options or open flexibility can be overwhelming if it has never been an option before. I know that when I start my next school year, I need to survey the students about their previous schooling. This will then drive HOW I teach in my classroom. I can decide how much choice I offer from the start.

Number three: start small to large. Start by giving your students two or three possibilities (not unlimited), then expand from there. I run a more project-based class so I can start with open selection when it comes to a type of project (Slides, Explain Everything, iMovie), then over time, students can have a choice when it comes to topics and content. Ideally, by the end of the year, the students have complete discretion in the classroom to display their voice.

Number four: take your time. If you realize that students still don't have the maturity to have choice, then do not give them that option. Make sure they are ready to move to the next step. Do not set up your students to fail.

As I said at the beginning, now that I've done this big project at the end of the year, was giving choice beneficial?

Yes! 

It was due to my failures at the beginning of the year and reflecting upon WHY there was failure. It was also dependent on me slowly adding in more choice as the year went on. I also feel like we gave students good options when it came to historical figures and project presentation options for this unit. 

Was it perfectly successful? No, not quite. Both my colleague and I learned a lot doing this project for the first time and have discussed changes that we will make. We still saw students choose the easy options, and I still need to figure out why they didn't want to push themselves. 

But I can see how choice works in my classroom and am excited to see it work even better next year. Keep the faith! Thanks for reading. I'll see you next week :)

- Rachel

@historicalipad

My Teacherspayteachers website

Self-Care: that's what friends are for...

Greetings colleagues!

Yesterday morning it was 15°F in Colorado Springs. On frosty mornings, we have indoor morning duty. I was standing in the gym watching students converse with each other, and it reminded me of my own friendships growing up. My friendships as a kid were the most important connections I had with other people. My friends were my life. As we grow older, those friendships end, new friendships form and new types of friends emerge. Adult life can be so complicated!

I've realized, over the past few years, how important my adult friendships still are. I have a family that I treasure and a husband that I love, but I value my friends in such a way that they are my family away from "home" (i.e. Iowa). After reading a rather interesting article about friendships, a professor of communication in Ohio said that the three expectations of friendships are "somebody to talk to, someone to depend on, and someone to enjoy." I feel like my current group of friends fit this bill quite well.

Part of my self-care regimen has been spending more time with friends. Most of my friends are teachers, so we spend quite a bit of time decompressing from school. But we have really opened up as a group over the last couple of years, and we share close, personal secrets with each other. It is so nice to have people that I can go to for advice and support, and it is nice to be wanted to give my own input and encouragement.

So in honor of my lovely, fabulous, and marvelous girlfriends, here is an all-female playlist! 

Thanks for reading. I'll see you next week :)

- Rachel

@historicalipad

My Teacherspayteachers website

Stepping out of my comfort zone...

Good EVENING tribe!

When I started this day, I was completely unsure what I was going to blog about. It was a rough week, friends. I would imagine that each and every one of you (including me) had fires to put out this week. What I needed this weekend was to play catch-up; to grade and lesson plan. What I got instead was attending a conference down south for EdCamp Summit Colorado.

I've always enjoyed attending EdCamps. Whenever I leave, I usually feel overwhelmed with new ideas and thinking, but feel refreshed at the same time because I am around like-minded people. I am around my tribe, my people. So imagine, if you will, my genuine excitement for this weekend. I'm meeting new people, discussing ed and ed tech.

Then imagine my horror when this person walks up on the stage and talks about how he's from an improv group(ish). I had to do improv once for PD at Skyview, and I wanted to slit my throat. I am an introvert at heart and hate looking like a fool in front of anyone. I barely let myself look foolish in front of my close friends and family. It's a curse.

So then imagine my further horror when he tells us that we are doing a group presentation! We have to stand in front of the group, state a problem in education, find a solution, and create a call to action. We are split up into random groups of five where we have to create a Google Slides presentation in thirty minutes.

As we are getting these directions, I am looking for an exit. I am trying to figure out how I can quietly escape the area, hide in my hotel room, and cry myself to sleep. Improv is my personal version of hell, and I CANNOT ESCAPE!

I am incredibly lucky, though. I worked with a fabulous group of ladies. We are looking through the random images that we have to use when one teacher mentions that her students are bringing fart spray to her classroom. Apparently, they have farts in a can, and her students have been spraying this in her classroom. Anyone that teaches middle school knows that flatulence is already an issue, but this was icing. I had never heard this before!

So we think of how we can prevent farting in our classrooms, and find images that best represent our presentation. And we are LAUGHING hysterically. I am so grateful to those women because I was able to get in front of the group without worry. Our Google Slides presentation was hilarious.

The whole point of having Anthony Veneziale at EdCamp Summit was to get us out of our comfort zone, and boy did he do a good job with that! He provided some fascinating research that made me realize that I have to, HAVE to put myself out there. I cannot keep hiding because I have something important to offer my students, my colleagues, and the rest of the world. All of us cannot hide because we are all valuable. So my advice? Stop hiding in the dark.

It feels validated to be seen and heard, whether you are a student or an adult! #edcampSummitCO

— Rachel Jeffrey (@historicalipad) November 12, 2016

Thanks for reading! I'll see you next week :)

- Rachel
@historicalipad
My Teacherspayteachers website