Teach Like a Pirate: First Reflections

One of my wonderful colleagues, Jim Ekdahl (@EkdahlJames), recommended and let me borrow the book Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess.  Admittedly, it's been taking me a while to actually start reading it - things have been so crazy with the first couple weeks of school.  I have, however, been able to read the first few sections - one on passion and one on immersion - and I'm really enjoying the book.  Here are my thoughts so far:

Passion:

Basically, Mr. Burgess says that teachers tend to have two kinds of passion that get them excited about their jobs: content passion and professional passion.  I am very passionate about the subjects I teach.  I find the German language and culture fascinating, and I have always loved all aspects of English.  While I do get excited about the content that I teach, I think I get even more excited about what Burgess calls professional passion.  

I feel very strongly that I am called to be a teacher.  I remember when I was in first grade, we had to come to school one day dressed up as what we wanted to be when we grew up.  I wore a skirt and a pink cardigan, and when my teacher asked me what I was, I told her I was a teacher (how did the cardigan not give that away immediately?).  That is my first memory of thinking about what I wanted to be when I grew up.  Then, late in high school, I decided to study engineering because there was a part of me that thought, for some reason, I couldn't be just a teacher.  I had to do something more, something better, something important.  After some stressful, not-so-happy semesters, I eventually switched my major in college from engineering to about five other things before finally realizing and accepting that nothing made me as happy as when I was working with kids.  Once I finally got to be in the classroom more while student teaching during my masters program, I knew that I had made the right decision.  Now, I wish I could go back and tell my high school self that teaching, for me, is the best and most important job.

I love being around my students.  I love teaching them about things I think are awesome.  I love learning from them - learning about other people, learning about how to be a better teacher, learning about myself.  I love those moments that Burgess calls "LCLs" or life-changing lessons.  While I love teaching German and English, what I am more passionate about is teaching kids.

Immersion:

The second section of TLAP that I've read so far is about immersion - jumping into the lesson with the kids and participating in it with them.  I think that I do this a lot already in my teaching.  I like to join in on the vocabulary games that we play in class.  While teaching, I prefer to sit in a student desk or walk around the room instead of sit at my own desk.  Sometimes, when I assign a project for my students, I make my own along with them.  I find myself doing more standing, walking around, and kneeling next to student desks rather than sitting while they are working on something in class.  Not only does that make teaching more interesting and fun for me, I think it does for the kids too.  

I know I still need to work on being really immersed in the lesson with my students ALL the time instead of just some of the time, but while I was reading this section of TLAP, I found myself realizing that I'm already more of a "pirate" than I had previously thought.

Stay tuned for more reflections on Teach Like a Pirate!