You might think this is a post to remind you about Talk Like a Pirate Day, which is scheduled for September 19th. But that would be a frivolous use of this blog space, right? I mean, what does that have to do with education?
So, I am not going to try to convince you to talk like a pirate, but I would like to recommend that you Teach Like a Pirate – at least if you can do it the Dave Burgess way.
I first saw a reference to Teach Like a Pirate, by Dave Burgess, on Vicki Davis’ blog. She referred to his Play-Doh activity, and I was immediately curious about what pirates have to do with Play-Do, much less teaching. So, I downloaded it to the Kindle app on my iPad (because I wanted it immediately and Amazon told me I would have to wait 4-6 weeks). And I have to say that I like this guy, Dave Burgess. Apparently, I’ve been kind of trying to advocate for pirate-teaching for awhile without even realizing it. Who knew?
In Dave’s case, “pirate” is actually an acronym for: passion, immersion, rapport, ask and analyze, transformation, and enthusiasm. Dave asks two questions about your teaching: “If your students didn’t have to be there, would you be teaching in an empty room?” and “Do you have any lessons you could sell tickets for?”
Hmm. Excellent questions.
Don’t worry. If you answered, “No,” to both of those questions, Dave has a ton of suggestions for changing things up. His book includes 30 “Hooks” for engaging minds, including “The Mission Impossible Hook” and the “Reality TV Hook” among others.
I love Dave’s passion and I can’t wait to incorporate some of his ideas this year. I even found this great video trailer on YouTube for a school that actually hosted a “Teach Like a Pirate” Day, which I would love to see happen at more schools.
Coincidentally, I happened to recently read Kelly Tenkely’s post about “De-Tox Week” at her school, which referenced this Pinterest board of activities that I also think would help me to Teach Like a Pirate.
I am ready to make this a great year, and to make sure my students don’t ever want to “walk the plank” right out of my classroom. (Sorry, I know that was bad, but I couldn’t resist.) What about you?