“In these challenging and changing times, our students need leaders who are willing to venture forward without a clear map to explore new frontiers. We need mavericks and renegades who are willing to use unorthodox tactics to spark and kindle the flame of creativity and imagination in the minds of the young. We need entrepreneurial innovators who are capable of captaining the educational ship through waters that are rough and constantly changing. In short, we need pirates…we need you.” – Dave Burgess, Teach Like a Pirate
I stumbled upon Dave Burgess’ Teach Like a Pirate: Increase Student Engagement, Boost your Creativity, and Transform your Life as an Educator after reading Principal Jenny Nauman’s blog about diverse learners. She stated quite simply, “Teachers must be Pirates!” I did not realize the treasure that I was on the brink of discovering with this book.
Burgess writes with an enthusiasm that is contagious. His passion for teaching is evident as he explains different ways he creates amazing learning opportunities for his students. The first section of the book defines each letter of the PIRATE system: Passion, Immersion, Rapport, Ask and Analyze, Transformation, and Enthusiasm. These key features are quintessential components for student engagement. Each chapter is filled with anecdotes, stories, and analogies written in a conversational tone. I feel like Dave is a colleague down the hallway, sharing his clever and creative ideas with me all while pushing me to think even farther beyond the box.
The second part of the book is filled with “hooks”, different ways to start lessons and engage students. As I reading, I was questioning myself. Are my current hooks effective? What I could be doing better? How can I use this in my lessons? This is what I truly enjoyed about this book – I was able to immediately apply what I was reading to my classroom. I finished the book feeling refreshed, invigorated, and excited to try new ideas. The day after I finished reading, I immediately utilized what I read in a social studies lesson on “Taxation without Representation.” I used a combination of the “Involved Audience” hook, the “Props” hook, and the “Costume” hook. A few willing students successfully started the lesson as members of the British Parliament, demanding the “colonists” (aka my unsuspecting students) pay taxes for varying reasons. Their reactions were priceless. Students were upset they did not get to “vote” on the King, yet they still had to “pay” unfair taxes. This led into a lively debate which we then used to create opinion editorials.
Although Dave is a high school U.S. history teacher, this text is applicable to any teacher of any grade. Dave is also very active on Twitter, and I’ve found an amazing crew of fellow Pirates in the #TLAP community. I’m excited to begin a book study on Teach Like a Pirate with year two teachers in my district in the near future. This relates to third section of the book – “Building a Better Pirate.” We all need a crew!
Next up on my reading list is, Learn Like a PIRATE: Empower Your Students to Collaborate, Lead, and Succeed by Paul Solarz. I am a firm believer in having a student-led classroom, and I can’t wait to improve my practices after this next read.
What are you reading? How has it impacted your teaching or practice?
I stumbled upon Dave Burgess’ Teach Like a Pirate: Increase Student Engagement, Boost your Creativity, and Transform your Life as an Educator after reading Principal Jenny Nauman’s blog about diverse learners. She stated quite simply, “Teachers must be Pirates!” I did not realize the treasure that I was on the brink of discovering with this book.
Burgess writes with an enthusiasm that is contagious. His passion for teaching is evident as he explains different ways he creates amazing learning opportunities for his students. The first section of the book defines each letter of the PIRATE system: Passion, Immersion, Rapport, Ask and Analyze, Transformation, and Enthusiasm. These key features are quintessential components for student engagement. Each chapter is filled with anecdotes, stories, and analogies written in a conversational tone. I feel like Dave is a colleague down the hallway, sharing his clever and creative ideas with me all while pushing me to think even farther beyond the box.
The second part of the book is filled with “hooks”, different ways to start lessons and engage students. As I reading, I was questioning myself. Are my current hooks effective? What I could be doing better? How can I use this in my lessons? This is what I truly enjoyed about this book – I was able to immediately apply what I was reading to my classroom. I finished the book feeling refreshed, invigorated, and excited to try new ideas. The day after I finished reading, I immediately utilized what I read in a social studies lesson on “Taxation without Representation.” I used a combination of the “Involved Audience” hook, the “Props” hook, and the “Costume” hook. A few willing students successfully started the lesson as members of the British Parliament, demanding the “colonists” (aka my unsuspecting students) pay taxes for varying reasons. Their reactions were priceless. Students were upset they did not get to “vote” on the King, yet they still had to “pay” unfair taxes. This led into a lively debate which we then used to create opinion editorials.
Although Dave is a high school U.S. history teacher, this text is applicable to any teacher of any grade. Dave is also very active on Twitter, and I’ve found an amazing crew of fellow Pirates in the #TLAP community. I’m excited to begin a book study on Teach Like a Pirate with year two teachers in my district in the near future. This relates to third section of the book – “Building a Better Pirate.” We all need a crew!
Next up on my reading list is, Learn Like a PIRATE: Empower Your Students to Collaborate, Lead, and Succeed by Paul Solarz. I am a firm believer in having a student-led classroom, and I can’t wait to improve my practices after this next read.
What are you reading? How has it impacted your teaching or practice?