Sunday, May 22, 2016

Arggh! Calling All Pirates!



Arrgghhh!  Last week, many of us had the opportunity to see Dave Burgess, author of Teach Like a Pirate.  At lunch, we were so fired up that Bill actually wanted to return to the building for the afternoon.  Everyone was back early from lunch break and we were the last educators to leave the building at the end of the day!

In teaching and modeling some of Dave’s ideas, we decided to try to recreate part of the experience at the staff meeting.  Gold coins, mystery boxes, pirate music, and enthusiasm dominated the staff meeting.  Michelle did a phenomenal job modeling the the “Good Morning Transition” while standing on a chair.  Victoria was so overcome with excitement that she came in a tad early on her slide, her superhero cape flapping in the wind.  Boxes and Whiskers superhero was unveiled by Bill and Robin made the G rated topic of Immersion a bit more R rated.  

At the end of the meeting, even with all of the positive comments, I was not surprised to hear the question, “Did Dave talk about the issue of time?”  Dave did not specifically discuss “time.”  He does teach high school and have the ability to focus on a few key lessons throughout the day.  However, he did talk about the P of Pirate which may help provide a mindset shift about time.  The Passion of Pirate is also the extra umph we all need to finish the school year strong!

P stands for Passion, which he breaks into three categories.  Dave realizes that teachers have a deep, dark secret...we don’t love everything we teach.  For Dave, he loved the Civil Rights Movement and hated Railroads.  I loved teaching Michigan History in 3rd grade but didn’t love teaching plants with those hydroponic plants that I could never get to grow!  So what is your content passion?  Within your subject matter, what are you passionate about teaching?  The content that you are passionate is “easy” to teach.  Our enthusiasm and zest for it increase our enjoyment.  Yet, what happens when you are teaching “railroad” or “hydroponic plants”?

When you are struggling to teach the content, Dave suggests that you focus on your professional passion.  Within your profession, but not specific to your subject matter, what are you passionate about?  Why did you go into teaching in the first place?  Are there ways to infuse Life Changing Lessons into your teaching?  Many of you are gifted storytellers, know how to use humor to engage your students, or pick just the right book, video, or quote to inspire discussion and connect with students.  How can you use your professional passion to fill the gaps or increase interest in the content?

Finally, what is your personal passion?  Completely outside of your profession, what are you passionate about?  For Dave, it was magic that he would infuse into his lessons to increase engagement.  For Lynn, it might mean turning into her alter ego, Sparkalee the clown.  Bill uses Detroit Tigers Baseball.  I used baking and cooking (what kid doesn’t like food?) and drama; turning many hard to read textbooks and lessons into plays for the kids to perform in class.

As we enter the final stretch, don’t forget to take a moment to think about your passion for education.  We should be finishing the year with the same intentionality with which we began.  That’s a difficult task right now.  Find that passion.  We didn’t become teachers for the tests, the rules, or the worksheets.  I’d bet the majority of us became teachers for the children.  For the believe that what we do matters.  To honor the potential of each child and the passion we have within ourselves.



Quotes:
“Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.”  Denis Diderot
“Individuality of expression is the beginning and end of all art.”  Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Big Rocks:
Fourth Grade Transition is this week!  A big thank you to all of the 5th grade teachers for synergizing and creating a “3rd alternative” for our transition day. We are excited to see how the new plan goes.  For those of you that don’t know, Linda coordinated letters to be sent from our students to the feeder schools a few weeks ago.  The principals were so excited when Kristi and I gave them the letters at the staff meeting so I’m sure the students were just as thrilled.  We will still start with a quick welcome in the cafe and then the students will proceed to their partner class.  Cathy Santi did a terrific job creating a scavenger hunt for the 4th and 5th grade students to do together.  If you see the students in the hallway, make sure to say hello and have your students welcome them to Cooper.  Mary Ann and Michelle still helped out with snacks and tokens.  Michelle got a huge deal on water for all of the students.  I’m sure I’m forgetting someone so thank you to all!

A big thank you to everyone who helped Tara’s class with the Heifer project. They far exceeded their goal, earning over a whopping $625!  Mrs. Martin’s class helped the cause by raising enough to buy their own goat.  I’m sure Tara’s class with keep us posted.  Well done!

The PTA Leaders are ready to help a great cause as well!  Starting this week and going to June 3 will be the Cooper Coin War for Relay for Life.  All proceeds will benefit the American Cancer Society.

Sixth Grade Send Off is scheduled for June 15.  A big thank you to Wendy for organizing this and creating a new format.  It looks great!

We are still trying to figure out if we can do some different teaming next year.  If you are interested in any different teaming formats or room assignments, please send Kristi and I a proposal as soon as possible.

5D will be the new evaluation for the coming year.  This is all we know so far.  This is a pdf of the rubric.  http://tpep-wa.org/wp-content/uploads/CEL-5D+-2.0-with-Observables.pdf


Calendar for the Week of May 23:
Monday: Detroit Tigers Day
Tuesday: 4th Grade Transition (Grant/Hayes)
Wednesday: Soccer Clinic
Thursday: 8:00 Staff Meeting
               4th Grade Transition (Cleveland/Roosevelt)
               3:45 Lauren’s Shower
Friday: School Improvement Plan Due

          Theme ballots due to Sally

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