Teach Like A Pirate: Embrace Your Inner Teaching Nerd!

Now that school is finally out (yes we have had several snow days which pushed our school year even later into June) my favorite time of year for teaching begins: summer reflection and planning.  My husband still makes fun of me for taking my first full day off as a time to look at teaching blogs, plan ideas and themes for next year, and start organizing classroom files, etc.  But the thing is....when is there any other time to do this during the regular school year?

I've started reading Dave Burgess's Teach Like A Pirate book after seeing it mentioned in Instructor magazine and reading a few blog posts about it.  Even before opening the first few pages I was intrigued by the title and the summary.  Pirates are adventurous and passionate, they don't stop searching for that "treasure" and they rebel against conformity and the "same old".  I feel elated...I feel inspired....I now feel proud of my inner teaching nerd!

I've been so intrigued by the concepts behind this book that I decided to change my classroom theme to pirates this year.  Yesterday I scoured pinterest and tpt looking for pirate related items and ideas.  Today I've spent the first part of my morning (hooray for daycare!) reading the first 53 pages.  I've decided to make some promises to myself for the upcoming school year:

1) Be a tool...and be proud of it!
That's right...I'm actually considering wearing an elaborate pirate hat to school on the first day to greet my students.  I've always enjoyed making students laugh, being crazy, and doing silly things in public.  I think it stems from my inner need to get attention (I am actually an introvert and shy in many social settings...weird, huh?).

2) Let go of the controls (you freak!)
I will admit that I am definitely, 100%, concrete sequential and maybe slightly obsessive compulsive.  I can't even watch the show "Hoarders" on TV without developing anxiety.  It's funny because such a big part of my being is having control and keeping things in a functioning, efficient order.  And yet I am a teacher of elementary kids...7 and 8 year olds whose very existence is often unpredictable and chaotic.  My profession is working in the midst of chaos.  Are you serious?  Yet at least I recognize this about myself and will continue to work hard at letting go.

3) Spend more time with family and hobbies
My poor husband...there are days (sometimes it seems like weeks) where we are just ships passing in the night.  We have two small kids at home who are loveable, funny, and exhausting.  The few moments we have without them we often want to either sleep or be by ourselves.  When we do try to spend quality time together it is often after 9:00 pm and in less than half an hour we are usually both asleep on the couch.

Dave talks a lot about personal passion in the first chapter of his book.  I would say that I am personally passionate about teaching and organizing (how sad!).  But he also mentions that being creative comes more easily when you are immersed in things outside of your profession.  So I thought about things I love (or use to love when I had time): dancing, writing, art, nature...going on trips/adventures.  I need to commit myself to doing these things without divided attention.  I want to share in these experiences with my husband and kids...if I keep these ideas at heart I think I will be overall more happy and less stressed.

Whew!  That is a lot of talking.  More to come soon.

Read the book!  It's great!

~Teacher E