On FIRE!

"Light yourself on fire with enthusiasm and people will come from miles away to watch you burn!". 

 I LOVE this quote so much.   I am pulling it directly out of the fabulous book I am reading as part of a fabulous blogging book study - Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess.

Thank you so much to Gina and  Jennifer for creating this book study!

I am on fire about this book!   I have just started it,  read chapter one and about half of chapter two.   I honestly bought the book a while ago,  after reading about it on a blog,  but didn't get around to reading it.   I so love summer because of the luxury of time.   This is going to be a two day read at most,  because I am ready to dive right back into it. 

Pirate in this book has a dual meaning.   Dave Burgess uses the term pirate to mean, " daring, adventurous, and willing to set forth into uncharted territories with no guarantee of success.   They reject the status quo and refuse to any society that stifles creativity and independence.   They are entrepreneurs who take risks and are willing to travel to the ends of the earth for what they value."   - WOW - I want to be THAT! He also uses PIRATE as an acronym to list attributes that will improve your teaching - Passion, Immersion, Rapport, Ask and Analyze, Transformation, and Enthusiasm.  

It is a very simple and fun read.   The author has a great sense of humor and is realistic about teaching.  The first chapter is all about passion,  for content, for the profession and in your personal life.   He writes about how we have certain things we are really passionate about teaching - for me that would be things like author studies, habitats, relationships and connections in literature, life cycles, multiplication and division, fractions, techie stuff etc.  And there are things we don't necessarily like teaching - for me that would be things like Irma Rangle and other Texas citizens of note,  weather,  time, geography,   temperature... (that list is kind of long).   His point is that even if you can't find passion for the subject area, you can find a way to use your passion for teaching and your ultimate goals as a teacher to find a way to present the information to set your kids on fire about the topic.    He also talks about bringing some of your personal passions into your lessons - for me that would be crafty stuff,  or technology stuff.   He talks about his own love of magic and how he incorporates it into lessons that he may not be as passionate about,  to make the lesson exciting.  Not rocket science but definitely important stuff.  Sometimes we know it,  but we need to reinforce it and this book is definitely a bridge to get there!  

Today we had our first Project Based Learning meeting.  We talked about all of the things that go into a good solid project.   We read through lots of other peoples project ideas and it was sort of overwhelming.   But tonight as I was reading,   I was already thinking of ways to make our ideas more exciting and I am already getting excited!  LOVE that! Aaargh!