Teach Like a Yogi

My goal this year is to teach like a pirate...yes, just like the book by Dave Burgess. If you have not read the inspiring book, Teach Like a Pirate, please devour it like I did and you will be invigorated and ready to head to work with new ideas. This will be my 17th year of teaching so not all of the ideas were new to me, but they were presented in a way that made me re-open my teacher toolbox that was stuck waaaaaay back in the dark corners of my brain.

Mozart Hook

 

Each morning when my students enter the room I have music playing. This sets a relaxed mood and helps wake up their brains. I also use it as a management piece because their voices should not be louder than the music. My music player of choice is Pandora. I have it set on a channel titled Classical Music Medley Radio which plays current music in a classical style. There are no lyrics so you don't have to worry about censoring anything inappropriate. The children sometimes recognize a song and will hum along with it. The other day there was a Michael Jackson song and some of the boys told me that it was Michael Jackson's birthday. They thought it was cool that I was playing his music {it's always great to score cool points with boys}.

 

Kinesthetic Hook

 

I used yoga to introduce my students to stamina during Reading Workshop.

 

Students gathered in the meeting area and I shared with my Block 1 students that I have been taking a class at the gym to learn yoga. I explained to them that I was not very good at first but I won't give up. I told them that I am getting better at holding the tough poses each time I go to the class.

 

I shared with my Block 2 students that I am doing a program on the treadmill that is training me to run a 5K race. I told them that I am not very good at running, but I am not giving up even though it is really tough for me. Each time I get on treadmill I run a little bit longer and a little bit faster.

 

Next I had the students each find a colored floor tile to stand on in the room. They had to have both of their feet on the tile. Their hands were at their sides. Most of them were commenting how easy it was to stand like this.

 

 

Then I had them cross one of their legs over the other. Then they crossed their arms. I heard some mumbles that this felt weird and I saw some off-balance stumbles.

 

 

Finally, I challenged them to take a foot off the floor and raise it in the air. They put their arms out in front of them. Arms and legs were flailing around as students tried to balance themselves.

 

We returned to the carpet and I told them all how proud I was that they did not give up trying to balance their bodies on 1 foot. I told them that as they keep practicing this move they would be able to stand for longer amounts of time and become stronger. I then moved in to my mini lesson about stamina.

 

My teaching point was that successful readers need to develop stamina so they can read longer and stronger. We decided to use the pose of arms high in the air to mean longer and a leg stretched out behind to mean stronger. If someone asks my students what stamina means, they are supposed to raise their arms above their heads and stretch their leg out behind. Then they will explain that stamina means doing something longer and stronger without giving up. 

 

Fellow MIE teachers who are reading this, please ask my students what stamina means if you see them in hall...hopefully they will show you!

Giving Props to Pirate Teachers

My professional teaching goal this year is to teach like a pirate! Yes, I did get this idea from the book Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess. After reading it I have a renewed vigor. I am a fun teacher, but the ideas he presented in the book have inspired me to use my creativity and energy to hook my students and keep them engaged.  Last school year I shared my ideas for teaching in a Balanced Literacy classroom. This year I will document my use of hooks from Burgess' book.

Today's Hook: Props

 

When my students walked in to class today this hat was sitting on a stool in the meeting area. I stood back and listened to the conversations the students were having about the hat. Some thought it was an early Halloween decoration. Some wondered if I was going to wear it. One boy thought I was going to read a Viola Swamp book. One student thought they were going to write a scare story. They were very interested in what purpose this hat was going to serve today!

 

I began Reading Workshop by asking students to touch their noses if they had watched a Harry Potter movie. About 75% indicated they had. When asked, a few students said they had read one of the books. So I gave my students a little background on Harry and explained why he was at this special wizard school. Then I told them I was going to read part of the book to them. I read  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chapter 7 The Sorting Hat. I began at the part when Professor McGonagall explained that the children would be sorted into houses. I stopped when she said they should prepare themselves for the ceremony. I related the wizards being sorted into houses to the students in my class being sorted into reading partnerships.

 

The teaching point in my mini lesson for Reading Workshop today was that reading partnerships are important to our reading lives. I explained to students that reading partners will help each other fill out their reading logs, sign each other's reading logs, share and discuss books, ask each other questions, recommend books to each other, and help each other have fun reading. We talked about what it meant to be respectful, cooperative, kind, and responsible partners. We talked about the positive and negative outcomes of working well with a partner--just like the wizards in their houses.

 

I continued reading from Harry Potter Chapter Seven at the part when the sorting hat was revealed {some students pointed a the hat next to me}. In the book it was sitting on a four-legged stool {some students whispered that so was my hat}. I chanted the song that the sorting hat sang in the book and I ended when Professor McGonagall announced to the wizards that the sorting would begin.

 

I stuck my hand inside my sorting hat and pulled out pre-written slips of paper that listed the reading partnerships for our classroom. The students were completely focused and hanging on each slip I pulled from the hat! Using the sorting hat prop made this lesson so fun! The students were listening to every word I said and they could not wait to see which partner the hat gave them. I am looking forward to incorporating more props into my teaching.