Passion
"Heart-beat" by Nevit Dilmen (talk · contribs) - Own work.
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
"Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things." - Denis Diderot |
Burgess Discusses 3 types of Passion: Content passion, professional passion, and personal passion.
Question 1-What are your passions in each of these areas? Within your subject matter, what are you most passionate about teaching? What is it about teaching that really gets you fired up, that drives you? Completely outside od education, what drives you?
Immersion
"A lack of immersion in the present sends a clear message that this moment is somehow less important and not significant enough to be worth undivided attention." (Burgess p.14)
Burgess uses the lifeguard analogy to demonstrate the difference between focus and immersion.
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| "Lifeguard Training" by William R. Goodwin Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons |
Question 2-What are two specific things you plan to do in your classroom to switch from focus to true immersion?
Rapport
"Building rapport is all about interacting with your students as fellow human beings, not just as subordinates." (Burgess p.21)
Burgess suggests that building good rapport with his student also encourages student buy-in to the class. Burgess works hard at building rapport with his students so he can then become "that teacher". You know who I mean. The one you like as a co-worker, but secretly think is a little insane? The one that gets the scores, though you don't know how since all they do is "play"?
I actively encourage teachers to develop a classroom climate where students feel like doing the outrageous; where the out of the ordinary and sometimes silly are the norm."(Burgess p.21)
"Put a premium on making your class fun and entertaining from the start." (Burgess p.22)
Burgess uses this chapter to walk us through his first 3 days of school. This is a highly entertaining read, and if you haven't read this chapter yet, well, what are you waiting for? I was also reassured by so many practices that happen here in SB. (Again, some will work for you and some will not.)
"I will pull out all the stops to convince them (the students) it doesn't matter if they have failed before because my class is absolutely and completely different." ( Burgess p.31)
"I explain how the brain works and how a positive learning environment is critical for higher-order thinking to take place." ( Burgess p.31)
"I'm selling education... a life-altering product that can transform the human spirit and literally change the world one student at a time." (Burgess p.32)
Question 3-What tone are we setting on the first day of school? How can we create an environment in our classes that develops rapport?
Please answer these questions by adding a comment to this post. Identify each with A1 (for answer to question 1), A2, and A3.
Q1 I believe Business is Life and I try to show the students this with the material we cover. It gives me great joy when students say we really do use this! The other part of business that is good but frustrating is that i'ts always changing so I try to bring the new into the classroom not just with the textbook
ReplyDeleteMy family is what drives me outside of the classroom and I love to travel since I believe you get an education no matter where or what you are doing!
I agree with you, business is very relevant, and I think it is great that students are seeing this in the world around them. They are obviously making connections between the classroom and real life! Change is inevitable...by the time it is commonplace, it's out-dated!
DeleteQ 2 I will continue to bring real life situations into the classroom since books only give a short if not outdated point on business. I do this with past experiences and the students seem to be able to relate and realize its real and not just something they read.
ReplyDeleteI am going to Ask more questions of them and their experiences and try to pull from others and relate their experiences to the subject matter.
Q 3 After attending a PD and am going to try to change up my first day next fall. I usually go over rules and expectations and will try to come up with something new. Have a few ideas but not sure. Guess I have some time to think before I have to implement.
ReplyDeleteA1 I enjoy teaching in the math area the most as far as content is concerned. My professional passion is much like Dave Burgess' in that I am passionate about increasing the self esteem and self confidence of my students. My passions outside of school is Loving God and Loving People. This starts with my family!
ReplyDeleteWhen I see that sense of accomplishment of the face of one of my students that is what drives me. Also, recognizing when the students truly realize what they can accomplish.
You're passions outside of school carry over "inside" school in such a great way!
DeleteA2 I will continue to help students focus on transition. Help the students focus on life application of the material or maybe point out it is the process alone to get the job done that may be the relevant part. Continued discussions on how this can help them as a person or in their profession.
ReplyDeleteI love Dave Burgess' quote "Light yourself on fire with enthusiasm and people will come from miles around just to watch you burn." My goal is to get my students to come to my room because they WANT to be there! It is a safe place! I want to ask questions that will help the students to grow as thinkers and problem solvers in hopes that they will learn to do that for themselves.
Students do feel that your room is a safe place to go. That is wonderful!
DeleteThe first week of school is so very important! I will make sure to use this time to get to know my students. What is important to them. What there life outside of school is like? In other words show interest and develop that trust. I focus at this time on helping them get organized and prepared for a good start to the year. Sometimes this involves just brainstorming and labeling folders, etc or sometimes this involves giving materials to start out with.
ReplyDeleteI work hard to let the students know that this is a safe room but also the expectations are high to be productive while in here.
I think it is working, because your students to want to go there!
DeleteI wish the "stigma" of going to room 103 would not be there so all of your students would be willing to go.
DeleteQ1 - I really love almost all of my content area. Professionally I really enjoy the interaction and witnessing growth in critical thinking and application of ideas. My "other" passions are all things intellectually stimulating, the outdoors, and competition.
ReplyDeleteQ2 - I like to act in the plays with the kids and participate in shared writings. In the past, I've taught kids how to march and have reenacted battles with them.
Q3 - Rapport is an individual process based on style and personality. I believe the key is to allow (mostly) free speech and discussion as this prevents environments that are stifling and lack connection.
A1- My passions are to have my students enjoy science as much as I do. Science is a love it or hate it subject and I want love. My favorite subject to teach is Genetics. It is important to know not only what we are made of, but how we are made. I would love to teach a class that only focused on genetics, so I could delve so much deeper. My outside passions include sports, and my family.
ReplyDeleteA2-True immersion is possible in the labs we teach. I love to have the kids apply their labs to the real world. True immersion is possible using technology as well, there are many videos that help take the students away from the classroom. I plan to try to take the students out of the classroom more often.
A3-On the first day of school we are letting the students know not only who we are, but how we operate. I have always felt that it easy to be "easier" on the students as the year goes on. It is impossible to be harder as the year goes on. They know that if you let it slide in the first month that they will be able to "get away with it" for the rest of the year. Rapport is a must. If a student does not think that you have their best interests at the top of the priority list, then they will never respect you or go out of their way to do what you want them to do.
A1 - Content Passion - My favorite part of my content is teaching coping strategies. I enjoy teaching students the different ways to help self regulate and for me, it's exciting when the kids figure out a strategy that works for them.
ReplyDeleteProfessional Passion- It is so much fun watching the kids mature and grow. That would have to be my professional passion.
Personal Passion- I have so many personal passions; family(including my dogs), golf, friends, animals, the list could go on but these are at the top.
A2 - Two ways I plan to switch from focus to true immersion within my classroom is to start giving the students practical tasks in which they are required to work together in a natural situation as well as acting out more role playing situations and scenarios.
A3- The first day of school I set my expectations high for my students. I come in strict, but also open and caring. I think with my students rapport is everything! I need to make sure my kids respect me and they need to know I respect them. They also need to know that I am on their side, but I'm not afraid to assign consequences when they are deserved.
It's
ReplyDeleteA1 Well I lost my blog response. My passion is not technology but I do like WORD I do like google search and those things that make life easier. One of the reasons I decided on this class is because I had not blogged or tweeted before. Can’t say my passion is there yet as I am struggling with the process. That does give me chances to let students shine when they can help and keeps me sympathetic when they are losing things as well. I don’t know what happened to the answer to A1 now I am in my safe place with WORD and will ask again what I did wrong and paste and post later.
ReplyDeleteI like what I teach because it is ever changing as the students change each semester. Sue talked about the business world ever changing and keeping up with changes outside of a book is fun and a challenge. Marie and I find that the same challenge with the ever changes in family dynamics, our concept of healthy living, home organization, helping families with social skills, work skills, life skills, planning skills, finances, ect.. I like helping. So much is hands on. When they master a skill the smiles are contagious.
My personal passion is my family. They keep me grounded. My hobby since age 9 has been sewing. The enjoyment has never faded. Nothing better than looking at and touching fabric, then making it into something different.
A2 We do a lot of projects. My newest project is working with a client to come up with a new kitchen plan. The client will choose the favorite from all the plans. It has been fun listening to the students reason with each other as to why they should use a certain color, design or product, figure costs ect.
We are doing an upcycle project in textiles. Students will be creating a way to upcycle a t-shirt and then teach the process to the class.
A3: Like Deb, I tend to start with a team activity or a skill project depending on the class. My main guideline is respect for each other. The other guidelines come as needed. Example homework guidelines when homework is first assigned.
I also agree with Troy in that allowing student opinion and being part of discussion
It's great that your students have the opportunity to do so many hands-on activities that are practical in the real-world. Many don't have anyone teaching these things at home anymore and they may have book smarts, but they are at a loss when it comes to so many of the things you mentioned. I think they are as relevant today as ever...maybe more so!
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ReplyDeleteTake three: Is there life beyond education?! Education is life, life is education. I have difficulty separating the two. I am always learning and trying to find ways to incorporate it into my classroom. I did not intend to be a Spanish teacher, but somehow, I'm where I belong.
ReplyDeleteMy family and friends are most important in my life outside of school, yet they tie in. I'm a first-generation American and lived in Spain as a child, after moving permanently to the states, my parents made sure we spent every other summer there, so we wouldn't lose our language, heritage and family connections. I still keep in touch on Whats App (we have several group chats going) and Facebook. While I focus on all skills, what I love teaching most is culture. I also like to make connections to art, music, history, geography, gastronomy, sociology, business, other languages etc. I love to travel (and don't do it as often as I'd like), but I tend to go where I have family and can speak Spanish.
I think I need to incorporate that into my lessons more and work on developing a rapport with my students. They think it is getting me off track when I talk about my life and experiences, but I think it is making a connection and making language study real and useful. When the students made their digital family albums ( those who used their real family) and presented them to me, I felt like we were developing a rapport and I was learning more about them.
Whoops, I mis-posted again!
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I do that as well....I will wait for the appropriate time to clarify a part of the movie, but also use my time effectively to move to the next topic.
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