#TLAP Pirate Recruit

Each semester since I've graduated from college, I've been invited back to speak at UW-Whitewater's student teaching seminar to share of my experience of how I ended up where I am today.  It is truly an honor and very rewarding to go back and give tips on the things they don't teach you in college, what you can expect to learn on the job, and what you have to look forward to pursuing a career in education.  It is always challenging to make it engaging because it is their last presentation of the day.  They have been sitting for hours listening to people speak.  This semester however, was different because I had an agenda in mind...I was going to recruit pirates to join my ship.

I figured as long as I was #tlap that day in my own classroom, I might as well carry it into my presentation at UW-Whitewater and it would be my very own first "Teach Like a Pirate Day."  Yes, there were a total of 3 costume changes that day, as I made sure to engage my audience with my eye patch and earring in my presentation that afternoon.  The only trouble with the eye patch was is that I couldn't walk with it over my eye, so instead it remained on my forehead.  At the part of my presentation where I talked about "What I learned on the job" I wanted to share my two key successes to student buy in "Engagement and Relationships."  I told them that if you have those two, classroom management is a whole lot easier, and the rest tends to just fall into place.

I started out that section asking them to raise their hands if they wondered why I had an eye patch and earring on, and about a third of the audience raised their hand.  I shared with them my #tlap journey.  No one has inspired me more as a classroom educator than @daveburgess himself.   I proposed the question of:  "How many of your students would buy a ticket to your show, if they had a choice and didn't have to show up everyday?"  We as educators are life changing agents.

       PIRATE= Passion, Immersion, Rapport, Ask and Analyze, Transformation, Enthusiasm

I got asked to repeat the acronym three times!  The student teachers were taking notes.  I shared that "We're all pirates at heart, what separates us from one another is our willingness to let our inner character out."  I explained to them my pirate journey and the lesson that occurred just hours earlier and how it has changed the game of education for me as an educator.

Next came my favorite quote from @burgessdave:

"Seeking greatness as an educator is the ultimate act of unselfishness.  It's where the rising tide lifts all ships.  It has a life changing impact on the world."

After reading that quote I asked:

"All in favor of joining the pirate journey raise your right hand and say "Aye!"  

I don't think there wasn't a hand raised in the room!  I got the choral response that every active learning teacher desires. A PIRATE RECRUITING SUCCESS!  I couldn't believe it myself.  I just had 42 pirates join my ship.