Welcome Back to Port
Burgess ends our journey by circling back around and focusing on us as the educators. He's given us his beliefs and his tools, now he leaves it in our hands to use these ideas.
The Awkward Question
It's a simple question..."Do you want to be great?" For some reason, in education, asking if you want to be great is often frowned upon. There is a belief that we must stay with the herd. There's a misconception that there is only a finite amount of greatness available to us all, and if I use it, that greatness won't be available for someone else to use. Burgess notes that that is simply not true. Greatness is available to all those who want to work for it.
"I can think of no higher purpose or calling than teacher." (148) If we truly believe this, can we afford not to strive for greatness?
Where Do I Start?
"'Starting' may well be one of the most difficult and under-appreciated skills of all." What holds us back from taking that first step? Burgess gives us five of the most common reasons but also notes that "they're all conquerable." (154)
1. The Fear of Failure
"Quite simply, some people don't start what they know is in their best interest and what they really, deep down want to do, because they think their efforts will be wasted in failure." (154) This fits perfectly into Growth Mindset. Burgess paints the picture by asking us to consider what would happen if a toddler would have that adult mindset when trying to walk...."we would still be crawling." (154)
2. Believing You Have to Figure It All Out Before You Begin
Sometimes teaching is like building the airplane while it's flying in the air. Take the first step even if you don't have it all figured out.
3. Perfectionism
People can become paralyzed through perfectionism. If I don't do it just right, it's going to be all messed up. Again, it's easier to not do it than see it not done to perfection. Life is all about setbacks and growing from those setbacks...Growth Mindset.
4. Lack of Focus
When I first read this, I thought it was a contradiction to the above #2. However, he clears this up by stating "Subconsciously, we know if we keep ourselves busy and over-scheduled, we won't have to face the great work we know that we should be doing." (160) It's not about having it all figured out but keeping the big picture in focus. Our focus needs to be seeing our kids be successful, and everything we do should be done with that focus always in front of us. Burgess tries to clarify this by using Stephen Covey's big rocks metaphor. If we start with the big rocks (our big ideas), we can accomplish more than when we get caught up in the little stuff.
What are your big rocks?
5. Fear of Criticism or Ridicule
"Criticism and ridicule come with the territory if you are going to try new ideas and be proactive rather than reactive. You'll get stuff wrong, make a fool of yourself, and many will give you grief for it." (160) If history has taught us anything, it is that people will fear and ridicule that which they do not know. We see this in politics, education, business, marketing, religion, healthcare...and on and on and on. If you have a Fixed Mindset, you will agree that not doing something to escape that criticism and ridicule would be worth it...we won't get better with a Fixed Mindset.
Steve Jobs
I came across this tribute video to Steve Job while I was reviewing this section. I think a reflection on Steve Jobs is great way to wrap everything up. Did he want to be great...YES! Did the five common fears listed above affect him...yes. Was he able to see beyond and not be stopped by those fears...yes.
Final Reflection Discussion Questions
As a final post, I would like you post a comment that reflects the following:
- How the PIRATE philosophy will impact you as you move forward in education
- How you will try to recruit a crew to go on your voyage
- How you will take your first steps
Okay...our ship has reached port. Let's hit the beach!
1. As I move forward with teaching I hope to remember to keep Passion and Enthusiasm in the forefront of each day. Without both of these I think the rest of the PIRATE philosophy would be difficult to achieve. The more you are passionate about something the more enthusiasm you have as well. They go hand in hand and help to develop Immersion, Rapport, Ask and Analyze and Transformation.
ReplyDelete2. To recruit a crew you need to be confident in your Passion thereby generating Enthusiasm, which hopefully, will rub off on others. I'm going to start with my students. By showing them my passion for teaching and learning with enthusiasm, I hope this will encourage them to develop their own passion for learning.
3. Getting starting is almost always the most difficult step yet the most important. My plan is to start by developing rapport with my class, spending more time than I have in the past. Last year, I used several read alouds that talked about growth mindset, I plan to use them again. Another plan for this year is to have students post their work to Class Dojo themselves. Last year, my students enjoyed sharing what they were learning with their families. I hope by showing students how to post to Class Dojo will help develop their enthusiasm for learning and school.