Reflection

 I really enjoyed reading Teach Like a Pirate, and I'd like to think that Burgess' ideas would pay off in the classroom. I am a bit apprehensive about trying out the suggestions in his book, so I appreciated how he addressed the difficulty in getting started, diving in, taking those risks. 

Before I got into the field of education, I was focused on theater arts and music. I ultimately decided to leave those fields because I didn't find them fulfilling, and I didn't want a performance career. So now reading this book, and realizing that tapping into my prior experience with performance arts might help me as a teacher, is interesting, exciting, and also a bit scary!

I think one of the greatest "golden nuggets" from the book Teach Like a Pirate is to not worry about what others might think about you.  I need to let myself go and be over-the-top enthusiastic in my classroom with my students.  They deserve to be entertained while learning to love reading, writing, and history.  This book has so many ideas in the second section, "Crafting Engaging Lessons" has a huge assortment of ways to spice up lessons to keep student engagement running high in the classroom.  I really enjoyed reading this book now, but know that it will be living on my desk next year as I plan.