E is for...

Every student should experience an enthusiastic teacher within their lifetime of being a student. Over the summer I read Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess. The whole entire second part was about grabbing a student's attention. He talks about a three circle model. His three circle model consists of Presentation, content, and technique/method. Presentation is the most vital part to that circle. Dave states, "Just like meat has to be turned and basted, you have to continually added engaging twists, turns, and changes of pace throughout the lesson." Rosenshine and Furst named enthusiasm as one of the 5 variables of an effective teacher.

Enthusiasm can be brought into the classroom by how you teach, the interest approach, and by planning your lesson around some of the multiple intelligence's that students have. A teacher should try and hit on three different multiple intelligences a lesson. But, how can a teacher tell if a student is engaging in the classroom? An Edutopia article states that teachers can tell by a variety of ways. Students being taking notes, asking questions, and interaction between classmates.

There are many ways that teachers can create these diversely interactive lessons. Dave Burgess talks about creating these lessons in part 2 of his book. He created questions that go along with lesson planning. They also intertwine with E-Moments. E-Moments help bring that enthusiasm into the classroom. They go along with multiple intelligence as well. I learned that it is the little, sometimes simplest of things, that can get a student's mind flowing. It could be something as simple as color or a little classroom conversation while keeping the content relevant.



Until next time, "Student engagement is the product of motivation and active learning. It is a production rather than a sum because it will not occur if either element is missing." -Elizabeth F. Barkley

~Erin Yoest~