As
you may know, the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl (Kim Ferraro
is jacked right now reading about her beloved team). What you may not
realize is that while the Packers won the
ultimate NFL prize, there were some rough spots along the way. They lost
three of their first six regular season games and actually lost six games for
the season. One of their best players, Charles Woodson, summed up
his analysis of why the team started off just so-so: “We had our foot
on the gas pedal and our hands on the wheel, but the ignition was never turned
on.” They knew all of the plays, knew how to make adjustments, and
knew the physical structure of lining up and getting after it. That was
not the problem. The problem was really just turning on the switch
that made the whole thing. They had the keys; they just didn’t turn them
to start the ignition. After that third loss early in the season,
the Packers regrouped, found a common goal with a common focus,
and engaged themselves in that pursuit daily that led to their Super
Bowl win over the Pukesburgh (yep,
I wrote it as we call them at home) Steelers.
It
can be like that with teaching kids too. We may have the best plan, have
our desired outcomes, we have a firm grasp on the lesson plans, we have looked
at the data, decorated the room just so, etc... However, the first thing
we must all do is engage the kids…start their engines…get them excited…do
an anticipatory set…make it personal…get the blood flowing. Like a car
that looks good without engaging the ignition switch, without engaging the kids
in our lessons, they won’t be “turned on” to what you want them to get out of
it. Work hard on engaging your students on a daily basis. Make
your class the one that kids can’t wait to get to. Make your class their
favorite class – not because you have no homework or great treats, but
because you fill them daily with engaging lessons. Our “Super
Bowl” is showing improvement with our kids on that thing called
ISTEP. Start working toward that victory today in engaging
ways. Start their ignition!
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