the boring stuff out of the way, I proceed to give them what I refer to as “Good Morning Training.” This is extremely tough to describe in writing and really must be experienced to fully understand. Basically, I stand behind my rolling table in the front of the room and draw all attention to myself as I go through a bizarre process of squaring up the papers in front of me, adjusting the angle of the table, and awkwardly straightening myself up to address the class. If done correctly, there should be a combination of a few giggles and many wondering what the heck is going on. I then look up and say, “Good Morning” in a loud, firm voice. I wait in silence until I hear a smattering of good mornings and then storm through the class ranting that their response is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated. “Not one single time will I accept that from you! When I say ‘good morning’ to you, you say ‘good morning’ to me. Not only that, but however I say good morning to you is how you say good morning to me! If I say ‘Good Morning!’ (said with strange accent)…you say ‘Good Morning!’ (said with exact same accent). Let’s try this again, this is your first test of the year and yes…I am grading!” I then return to the front, face the class, and whisper my greeting. They should respond in kind and then I say, “Welcome to class, thank you for coming. I’m Dave Burgess and I’ll be your host on this Learning Extravaganza!!”
At this point, I am off and running. Looking out at my class, I see students looking like they have been hit by a hurricane of energy and a burst of fire. Under their breath students say things like:
“This is going to be awesome.”
“My friend said that this guy is crazy.”
“This guy is totally on drugs.”
What you don’t hear is students saying, “This looks like it is going to be a boring class.” I want them to immediately realize they have entered a space unlike any other they have ever experienced.
Next, I give them a handout titled:
WELCOME TO THE WORLD FAMOUS LEARNING EXTRAVAGANZA!
HOSTED BY: DAVE BURGESS
NOW PLAYING IN SS-9
Notice the positioning that is used in that title. It doesn’t say “U.S. History/Geo 1C.” It says “World Famous Learning Extravaganza.” It is “hosted” by me, not taught. And it is “playing in SS-9” as if they have entered a show.
It is as close to a set of rules and procedures as I will ever give them. I fly through it in a humorous fashion, but really zero in on one item. I let them know this class will be completely different than anything they have ever attended. To succeed they must suspend their pre-conceived notions about what is allowed in a classroom and get into the spirit of helping to create an outrageously fun and entertaining experience. I openly tell them I believe this will be their favorite class of all time and one that they will remember forever… but that it only works if we agree to follow one rule:
THIS IS A NO-MEANNESS ZONE!!
I let them know I will tolerate unbelievable levels of banter, playfulness, and seemingly outrageous behavior for a classroom, but I will never tolerate meanness. All of the fun will come grinding to a stop if somebody is being mean to another student or doing something that hurts another’s feelings. You just can’t teach with my style of openness without emphasizing this rule. It is critical for creating the safe and supportive kind of environment in which creativity, learning, and fun can coexist and flourish. As part of this rule, I also tell them they should feel free to let me know if I am making them feel uncomfortable by drawing unwanted attention to them through my banter and teasing. I want my students to feel perfectly at ease approaching me about any issue that is occurring in class. Creating a place of safety is a prerequisite for the successful implementation of my teaching style.
Once everyone knows the rules, I tell students to take the next ten minutes to create something with their dough that is in some way representative of themselves. They can have complete creative license to make anything they want as long as it is classroom appropriate. I explain that I will show the class their creation, ask a question or two about it, and have them tell us their name. They will not have to come to the front of the room and the whole process will take thirty seconds or less. That simple explanation of what to expect helps lower the stress some students feel about speaking in the front of the class.
When they begin to work on their artistic creation, I get a chance to do something important but rare on the first day of school. I get to walk around and informally interact with my students. I help them brainstorm ideas for what to create if they are stuck (again lowering stress levels), and I get a chance to begin to learn about my students by asking them questions about their creations. This information can later be used to help to create hooks for my material that are highly effective because they incorporate subjects in which they are already involved and engaged.
When the time is up, I make my way quickly up and down the rows talking to each student and having them introduce themselves. As I ask questions about what they created, I keep it quick, lighthearted, and filled with humorous banter. I “rescue” any student who is struggling to find something to say so that everyone leaves class feeling like they have been successful.
Throughout the class period I make a major point of going back over the names multiple times. In fact, I offer a prize to any student who can tell me the name of every student in class at the end of the activity. I will allow them to do this at any point during my first week of school. I believe it is critical for students to at least know each other’s names if we are trying to build an environment with a high level of rapport.
At the end of the class period, I thank the students for coming and then say something along the lines of, “You don’t want to miss tomorrow. Something wild and crazy is going to happen at the beginning of class. You can either be here and see it, or just have to hear stories about it when you come back.” You better believe that makes them curious enough to want to come to class the next day.
I want to pause and make a comment here about building rapport—with the students, and among the students. Several years ago, I learned the hard way that many students do not even know who is sitting in class with them. I asked three students to help me pass back papers during the last few minutes of a class period. When the bell rang they each brought me back a stack of papers. I was horrified to discover they did not return the papers, not because they ran out of time, but because they did not know who the people were. Now understand, this was about halfway through the school year. Here I was, traveling around the country speaking to audiences about subjects such as building rapport, and I had students who didn’t even know the name of the kid sitting behind them. Since that moment, I have it made it a point to emphasize names as part of what I do during the first three days. Making it into a contest helps get some buy-in.
DAY TWO
Day two begins with my opening ritual that was a part of their “Good Morning Training” from the first day. I then turn off the lights, return to the front of the room, and transform myself into an airplane. I fly full-speed around the room twice with my arms outstretched and jet motor fully audible. As I am returning to the front to finish the second lap, I apparently trip, fling myself onto the floor, and roll a couple of times. As I straighten up to my knees, I act as if I am taking in breaths and dog-paddling in water. I alternate between putting my head down under the water with gurgling noises and then catching some breaths at the surface. I motion wildly and shout that I see a life raft…and then I “swim” on the floor towards it. I pull the cord, make the noise of it inflating, and then climb in. I start pulling imaginary people into the raft, struggling with each of them until I count and have ten survivors.
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