Okay. I know the title of this post probably breaks every rule about blogs and writing known to man. This book is so incredibly important though, I wanted to make sure you read this review! I often have publishers and authors send me books for free to review. I actually bought this one (with my very own money!) on a recommendation from a teacher friend and I am so glad I did.
Teach Like A Pirate by Dave Burgess is a must read for anyone who attempts to teach anyone anything. (Be careful as there are a few books out there with similar titles.) If I were to suggest a book that best represents the educational principles we advocate at Teach One Reach One, this is one of two I would suggest you read. (The other is No More Molasses Classes by Ron Clark.)
Burgess does a masterful job of painting the picture of a classroom where the students are actually engaged in the process of learning. He believes in using those hands-on, experiential, meaningful and memorable activities we suggest you use in your Bible classes and faith based tutoring programs.
What I absolutely love about this book is that the author refuses to accept the excuse a teacher is not creative and cannot teach classes the way he does. In fact, he uses a large portion of the book to carefully walk teachers who think they are not creative through the process of how to develop creative lessons. Although the book is centered around a social studies class, much of what he suggests is easily transferable to a Bible class for students in elementary through high school.
If you want to get a better feel for what Teach One Reach One wants your classes to look like, figure out how we develop our activities or get a tutorial in how to design creative meaningful Bible class activities – read this book. Actually, I am not going to give you a pass either. If you teach anyone from birth through adulthood in Bible classes, read this book. I can almost promise you, if you adapt your lessons to this methodology – with or without our help – your students will begin learning and retaining more of that essential Bible information you want them to learn.