#bemoredog

At our second annual Edcamp Arlington TX, we gave away George Couros' The Innovator's Mindset as one of many door prizes. I chose this one because it is one I want to read. It took me until yesterday to finally buy it, and it had immediate impact on me.

While I was drying my hair this morning (hey, I work in ever minute I can to read), I was perusing the introduction to the book. Couros writes

Well, I do happen to be a cat lover, so I stopped to watch the video.  

We are five and a half weeks into school in my district, and I am not seeing as much effort as I would like from many of my students, particularly for a college preparation class. This commercial spoke to me. I want my students to be more dog! 

So today I modified my lesson plan to address behaviors I am seeing on campus and in my classroom that I think need to be improved. Cat behaviors!  I was calling my students cats and making cat noises at them, speaking in complete metaphor about the cat behaviors. They were a bit confused until we watched the video. Then they were all about the dog behaviors!

I asked my students to write three ways in which they could "be more dog" - aside from eating their homework.  There were some definite dog references - be more obedient, fetching work to turn it in on time, walking faster to get to class on time. But I also received some serious responses about being more enthusiastic and actively engaged in class. We always share out, accompanied by some sort of applause - double clap, snapping, a quick Woot! Today, we barked our approval. 

I cannot say I have ever spent a dog hissing like a cat and barking like a dog in my classroom,  but this blog address does not start with crazyladyteacher for nothing. I am always willing to put my ego on the line and do something a bit ridiculous and adventurous in my classroom if it will benefit my students. 

I went with a bit of crazy chihuahua today. What can you do to #bemoredog?