Love & Marriage

With my fifth year wrapped up and my sixth year as a teacher quickly approaching, it’s officially the longest relationship I’ve ever been in. And this last year wasn’t such a good year for us: I doubted, dreaded going to work on some days, and the D-word flitted through my mind like a nervous fly (ditch-ditch-ditch!). But I’m glad we made it through the rough patch, because I think there’s something special about teaching. I really do.

A great book called Tools for Teaching has reinvigorated me. In the book is a chapter about Preferred Activity Time (PAT) which are 20 minutes given every Friday that can be added onto or taken away according to the entire class’ cooperation throughout the week. One idea for a PAT is playing academic baseball.

1. Create a baseball diamond in front of the class with masking tape and blank white sheets of paper.

2. Divide the class up into 2 teams

3. Have a “batter” come up from one team, and the teacher is the pitcher who asks if the student would like a single, double, triple, or homerun questions about that week’s lesson. If the students get the question right, they actually stand on base.

4. If the batter is wrong, the teacher calls out “Fly ball!” and the other team who should have their notes out in front, has a chance to answer and make an out.

5. The final score isn’t just based on the number of runs made. Instead, it’s RUNS-OUT=FINAL SCORE. That way, an out becomes a very big deal.

If implemented well, PAT wouldn’t just make every Friday something that the kids and me, the biggest kid in clas, look forward to, but it would increase cooperation, responsibility, and diligence…everything that I dreamt of instilling as a young, love-struck teacher. And, there's also the perk of wearing a baseball player's uniform to match the theme. Moments like these, little glimmers of hope encased in one silly game, make me fall for teaching time and time again.