Friday, September 2, 2016

Drive Them Crazy

My kids found this envelope hanging from the ceiling on Tuesday.


Dave Burgess would say that mystery and anticipation are effective teaching tools that we should use to hook our students. There's no reason why we can't drive them crazy -- crazy enough that they want to come back for more. That's the effect this envelope had with my kids. It's the kind of stuff they talk about at home. I know, because one of my parents even mentioned it.

So before lunch on Wednesday, I Dave Burgessed the  actual opening of the envelope just to drive them a bit more batty. (And yes, I just turned Dave Burgess into a verb.) Even though I could reach the envelope, I pretended I couldn't. "Sorry...guys...I...can't...reach...it." Reaching, grasping but no luck. (It was a fine performance.) "Stand up straight! Get on your tippy toes!" they called out. So once I miraculously got our envelope, I had to draw out the suspense a bit longer with a few more antics. I just might have silently read the letter inside, letting out a few gasps with a look of astonishment on my face before quietly folding up the letter and sliding it back into the envelope. Yep, I really did that, and their reactions were exactly what I hoped for.

I finally did read the letter out loud. Wednesday was National Eat Outside day, so it let them know we were going outside to eat lunch in the grass. 

I'm searching for more ways to Dave Burgess my days and drive my kids crazy! 



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5 comments:

  1. That is awesome. Can't wait to use that myself. How did they respond to it? Was it a big thrill for them?
    Thanks for the always great ideas.

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    1. Ann, they were very excited. I'm so glad I did it and added the envelope of anticipation to the experience too.

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  2. Replies
    1. Barb, thank you! Sometimes I wonder why I haven't done something like this sooner.

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