Time to ‘Teach Like a Pirate’ at Triton Middle School

Imagine that you could go to school, stop by your homeroom and pick up a schedule of what is being taught that day and then head out to the classes you choose. 
Not only that, but the teachers were able to teach whatever class they chose.

It only happens once a year but on the last day before the Christmas break students at Triton Middle School were able to do just that.
It was the school’s second annual “Teach Like a Pirate Day” and judging by the enthusiasm in the classrooms, the students were having fun.
The rules, according to the schedule were no running, you must go to a new experience every class period and have fun.
Now, despite the name, “Teach Like a Pirate Day,” everyone did not show up dressed like a pirate, although every now and then someone could be heard muttering "argh". Rather, it was a day where everyone was encouraged to "think outside the box." The staff came up with the idea last year, Principal Luke Lutterman
Lutterman said, because earlier all staff members at the Middle School read the book, “Teach Like a Pirate.” The subtitle of the book is “Increase student engagement,  boost your creativity, and transform you life as an educator.”
The book, Lutterman said, specifically geared towards teachers and is actually divided into three parts, teaching like a pirate, crafting engaging lessons building a better pirate.
The Triton staff used the concepts in the book to engage the students in a different type of learning for the day.
In the context of the book, the word "pirate" is an acronym for Passion, Immersion, Rapport, Ask and Analyse, Transformation and Enthusiasm. This year's class selections were varied and ranged from the tasty, Build Your Own Chocolate Bar, to the technical, Code It Up, which involved learning to make a phone app. Quite a few of the classes were active ranging from Just Dance and Tae Kwan Do to Intorduction to Golf, Basketball Experience and Dance Dance Revolution. For those who delt like amking something, therewas Holiday Origami and Suet Feeder COnstruction. Students also had the opportunity to make a stop motion animation film, experiment with dry ice, work with students in the elementary school and learn Spanish. And in keeping with the theme there was also an opportunity to construct a tinfoil boat and have a contest to see how much weight it could hold. Win or walk the plank, the schedule said.