Month: November 2010

being a teacher, college, education reform, preparation

A Teaching Degree Does Not Make a Teacher

Pernille Ripp

I wasn’t taught how to be a teacher.  I took all of the teaching classes sure, and my diploma says that I have a teaching degree but being a teacher isn’t something you can be taught in today’s university.  All of the educational classes on reading, math,  and science provided me with background knowledge and a dabble in what it might be like as a teacher.  Lesson plans were written with fictitious students hand-selected by our imagination.  I liked to keep things harder so I always had a student with less attention or limited English proficiency, you know just to spice things up.  And amazingly every one one of those lesson plans was a hit with my professors.  My fictitious students ran home to their parents and heralded me as the best teacher ever.  And yet inside, I knew I was not ready to teach.

I walked the stage at graduation already with a long-term sub position I had gotten at my school.  I had been inducted into that job through on the job training and yet the entire time I just swam to stay afloat.  I was not a teacher then either.  I got my own classroom and on that first day I looked at those students and knew that I had not been prepared for this.  It wasn’t that I didn’t feel prepared; my education degree had not equipped me with the tools I needed to be a teacher.  So when we discuss education reform today and we throw around harsh lines about the quality of teachers, I think we need to refocus and aim our glances at the universities and colleges preparing the next generation of teachers.  How are they reforming to create capable teachers? 

No amount of papers, lesson plans, or discussion can truly prepare you to to the amazing and exhausting job of teaching so why is it we hide our future teachers in college classrooms rather than set them free in schools? To be a teacher, we need to be in the classrooms because that is where we learn how to be effective, reflective and creative.  This is where we face the true audience, the true measure of whether students have learned or not.  So disband teacher educations, or at the very least the last two years and replace it with on the job training with a certified experienced teacher.  Imagine the benefit for not just the wannabe teacher but also those students that get the luxury of having two adults in the room.  If there are bad teachers out there, or ineffective as the new term goes, then we must look at how those teachers were prepared.  Until our teaching education is changed, real reform will not be accomplished.

conferences, letter to Jeremy, technology

Are We Setting Students up for Failure?

Pernille Ripp
This letter is part of a series of letters taking place between  Jeremy Macdonald @MrMacnology, a 5th grade teacher in Oregon, and Pernille Ripp @4thgrdteacher, 4th grade teacher in Wisconsin; two educators who for the first time are attempting a no grades classroom, as well as limited homework.  We share our thoughts and struggles with creating the best learning environment for our students so that others may learn something as well.  To see the other letters, please visit us here or here.
Hi Jeremy,
I am so glad to hear that conferences went well. There we both were, sweating over every single detail and once again our fears got the better of us.  My parents loved it.  No one asked any questions as to what grade their child should be getting but instead asked pointed questions to their children about their learning.  As you may have realized, I have gotten hooked on student-led conferences as well in the process.  So maybe this shows us too that we have done our job well as well.  We have prepared our parents as much as we prepare our students.  We let them know from the beginning what type of environment we envision and then we follow our own guidelines.  No surprises means no anger.  I do wonder how you ended up doing your report cards in that you say some students were surprised?   Had you not shown them to them beforehand or discussed it with them?  I am liberally borrowing the idea from Joe Bower in setting grades with the kids, that way there won’t be any surprises or confusion.  I agree, we continue this path and we adjust and continue, knowing that it is the right way to go.
I too am tech-obsessed.  I like to blame it on my parents who had one of the only original apple computers in town.  My students know that I have this obsession and they love it.  And yet, like you, I ponder whether my obsession is a healthy one and whether it is educationally relevant to the students?  So every time I choose to introduce a new tool for the students I have to know why.  Is it just for playing or is it an integral part of the learning process.  My students blog because we are learning to connect with an audience and to cater our writing to specific purposes.  Blogging also has the added excitement of responses from other people rather than just plain old me.  And yet, we write by hand every day as well.  One teacher told me that they thought students needed to learn how to write before they moved on to typing.  She therefore did not want students doing technology “stuff.”  I was hurt and confused by her comment, knowing that she was directing it at me and the approach I have taken and I didn’t get what she meant as I see the two as one in the same.  I can just as easily write a story by pencil as by typing.  To me that seems to be an excuse to keep students away from technology.
There have been times though where I have had to stop myself, though.  I know that my students get much more excited when they get to use technology but some times learning has to come from books and from discussion.  Not from a movie, or a voicethread, or some other computer related activity.  How do we set up our students for excitement about that type of learning?  Is there a way to combine the two?  Or will the technology always win because it is a gadget.  Are we, in truth, by being techy teachers, doing our students a disservice by setting them up for perpetual disappointment when they move on to teachers that do not embrace it as fully as we do?  Are we instead of helping shape 21st century students, shaping kids that will more quickly become disillusioned in a classroom because their teacher does not embrace technology?  Should teachers even be allowed to not incorporate technology into their lessons?
We will always be advocates for learning, that is the nature of our job, but what we must deliberate on every day is whether a tool will enhance learning or merely dress it up to become easier to digest?  I take an unpopular stance when I say that I feel interactive whiteboards are not all that they are hailed to be for learning purposes, although I agree that they catch children’s’ attention very well.   And that’s it, isn’t it?  Do we use technology to get the attention of our students or do we use it properly to teach them something?  
I fear I left you with more questions than answers.  Yet they are important ones that I struggle with on a daily basis.  And I wish I could say that I had typed this on my Ipad, however Santa has yet to decide whether I have been good enough to deserve one of those for Christmas or not.  I swear I have…




aha moment, being a teacher, believe, classroom expectations, communication, get out of the way, honesty, hopes, inhibitions, inspiration, kids, learning

When Learning Fails – We Blame the Students

Pernille Ripp

Being a 3rd year teacher in my district means writing a PDP or Professional Development Plan, in which we are to continually reflect upon our learning and our focus for our professional development.  I am therefore constantly reflecting with other students both face to face and through the internet on that most important question of all; why did I become a teacher? Well, I became a teacher because I believe in children and in their potential.

 Over the summer, I went through one of the most transformative periods of my life, developing a PLN and going through my chosen curriculum asking myself, “Why, why, why?” Why do I choose to teach the things I teach, besides the obvious state and district standards? Why is it that I force students to do book reports when I find them boring and unproductive? Why do I do packet work when it does not ensure learning? Why do I talk all the time, is it for control, for learning or because I am that in love with myself? Why do I fail 4th grade students? Why do I assign at least 40 minutes a homework a night? All of these were massive questions that were daunting and breathtakingly hard to be honest about, but I did it, I survived and for that I am a better teacher.

I realized over the summer that when teachers stop to question themselves is when the curriculum becomes stagnant. I know that we all get in our comfort zones and we feel that something works, so it becomes hard to give it up. But how many times have we stood in a situation where a particular cherished lesson or approach did not work and we end up blaming the students, rather than the teaching method? I had to realize that if something was not a success than I was to blame, not the make up of the students, or the particular day of the week, just me and my delivery. I therefore also knew that if I was going to rethink my teaching process than I had to fully believe and be passionate about what I teach. So this year my classroom is all about the students, or as I like to call it; it is the student-centered room. You will still find me teaching the students some of the time, but you are also more than likely going to find me walking around or sitting down and discussing curriculum. The students are learning to take control of the classroom, however, they are frightened at times, not quite sure what they are doing and yet I urge them to speak, to think, and to listen to one another. This system is not perfect, it is work in progress, but as my students grow, so do I.

So as I continue my conversations with fellow teachers, and we constantly re-evaluate ourselves, often being our own harshest critics, I am honored when others feel secure enough to tell me of the overwhelmedness or exhaustion.  I know that I have been in that same place but that this year I won’t be. Sure there may be things that do not work out, and learning that does not quite happen as well as I would like it. However, when I glance around my room and see the confidence level of my students and also the excitement that is building in regard to our learning, I know that I am to something. I am back and I am staying.

Uncategorized

Saying Goodbye from a Student

Pernille Ripp

This letter was written by one of my students to the husband of my friend and colleague who passed away Saturday.  If we ever wonder why we become teachers this is an example of the lives that we touch.  Cindy would have been so proud.

Dear Mr. Littel,
   
Hi, my name is Jordan.  I am a fourth grader at West
Middleton Elementary and live a few minutes away from you in Cherrywood.  I had your wife Cindy as my kindergarten teacher.   I heard about her passingL. 
Mrs. Littel was a wonderful teacher and a wonderful person.  
I remember the last day that she was at school and I went up to her and
I said, “Good bye Mrs. Littel,” and she gave me a big hug.  I will miss those hugs and I think you will too.  
I remember when we got to make ginger bread houses with her in class. I could not figure out how to put the icing on, so Mrs. Littel came over and she helped me.  
I have so many amazing memories of her and I will never forget her.  She will always be in my heart.
           Sincerely,

Jordan
P.S. That ginger bread house tasted AMAZING! J   
                      First day of Kindergarten                                           First day of 4th Grade

advice, alfie kohn, assumptions, being a teacher, classroom setup, community, educators, elementary, new teacher, new year

Declutter I say! Or Why Motivational Posters Demotivate

Pernille Ripp

Life is full of choices, so choose carefully! How can anyone love you if you do not love yourself? And my favorite: failure is never an option! All sayings found on various motivational posters sold to teachers that mean well and boy, do they sell. Anyone who has ever been in a teacher store those last couple of weeks before school start will see the poster wheels spinning frantically as the just right poster is sought. Ok, I admit I, I was one of those teachers, however, I thought I was clever and that I had it all figured out. You see, I had edited my pre-packaged collection and therefore only had select few displayed. Thus, my students knew that these were the sayings they had to focus on. I remember one was a cute little frog hanging on to a tree branch and something about sticking with it. Oh, day in and day out that little frog inspired my students to never give up! Right? Well, not exactly. My students didn’t care. I am sure they thought they were cute and one or two of them used them for inspiration for their own doodles in their journals but did it ignite their passion for learning? Hardly, in fact, I would like to argue quite the opposite. You see, my students were overloaded with messages. Walk into almost any elementary classroom and you will be bombarded with motivational posters, hand-made posters, student work, rules, classroom jobs and anything else that deserves a special place on the wall. And we don’t just tack it to the all, we put up back posters and fancy boarders o that it gets really colorful and pops! In fact, bare walls are taunted and laughed at, seen as someone being unprepared or dare I say dispassionate about their room, their job, their kids!

And so the pressure on new teachers in particular is immense. You may be new but your room should still look inviting, educationally functional and also be a representation of you as a teacher. That last week before my first week of school ever, I was waking up in cold sweat wondering whether the kids would get “me” in the room? And then school happened and I realized little by little that even though I had labored intensely over my handmade sign with the great Shakespeare quote “Do Not be Afraid of Greatness” my students had never read it or noticed it really. How do I know? My principal asked them about it when I was observed the first time. But surely they had noticed all of the signs? Not so much, even if I had pored over each placement of every poster so much that my walls had holes in them from my tearing off the gorilla tape (note to self: don’t ever use gorilla tape again.) I had created rules – keep them simple but firm, and a little flexible. Classroom jobs – instill responsibility but make the chart so fun that the kids cannot wait to see what job they will do. And maps – I had maps all over my room. Why maps? Well, I really like maps and they filled all that dreaded empty wall space. I would have continued to cover and decorate had it not been for a pesky thing called the firecode. It stopped me at 20%.

So what changed? One day I realized that it wasn’t my room that represented me, but myself that represented me. In fact, I got sick of re-taping posters that kept falling down, or moving them when I actually needed the space for learning and so little by little down they came. The ultimate clean up came when I had to move rooms this year. I sorted, evaluated and donated. Now I chuckle when I see my “old” posters hanging somewhere else. Don’t they realize why I got rid of them? I also thought about my students more and how they reacted to the environment I created. Too much of it was about me, and how I wanted the room to be. They didn’t feel welcome or that the space was theirs, but merely as guests passing through borrowing the space. Another consideration was that I have students that get over-stimulated quite easily. Being a clutter freak myself I start to get clammy when I stay in these rooms too long so imagine if you are a student trying to focus on whatever is going on on the whiteboard. Where do you look? To the poster telling you to keep focusing or on to the actual board? So is my room bare walls? Nah, but what is up there is important. In fact, the kids have noticed what is posted. Quotes form the Little Prince, from the “I Have a Dream” Speech, and student introductions in Wordles. We have some literary elements as reminders and even a couple of pictures. The students know how obsessed I am with zombies so they draw me pictures of flesh eaters. No rules, no motivational posters, just us. Our space, our room. And most importantly, room to grow into a community. Into making the space our own. They own the room as much as I do and that is more important that sticking to it or never giving up!

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News on a Sunday Morning

Pernille Ripp

The phone call startles me; why would the school secretary be calling me during breakfast on a Sunday morning? Usually it would mean an emergency at school but the skies are clear and the weather has been fine. And then it dawns on me; this will not be good news. I answer and sure enough the worst has happened; a dear colleague has lost her battle to cancer, happened last night and there are no other details at the moment. I choke back tears and call the next person on our phone tree hating the fact that I have to startle them with the news as well during their coffee. And then I start to think of the severity of the loss.

You see, Cindy was one of those teachers that the kids absolutely adored. They all wanted her as their kindergarten teacher, she was the one that kids would talk you about years later as one of their favorites. She had a gift for making those very overwhelming first days of school for a scared little 5 year old into the most magical journey they would ever embark on. Her diagnosis last December therefore came as a great shock to all of us, especially those who had the privilege of calling her a very close friend.

Cindy was a uniter, a calmer, a quiet leader that would make you feel listened to and then would let you speak. We often talk about teacher leaders and she was one of those rare ones that almost everyone could agree to listen to. She didn’t raise her voice but that did not mean she was not passionate; she was. Passion to her though did not mean shouting or hammering her point home but rather starting a dialogue and getting everyone involved. I often wish I could be more like Cindy.

And so tomorrow we return to school, make sure all of the staff knows and our magnificent guidance counselor will take care of the kids. The parents will be told as well and once more our community must come together to say goodbye, to rally around the living and make sure we are there for them as well. And as we continue to live, to carry Cindy in our hearts, we must strive to be more like her. A uniter in this divisive time, a listener, a thoughtful leader and most of all someone who passionately lived her life, letting others know what they meant to her. We carry our memories, our thoughts, and we continue on as teachers because that is what we do. We continue to care, to teach, to lead, but we don’t ever forget. I don’t want to ever forget.