I am packing right now, on my way to the Mt. Lebanon school district in Pennsylvania, where I get to have the immense honor of working with their elementary staff for a whole day. My focus for the day is, of course, all about creating passionate learners – everything I have written about in my book, and I cannot wait to see the thinking, discussion, and ideas that will happen. I always get so inspired working with other teachers as well, what a great way to spend a Monday.
In the spirit of learning from others, I thought it would be great to give away a physical copy of my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students. I will even sign the winning copy! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment and tell me why you would like to read the book. (Your email does not need to be included as long as you put it in the comment box). I will pull a winner this Friday night, October 9th and will then send you the book.
So what is my book about? Here is the excerpt from the back.
Would you want to be a student in your own classroom? In Passionate Learners: How to Engage and Empower Your Students, author Pernille Ripp challenges both novice and seasoned teachers to create a positive, interactive learning environment where students drive their own academic achievement. You’ll discover how to make fundamental changes to your classroom so learning becomes an exciting challenge rather than a frustrating ordeal. Based on the author’s personal experience of transforming her approach to teaching, this book outlines how to:
• Build a working relationship with your students based on mutual trust, respect, and appreciation.
• Be attentive to your students’ needs and share ownership of the classroom with them.
• Break out of the vicious cycle of punishment and reward to control student behaviour.
• Use innovative and creative lesson plans to get your students to become more engaged and intellectually-invested learners, while still meeting your state standards.
• Limit homework and abandon traditional grading so that your students can make the most of their learning experiences without unnecessary stress.
And what are people saying about the book?
I hope you love the book!
Pernille Ripp 
I have read your first book and would love a copy of this second one. Your blogs, your courage, and your passion have been a great inspiration to me in my “teaching” journey! Because of you, we will be starting the Global Read Aloud tomorrow, I blog, I do NOT do reading logs and have encouraged peers not to do them,…I could go on and on about how you have encouraged me to change my classroom into passionate learners. Thank you! Dana Clutter
Pernille, I have been following your blog and feel I connect with so much of what you say, I too tend to stray from the conventional and strive to create a collaborative classroom environment, including my students in many decisions. I would love to read your book.
Ellen
GRA starts tomorrow, so excited to reveal the book.
Pernille, I would love a signed copy of your book! I have met you in person, believe you are the quintessential example of empowerment and read every blog post you have written in the past two years. I am an experienced teacher who has always believed the things you proclaim and try to live them out with my students. Not only do I NEED a signed copy of your book to read myself, but I am working with many new and pre-teachers throughout our state in cooperation with two universities. I would love to share this book with them!
I believe this book embodies many of the philosophies I quickly dismiss, at first, and then end up embracing after reading more, thinking more, and experiencing more. Thank you for having the courage to dream!
The title of your book captures my interest! I have been molding my classroom to be a place where learners take ownership of their learning. I want my students to feel valued and know that they matter. I have instituted Genius Hour and have tried to ignite student passions. I would like to read your book so I may further develop this idea of passionate learners.
Thank you for always sharing your learning with others.
Love reading your blog. The real life examples of learning and teaching are always inspirational. I would love a copy of your book to read and share with my fellow teachers!
I NEED a copy of your book! I am a literacy teacher leader and support 32 elementary schools. I can provide professional development 24/7 around literacy but until we address the engagement of students, teachers are disengaged themselves!
Pernille I have been following your blog ever since I found you on Skype in the Classroom. Your thoughts, ideas and suggestions strengthen me as a teacher. I look forward to reading your blogs and implementing many of your recommendations. I would love to win an autographed copy of your book and would certainly share it with others.
I’m interested in learning how you develop and foster passion in your scholars.
I love reading your blog and I would love to read your book! I think you have great ideas about education and as a special education English teacher, I’m looking to create passionate learners but we’re starting in a hard place because these high schoolers are already disengaged and have had negative experiences with school.
Having a book written by such a passionate educator as yourself is a no-brainer decision. I love learning from you and with you on Twitter and certainly GRA, so now expanding my learning with your book in hand will be wonderful. Thank you for your inspiration!
After coming out of a week of MAP data review and PARCC results lurking around the corner, I have found myself sucombing to the pressure of raising a test score. I read the exerpt of your book online(Mindshift) and it was exactly what I needed to hear. I know in my heart what is best for kids and I can’t wait to read more of your book to remind me what really matters……creating experiences that encourage students to follow their passions and love learning.
I’ve been reading your blog for a few years now and would love to have a signed copy of your book! You inspired me to take the plunge an abandon reward systems permanently. The impact this decision has made on my students has been so incredible.
I have moved from an inquiry-based student-driven Kindergarten program to grade 5. I am passionately trying to embrace much of what we experienced in Kindergarten with my grade 5s. I think your book would really help me in that journey.
I look forward to reading your blog every time it pops up in my inbox and am never
disappointed! I have used so many of your suggestions and would LOVE to read your book for even more!
Happy Teaching-
I would like to read your book because I am always looking for ways to improve as a teacher. I read your blog and am participating in GRA15 for the 3rd year. Our teaching philosophies tend to be quite similar – students come first.
It’s been so inspiring to follow your work over the last 10 months! Your writing found me at the perfect time as I’d just started writing on schooling from the student perspective and how students can protect their minds from the kinds of accountability that causes good teachers to punish/reward, build stress and act in ways that shut down the joys of creative freedom; in us the students, but also in themselves.
Your writing unlocked my own compassion for teachers from the frozen state formal education left me in as a ‘top performing’ student graduate; successful on the outside, questioning my very worth on the inside. You’ve helped me see it’s the system that causes issues while also discovering hope as it’s actually teachers (and students) who can transform things.
Thank you for sharing what you’ve discovered in your journey. I hope many teachers are inspired to follow your footsteps and then transform their teaching in their own ways. Speaking as a student: yes please. Please be happy with what your’e doing or we learn to accept that we need to do what the powerful ask, that we are not good enough to make valid points and must therefore ignore the inner turmoil we have, and deserve to have, for being unworthy.
You’ve help show me that I am worthy. You’re helping me tell teachers that they are worthy too, of joy in their work and that taking courageous steps towards this will free us students from so much self-imposed suffering in adulthood. Your writing has already made such a difference!
I can’t wait to read your book. Daily, your blog and tweets inspire and uplift me. Through your candor, honesty and humor, you remind me why I love being an educator and push me to question, learn, reflect and grow.
I know your book is wonderful and full of all the things that keep making me want to be a champion for my students!
I’d love to win a signed copy!😊
I would LOVE to read your book! I have been following your tweets and your blog for almost a year and have been so inspired by what you have shared, especially the Global Read Aloud. I participated in GRA last year and wish that I could participate this year but I don’t have a homeroom class or a class of my own at all. I would love to read your book and find ways of incorporating your ideas and strategies into my second language classes in order to make them more engaging for the students. I hope that you choose me but even if you do not, I will be purchasing your book!
Your blog has inspired me to make changes in the way I teach. You have a passion that is contagious! It is apparent that you put the student first. By sharing your thoughts, struggles, and successes with us, I have the courage to try new things in the classroom that may go against the norm. I would love to have a copy of your book, not only for myself, but to share with others.
I love that question – would I want to be a student in my classroom. It’s one that really makes me consider what I plan for students. I suspect that reading your book would inspire changes – needed changes in my classroom. I would love to have a copy of your book to help me evaluate and reform what I do and what happens on my room.
I am PASSIONATE about reaching my students, especially when it comes to reading. I encourage my students to achieve the reading goals and be able to identify the ways in which they are a reader. This summer I read Stephen Layne’s In Defense of Read Alouds, Angela Watson’s Unshakeable, and Kelly Gallagher’s Readicide. Last June I had the pleasure of hearing the reading goddess, Donalyn Miller, speak at a Rutgers event. She inspired me to take the summer Book A Day challenge. This fall, I have attended the National Book Festival, The Princeton Children’s Book Festival and the Morristown Festival of Books. I run a Battle of the Book Clubs along with a colleague at my school, and together we are planning a second author visit for our fifth graders. We are also looking forward to the start of Global Read Aloud tomorrow and March Book Madness in 201!! I am PASSIONATE about what I do and would love to learn more ways to awake the passion in my students by reading your book.
Hey Pernille!
Thanks for this opportunity. I am feeling the need, more than ever this year, to reconnect professionally to passionate teaching and learning. I’m feeling a bit like the odd duck out for a variety of reasons and really need a surge of energy and encouragement to keep me going on the best path for my students,
I have taught 15 years in elementary. I am finding students more and more disengaged from the thought they can change their abilities through effort and perseverance. I want to inspire them! I want to give them hope! I want them to want to see their futures as infinitely open and exciting!
I have been following your blog for a while now, but it wasn’t until this summer when I saw you speak at nErDcamp that I realized just how powerful your message is and how much other teachers need to hear it. You are a much-needed voice and a wonderful advocate for our profession.
I am curious about what you have to offer.
I would love to read this book. I have been following you on Twitter and through this blog since this summer. Thank you so much for providing knowledge to teachers like me! I have been teaching 21 years. For 20 years, I taught in what I thought had challenging students. Then my family moved to a rural town. When I entered my new school, I was faced with challenges I had never had. I resorted back to traditional ways last year at the beginning. Slowly, I started reading Twitter and integrating what I knew was best for students. The students responded positively. I am a life-long learner and would love to read your book.
I’d love to be able to read this book and then pay it forward by sharing it with others. In inspired by your blog and views on the many facets of education. I always look forward to reading what you have to say and reflecting upon it and my own views. Thank you for your dedication and passion to students and education.
Sjmalchow@pulaskischools.org
I am exhausted, tired, anxious and overwhelmed. Sweet administrators resort to tyranny because of the state mandates. Solid research is my only hope for cover. Some days I don’t think I would made it without my peers and websites like yours and TeachersPayTeachers. I already bought 4 Kindles because our computers are ancient dinosaurs and unpredictable, but, the internet doesn’t always work with the tablets. I read every day and follow best practce to the best of my ability. And I love my students. Winning for them for once would be nice.
I am a new middle school teacher at a Title 1 school, I get to teach ELLs and refugees. My goal for all my students is for them to become passionate learners and readers. While their outside lives are simply out of my control, in our classroom I make it a point everyday to acknowledge their accomplishments, even if they don’t believe they’ve made any. I would utilize your book to help me better understand, and facilitate the students learning in the classroom, as well as their future endeavours. Thank you for doing all you do to help educators. Ms. G
I have been following your blog for the last 6 months and I honestly feel like my teaching practices and my views on student learning have changed dramatically. I turn to your blog every day to be inspired and to remind myself of the type of educator I strive to be, despite the sea of negativity I am surrounded by. I am always eager to learn, and feel that your latest book will just add to my own knowledge and help me continue to grow as an educator and a leader, while passing it forward through my students and colleagues. If I don’t win, I plan on buying the book, but thought I’d give this a chance!!
I would love a copy of your book,Pernille! I’ve been inspiring and guiding fifth graders for many years and I’m always looking for ways to keep my passion alive! My students and I learn together each year, and let me tell you I learn so much from them! Your book would be a treasure trove of inspiration as I continue this journey with my kids! Thanks for all you do! -Rina Hoge
I enjoy your enthusiasm for learning, and see many of the techniques I used when I was in the classroom. As a former principal, and now as a blended learning consultant, your ideas often give me ideas to reflect upon…and all with the theme of staying focused on the learner.
You have the most authentic teacher voice on the web for American teachers.
I’d LOVE to win a signed copy of your book! I saw you at Summer Spark in June and have been following you closely ever since. Being a fellow Wisconsite, we have many similar feelings and confusions.
Thank you for being my inspiration this year!!!
Hi!
Your first book changed me as a teacher. You know this and I think you know what your writing, your thinking and your friendship have done for me and for my students. I am grateful for all you have to share. I actually already ordered your book but would love to have another one to be able to share with others. Thank you for what you do for this world and thank you for what you’ve done for my own world.
Jess
I saw you speak at nErDcamp in Michigan this summer and would love to read your book and then pass it on to my staff.
As a high school art teacher who begins each class with goals, sprinkles face to face commentary and feedback into the day to day activities, and ends each class with a reflection on the day, I find a strong sense of engagement with my students. All that said, I still work to improve the students engagement and exploration into the work and activities during the class. Please visit http://www.ArtWithKorb.com to see how I go about my Day to Day classes. Love to talk too… Thanks Pernille. Frank
Thank you for what you do and share! I just this summer ‘discovered’ you and your blog and having been faithfully reading and reflecting on it since. You are my newest inspiration for teaching and I LOVE all your book lists and ideas that you share. In addition, my partner teacher and I participating in GRA15 for the first time – we’re reading Fish In A Tree!
I, too, have your book ordered! But would love a signed copy!
I have been inspired by your Twitter posts and blogs since I first met/connected with you virtually. I am always trying to stretch and grow as an educator and I appreciate the way you make me think and consider my previous practice. I’m confident your book would be a wonderful way to reflect and improve upon what I do each day in the classroom. This is a great opportunity.
Love reading your blog! Your honesty inspires reflective teaching and a love of reading. I want my students and the teachers I work with to inspire passionate life-long learners!
I would love to read your book and share it with my colleagues!
Mary
I am going to give myself some sort of repetitive stress injury from all the energetic nodding I do while reading your blog. I’ve just moved into a reading intervention position (from ELD and ELA) and feel like I’m coming home to the place I want to be. Your book, like your blog, would challenge, inspire, and encourage me.
I WOULD LOVE TO WIN A COPY OF YOUR BOOK. i follow your blog, everything I read makes so much sense. I would love to be a child in your classroom of yours. I hope my classroom is moving towards or is in some ways a passionate classroom. I’m on a journey towards developing student agency, personalised learning, aspects of a flipped classroom and your book would be a great resource. I hope you pick me here in New Zealand
Done
The theme of this book makes it important for all teachers to read. Our students need this theme to be screaming across the nation–and further. There is always something to take away from every title–and I’d love to see what the take-aways from this book will be, for me. After 23 years in the classroom, I am always looking for ideas to make things better. Thanks for the opportunity to win a copy.
I would like to win a copy because there is nothing that excites me more than having a child engaged and motivated to learn. It is not always easy to capture that level of interest, and I know your book would be full of student and classroom tested ideas.
I subscribe to your blog and look forward to it everyday! I read it during my lunch break when my Montessori students are having lunch and recess. It brings a little adult communication and self-reflection everyday. I would love a copy of your book so that I can share your ideas with other people in my buiding.
I would LOVE to win your book because I am so intrigued and inspired by your passion for all things children, education, reading…and passion! I met you at Nerd Camp this past summer and learned so much from listening to you speak. I am starting the Global Read Aloud tomorrow and I’ll be using a Mystery Skype to introduce my class to the class we’ve paired with. I will also be starting Genius Hour later this year. Thank you for your unending inspiration!!
I would love to win a copy of your book! I did read the first one on my Nook, but I am eager to read the latest edition, with more voice from your middle school students. I am continuously working on empowering my students and letting them know how important their voices are to this world. On top of that, I, too, am a READING WARRIOR!! Hope you have a wonderful time in PA. Lucky teachers!
I would very much like to win copy of your book. I particularly want to see how you “Limit homework and abandon traditional grading so that your students can make the most of their learning experiences without unnecessary stress.”
I would love a copy of your book because I am a firm believer of “passion” as a driven force for learning!!! As much as I believe in this, it is always a challenge to “make it happen” in the classroom and learning scenarios. I am curious to read about your perspectives and ideas on empowerment and engagement, and strengthen my own, to continue moving forward in this learning journey!!! Saludos desde Chile!!!!