Author: Pernille Ripp

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA, who has taught 4th, 5th, and 7th grade. Proud techy geek, and mass consumer of incredible books. Creator of the Global Read Aloud Project, Co-founder of EdCamp MadWI, and believer in all children. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students’ heads every day. First book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classrooms Back to Our Students” can be purchased now. Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press. Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

being a teacher, being me, books, picture books, Reading, students

The Things That Matter the Most

November 7, 2015November 6, 2015 Pernille Ripp

I have spent a week listening to my students as they told me what they were proud of and how I could change to make 7th grade English a better class for them. Child after child. Conversation after conversation, and although my brain is tired from all this sitting, and I am ready to go back to working with all of them, I could not help but notice the things that kept coming up in as we spoke.

They told me that they are becoming stronger readers. That they have these goals that they need to accomplish, perhaps with some help from me. That class is fun (at times). That it is not as bad as they thought it might be. And over and over and over they tell me about the things that have mattered the most to them…

Having books in our classroom. They know that when they finish a book, another one is right there. That if they need to abandon the one they have selected, that many others await. That they love our school library but are so thankful for the library we have as well. The books seem to call out to them as they sit in our room asking to be read.

Having time to book shop. Once every few weeks we spend half a class simply book shopping. We lounge in our time with the new (and old) books waiting for us on the tables. I book talk a few and then watch as they meander along the piles, picking up book upon book and gazing at the pages. Writing a few down, sharing them with others. Book shopping is an event, something to look forward to and they ask for it as they see the piles of books grow by my table.

A list of books to be read. We have several pages in our readers notebook dedicated as our to-be-read list. The students are now getting in the habit of using it whenever they need a new book. They are sharing them with each other too, “Did you add this book yet? Oh, we have the same book listed.” They do not forget about the books they are waiting for (right now Orbiting Jupiter and Crenshaw have a very long wait list) and with their list in hand they always find their next read.

A shared love of picture books. All students are accomplished readers in our room because they can all pick up a picture book and “get it.” They can all discuss the problem of Mustache Baby. They can all discuss the theme of Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great. They can all learn about courage from Malala and Iqbal. Because those stories are found within picture books. Because picture books allow us to love reading. To access complex texts that no one has ever told us is not at our level. To remember that reading is meant to be fun, even if it is a sad book.

And finally, they told me that the teacher matters. That they need a teacher that does not judge. A teacher that loves books. A teacher that reads. A teacher that does not give up. A teacher that hounds them at times and holds them accountable. A teacher that sees them, even when they try to be invisible. A teacher that I try to be, even when I feel I fall short.

And those are the things that mattered the most.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students. Also, if you are wondering where I will be in the coming year or would like to have me speak, please see this page.

aha moment, being a teacher, being me, books, Literacy, Passion, students

A Story of A Boy and a Book

November 6, 2015 Pernille Ripp

This originally was posted on The Reader Leader Blog from Scholastic. You should really see the other posts on the blog!

He came to me with anger seeping out of every pore, a cloud of dismay surrounding him. Looking at us with eyes that told the world that he was not afraid, that he knew that we could not make him do whatever it was we intended to ask. That he would fight us with every cell in his body just to stay in control. Yet, for all of his anger, for all of his glances directed my way, he wasn’t one of mine. I didn’t have the pleasure of teaching him. He was in a separate English class, trying to be taught all of those things he had missed because of his anger and outbursts.

He wasn’t afraid of me, nor very angry. I posed no threat since I was not one of the ones asking him to please do, please sit, please stop. So every day I greeted him, smiled when our paths crossed, and told him that all of those books I had in my classroom could be his if only he wanted to read one. That even if he wasn’t mine, those books were still meant for him. Every day, he smiled and went on his way, seeing little need for any of the books I might have to share. As the weeks passed, he grew. He pushed his boundaries as children can do so well, always inching along that very fine line of control and struggle. I watched from afar; after all, he was not mine, so all I could do was smile and nod and remind him of the books that awaited.

One day, he didn’t just smile, but instead asked in all earnestness, “When can I be your student? When can I come to your class?” It wasn’t because he didn’t like the class he was in, or the teacher who taught him, but the books were calling, as they often do to so many kids that feel lost. I smiled and shrugged, repeated that the books were there for him whether he was mine or not. For weeks this played out until one day, he entered our classroom and I held my breath; after all, now he was mine, now I was one of the ones that would ask him to stop, to sit, to do. And I was scared of what would happen.

He sat quietly that first day in class. Bent his head and wrote ever so slowly, picking out his words with care, wanting so much to fit in and not just be known as that kid with anger issues. As the other students cleared out, he lifted his head, looked at the clock and asked, “Is it now? Can I pick my book now?” And he walked to the shelf of the book he had eyed and grabbed it, holding on to it as if I would ask him to put it down. “What do I do now?” he asked. “You read it,” I said, “And then you bring it back.” “That’s it?” “That’s it.”

So he left that morning, clutching Amulet: Book 1 to his chest as if it were a safety blanket. And I figured that the minute he left our classroom, that book would be forgotten; his day would develop, and soon our conversation would be a distant memory as his ingrained behaviors clouded his judgment once again. So I wasn’t surprised when at lunch he walked up to me and handed me back the book. “Did you not like it?” I asked, already running a possibility of other titles in my head that I could offer him. “I am done,” he said. “Done? But I thought you were so excited to read it?” I asked, my voice laced with confusion. “I did…I loved it…Can I have the next one please? I promise to bring it back.” He had read it already. He had fallen in love with a book. He was ready for the next one. For one moment in that day, he was just a kid who loved a book, just a kid like all the other kids, asking for the next book in a series that had spoken to him. So we walked into our classroom, found the next book and he left, clutching it to his chest once more, ready to wrestle anyone who would try to take it away.

We fall in love with books when they speak to us. When within their pages, we find a piece of ourselves we didn’t know we were missing. We clutch these books to our chests long after we have stopped reading them as a way to shield us from a world that we sometimes do not understand. Books become absorbed into our identity and allow us to risk, to love, to care about something even when we feel the most vulnerable. Even when we feel the world is not for us, we can find safety within the pages of a book. That is why my classroom is filled with books–so that every child has a chance to find a piece of armor, so that every child has a chance to find a vessel that will hold his dreams and protect them when they need to be. My students may not understand each other’s pasts, each other’s behaviors, but they understand books, and so when a child falls in love with a book and it becomes part of him, it builds a bridge for others to understand that child better. For others to be let in.

Books provide us with the magic that we dream of as teachers. Books, whether fiction or non, chapter or picture, give us the building blocks that we need to connect with our hardest students. To connect with those that we sometimes feel at a loss to reach. That boy didn’t stop being angry. He didn’t stop feeling that the world was out to get him, but he did start believing that somewhere in the world was a place for him to fit in. That he too could be a reader, that he too could belong. That his anger would not be the only thing that defined him, even when it spoke the loudest. That boy knew he had a home with us whenever he needed it. He still does, even though he is no longer around. My door is always open, the books always calling out for anyone who needs to belong, if even for a moment. I will never forget that boy and his book.

aha moment, assessment, assumptions, being a teacher, being me, conferences, connect, Passion, student voice

How Can I Make This Better For You?

November 4, 2015 Pernille Ripp

For the past three days my students have read. They have sat wherever they wanted, immersed in the book of their choice. They have book shopped. They have reflected, but mostly just read. Whispered about their books. Handed those in they have finished. And waited for me to call their name, knowing that soon it would be their turn.

I have sat at a table and spoken to them all, one by one, taken the time it takes. “How is English going…How can I be a better teacher for you….What is not working…” Armed with the survey they have takes as we finished our very first quarter, they have told me their truths. They have looked at me and then gladly told me everything I have needed to change. And I am so grateful. Think of the guts that it takes to look at your teacher to tell them that something is not working for you. Think of what that says about the community we have.

So for the past 3 days, I have listened. I have nodded and taken notes. I have asked for further explanation, and I have also asked for help. How can we make it better? How can we find more time? How can we make it easier? More engaging? More of what they need? How can we…

We read books to become better teachers. We ask colleagues for help. We meet with administrators. We reach out to parents. We connect and we ask and we ponder together. Yet, how often do we ask the very kids that we teach? How often do we stop what we are doing simply to conference with them? Not about their work but to uncover how things are going? What they need? How we can change? How often do we stop so we can learn from them? Not often enough, but that can change. It starts with us. And it starts with a simple question; how can I make this better for you?

aha moment, being a teacher, being me, PLN, principals, trust

How to Do PD Right – Yes, It’s Possible

November 2, 2015 Pernille Ripp

Last week, I had two full days of professional development, or PD as we like to call it. I shared my excitement on Facebook about the two days and, of course, was met with disbelief. Excitement? Really? Since when has PD actually been something to look forward to? And so I realized that I might be in the minority when it comes to excitement for PD, that I might be a lone voice among the educational community and yet, in my district I am not. Because my district, Oregon School District, has figured out how to do PD right.

They operate under a few simple things; trust, communication, and choice. Tenets that far too many districts kind of believe in when it comes to PD but then really don’t when it comes to setting the agenda. Yet, my district not only believes it, they live it, and it is apparent every time we are given time to learn as professionals. Our two days consisted of many different things, all meant to fulfill the needs we not only have as a community, but also as individual learners.

We started with curriculum time. Just that. No set curriculum to go through. No agenda. We were not even told who we had to meet with. Instead we given the true gift of time to meet with those we felt we needed to meet with. And so we did, and we planned, and we even book shopped as we prepared for book clubs. They trusted us to use our time in the best way possible, in the way that we would see as most beneficial, and so we did.

Then we were given small group work time. We have 4 separate professional learning communities happening in our school, so each group met to check in and then as a group we decided what we needed to do. My group had decided it needed time to read the books our school had ordered for us (on our request of course). So we did, we met after and we discussed what we found. Not in order to fill out a sheet, or to check off a box, but because we wanted to learn from each other.

The afternoon was filled with whole school learning as a coach came in to teach us how to coach each other and students. 2 hours were spent trying to make our community stronger and more cohesive. While confusion may have arisen from things we did, it still started a lot of conversation. It still gave us tools we could use. It still gave us a chance to learn from each other.

We ended the first day with work time for whatever we needed. Again, no need to check in. No need to report somewhere. Just work, get it done, whatever “it” is.

The second day had two components to it. The first part of the day being an Edcamp style set-up where we could choose to go to whichever sessions our colleagues were holding, the second being time to work on Educator Effectiveness, our state evaluation system. The morning was fantastic, there were so many sessions, it was hard to pick. And the best part was the variety of the sessions; from discussion of curriculum, to brainstorming, to hands-on projects. From the advanced to the basic, there was room for all. That afternoon we ended our two days with time to do all of the things that our government is asking us to do. Whether it was to meet with our evaluator, meet with a colleague, simply fill out the many online forms, or contemplate how to reach our goals, we were given the time. We were given the tools. We were given the support to be the very best educators we can be.

I wrote about trusting staff in my book Empowered Schools, Empowered Students. I wrote about what it could do for an entire district if professional development started to mean something again. I wrote about how a district could actually use these days to honor the talent, the curiosity, and the need of its educators by trusting them. By listening to them. By offering choice. When I wrote that book, I had no idea that I would get to work for a district that lives out this vision every day. I am so grateful that my dream is not just, but actually a part of the tapestry of where I get to teach. PD can be done right, after all.

aha moment, being a teacher, books, Literacy, Passion, student voice

Then It Just Doesn’t Matter

October 31, 2015 Pernille Ripp

I have some staunch book haters this year. Some kids who really hate reading. Some of them hate writing as well. And not just in a “7th grade trying to be cool” kind of way, but in a deep-seated notion that rules their decisions, their actions, and their days. They hate reading. And they are telling me loudly.

They are pushing me to think about what I do in our classroom. How I try to wrap them up in the excitement, how my own relentless quest to find that perfect book along with them is one that deserves the time it gets. That the very act of loving reading (or writing or math or science) is something that we must find the time to cultivate in our schools. Even when I feel the pressure of the year and the deadlines looming over me. Because when they hate reading (or insert whatever school related subject here) then it just doesn’t matter what strategies I try to teach them.

When they hate reading then it just doesn’t matter that I am trying to teach them how to think deeper about text.

It just doesn’t matter that I am trying to teach them to find the signposts.

It just doesn’t matter that I am trying to teach them how to write about their thoughts. How to access harder texts. How to understand text features or write a summary. How to analyze rather than paraphrase.

When they hate reading then that is all they can think about. They refuse to access the skills that they need to practice because everything we do is attached to something to something they hate.

And I get it, why would you want to do more with something you despise?

So when they hate reading we must attack that first. Not the strategies, not the skills, but the emotion that is attached to everything we are trying to do. We must dig and dig and dig to find out why. And we must ask, and we must talk, and we must give them a chance to change their mind, if even just in the slightest way, as we create classrooms that are run on a culture of love for our subject, rather than a need to cover curriculum.

We can assume that they hate it because it is hard. We can assume that they hate it because they find it boring. That they hate it because they have to sit still, because they cannot focus, because they would rather be doing so many other things. But we won’t know until we ask. We wont know until we acknowledge the hatred or whatever emotion they carry so that we can do something about it.

Too often we barrel on, hoping that within our teaching something magical will happen. Yet within our race to teach to the standards, to explore the strategies, to cover, cover, cover, we cannot forget to develop the love, develop the relationship that students need to have with what we teach so that can become invested, even if just a little bit.

So when they hate reading, or whatever other thing they loudly proclaim to hate, don’t just teach. Listen. Ask. And then do something about it. And not just by yourself, but with them.

books, Literacy, picture books

Great Picture Books to Use for Again & Again – Notice & Note

October 30, 2015August 21, 2016 Pernille Ripp

One of the main texts we use to guide our reading instruction is the amazing Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst. This book provides us with the foundation for having deeper reading conversations and a common language as we develop our thoughts. While the book has excellent text ideas to use as mentor texts, I thought it would be nice for my students to use picture books on the very first day of a new strategy before we delve into the longer text excerpts. I have therefore looked for picture books I could use with the different strategies and will publish posts as I have them for the 6 different strategies since I cannot be the only one looking for ideas.

The first post was on Contrast & Contradictions, then followed Aha Moments, Tough Questions, Words of the Wiser, and now comes a tougher one to find picture books for Again and Again.

NEW Additions:

Brick by Brick by Charles R. Smith Jr. and illustrated by Floyd Cooper tells the little known story of how slaves were part of the construction of The White House. Powerful read and powerful Again and Again moments.

Back of the Bus written by Aaron Reynolds and illustrated by Floyd Cooper tells the story of Rosa Park’s act of courage from the perspective of a little boy on the bus. Powerful again and again when students notice the symbolism of the marble.

Amelia and Eleanor Go For a Ride written by Pam Munoz Ryan and illustrated by Brian Selznick has a few subtle Again and Again’s and may therefore be better suited for when students have had some exposure to the strategy.

I admit that The North Star by Peter H. Reynolds was the first one that came to mind for this strategy of noticing when something is repeated again and again. Why? Because the cat becomes a symbol for so many things in this book and is something that my students often notice.

With the simple line “Winter is coming” this picture book aptly titled Winter is Coming by Tony Johnston and illustrated by Jim LaMarche is great for just starting out with the strategy since the line is easy to spot and will lead to good discussions about how the book changes even though the line stays the same.

The Big Box by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison illustrated by Giselle Potter has a lot of repetition making it an ideal candidate for again and again. Because the words do not seem to mean much until you really start to think about their meaning. What is the symbolic meaning of the big box?

One of the most beloved picture books in our 7th grade classroom is I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen which due to the hat and the repeated phrases of the bear and the rabbit are great for inferring based on the again and again moments.

Another favorite is Wolfie the Bunny by Ame Dyckman illustrated by Zachariah OHora when Dot the Rabbit keeps repeating that Wolfie will eat them all up. This leads to some great discussion of why she would keep saying that and how we do the same as people when we judge.

The again and again moment may be a little harder to find in the classic Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak but kids always recognize it when they reach the final page and the supper is still hot. Why does this matter and how does it link in to earlier events?

A Sweet Smell of Roses by Angela Johnson is a beautiful picture book and the again and again lies in the use of the color red as well as the phrase “Sweet smell of roses…” throughout the book.

this beautiful new picture book, My Two Blankets by Irena Kobold and Freya Blackwood keeps eluding to a blanket. I love the metaphor that the blanket (s) represent.

Blue on Blue by Dianne White and Beth Krommes has a fantastic again and again in the way the color words are used. While not as obvious as an again and again moment, I am looking forward to seeing if students can discover the pattern.

We are about to start our nonfiction focus for the year so I am so glad I found some great again and again moments in The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Helligman with pictures by LeUyen Pham. The way the numbers are colored throughout the pages will definitely catch the eye of students.

As always, I turned to the awesome Notice and Note community on Facebook and asked them to share their favorites as well. Here they are.

Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson.

Frog on a Log? by Kes Gray and Jim Field.

Little Elliot Big City by Mike Curato

By Frog and Mouse by Deborah Freedman

Something Beautiful by Sharon Dennis Wyeth

Shortcut by Donald Crews

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes.

The Hat by Jan Brett

The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson

The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Manus Pinkwater

As always, please add your favorites for Again and Again in the comments. Also, did you see the new Notice and Note for Nonfiction? I am so excited to read it.