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.
advice, Be the change, being a teacher, education reform, new year

Who Is to Blame? Who Cares…

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

In the ever expanding debate on the state of education, it seems a lot of blame is passed around.  Teachers blame parents, parents blame teachers, public schools blame society, charter schools blame public schools, and politicians, well they seem to blame everybody.  Not a day goes by without another blaring headline of one side versus the other and frankly I am sick of it.  I know there is blame to be passed, I know there is blame to be had, but in the end, who really cares?

Blame doesn’t do us any good.  Blame doesn’t fix the problem.  Yes, I can lament the fact that not all of my students have the same socioeconomic background, the same level of parent commitment, heck, I can get upset about their varying degrees of pre-school involvement, but at the end of my teaching day, none of it matters.  What matters is what I do now.  What matters is how I work with the students, with all of their background, and how we keep them successful from there.  Blame is great to discuss, it can get us all riled up, it can get us more invested in the debate, but really it takes our focus off of where it should be – what we can do in education with the students we have.

So this year, I am going to try to step out of the blame game.  Yes, I know there are many ills in our public schools and society in general.  Yes, I know poverty is a major factor in many students’ lives.  Yes, I know that I cannot control what happens outside of school or what happened before they became my students but I can control the now.  I can play a part in what happens starting September 4th and for a whole school year within the walls of our classroom.  I can focus on the students as I have them, rather than the blame I would like to assign.  I am going to take my energy off of blaming and place it back with my students.  I will continue to work and fight for change.  I will continue to be a voice in the debate.  But I will not continue to just pass the blame and do nothing.  Are you with me?

change

To Change Your Change

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

I have often pondered change and how it truly starts with me.  How change is something we all probably strive for, but few of us fully embrace.  How change doesn’t have to be all or nothing, but can be small steps in one direction and giant leaps in another.  Sometimes change comes about out of necessity, sometimes out of sheer survival needs sometimes change comes from boredom, other times from inspiration.  Wherever change comes from it does seem to be a constant in education today.

And yet, sometimes, ever so often, change is simply not enough.  The idea that you have, however grand and wonderful, just doesn’t win anyone over.  It doesn’t change anyone’s mind, or approach, indeed it changes nothing at all.  And that’s perhaps when one has to focus on a different change; changing the people that you present your idea to.  Perhaps your change would benefit from a new audience and a new approach.  Perhaps your change is simply not being heard by the right ears or viewed by the right eyes.  So rather than going to the one trusted confidante seek someone else out.  Perhaps rather than going to your circle of cheerleaders go to someone who you think will disagree, someone who may be reluctant, someone who may argue, and then see how your change holds up.
Perhaps your change can meet someone else’s change and together you can change something really big.  Perhaps together you will find out that change is not really what is needed but instead refinement or further exploration will do just fine.  Perhaps change is not really that frightening and someone new may embrace it.  Whatever happens, think about what you want to change and why you want to change it, then see how you can change your approach to changing it.  And perhaps, in the end, you will find that change was not really needed but a new collaboration was.

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advice, being me, new year

Take Your Moment

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

Tonight I had to get out of the house.  Leave with no children needing things.  Just me, alone, caring for my own whims, doing nothing and everything, whatever I needed right at that moment.  Being a new mom of 18 day old twins and a very active 3 year old, I am not surprised that I hit this point, indeed, it was nothing dramatic, just a realization that a break was needed so that I could continue to function optimally.  And so I left when the opportunity arose, went to the mall of all places, to surf from store to store, aimlessly, yet breathing and thinking of nothing except for putting one foot infront of the other.

This has happened to me as a teacher as well, that moment snuck up on me on an ordinary day where things just were not working and I knew a break was needed.  For me, for the students, for the room to clear the air so we could all start over again.  How many of us haven’t had that time where our tricks didn’t work?  Where our glorious lesson fall apart?  Where there is nothing going right and we know we either start to get angry with the students or we just take a moment.  A moment to breathe, a moment to step out if possible, a moment is all we need.

So this school year, I will take those moments if needed.  I have found that with the way I teach they are very far and few in between, however, now with the addition of sleep deprivation who knows what will happen.  I hope you allow yourself to take those moments as well, to realize that you are human, that you cannot solve, soothe, or fix everything all by yourself.  That it is ok to call in the troops, that it is ok to step away.  As long as you return, after all, it should just be a moment you need.

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guest blog, student blogging, technology

Tangled in the Web 2.0

Pernille Ripp

With the arrival of our twins, I asked for guest bloggers and was excited to share this post with all of you by Melanie Samson-Cormier…

Though I teach in a French first language school, the fact that we are such a tiny minority in our area means that most of our students actually learn French as a second language and speak English most of the time. Because of this, I am always searching for authentic situations where students can express themselves in French. I’d been hearing so much about student blogging and Twitter in the classroom that I decided to give it a shot, figuring it could be an excellent way to have students reach out and make contact with other French-speaking students their own age.
This past year, I worked as a support teacher for students who are having difficulty with the language. I had three students at the junior high level and I decided to start tweeting with them. I wanted to start small. I created a collective Twitter account (@elevesNL) for them and I coached them on how to use it. I also scoped out some student blogs for them to read and discuss.
Unfortunately, my students were not invested in the project. They didn’t seek out new blogs or Twitter accounts. They had little or no interest in reading or commenting, composing their tweets and comments only out of obligation. Finding little use in the project, I was preparing to wrap it up when I had a Eureka moment. While cruising the Twitter feed with a student, I asked if there were any tweets that piqued his interest, hoping to get him to @reply. He answered “Unless someone is talking about Pokémon, then no.” AHA! Most of my students have a learning disability or are considered at-risk. Yet the majority of the student blogs and Twitter accounts I had found discussed what was going on in their classroom, projects they were working on and general school-related activities. School is not easy for my students. Why did I think that reading blogs and tweets about school would interest them? Taking my student’s comments to heart, I helped him search for Pokémon blogs in French. He found one and immediately started reading (reading!), with great interest (wow!) He seemed to know the subject matter so well that I asked if he’d be interested in writing his own Pokémon blog. He responded with a resounding “YES!” and I was finally able to see firsthand what social media and blogging can accomplish in the classroom. My student who used to pout when I arrived began to stop me in the hallway to ask me if we have a session.
The moral of the story: As always, technology in the classroom only engages students if it’s used for meaningful communication that takes students’ interests into account. It’s not what you use, but how you use it.

Bio:
Melanie Samson-Cormier has taught in minority francophone schools in rural Newfoundland, Canada for 7 years and is now beginning a new life as a cognitive strategies instructor at the University of Alberta. She blogs in French at www.entrelesbranches.org.

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being me, classroom expectations, new year

About Those Little Things

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

I say it is about those little things, those things that make the biggest impressions, and yet even I forget just how little those little things can be.

Is there a smile on my face?

Do I greet people I see in the hallways?

Did I dress appropriately, take the time to dress with care to show that I care about what I do?

Is my classroom neat and picked up or cluttered and crammed with stuff?

When someone speaks do I turn and listen or give them my back, or half of an ear?

Is there a choice or two or the kids already on orientation day or do I show a path of rigidity and control?

Do parents get a firm handshake if they want and do I remember their names and their faces?

Do I show people they are welcome in our room or do I merely say it?

Am I prepared, can I answer questions or admit when the answer escapes me?

Am I present or is my mind cluttered with things that need to get done?

Those little things make the difference, those little things set the tone.  What did I forget?

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being a teacher

Have You Been Using Adobe at School?

Pernille Ripp

Adobe’s annual contest for educators that use their products was just launched this week.  So why not submit your best projects, lesson plans, curricula and tutorials to the 2012 Educators’ Choice Awards.
The 2012 Educators’ Choice Awards will honor and reward Adobe Education Exchangehttp://edexchange.adobe.com/pages/home members who submit the most innovative teaching and learning materials. The Adobe Educators’ Choice Awards feature distinguished judges who will select the finalists, voting by members (who will select the winners), and amazing prizes, including laptops, iPads, and Adobe Creative Suite 6 software for you and your classroom. The contest began this week and the submission period ends October 5, 2012. Educators in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand are eligible to submit entries in three categories including:
  • Primary/Secondary Education
  • Higher Education
  • Creative Suite 6
Enter or get additional information on the 2012 Educators’ Choice Awards here. For inspiration, view last year winners. Follow @AdobeEDU, #AdobeEDUAwards for the latest updates about the awards. Get creative and win big!