Category: aha moment

aha moment, assumptions, being me, MIEExpert15, Passion, student voice

Why Do We Hold Students to Higher Expectations Than Adults?

Pernille Ripp

I told one class today that I was not there for their sheer entertainment.  I didn’t raise my voice, nor did I yell.  I simply stated it and asked them to step it up, to show engagement, to show me that what we were doing mattered to them because I could tell they were checked out and it made me unhappy.  And then we continued on with what we were doing.  Just another moment teaching 7th grade.

Yet, as it popped back into my mind, a seemingly insignificant moment from my day, I now see what a missed opportunity it was.  Not for another lecture, but instead to realize that these are kids that I am teaching.  Kids that we hold to insanely high expectations every single day.  Every single day, we expect full commitment in every subject matter.  We expect passion.  We expect interest.  We expect a willingness to try, to create, to experience   We expect them to pay attention, to shut everything out except for what’s in front of them.  We expect total compliance with all of our rules.  At.  All. Times.  No Excuse.

Yet as adults those same expectations don’t apply to us.  Go to any staff meeting or professional development opportunity and you will see adults not paying attention all of the time, not trying all of the time, not tuning in all of the time.  Not because we don’t want to.  Not because we don’t find it engaging, but because we can’t.  No one can.  Our brains need a break, and we know it. So we allow ourselves to fidget, to whisper, to slouch, to shift our attention for a moment, because we know we need it.

So why do we forget this fundamental truth when we create our learning environments?  Why do we forget that in the very place where we are trying to fire up as many brain cells as possible, that those same brain cells needs a moment to recover, to regroup, to make new connections?  That kids need a moment.  That these kids are trying.  That these kids do want to learn and most days are giving us the best they have. And yes, I get why we have to have high expectations, we are teaching them to be better humans, but at some point we also need to give them a break, because they are human beings first not just learners.

So tomorrow, I will remember that when my students start to slouch, when they start to whisper, when they start to drift, it’s not a reflection always on what we are doing, but more that they are in school and have been working for x amount of hours before they got to me.  It’s not always that they don’t care, it’s not always that they don’t want to learn, it’s not always that they are bored.  Sometimes they are just full and it is up to us to help them through.

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA but originally from Denmark,  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.  The second edition of my first book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classrooms Back to Our Students” will be published by Routledge in the fall.   Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press.  Join our Passionate Learners community on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

aha moment, being a teacher, Passion, student voice

Another Failed Lesson Thanks to My Students And Me

Pernille Ripp

It was meant to be easy.  It was meant to be epic.  It was meant to show off what I thought I already knew; how my students had mastered everything there was to know about theme, evidence, and how to do a great presentation.  Yet, a few presentations in on Tuesday, it was pretty clear that this was not epic but instead a massively big failure.  And I got upset.  After all, these kids have had 2 months to work on this as they have been in book clubs for that long.  All I had asked them to do was choose their book, discuss and read at their pace, and in the end create a book talk in whichever format they chose.  I gave them plenty of time and plenty of choice.  What could be so hard about that?

While some rose to the occasion, most did not.  Yet instead of assuming that I knew why this had turned so awful, I asked them what happened.  A few in each class bravely raised their hands even though they knew I was upset…

“We weren’t sure what you exactly wanted…”

“We felt overwhelmed by how long we had to do it…”

“Our group didn’t work so well together so we got distracted…”

“We didn’t put in much effort…”

“We didn’t think you would get so upset…”

“We had other things to do…”

And they waited for my reaction, expecting me to get madder.  Yet as I looked at my students, I couldn’t help but just be a little bit proud of their answers.  Sure I was upset over all of the wasted time, how they hadn’t stepped up to my expectations.  Yet here they were, class upon class, with the guts to tell me that they didn’t think it was important.  That they didn’t think I would care as much as I did.  That they pretty much dropped the ball and now had to face the consequences.  And I realized in that moment, that this lesson wasn’t about theme, opinions, or even how to be a great speaker.  It was about guts and failure; having the guts to embrace their failure, discuss it, and actually learn from it.

How often do our students actually tell us the truth when it comes to their own mistakes?  I know we talk about modeling and embracing our failure, but do our students actually pick up on it and do it as well?  Not often enough.

The next day, we watched Diana Laufenberg’s amazing TED talk on learning from failure.  Not what I had planned but it was what we needed.  My students loved her message; yes to learning from failure, yes to allowing students to fail, in fact, they got pretty passionate about it, started to argue why school doesn’t let them just fail so they can figure it out.  I chuckled a bit and then reminded them; many had failed the day before.  Here was their chance to show me everything they knew.  To not let one presentation define them.  Silence.  Then it clicked. Not for all, but for many.

While I had huge dreams of of the great content that students would have shown me on Tuesday, I am now thankful they didn’t.  They needed the freedom to fly and to fall.  They needed the freedom to to not care, to push off, to procrastinate.  Because I can preach about failure, I can preach about personal responsibility.  I can even preach about letting them try and picking themselves up when they fall.  Or they can experience it.  We say we want kids to be afraid of failing and yet still try, yet how often do we have opportunities for just that?  My students taught me again.  It is because of them I want to keep trying to be a better teacher and that includes having lessons fail in the most epic way.

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA but originally from Denmark,  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.  The second edition of my first book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classrooms Back to Our Students” will be published by Routledge in the fall.   Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press.  Join our Passionate Learners community on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

aha moment, being a teacher, education reform, student choice, student voice

Not All Students Want To Change the World

Pernille Ripp

“But I don’t want a voice to the world…” he stands with a determined look on his face, expecting me to challenge his decision.  “They don’t need to see what I write or what I have to say,” he continues, “It’s none of their business…”  And with that, my students have once again challenged my assumptions and I need to change the way I teach.  Again.

So what else have my students proved me wrong in, well quite a bit, but here are the biggest.

Not all students want a voice.  From 4th to 7th grade I always have students that don’t want their private thoughts, work, or writing published to the world.   Never assume that every child wants their work published or shared, ask first, we would expect the same thing if it were us.

Not all students want to make.  I thought when I started doing more hands-on learning that all students would jump for joy, and while some certainly do, there are also students who go into absolute terrified mode when presented with anything abstract.  Those kids need to fit into our innovative classrooms as well, so offer choices in how they learn, don’t just assume they want to create something from nothing or do their own version.

Not all students want choice.  Some kids just want to be told what to do, not always, not on everything, but some kids need more structure or support through some things.  If we only cater to the creative child who relishes freedom then we are not teaching all of the students in front of us.

Not all students want to change the world.  While we may shout about empowered students and how they are going to change the world, not every child wants to change the world, they just want to be kids.

I have learned that while I may love to change the way education is done in classrooms around the world, I need to make sure I don’t disenfranchise students more by assuming they all want to learn like I do.  So make room for all of the learners in your world, support them all as they grow, and don’t judge.  Push them forward but be gentle in your approach and ask the students first.

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA but originally from Denmark,  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.  The second edition of my first book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classrooms Back to Our Students” will be published by Routledge in the fall.   Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press.  Join our Passionate Learners community on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

aha moment, Be the change, being a teacher, being me, Passion, Personalized Learning, student voice

What Story Are You Telling?

Pernille Ripp

My students told me to stand proud.  To make sure I made eye contact.  To speak up and smile.  Maybe play music and crack a joke.  To do all of the things I ask them to do every time they speak.  “Tell them what we tell you…we need to change school, no joke”

I stand today, privileged to speak to other educators about the way we do education, about the things we may want to change.  I stand today ready to carry my students’ words out into the world.  I stand today, nervous and with butterflies in my stomach, knowing that those things my students tell me day after day now have an audience to be passed on to.  I don’t want to let them down.

Yet, I am not alone.  All of us that write, all of us that speak, all of us that go out and discuss education whether globally or locally, we carry the words of our students with us.  We carry the awesome responsibility that comes with being in classrooms or schools every day.  We carry the knowledge of what may work work and what definitely doesn’t.  We carry the words students give us so that they have a voice.  We carry the stories of our students and what they do every day.  We carry their words when they can’t.

So before we speak of THAT kid that drove us crazy.  Before we speak of THAT class that just wouldn’t listen.  Before we speak about THAT school that didn’t work; remember that we choose what the narrative of education is.  Remember that within our words we carry all of their words, all of their thoughts, all of their hopes.  We just have to decide what we share with the world.  We decide what story is told about education; one of frustration or one of change.  The choice is always ours.

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA but originally from Denmark,  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.  The second edition of my first book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classrooms Back to Our Students” will be published by Routledge in the fall.   Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press.  Join our Passionate Learners community on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

aha moment, assumptions, authentic learning, Be the change, being a teacher, education reform

What I Need to Change

Pernille Ripp

I was going to write about all of the things we have been doing to try to break down the barriers to poetry in class.  All of the eye rolls I have been seeing, the grunts and groans.  The many “Roses are red…” poems I have sen in the last few days as I ask them to write me a poem, any poem, just write something.  I was going to write about how many of my students hate poetry because of all of the rules we have forced upon them in our pursuit of helpfulness and understanding.  I was going to write about how my students are slowly inching further away from a disinterest or total hate to a small interest or even like when it comes to listening to poetry.  Writing it is an entirely different battle.

But I decided that this was bigger than that.  This moment, in our classrooms, is bigger than that.

It is not that my students are the only ones that hate poetry.  In fact, some of them do, some of them don’t.

It is not that my students are the only ones who hate writing.  Hate reading.  Hate book clubs.  Hate English.  Some of them do, some of them don’t.

It is not that my students are finally expressing their hatred not to be mean or out of spite, but so we can do something about it.

It is not that my students are different from most students.

It is more that I have had the same conversations every year.

It is more that every kid has something they hate about school because of choices I have made, choices we have made, when we decided to teach a certain way.

It is more that student curiosity seems to have been drowned out by our carefully planned lessons.

That inquiry and critical thinking have been buried by the pursuit of the one right answer.

That we have taught students that school is black and white while life is multicolored.

That we tell them to sit still so much that they forget their own voice.

That we make all of the choices for them and then get frustrated when they cannot create on their own.

That is what I need to write about because that is what I have discussed with my students.  That is what teaching poetry has revealed so far.  That is what I need to change.

Who knew poetry would be the place my students found their voice.

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA but originally from Denmark,  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.  The second edition of my first book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classrooms Back to Our Students” will be published by Routledge in the fall.   Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press.  Join our Passionate Learners community on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

aha moment, Be the change, education reform, Passion, power, principals

From Gotcha to Good For You – 6 Ideas for Cultivating a Community of Celebration

Pernille Ripp

There seems to be a pervasive undercurrent of jealousy within education.  Ask most educators and they will have a story to share of how they didn’t tell others about about an accolade they got, an award they were nominated for, or even praise they had received.  Shying away from the positive lime light can sometimes feel like a national sport for teachers.  Yet, I am surrounded by people who want nothing but the best for each other.  I have been before.  So why is still that we tend to hide away our accomplishments, rather than share them with those we work so closely?  Why is it we downplay ourselves so that others may not get jealous?  But more importantly, how do we change the culture within our schools that seems centered on a “gotcha” mentality, a negative one where tear downs are the norm, to a “good for you” community where all receive praise, and no one has to hide what they do.

Working in my district, Oregon School District, that goes out of its ways to share the feel good, has given me a few ideas.  Some I have heard about from amazing colleagues, some I have experienced, and some I hope to experience.  All of these ideas are simple.  All of these ideas will make an impact.  It is up to us to change the culture within our schools.  It is up to all of us, not just administrators to create an environment where we genuinely are happy for one another, not wonder why that person gets all of the attention.

  • Taking 5 minutes to acknowledge.    When an administrator or colleague takes the time to stop by and say great job, congratulations, or I have noticed that…it changes the way we feel.  Taking 5 minutes to actually acknowledge someone else every day, or even just 1 minute to shoot an email, can create an incredible change, and it starts with the superintendent.  When my students and I were featured in an article in our very small paper, my superintendent sent me an email thanking me for shining a positive light on all of the great work that happens in our district.  I have never received an email like that before and I can tell you, it made me smile., and it made me want to pass on that feeling.  No matter how busy you are, take 5 minutes every day simply to thank people for what they do.
  • The staff restroom gratitude poster.  This idea comes from another school in my district.  Every Monday someone (perhaps the principal) leaves a poster in the staff restroom with a heading such as “Tell me all of the reasons we are thankful Mrs. Anderson is a teacher here.”  Next to it is a marker encouraging everyone to add their thoughts, and boy do they ever.  As one of my friends told, this little poster is a ray of positivity in everyone’s day as they get a chance to express their gratitude and see what others say.  Every week it is a new staff member, every week no one knows who put it there.
  • The sneaky student compliment paper.  Today, I had every class write compliments to one of our team’s teachers.  My team had no idea I was doing this which made it even better.  It took me less than a minute to explain to the students who then quietly circulated the paper around filling it with gratitude for that specific teacher.  At the end of the day, I gave each paper to their respective subject.
  • The “I have noticed…” Vox or email.  I know a lot of principal that are on Voxer even if their staff is not.  This idea is courtesy of Leah Whitford, an incredible principal in Lancaster, WI.  As she walks through the school, she will quickly vox herself (Voxer is a free walkie talkie app for your phone) whatever she has noticed about someone’s classroom.  At the end of the day she can then email the audio recording to that teacher.  They don’t even have to have Voxer to get it. If you are not on Voxer (which you may want to be), how about a quick two line email.  We often don’t know when someone sees something great happening, think of how powerful it would be to get a quick compliment like that.
  • The applause section of the newsletter.  This is an idea from my principal, Shannon Anderson, who is a driving force of positivity.  Every Sunday she sends out an OMS newsflash that includes information about upcoming events, her schedule, a great article, as well as an applause section where she highlights small and big things that people deserve praise for.  Anything from winning an award to helping others out gets highlighted, and she encourages us to submit names as well.  Too often recognition only comes from huge events that happen to few people, it is vital that all of the little things that make our school run also get their day in the sun.
  • The compliment cork board.  Hang a cork board in the office, put note cards next to it, add markers, and voila – the compliment cork board.  Encourage parents, students, or staff to leave a quick compliment for anyone they choose.  Think of the message that sends to any visitors that enters your school as well.

Be a model of praise yourself.  I try every day to thank someone, acknowledge someone, or praise something I have seen.  It doesn’t happen every day, but it happens more days than not.  Change starts with us, so if we want to work in a culture that celebrates the accomplishments of others then we need to step up to the challenge.  Remember; it only takes person to take the first step.

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA but originally from Denmark,  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.  The second edition of my first book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classrooms Back to Our Students” will be published by Routledge in the fall.   Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press.  Join our Passionate Learners community on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.