Category: aha moment

aha moment, MIEExpert15, principals, student voice

Why I Asked My Principal to Observe My Craziest Class

Pernille Ripp

I gave up putting on a dog and pony show for my observations several years ago.  I had reached the pinnacle of coaching, asking my students to please be on their best behavior as I was being observed, bribing them with treats if they would just be great when my principal walked in.  After that observation, where I received nothing but accolades for my classroom management – yeah for bribing – I realized that I had to change.  My attitude had to change, at least when it came to being observed.

Yesterday, I invited my phenomenal principal into my craziest class.  Not as a stop by visit, but as my second official observation for the craziness that is Educator Effectiveness, or the way my teaching quality will be known here in Wisconsin.  I invited her in to see how I am trying to harness the energy of these students, how I am trying to wok with their behaviors, tap into their quirks, rather than smother them by yelling.  And yet, I wanted throw up before she came into the room.

Even after 7 years and some months of teaching, having a principal in my room makes me so nervous.  I thought of calling in sick.  I thought of changing the time of the observation so she would see that one class where all of the kids need little direction, that one class where every plan always works out.  That class that makes you look like an incredible teacher even though you know that it is not really because of what you are doing but because the kids are so well-behaved.  That’s the class I would have been observed in a few years ago.  And I know exactly how that observation would have gone; great praise, little feedback on what to work on because everything was so wonderful, meaning no growth for me.

But I didn’t, I forced myself to follow through with my plan, hoping that things would work out alright.  Hoping that my students would at least attempt what we were doing not just give up, settle in after only about 5 minutes, and perhaps even have a great discussion.  I held my breath the entire time.  Yet, as I sat teaching the mini-lesson, noticing how a kid that should have been writing was instead tapping his pencil playing songs, another kid had their head down, and another kid would not stop talking, inwardly cringing as I saw my principal noticing too.  I realized something; all the other students were working.  The 5 that sat in front me coming up with such great ideas.  The 2 that sat and whispered together pointing to their paper.  The kid with the pencil listening in to what I said in my mini-lesson and yelling out “Now I get it!” and then started to write.  I noticed those moments too.  I noticed our classroom functioning in its typical way, and I noticed that for those kids, the tapping, the whispering, the staring blankly; it works.

So the next time I am observed, I will invite once again to the class that hangs by a thread.  To the class that I know pushes me the hardest.  To the class that keeps me up at night.  My principal is here to support me, to guide me on my journey, not to just clap her hands and tell me “Great job!”  If I don’t invite her into the class where I need her ideas, then I will not grow, and growing is what we all need to do every day, every opportunity. Never will I go back to bribing a class.  Never will I prep a class beforehand.  Never will I ask a class to please behave because I am getting observed.  I will instead teach my heart out and wait for the feedback, hoping that among the chaos,  my principal sees the greatness that I see, and can help me further my teaching.  Will you?

PS:  I was worried my students thought they had to put on a show until a kid asked me if he could please continue to work on the science project he had been working on instead of reading.  Nope!  They hadn’t changed even though the principal was there.

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, books, Passion

Got a Minute? One Sure Fire Way to Get Students to Read

Pernille Ripp

For the past 3 years I have avidly shared my reading life.  Students always know the book I am reading, they know the titles I am excited about it, I have shown them pictures of my ever growing TBR (to be read) pile at my house and every week I am lucky enough to bring in new books for my students.  I place them on the shelves, the ledges, the window sill.  I place them on their desks and I place them into their hands.  And yet, something was definitely missing.  Students were reading sure, I see them with the books in their hands, but for some reason my excitement was not carrying over.  Those books I had loved that were given 5 stars on my “Read” poster were still staring at me from the shelves.  Enter Nancy Atwell and her idea that is so simple, yet I had forgotten to do, the idea that has changed the way my students are finding books, the idea that has taken 1 minute to implement in every class.  Yup a minute.

Got a minute?  Do a book talk.  Seriously.  Grab a book and plan one right now.  

For a little more than a week, I have started every class with a book talk.  A one minute recap of why a book was amazing and deserves to be read.  Sometimes I have expanded it to 4 minutes as I have read the first few pages of a book when I don’t feel the back page gave it enough selling power.  Then I have put it down where the students can see it and then started to teach class.  Easy to prep, easy to do, doesn’t take much time out of our precious 45 minutes.

The result has been palpable.  Almost every single book I have book talked has left the room.  Almost every book has found a new reader right after the talk.  That is why I talk up a different book to each class, so they all get a chance at something amazing.

The best part though is that a book talk doesn’t just end with the one reader that gets the book.  Once a child loves a book, they pass on that love to another friend,  and that friend passes it on.  A whole chain of book love going on all because you took one minute to talk up a book.  I should have done this from the start.  Thank you Nancy Atwell for reminding me.

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.  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.  Join our Passionate Learners community on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

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

Want More Student Understanding? Try This.

Pernille Ripp

I don’t know when my classroom first got so quiet, but I remember the moment when I realized that it shouldn’t always be.  I remember looking around at the students, some working through the task at a steady pace, others with their hand up waiting for me, and some staring into space completely lost.  There were no words spoken.  My shushes and teacher looks had effectively taken care of that.  So those kids with their hand up waited until I could get to them while I tried to get those who stared into space started.  The time wasted for all was significant; not much had been gained by the silence other than compliance and loss of learning time, but at least they were silent.

It seems an epidemic of silence has been harming our schools for many years.  That we long for silent hallways, which also mean quiet classrooms, as we tour schools.  That we often equate silence with good learning and noise with bad.  Teachers are evaluated on how quickly they can get students to settle in and listen, not how quickly they can get them talking.  

I knew then that this was not the type of classroom I wanted to be a part of; one where students were so well-trained in being quiet that they didn’t even dare advocate for themselves anymore.  Where students waited patiently at a time when they should have been figuring out how to access the information they needed without the teacher.  The quiet, the shushes, yes they still had a place but it could not be for everything.  It should not be the golden standard with which we held our learning too.

So I changed the way I taught, in fact, it was quite easy to do.  I started to plan for when they students should speak.  Rather than plan for silent engagement at all times, I plan for discussion, for deeper learning to occur because more than one person (IE the teacher) has shared their thoughts, doubts, or wonderment.  When I teach, I seek out moments for students to talk.  They turn and talk or discuss with their groups before we discuss as a whole group.  Even before an assessment, I ask the students to discuss for a few minutes to help them sort through their thoughts, to gain confidence in their beliefs, and to get mentally started with the task ahead.  I can still assess their thinking just fine, in fact, I think theirs has gotten stronger simply by allowing them a few more minutes to process in a different way.

I am not saying that all noise, all the time, is what we should strive for but there should be more.  Students should leave every single classroom having used their voice to further the learning.  Students should feel that their voice mattered, that they were heard, that those questions they carried, those ideas they had were brought into the world and at the very least touched upon.

So as you plan ahead for the week today, ask yourself; when are the students speaking?  When are they a part of the teaching going on?  My students will discuss every single class, every single day this week, much like they have in the weeks past. They will grow their listening skills by speaking.  They will grow their ideas by sharing them.

Our classrooms should not be judged on how quiet they are but instead on the type of noise they create.  Please allow the students to speak, teach them how to use their voices for good, for learning.  Let our classrooms be about the students speaking and not just their listening.

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.  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.  Join our Passionate Learners community on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

aha moment, being a student, being a teacher, being me, change, education, Passion, student voice

When A Student Stops Asking Questions, Who’s to Blame?

Pernille Ripp

I pulled her aside, wondering how I could help as we face another half a year of 7th grade.  Carefully I asked why she was with me, what had held her back from understanding what I had planned out.  What stood in her way of not completing her work. I searched for clues to be a better teacher for her and hoped she would she some light on why she never asked the questions I am sure she had.

“Do you get what the assignments ask you to do?” I asked searching for a place to start.

“No.” She answered matter of fact.

“Well, why don’t you ask me questions about them then?” A classic follow up question.

“A teacher once told me I asked too many questions.  Whenever I raised my hand he would say, “Oh here comes another question…” and so I stopped.  I figured I didn’t want to upset my teachers.  I figured they didn’t want to hear it.”

The weight of that statement swallowed me for a moment, the enormity of a child telling me they had stopped questions, so I looked her and said the only thing I could.

“You have our permission to ask as many questions as you need.  You have our permission to ask even after you have asked and you still don’t understand.  Don’t ever let someone stop you from asking a question.  Part of my job as a teacher is to answer your questions, don’t forget that.”

I think of what I have probably said in the past when I have been in a hurry.  When I have been annoyed that a student asked that question.  When I felt sure that they just hadn’t listened  and so they didn’t really deserve for me to answer their question.  I shudder at the permanent damage I may have caused from my own terrible judgment.  I shudder at the things I have taught students just because of my own impatience.

The thing is with teaching that I sometimes forget; part of our job is to answer questions, not judge them with our answers.  Not judge them with our veiled contempt at yet another question.  Part of our job is to create classrooms where students feel safe to ask.  Safe to ask again.  Safe to ask in a different way. Our job is to teach all of the kids.  Even the ones who don’t understand.  Even the ones who ask us question upon question.  Our job is not to teach students that they should never ask a question.  Think of the damage our words may cause.  Think of what we truly teach children with our words.

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.  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.

aha moment, being a teacher, being me, community, Passion, Student

7 Things to Try Before You Almost Give Up On A Student

Pernille Ripp

I have to admit it; I have not loved all of my students in the same way.  Not all of my students and I have clicked.  Not all of my students and I have had the best relationships.  Not for lack of wanting to.  Not for lack of trying, but sometimes it seems that bigger things are in play and the universe just doesn’t align.  And yet, even if I had a harder time connecting with a child, whatever the reason, I still had to be the very best teacher I could be.  So what are some techniques I have used to make sure that I connected on some level, even with the seemingly most challenging students?

Take it personal sometimes.  My mantra used to be “don’t take it personal” until I realized that sometimes a poor relationship with a student is indeed a direct reflection to how they feel about me, not what I am doing.  So rather than dismiss it, I ask them questions, engage them as an equal to express my concern and then try to reflect on what it is they are reacting to.  If it is something I can adapt to or change from, then I do.  Other times, I have just had to suck it up and try a different approach.

Speak kindly about them.  The quickest way to build personal dislike is to constantly stay focused on the negative attributes of a child; those things that drive you crazy.  So turn your thinking around; whenever you feel yourself wanting to say something negative, stop, and find something positive to say instead.  Yes, even if it seems contrived, because what you say, you start to believe.  So if a child is having a particularly rough day in my classroom or with me, I go out of my way mentally to find something nice to say to others about them.  After all, they are running through my mind anyway, why not spread something positive.  This doesn’t mean you can’t vent, I think venting about situations can be very powerful, but keep it short and to the point.  Prolonged venting only exacerbates the negative emotions already attached to a student or situation.

Find the humor in the situation.  Even the kids who have driven me the most crazy can usually make me laugh by now.  It wasn’t always that way, but it has become a way for me to create a relationship with someone who I otherwise would probably label as a troublemaker in my mind.  So find the funny in the misbehavior, share a funny moment when they are not acting out, use humor as a way to bridge your personalities, even if you still don’t see eye to eye.

Forge a relationship outside of the classroom.  Some of my hardest students to teach have also been the ones that I made sure I checked in with outside of school, even if it just meant a casual conversation in the hallway or by the buses.  It is a chance for me to see them as kids, not that kid who does everything in their power to disrupt the teaching of others or whatever the situation is inside of class.

Keep digging.  I have never met a child who had nothing to like about them, but sometimes you really have to dig for it. Some of my students expect you to hate them when they walk through your doors because that is what they have experienced other times, some of my students hate school so much that they will never love it no matter what we change.  Some of my students have to be tough as nails to survive their own lives.  Those kids still deserve a teacher that tries to connect with them, even if they rebuff them 100 times, then you try 100 more times, even a little bitty connection is better than giving up.

Treat them as a human being.  Too often we start treating them like the label they may have, so a child who is angry becomes known as the angry child, or a student who is disrespectful or disruptive becomes known just for that.  Their negative label becomes their identity and nothing else.  We cannot let this happen, not in our minds and not in the way we speak of them.  They are children, yes, children who seem to have mastered the art of driving you up the wall, but children none the less.  And every child deserves to be treated with dignity.

Know when to admit defeat, but not out loud.  Sometimes no matter how hard we try, how much we change, how much we reflect and think and do; that child still hates it, that child still hates us.  Then our job becomes not to give up but to find another ally for them, to find another adult that can have a great relationship with them and for us not to get in the way.  No, that doesn’t mean asking for them to be transferred from our class, but instead allowing for opportunities where they can possibly forge a relationship with another educator or person in your building.  Every child deserves someone that will see the good in them, even if you can’t.

PS:  A few notes since this post was published a few days ago.  I tweaked the title to include the world almost because I don’t think we ever truly give up on child, even if we cannot forge a strong connection with them.  We still keep them in our hearts, they still wake us up at night, we still keep trying even when we feel like giving up.  That’s what teachers do.  Another note is the little bit of wondering there has been on knowing when to admit defeat, some people have viewed this as giving up and that is far from my intent.  Admitting defeat to me is humbling because it involves us realizing that we are humans and not every kid will like us.  Sometimes a child naturally connects with another adult in our building and rather than get jealous, which yes, can happen, we need to help foster that relationship.   I hope this clears everything up a bit.

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.

aha moment, being a teacher, being me, MIEExpert15, teachers

If My Mother Had Listened to My Teacher

Pernille Ripp

If my mother had listened to my teacher she would have realized what a horrible child I was.  How I should be kept away from others.  How I should not be with children my own age because I would corrupt them.  How I was doomed to live a life of solitude because no one was safe around me.

She didn’t.

If my mother had listened to my teacher she would have realized how little imagination I had except for the morose.  That my stories lacked depth, that my personality was dull.  That writing was not my strength but something I could maybe get through if I just understood what it meant to follow the rules a bit more.

She didn’t.

If my mother had listened to my teacher she would have realized that I was far too outspoken.  That I never put my hand down and I needed to learn to be silent.  That yes having an opinion was great but listening was better.  That it didn’t always pay off to fight for what you believed in if it meant disrupting the peace.

She didn’t.

If my mother had listened to my teacher she would have realized that there was something wrong with me.  That I was special but not in a good way.  That I may be smart but I didn’t use it for anything good.  That other children couldn’t learn from me.  That I needed to hide what I knew so that others wouldn’t find me odd.

She didn’t.

If my mother had listened to my teacher she would have realized that I had spunk.  That I had nerve.  That I had worth.  She would have realized that I was creative, that I was a hard worker even if I couldn’t get something.  That I was smart.  That I had friends, that I could be a leader.  That although I was not quite the person I wanted to be yet, that some day I would get there.

She did, because she already knew those things.  I was the one that didn’t.

There are so many things that we tell parents every day, what will be the things that they choose not to listen to?  What will be the things that a child carries with them the rest of their life?

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.