Category: Be the change

Be the change, being a teacher, technology

One Week Into a Phone Free Classroom

Pernille Ripp

We went phone free in our classroom five days ago.  Five days of no phones allowed.  Five days of fewer distractions.  Five days of being conscious of when we pull out a device, and when we purposely put it away.  Over spring break, I had sent the following email to students and parents letting them know of the decision, worried about the top-down approach I was taking with this decision.  And yet, I felt like we had to try something new and now was the time for the change.

I hope your spring break has been nice!  Just a heads up that we will be going phone free for most of the 4th quarter in both literacy studies and informational studies in our classroom, as well as independent reading.  Students will be asked to leave their phones in their lockers on in a basket on our shelf as they enter the room.

There are a few reasons I have made this decision:

  • While there will be times we will use our phones and with the accessibility of Chromebooks, there are very few times where students need to BYOD anymore.
  • Students are given little privacy or room for risk/failure in our classrooms as other students are quick to pull out their phones and snap pictures or videos to share on social media.  Often they are faster than we are or do it on the sly, this leads to less risk-taking, and a heightened sense of anxiety when it comes to actually doing the learning.
  • One article here discusses how even having it nearby versus out of the room lessens your thinking.
  • Another article here discusses how the constant stimuli from phones are rewiring our brains to constantly seek stimuli rather than dive into the “zone of learning” 
  • And another article discusses the shortened attention spans 

If messages need to be sent to your students during our class together, they can be sent through the office.

While I didn’t know what the response would be, I was pleasantly surprised to see just how many parents/guardians loved the idea, how many wish we would go phone free as a class, how many were in favor.  And yet, how would the students themselves react?

Well, it turns out many of them read the email and already were onboard when they came.  A few had questions, but most agreed that it was nice.  So the week went on, the phones disappeared and we dug into our new learning  I noticed there was less scrambling to get to work.  Less distractions from the few kids that would pull them out to check throughout the class.  My phone was in my bag as well, sure, there were less pictures shared of our learning but not having it around was really not a big deal.  Today I asked them what they thought of the policy.  Boy, was I surprised…

I think it’s fair because we don’t need them.

I like it because I don’t get distracted.

It is nice to not have to think about them.

It’s no big deal.

I am grateful for it because I no longer have to worry about being filmed and it shared on Instagram.

Sure, a few voiced their complaints telling me they didn’t like to be without them, these were also some of the kids that were distracted by their phones the most playing fortnite or snapchatting in class, while a few voiced that they didn’t really need the policy because they already left them in their lockers.

What struck me though was how many students were positive about the change.  How many were grateful for the policy because they then didn’t need to police themselves.  It makes sense in a way too as we see just how addicted we, adults, are to our smartphones.  When they aren’t allowed to be around we naturally use them less and yet have a hard time putting them away ourselves.

One comment that did stand out though was that a child didn’t like being without their phone in case something bad happened at school.  Let’s just have that sink in for a moment…  In an age of school shootings, schools are no longer viewed as safe by the very kids we teach and cell phones are seen as a way to find out when they need to run or hide.

So this first week of no phones, it turns out that perhaps going without was not that big of a deal, once again making me wonder what we really needed them for in the first place.  It has been nice to have this one less thing in our classroom.  To see the students focus on each other, rather than on what is happening on their phone.  To see them be more present if even for a little bit.

I’ll keep sharing as the quarter goes on, but I have a feeling that going phone free is here to stay.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers – The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child, out August 2017.  This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block.  If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first 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.

Be the change, being a teacher

On the Need for Phone Free Classrooms

Pernille Ripp

I teach 7th grade and if there is one thing I have learned about 7th graders, it is that sometimes they do goofy things.  Sometimes they see a hole in a chair and stick their head in it only to find that they are now stuck.  Sometimes they say something that unintentionally makes their peers laugh.  Sometimes they take a risk but fail miserably.

And for the longest time, it was no big deal.  For the longest time, we laughed at our mistakes, used them to create a community where we could fail together, laugh when things didn’t work, and then go home knowing we tried.

But I have noticed in the past couple of years that this feeling of security in our classroom,  that this sense of community where we can take risks and not care as much if it doesn’t work seems to be harder and harder to accomplish.  I thought 7th graders were hard to get to trust me, but it turns out they have a much harder time trusting each other.

Why?

I am starting to think cell phones have a lot to do with it.  The pictures.  The videos.  The instant access to everyone you know.

Now before the onslaught begins; yes, cell phones can be powerful tools, yes, cell phones can bring the world in, yes, we have to help children learn how to use their cell phones well.

But…let’s be honest here for a moment,  how many of us adults have said or thought how we would not want to be a child growing up these days due to the lack of privacy?  How many of us would hate having all of our missteps and mess ups blasted across every social media channel we know? How many of us are over-connected to our phones and then wonder why we are exhausted every day? How many of us are so thankful that there isn’t evidence of all of the stupid things we did when we were younger and didn’t know any better?    And that’s it for me.  I try to create a classroom environment that is safe and accepting for all of our students, but the moment cell phones enter the classroom, that feeling shifts.

Because we have a BYOD policy in my school, kids bring their cellphones to our classroom and while many don’t use them, I know that many of our students feel the weight of the phones in the room whenever we do anything remotely risky, such as public speaking or more physical work.  And while I tell kids to please not film each other or take pictures, they still do on the sly and they share, and they make fun of, and they then forget about it.  But the person ridiculed doesn’t.  And so instead of taking risks, instead of trying new things, I get to teach some kids who are seemingly constantly wondering what others will think, and not just the others present in the room but the others out there in the world only a click away.

And it is exhausting for them and for me.  To constantly feel watched.  To constantly be on alert.  To constantly have to know that every little thing they do could potentially be the next big meme or Snap or Insta post.

I know that I have pushed the use of phones in our classrooms before on this blog, how I have written about using them purposefully, but I will no longer subscribe to the notion that when kids use their phones it is only because they are bored.   It is too easy to say that if teachers just created relevant and engaging lessons then no child would use their phones improperly in our rooms.  That’s not it,  all of us with devices have had our attention spans rewired to constantly seek stimulus. To instantly seek something other than what we are doing.  To constantly seek something different even if what we are doing is actually interesting.  And not because what we seek out is so much better, look at most people’s Snapchat streaks and you will see irrelevant images of tables and floors and half faces simply to keep a streak alive.  It is not that our students are leaving our teaching behind at all times because they are bored, it is more because many of us, adults and children alike, have lost the ability to focus on anything for a longer period of time.

And their brains don’t get a break.  They are constantly plugged in, constantly searching for stimuli beyond what is there right in front of them.  They wonder why they are exhausted and they don’t see how their device is playing into that.  How this hyper-connectivity is draining them rather than firing them up.

Yet, it’s bigger than that.  I worry about the mental health issues that I see my students struggle with because of how their mistakes are amplified.  How they worry about what they are wearing even when they are in small groups of friends because someone might not “like” their outfit.  How they worry what they look like when they are doing something because someone may be capturing it on film.  How a great moment captured on camera can turn sour because of other people’s comments.  How they worry about how their friends will react if they say what they are really thinking.

And they don’t get a break from it either.  The phones and the social media follow them home, for good and for bad.  There is no longer little chance to leave your mistakes at school.  Instead, they can instantly be replayed over and over for anyone that has it shared with them.

So as a teacher, I feel we need to do better.  I feel we need to step in as the adults in the room and create the types of learning environment we all need; ones that are calm, accepting, and safe.   Ones that lend themselves to experimentation, to face-to-face connections, to working hard but also to getting in the optimal zone of thought.

So after spring break, I am declaring our classroom a cell-free zone.  I have done it before, but that was because of distractibility, not because of this.  I am asking students to please leave their cell phones in their lockers, mine will be put away as well, during our 45 minutes together so that we all can let our guard down and take risks together.  There will days where phones are welcomed as a way to amplify their voices, but most, if not all, of the projects we do, can be created using Chromebooks.

And I will tell my students why.  It will, in fact, be one of the first conversations we will have together as we gear up for our final quarter together.  A conversation I think that is long overdue in many of our classrooms.  Yes, cell phones can be sources of good, but not always.  Our students deserve to feel safe with us, not wondering who is watching beyond our classroom walls.  The least I can do right now is start the conversation.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers – The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child, out August 2017.  This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block.  If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first 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.

 

 

 

 

Be the change, being a teacher, Literacy, Reading, Reading Identity

On Certain Books for Certain Kids

Pernille Ripp

We spend a lot of time in bookstores and libraries.  So much so that my own children at the moment are playing library downstairs.  We go for the inspiration, for the support of booksellers, to find new must-have purchases.  We go as a family to recommit to reading, to get excited about what it means to be a reader.

But once in a while, something strikes me as out of place even in a bookstore.  Today it was this sign at our Barnes and Noble.

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I fixed it for them on my Instagram account.

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And yet, all jest aside.  These small signs.  These sections of libraries.  These displays that cater to only one identity, only one culture, only one representation.  They may seem trivial at first and yet they add to the continued perpetuation that some books are for some kids.  That some books will only be liked by the people it is directly marketed to.  This is problematic because it once again speaks to certain books being for certain kids.  It speaks to certain stories being the ones worth publishing.  It speaks to how we only want diverse books if those books are diverse in the way we see fit.  (Just like what the NY Times wrote about here.)  It speaks to how we only display books celebrating African American history when February reminds us too.

We wonder why some of our students have stigmas when it comes to the books we read, and then don’t think to look at our own learning spaces to see where those stigmas are created.

But we have to do better than this.  We have to do more, and it once again starts with the small details that we do have control over.

We have to first question how we use the word “Diverse” as Chad Everett cautions us to do in his blog post, where he reminds us all that the minute we call something diverse we are once again establishing whiteness as the norm.

We have to question the divisions we create in our classroom and school libraries.  When we hand boys “Boy books” and don’t book talk a book to the whole class because it really is just meant for the “girls.”  When we describe certain books as girly or fluffy and then hand it to a female.

When a child needs our help with book shopping and in our eagerness to help that child “see” themselves in books we only hand them books that feature characters that look like them.  We have gotten better at handing white, hetero, cisgender kids window books, but don’t other identities deserve that too?

When we invite female authors to our schools and then only invite the girls to see them because boys might not understand or be engaged with the message.

When we create displays that honor African Americans and only pull out books that feature them marching or Civil Rights or in chains as enslaved people.

When a child tells us they loved a certain book and we assume we know why and don’t ask them what they loved it so we can help them find a better book, not based on our assumptions but actually on their desires.

When we only purchase books from the large publishers and don’t seek out the independent ones like Lee and Low who have been focused on creating a better world through books for many years.

When we herald big publishers creating special imprints to honor the voices of those who have been traditionally left out from their publishing houses, but we don’t question why they were left out in the first place.  Why not publish them within their traditional branch?

When we are quick to “otherize” books and then hand them to kids as something that they can only identify with because of a shared trait, we are quickly teaching kids that they should only care about those that they share those same traits with.  That unless they can find a surface commonality with someone then their time is not worth investing.

And so we must continue to do better.  We must evaluate our learning spaces, our books, our displays, our book talks, and even who we hand which books to so that we can do better.  We must continue to push for better representation and for an end to the notion that certain books are for certain kids, rather than just waiting to be discovered by everyone.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers – The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child, out August 2017.  This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block.  If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first 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.

 

 

Be the change, being a teacher

The Choice We Make

Pernille Ripp

We can spend our days thinking of our past glories.

Of how it turned out we were right all along.

 

We can spend our days reliving the past.

We can spend our days thinking we are right, no matter what others say.

We can spend our days never looking back except to the moments where we knew it all.

We can focus in on the things we figured out, how we saved the day and everyone in it.

We can congratulate ourselves on a job well done, how we were the loudest voice, how we had all of the answers if only the world would listen to us.

We can spend our days tearing others down when they disagree.

We can spend our time holding so tight to our beliefs that we forget what we are holding on to, only knowing that we must cling to them or be lost.

Or we can pause…

Hear the voice of others…

Hear people out…

Reset our understanding to not exclude, but include.

To really listen to understand, not to respond.

To ask more questions rather than jump to the defensive.

To discuss rather than dismiss.

To build others up instead of tearing them down.

Perhaps agree to disagree but do so with respect.

At the end of the day, it is a choice we make.  A choice we commit to.  And a choice we can change.  Let’s not forget that.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers – The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child, out August 2017.  This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block.  If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first 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.

 

Be the change, being a teacher, being me

It’s All in the Small

Pernille Ripp

She tells me, “You know, Mrs. Ripp, I really learned a lot in 7th grade…”

I grin, and ask whether she is sure, that I often wonder if anything we do really helps them learn.

She says, “What helped me the most were all of those little things you would teach, the easier ways to do things.  I use those now…”

The bell rings, my sub time is over in 8th grade, I tell her to see me for a book, and she is off to see her friends.

I am reminded in these moments that as an educator I need to see the small steps.  That I need to count the little moments that really are the big wins in the bigger picture.  That it is easy to see that one child who all of a sudden becomes a reader, or a  science lover, or a coder, or a successful student.  But that when I only look for those big moments, I miss all of the small ones that are equally important.  I miss the moments that show signs of important growth, that may not be as obvious as that big aha moment.

Like the child who independently abandoned his book and then immediately went to the bookshelf to grab another one.

Like the former student who told me he didn’t have a book and then actually came and book shopped and found one.

Like the student who told me that he thought it was pretty cool that he doesn’t hate reading now, but doesn’t mind it as much anymore.

Like the child who trusts me enough to tell me that she is lost and needs help.

Like the child who only takes two reminders to settle in rather than five.

If we only measure education in the big successes, we may lose faith in our ability to actually create change.  For our students to actually grow.

Because those changes happen so gradually that they are easy to miss.

Because those changes often happen after they have left us.

Because those changes aren’t always shared in an outward way.

Because those changes often get overlooked when we compare students to each other and then wonder why they are not all acting the same way.

So if March is bringing you down.

If you are having a hard time remembering why being teacher is the very best job in the world.

If you are wondering if you are making a difference.

If you are wondering if your students are learning and growing.

Look for the little change.

Really remember how they came to us.

See how far they have come.

And if you are not sure, ask them.  Do they know how far they have come?

Count the small steps and then count yourself lucky that you get to be a part of this incredibly complex process we call school.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers – The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child, out August 2017.  This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block.  If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first 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.

Be the change, being a teacher, being me

Priorities

Pernille Ripp

Can I just discuss priorities for a moment?

I find myself at a point in time where it apparently bears repeating that some of our priorities in education seem a little misplaced.  After all, I don’t know how many more discussions I can bear witness to that centers around which expensive curriculum to purchase when our librarians are being forced out of their jobs.  How many more giveaway prizes are needed rather than actual books?  How many more paras we need to help the students, rather than certified staff?

If our priority is to create education that actually works for all kids and not just the ones who are easy to teach, then we need to discuss what our priorities should be.

Our priority should not be how to punish the kids that misbehave but rather how we help them remain in our classrooms instead.

Our priority should not be for how we can force kids into our rigid systems but instead how we can make our systems more flexible.

Our priority should not be how many skills a program will teach if we don’t have the foundational knowledge to understand why these skills are needed.

So can we instead decide that it only makes perfect sense to…

Invest in certified staff, particularly in areas that have the biggest impact such as special education, the arts or the library.

Invest in books before basals.  Books before programs.  Books before computer programs that teach basic reading skills.

Invest in raising student’s voice, rather than finding ways to quash it.

Invest in mental health services, in counseling, in smaller class sizes so we can truly connect with all of the students we teach rather than in more security and locks.

Invest in the staff we have, in order to retain an experienced staff, rather than always focusing on how to recruit the new?

Invest in community.

Invest in access for all kids.

Invest in hugs.

In smiles.

In high expectations for all.

In challenging all.

In equity and in hard conversations that uncover our own areas of weakness.

In the basic components of education that may not garner news headlines but that we know works, respect, credibility, training, reflection, and yes, love.

Can we please make it an expectation that if you teach kids you have to actually like kids.  After all, it doesn’t feel like too much to ask.

Perhaps if we straightened out our priorities and went back to common sense, we wouldn’t be having so many of the same conversations again and again.

Perhaps…

If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers – The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child, out August 2017.  This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block.  If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first 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.