Be the change – Page 49

Be the change, being a teacher, motivation, principals, reflection

Dear Administrators, Please Rescue the Staff Meeting

November 18, 2013November 20, 2013 Pernille Ripp

There are few things that induce quite as visceral reaction as bringing up staff meetings to teachers. (If in doubt check all the someecards that have been made discussing it!) It is not that teachers are opposed to meetings, after all most meetings mean collaboration, the reaction is more to what we think happens at staff meetings: you sit and get information and then you leave. Not exactly the most inspiring use of anyone’s time.

But it doesn’t need to be like this anymore. Technology has provided us with the tools to communicate what we need without people being present to hear it thus removing most of the time usage at most traditional staff meetings. Now I am not here to say we shouldn’t have meetings, I love meetings, I am here to say they should be a better use of everyone’s time. So why not reclaim the traditional staff meeting and make it something every teacher looks forward to?

How about skipping all of the information giving? Send out on email instead and then expect people to read it. Most email services have a function where you can see whether someone read it or not. Make it part of the job and if it isn’t read then those people can attend a special meeting where the same information is presented.
Make it hands on professional development. With all of the new roll outs facing all of us, I would love work time to try things, discuss things and attack something as a staff. Staff meeting time would be perfect for this.
How about making it collaboration time when possible? One of our staff meetings a month was made into collaboration time several years ago and it has been incredible. To be given the gift of time to either meet in an action team or with your grade level is truly one of the best things we can do for staff.
Make it in the morning. After school I usually have 5 fires to put out before I go home, or it feels that way anyway. I get that contract time starts at different times, but I would rather have a short 25 minute meeting before school than a long 45 one after school. When there is a bell deadline there is a sense of urgency that simply is not present in the afternoon when we are all distracted. However, if staff meetings become awesome then perhaps we would all be more focused during them.
Spread the responsibility. Whoever decided that principals should be the only one in charge of meetings didn’t consider all of the teacher leaders that can exist at a school or even the immense work load carried by all principals I have ever met. If you want to make it professional development, put others in charge. Let teachers teach teachers and let us work on something, not just sit and get.
Bring in parents and students. Too often these stakeholders are left out of a school’s professional discourse. I would love to hear from parents and students how they would like to be taught something or the ideas they may have. Also, I wonder how many experts do we have among our parents that could teach us something? How often is this part of our population left out of decisions and discussions?
Teach us something. I would to leave each staff meeting knowing something new or armed with a new idea to try in my room. But we need time to share those ideas, we need time to try new things and figure them out. Why not make the staff meeting a central component of what we should be learning?

What did I miss?

I am a passionate (female) 5th grade teacher in Wisconsin, USA, 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 Classroom Back to Our Students Starting Today” will be released this fall from PLPress. Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

Be the change, building community, challenge, Student-centered, students

Hey, It’s Ok To Go Outside the Curriculum Once in a While

November 17, 2013November 17, 2013 Pernille Ripp

I have felt like a new teacher this year. Chalk it up to 27 students with a crazy range of learning needs, new program implementations, and just an insane amount of meetings to make sure everyone is on the same page. We also have a new block schedule to implement, which has been amazing in some ways and limiting in others. Most nights I work 2 or 3 extra hours at home making up for the time I don’t get in school. While I love this year, it has also been a crazy one and every day I feel the curriculum pressing down on me urging me forward, to just get it done.

So why on Friday, with the pressure of everything we need to get through, did I have my students do the spaghetti and marshmallow tower challenge, swallowing up 40 minutes of our day? Why “stop” the curriculum so the kids could have a team challenge? Haven’t we already built community?

I did it because the kids need it. They need to continue working in new teams. They need to be challenged. They need to think differently and deal directly with failure (there were epic attempts!). And if you look closely, you would have seen how it absolutely was curriculum, even if FOSS science had not mandated it. The students worked with design, creating a standard prototype and then testing their theory, adjusting along the way. They changed and tried to control the different variables and engaged in deep on-the-spot thinking to ensure success. In fact, as I looked up the Common Core standards for speaking and listening, I couldn’t believe how many of them we had covered.

Yet it’s bigger than that. I made the teams so that kids who would not pick each other worked together. I told them they would more than likely fail (based on previous years’ experience) and it was what they did with that failing moment that mattered. The spirit of living up to expectations swallowed the room and carried the children home. They did it together, and even though there was a winning team all of the kids celebrated and laughed about it.

We may think that when we leave the confines of our curriculum, we are breaking the rules or not teaching. And sure there are times when the educational value can be hard to uncover. But if the challenges are right, we are teaching the children more than some lessons do. It takes courage to step outside the boundaries, but do it right, and the pay off will be immense. My students left asking when they would do the next challenge, I told them “Soon!” and I meant it. We have to think outside the lines of our own rush and needs to keep those kids challenged and engaged.

Be the change, being a teacher, being me, reflection

Just Tell Me the Truth But Tell it Kindly

November 15, 2013 Pernille Ripp

I didn’t expect to be so nervous, after all, Thea is 4 years old, how much bad stuff could a teacher possibly tell me? And yet, I have seem some 4 year olds tear apart a classroom, hit other children, destroy and conquer at their whim. Surely not my own kid, right?

As I sat down next to her teacher in the tiny little 4K chair, I wasn’t sure what to do now. She had welcomed us, Thea was proudly showing off her classroom to her younger siblings, and so I waited for the information to start. “She is a such a sweet girl…” were the first words we heard, and my heart that had been residing in my throat up until then started to slow down and slide down. Everything would be ok.

I have been doing parent-techer conferences for 6 years now and the past 3 years have been student-led. I thought I knew what it meant to be the parent walking into my room. I thought I knew how to put them at ease. And yet, it wasn’t until the other night that I truly got it. I want to hear that my child tries. I want to hear that my kid is ok and if they aren’t then how are we going to help them. I want to hear the concerns. I want an honest discussion led from wanting to help, not wanting to punish. I want the truth and I want to know what I can do.

As teachers, we have the power to devastate a parent. Sure, there are truths that sometimes are hard to say, but it is in how we say that that the difference lies. I am not there to ruin a child’s night, but I am there to be truthful in what they need to conquer to be successful students, or even kids, sometimes. I am there to say what I see but in such a way that it is seen as fixable, not determined. As workable and not as too late to do anything about.

As we left, Brandon turned to me and said, “She has empathy, that means a lot to me.” Never mind the letters she doesn’t recognize or the fact that she always counts 11, 12, 13, 16… – but our kid is empathetic. She will be ok after all, her teacher told me so, even if there are things to work on.

Be the change, being a teacher, Student-centered

I Am the Quiet

November 9, 2013 Pernille Ripp

I never used to be quiet. My classroom was filled with noise from the moment the students arrived until they left. Whether it was me lecturing, me giving out directions, me keeping them on track, or even a soundtrack of music to keep them motivated, we just didn’t do quiet. We were loud, we were active, and there was always chatter.

One night, as I yelled at my husband to turn off his music so that I could concentrate on writing, it finally dawned on me. Perhaps my students didn’t need more noise, perhaps they needed more quiet. Perhaps I needed to stop talking, perhaps I needed to stop playing the music. Perhaps I needed to embrace the quiet and let it speak for itself. Perhaps I needed to be quiet so my students could start speaking.

Now, we are quiet when we need to be. During reading, you will hear hushed conversations, during writing it is almost silent. I keep my discussions short. I try to pull my voice out of the conversation so that my students can figure it out among themselves. When a child faces me with a problem I sit quietly and think with them, trying to come up with a solution. When a child is the most unruly and angry, my lower voice and quiet words often diffuse the situation better than any punishment ever could.

Sure there are words, but the quiet now emphasizes them. No longer do I feel the need to constantly yell over the noise (unless we are doing science!). No longer do I feel the need to bark out orders. Sure there are instructions being given, but there is also quiet so they can figure it out. Quiet so they can think. Quiet so they can just be.

Be the change, homework

Why the Grade X 10 Minutes for Homework is a Fail

November 2, 2013 Pernille Ripp

Note: Some of my older posts did not survive the transfer from Blogger to WordPress, thus these are older posts that still bring up valid points.

As I prepared for my first orientation day powerpoint as a new teacher, I knew I had to fill in homework expectations and how much parents could count on. I was reminded to use the old formula 10 minutes times the grade of the child, excellent, 40 minutes of homework for a 4th grader. Now this is what my brain should have thought; “Wait a minute Pernille, 40 minutes of homework, a night? Plus 20 minutes of expected reading with parent initials? And a book report every 6 weeks? And math tests every 3? Not to mention science and social studies quizzes, which really are tests but just with a friendlier name. What in the world am I saying?” Except, I didn’t and the rest, as they say, is history. Those kids had homework coming out of both ears because that is what I thought teachers did; assign work. 40 minutes seemed fair and reasonable and why shouldn’t it be? Aren’t we in the business of making students accountable and responsible? Aren’t we teaching them how to be effective workers, preparing them for the real world?

Except homework is really not thoughtful when you just spew the formula. Homework then becomes the brainless act of repetition, not metacognition that we all should be striving for. Homework becomes the incessant chore we all seem so hellbent on making it. I know we are trying to raise responsible children, but is homework really the only way we can do this? Can we not accomplish those same goals of responsibility, time management, and work habits without the insane amount of homework? Can we, as educators, realize that perhaps we do not have the right to infringe on students’ lives outside of class up to an hour or more every night? Haven’t students already given us 7 to 8 hours of work?

I, for one, limit my homework giving and not because I am a hippie that doesn’t believe in hard work. We do work hard in my classroom, in fact, my students relish how much we get done in a day because it means they are managing their time. It means they are creating a work ethic that says give school your undivided attention for a whole day and you will be rewarded with free time. Do your job here right and then you don’t have to worry about it as much outside of school. And a formula can never encompass that.

So it is time we give up on the formula. It is time we realize that homework is not something we have to give just to give the kids work, that there are other ways to teach students motivation, time management, and effective work habits There are other ways to ensure all of the curriculum is covered and that knowledge is garnered.

This year, on the first day, I will tell the parents that there may be work outside of school and that it will differ from day to day. I will tell the parents that my mission is to keep work inside of my classroom so that the students may breathe a little bit. I will tell them there that will be projects, there will reading, sure, but there will also be time to be a kid, to live a little. No homework doesn’t mean no learning, it means school was kept at school and that is a good thing.

Be the change, Innovation Day, Student-centered

What’s So Genius about Genius Hour?

October 27, 2013October 27, 2013 Pernille Ripp

Our very first genius hour – a glorious mess erupted!

I hope you have heard of genius hour or 20% time before and that this will be just an extra post to highlight its amazingness. However, if you haven’t or are not quite sure how to do a genius hour, please read and hopefully be inspired to do it with your students.

Genius hour first started popping up in my life a few years ago as I was implementing Innovation Day in my classroom. Luckily some really smart people whom I admire took it upon themselves to even create a wiki detailing how to do it, sharing resources, and answering questions about it.

Essentially, genius hour in my room is an hour in which the students get to learn and create something under a certain umbrella topic all within one hour. (Actually this year it has been within 40 minutes, but still…) Genius hour can be applied to any subject area but science and social studies lend themselves particularly well to it in my room.

Before:

Discussion is your key. Explain to the students that they will be in charge of creating something within an hour and what it will be relating to. We have been studying early Native American in social studies, so our first genius hour was asking the students to learn and create something about the Eastern Woodlands Indians. Students can create something by themselves or with a partner, I discourage more than 2 kids working together because it always seems to leave one child to not do much.
Show examples. I give the students examples of what they could create (a model, poster, presentation etc) as I give them background knowledge needed. They take notes of ideas as we go through the lesson and I then help out those who have no idea.
Focus on time and effort. The students may think an hour is a lot, it is not, and I try to stress this with them. They will not have time to create a perfect thing necessarily and that is totally ok. The point here is for them to learn something that I have not covered and create something to show their learning.
Talk about supplies. I tell them what I can supply (paper, tape, glue etc) and then point out that they should not break their parents’ bank account getting cool supplies.
Check in with everyone. I make sure everyone has a clue before they leave my classroom. I also post about it on our website so that parents have a clue as well.
Remind! Whenever a genius hour is coming our way, I remind the students often. There are no surprises of when they need their things by and when it will take place.

During:

Stay out of the way. The genius of genius hour is truly that this is student-directed and student-created. So we need to stay out of the way. I check in with kids, compliment, and sometimes push a little, but I do not interfere or offer up solutions unless it is an emergency. This is vital to build student responsibility and problem-solving.
Time manage. I shout out time left throughout the hour. It helps students get on track.
Be a helper. If students need something printed and picked p, I offer to do it, or if they need an extra emergency supply due to an idea not working out I try to help. But other than that, again, stay out of the way.

After:

Present. It is important that all children present what they have created but when you have a big class like I do, this can take a long time, so behold: the gallery walk presentation. Half of the class sets up their creation (this often happens the following day) around the room and then another child stands in front of them. I set the timer for 1 minute – 2 if we have the time – and then the students present. When the timer goes off, the listening student moves to the next presentation. My students learn to get to the point and share only their best pieces of information and we can get through everyone within 30 minutes.
Self-reflect. I also think it is important for the students to have a chance to self-reflect on how it went and what they need to change. I have adapted this Google form from the wiki to fit my needs.
Don’t grade. This is just me so if you want to grade, ok, but I don’t, because I don’t want students to be afraid to take risks. Grades tend to hinder risk taking so I instead look at things like how they worked together, time management, whether they pushed themselves or made something super simple etc and then store that way for future assessment.
Reflect as a class. I love hearing overall ideas, feedback, and suggestions. What have they learned as a class, how is this benefiting them, why should we do it again. Let the students lead the discussion and take stock of their ideas.
Publish. I always take pictures during the day and presentations, I want parents to see what we have been creating so get those out to the word.

Random Thins:

What if a child fails completely? I don’t think a child can ever completely fail unless they refuse to participate, in which case, they get to work on something else in the office. (Which I have never had happen). But a child may have tried to do something way too time consuming or chosen something that they finished within 5 minutes. While I try to prevent this from happening through pre-discussions, it still sometimes does, and that is ok. I always then speak to the child about what they would change, how it would work next time, and then have them present their ideas for that too. Embrace the failure and learn from it.
What if a child brings in a completed project and has nothing to work on? Then they get to make something else, sometimes this happens as well no matter how well we have communicated the intent to parents and students. I then ask them to make something on the fly.
What if our first genus hour sucks? My first one is always a glorious mess with some great successes and epic failures. I tell the students that may happen and that this is the best way to learn how to do it. Honestly, running through it the first time is the best way to learn how to do it right.
How many should I do? As many as you want. We do them throughout the year under various topics, some people have it once a week, others don’t. Make it work for you and your schedule but do have a few in a short amount of time so students can learn from them quickly.
How do I convince others it is worth the time? Show them the learning! I am always impressed with the variety of projects created and how students get excited about the learning, we are still covering the curriculum but in a more authentic and meaningful manner, so showcase that.
More questions? Please leave a comment or email me at p (at) globalreadaloud (dot) com – I would love to help.

To see more pictures from our genius hours’ go to our website