Be the change – Page 49

I can almost smell Thanksgiving. The turkey roasting, the cinnamon rolls, the pie. I think my students can to. Their energy has increased exponentially these last few days as we get ready for a 5 day break next week. They are so eager to be on break, they are so eager to do something other than school. When they come back it will be December and all teachers know how December goes. It feels like you are holding a simmering volcano in your hands at time as the kids try so hard to focus.

In the past, I would yell a little louder. I would tighten the reins of control. I would punish and then I would hold the great reward, our holiday party, as the big fat carrot on the stick. I would cajole, I would practically beg. “Hang with me! We have to get this done! Stay focused so we can all get a break!” But not anymore.

Now I notice the energy as it climbs and then I work with it. Sure, it means I am exhausted by the end of the day. Sure it means that I am using every single brain cell to try to come up with ways to use their energy for good. Sure, it still sometimes blows up in my face. But in our room the holidays don’t mean we take a break from learning, we just change what we do.

So now I create more hands-on learning opportunities. We have been immersed in the world of exploration and I have asked the students to figure out what they want to do with all of their knowledge. During December I don’t want to feed them the project, I want them to use their energy to come up with something amazing.

Now I recognize the holidays instead of pretending they are not happening. We listen to holiday music (I sneak in Danish Christmas songs to their befuddlement). We take part in the awesome holiday card exchange run by my talented friend Jen Wagner. I tell them about my holiday traditions and they share theirs on our blogs. We read picture books, we learn about other cultures. The holidays aren’t something to hide from, they are something to embrace!

We do more challenges. We just did the spaghetti and marshmallow tower challenge, we just had our flipstick olympics. Next up comes marshmallow catapults and the toilet paper roll challenge. They are still learning even if it is not all dictated by my curriculum.

We read more. All of the craziness can be too much if we try to keep it going, so we make sure to have our down time too. The students and I all need the calmness of the read aloud (even if it is a super exciting one) to give us all a breather. And we don’t mess with our independent reading time, that is sacred, no matter what.

We give back when we can. We write letters to Helping Hands, we make extra holiday cards for the nursing home across the street, we have extra time with our first grade buddies. We try to give back because we get so much throughout the year.

So instead of getting angry, work with the energy that has arisen during this exciting time for students. Use it to your advantage. Create learning opportunities that they will remember. Challenge them, push them, and have fun with it. The holidays are all about love, laughter, and great times. Bring that into the classroom in whatever you do.

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.