Category: Be the change

Be the change, reflection

The Things I Will Never Have to Tell My Son

Pernille Ripp
I didn’t think I would ever write this post, simply because I never thought there were things I wouldn’t have to say to my son simply because he is white.  Yet in the aftermath of the Trayvon Martin case and verdict, I now stare full face at the white privilege I have always known was present in this country, yet never fully understood.  As I read articles with African American parents sharing the conversations they have had with their sons since the verdict, I understand better what it means to be a white parent, at least here in Wisconsin, and the things that I will never have to say.

I will never have to tell my son that he shouldn’t wear a hoodie in case someone thinks it makes him look suspicious.

I will never have to tell my son that he should always keep his hands in view at all times so that people can see his intentions loud and clear.

I will never have to tell him to pull up his pants if he wants a chance at a job.

I will never have to tell him to not go through unknown neighborhoods because people will assume he doesn’t belong there.

I will never have to tell my son to not confront someone if they are following him.

I will never have to tell my son to not try to act tough as he walks around in case someone thinks he is trying to provoke a fight.

I will never have to tell my son to be humble and respectful even if someone is threatening him.

I will never have to tell my son that simply his presence can be viewed as a threat to those around him, particularly if he looks anything like his dad.

My son will be assumed to belong most places he goes.  My son will be assumed to have an education, to be intelligent, to be articulate simply because of his skin color.

Most people will assume he is a kind, caring child before they see his actions simply because of his skin color.

Most people will give him a chance, assume he is just another kid, assume he is up to good things and not something bad.

All because of his skin color.

Be the change, student blogging, student voice

Give Students a Voice; How Blogging Changes Education

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread



I had the fortune of being asked by Kidblog (which I love so much) to write a little about how student blogging has changed my classroom and although this was published a long time ago on their blog, I forgot to cross post it here.  

“Do you really mean it Mrs. Ripp, you want the truth?”


The student is hesitating, eyes are cast downward and they are waiting for the inevitable, the answer that most teachers will give, but it doesn’t come.  Instead I tell them, “Yes, don’t hold back, tell me how you really feel about being a student in this classroom.  My feelings won’t get hurt, I promise…”


The spring is back in the student’s step and they bounce over to the computer, log on to our Kidblog classroom blog and happily answer this week’s blogging challenge.  And just like that, with that little question and one website, I have given my students a voice.


I didn’t use to want to hear how my students felt about their role in the classroom or our school.  I didn’t use to care about what my students thought about their education, about their feelings or desires.  I certainly never asked them to tell me what I could do better, or solicited advice.  Yet, here I am, two years into a student blogging journey, and that is exactly the types of posts that I love the most.  Those where the students bare their thoughts and really tell it like it is.


For too long, education has been done to students.  We graduate with our teaching degrees thinking we know best. We know the research, we know what students need, and we know that we know.  So we enter our classrooms as experts on education and students.  We plan and create the lessons that students have to soak in whether they want to or not.  We take just enough time to build a relationship and to listen to students but we often don’t ask the questions that students want to be asked.  How often do we take the time to ask them what they think of what we are doing?  How often do we genuinely care about how they feel about us, how they feel about their part in the classroom?  How often do we ask them to please be honest, don’t hold back, and then don’t hold a grudge when they follow our directions.  It is hard to be told that students are bored but a necessary step for us to become better teachers.  Yet it takes time, students won’t be honest from the moment you meet them, we have trained them too well to be “rude” like that.  So I start with blogging challenges that speak to their creativity like, “What is the color of fifth grade?”  Then I ask them to change just one rule at our school, just one, and we inch into unknown territory.  Students are always hesitant at first, after all, teachers don’t usually ask them to take ownership of their classroom.  They are waiting to get busted by you or for your relationship to sour.  It never does, I am thankful instead and I communicate that to them.


I have tried to start out having these conversations, rather than through their blog, but it was too much too soon.  Blogging provide us with a venue in which students feel in control.  They can record their thoughts, edit them, mull them over and then hit publish when they feel ready to do so.  They have time to think of the question and of their response.  I acknowledge that I am asking them to open up and at first it is frightening for them, but then, when they see that I change according to feedback, when they see that their words hold power in a positive way, then they find their voice.  They don’t hold back and offer up topics for discussion.  What they write on their blog, how they share, translates directly into our classroom.  The trust grows, the discussions get livelier, and students become more invested.  


Blogging allows us to take it to the next level; international discussion.  Now students are not just telling me how they really feel but anyone who will read it.  Blogging allows us to start discussions, to compare our school situations to those around the world.  To realize that we can change the world when we discuss the every day.  School stops being done to students and instead becomes something they also have some control over, they also have an active part in because we have provided them with a mouthpiece and a captive audience.  Finally, students know that they do matters, what they think matters, and what they say matters.  So when they see assignments change because of their feedback, when they see the role of the teacher change because of what they told me, that’s when they know that their voice matters.  Students run to their blogs to tell me their thought of their prior week, they use their blogs to invite others to debate the merit of homework, tests, and grades.  They write directly to our principal asking for longer lunches, extra recess, or perhaps just a little of his time.  No longer needing an adult to pass on their message, they have found a way to share it with the world.  All through the power of a blog.


I am a passionate 5th grade teacher in Middleton, 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 “The Passionate Learner – Giving Our Classroom Back to Our Students Starting Today” will be released this fall from PLPress.   Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

Be the change, reflection, students

We Must Be the First to Stop the Labels

Pernille Ripp
Right after birth
Brandon was the first to notice it.  Moments after delivery, he asked the nurse, “What’s that on his face?” and he pointed to my newborn perfect little baby boy’s face and then waited.  The nurse looked at it and said “Probably a port-wine stain…”  At the moment I didn’t think much of it, perhaps it was a bruise like the doctor said, perhaps it was a strawberry birthmark that would go away, but a port-wine – probably not.  
The next day we had the verdict, yes, that nurse was right and he would need to go see a dermatologist quickly because of its placement.  (For those that do not know what a port-wine stain is, it is is birthmark that continues to grow as it fills with blood leaving the skin disfigured and dark purple as a person ages.)  Later we were told that because of the placement on his face, we had to get treatment or the further growth of the birthmark would pull his skin up into his nose and away from his teeth, meaning he would have a harder time breathing and eating.
But that night in the hospital, all I could see were two little babies who needed me.
Yet, now 3 years, I realize how often I stare at that birthmark.  How often I wonder what his face would be without it?  I know that in the scheme of things this is incredibly minor, a mark that treatment will hopefully help (so far it has helped very little).  And yet, it catches my eye too often and I realize that I have to be able to look past it.  That his face is still beautiful, that he is still perfect, that I did not do something wrong during my pregnancy.   That the world may judge him based on this mark, and that I therefore need to be the first champion of him, his rock if he ever needs it.
I think to the children in our classrooms that come to us with labels, whether physical or emotional ones.  That come to us with people’s eyes already upon them, expectations different somehow because of either choices made or things out of their control.  I think of those children and how I have to be their biggest champion at school, how I have to be the one that looks past everything and sees them for the whole kid they are.  Not whatever the world would rather categorize them as.  I have to be their rock if they ever need it.  I owe it to them and I owe it to Oskar.
For a long time, I didn’t post pictures to Facebook of Oskar right after treatment, he looks much like a prize fighter after the laser has done its work.  I didn’t want people to see how bad he looked, how much pain he had gone through.  I didn’t want him to be judged.  Now, though, I know that he does not care.  That he still has a life to explore whether I can see past this birthmark or not.  That he will not be stopped by something out of his control and neither should I be.  My little boy is perfect, this is the way he was made, and no, I didn’t do anything wrong in my pregnancy to cause it.  He bears no label as long as I do not create one for him.  And neither should any of our students.
3 Years Old
If you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students.  The 2nd edition and actual book-book (not just e-book!) comes out September 22nd from Routledge.
Be the change, Reading, student choice

The Danger of the "Just Right" Books and Other Helpful Reading Interventions

Pernille Ripp
My mother never told me what to read.  Neither did my teachers.  Sure, I was an insatiable reader, a child that loved riding her bike to the public library only to return with the biggest bag of books my handlebars could handle.  Sure, I would sometimes stay up past midnight just to see what would happen next.  Sure, I used to be able to read in the car without getting carsick.  And yet, it wasn’t because I read just right books. It wasn’t because I logged how many minutes I read at home and at school so that I could see the pattern.  It wasn’t even because my teacher told me I would love this book and I had to read it next.  It was simply because I loved the freedom of reading.

The freedom of reading….

How often do we discuss that in our classrooms?  How often do we just let our students read whatever they choose and then let them discuss however they want why they just loved reading whatever they chose?  How often do we let them sing the praises of a certain book even if it is not just right for a majority of the class?  How often do we let them try that book even if we think it may just be a tad too hard, too long, or too boring?

The freedom to read….

We seem obsessed with the particularity of reading.  Of breaking it down into nothing but strategies so that students understand what great readers do.  Of logging every minute and every page.  Of finding “just right” books through levels and forcing them upon children because we know best.  Yet the problem with breaking something down is after a while all of those pieces become just that; pieces, and we lose sight of why we did it at all.  When reading becomes a strategy to master, we forget about the love that should be a part of it as well.  When we take away students freedom to read, we take away a part of their passion, a step of the path to becoming kids who just love to read.  And when we continue to tell them what to read, we take away part of what it means to become a great reader: knowing thyself.

So when we discuss “Just right” books don’t forget that that may just mean just right for that kid.  Just right for their interest.  Just right for their passion.  Just right for their curiosity.  Just right for their need.  And that may have nothing to do with their reading level.  When we discuss strategies don’t forget the big picture and what the goal is.  When we discuss logs and minutes and genres, well, just don’t discuss reading logs, please.  In fact, do your students a favor and gt rid of them.   If you want to see why, read this post by Kathleen Sokolowski titld “How Do You Know They Are Reading?” and then think about it.

Give students the freedom to read so that they may want to read.  How powerfully simple is that.

Be the change, reflection, student choice

Our Classrooms Don’t Have To Be Perfect To Be Wonderful

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

Smeared glitter paint greets me as  I step into Thea’s room and my heart drops a little.  As I cautiously make my way through her piles of things, I spot more evidence of an artistic explosion scattered throughout the room.  A drenched fluff ball there.  Some brushes here.  Finally, in the corner sits the artist herself; beaming as she turns to me and says, “Mama, isn’t it beautiful – it is for you!”  She hands me a large, dripping wet, glitterfied painting in pink and purple shades and I bite my tongue.

I want to tell her she should have asked permission to use those paints.  I want to tell her that she should not be painting on her bedroom floor.  I want to tell her that she should be wearing her smock and have her hair pulled back.  Instead I say, “Yes, I love it!”  And I mean it, and I smile, and I hang it on the fridge, proud of what she has made all by herself.  The mess we can deal with together.

I think of my classroom, of how I meticulously try to plan our days together.  How I try to plan for when the students will create something and how that will be created.  Although I give as much choice as I can, I still feel that there needs to be a plan in place.  And yet, often the true beauty of a classroom lies within those independent, creative moments.  When a child takes it upon themselves to create something beautiful.

We tend to overplan, oversee, and over-manage our students, afraid that if we don’t it will be a big mess.  And sure, when students create on their own, it is messy, the room shows evidence of it, and yet, the excitement and pride cannot be emulated by any other activity.  The way students show off what they came up with, what they pushed themselves to do cannot be replicated by a prescribed assignment.

So when I advocate student voice and student choice, I think back to Thea, who stands at the beginning of her school career.  I hope that her teachers will see the artist she is inside, the creator she carries within her, and will build a classroom where creating, making, and exploring takes center-stage rather than just listening, doing, and producing.  I hope Thea, some day, will turn to her teacher and beam with pride as she shows her work, just as my students do, when I step back and let them create.

My classroom on Innovation Day – our favorite day of the year

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Be the change, reflection, student voice

We Must Do More Than Just Engage Our Students

Pernille Ripp
I recently had the privilege of having a post published on SmartBlog on something I am passonate about: student voice.  And while they called it ” How to give students a voice in the classroom” I like my title better, thus the title change.

Those who know me, know that student voice is one of my biggest passions in education. And not just any student voice, but including the voice of my students, all students, in the education that is being done to them every day. And yet, when I discuss student voice, many people assume it is just another quaint term for student engagement. The truth is that it is so much more. Student voice means giving students power to change the way education is happening, to offer them an outlet and an audience, to have their voices heard. To change the way I teach.
I fight every day to include my students in their own educational experience. I fight the standards that tell us that yes, students should participate but here is how. I fight the prescribed curriculum that tells us when to stop and discuss and tells us when to keep on moving because there are too many pages to get through in today’s lesson. I fight the traditional way of teaching where the teacher is in locked control, holds all of the power, holds all of the knowledge and decides how and to whom they dispense these precious droplets. I fight because if I don’t fight, my students don’t stand a fighting chance to have their voice heard either.
So every year, I give the classroom back to my students. Every year, I have them blog, and not just what I ask them to write about but whatever they feel like. Then I give them an audience through #comments4kids and Twitter and anybody else who will listen to the voice of these fifth-graders with their grand ideas. I don’t shy away from hard topics; I don’t shy away from criticism. I cannot grow as a teacher if I do not ask my students how I am doing. How do they feel about the education that they are forced to be a part of? I give the classroom back by asking for their ideas, what their path to learning should look like and then actually incorporating that into how we do things. If lessons are boring, we don’t just get through it; we stop, reflect, and then we change it.
I say all this because it is easier than we think. Giving students a voice is not the hard part in education; listening to it is. You have to realize that when students tell you that something is boring, boring may mean that they just don’t understand, boring may mean that they are having a bad day, and yes, boring may mean that it is putting them to sleep. To facilitate a community where students actually have the guts, because it is indeed about guts here, to tell you how they feel about what you are doing — that is the sign of ultimate success in my classroom.  Not the grades, not the test scores, but the kid who raises their hand, looks me in the eye and says, “Excuse me, but could we change this, please?”
So how do you start? First, you give them an outlet. Give them a blog. Kidblog can be set up in less than five minutes. Give them a Twitter account to connect them with others. Set up classroom discussion time. Ask them  to make the rules of the classroom. When they criticize; listen and change, discuss their ideas and come to meaningful agreements. Your change will give them the confidence that you are not out to get them. After each unit, ask them what they liked, ask them how it should change. At the end of the year, survey them. What was the best and what was the worst. Ask the tough questions and be prepared for the honest answers. Thank them every time they criticize in a meaningful manner. Thank them every time they come up with a suggestion. Sometimes their change is not doable, but oftentimes it is; be open, be aware, and be a learner alongside them. Ask yourself: Would I like being  a student in this classroom? If the answer is no, then figure out where to start with your change.