Category: Be the change

Be the change, reflection, students

We Cannot Measure

Pernille Ripp
…This is my most precious moment…and he places a picture of a person who has passed away under the document camera and takes my breath away.  Tears and stammered out questions about the picture.  He asks if he may sit down…and the tears keep coming from me, from him, from everyone.

We cannot measure student trust on a test.

We cannot measure the community that allows a kid to share their most precious moment and then show the emotions that accompany it.

We cannot measure the bravery that comes from knowing how vulnerable that child made themselves.

We cannot measure the tears the other kids got when they saw how much this meant to him.

None of that gets measured on a test.

None of that will ever be a part of my educator effectiveness evaluation.

Not the tears.  Not the moments.  Not the trust or the care we have in each other.  Because no one would ever know how to measure it.  And so they don’t.

And yet, those moments, are the ones that make my classroom a community.  Those moments are the reasons the students thrive, grow, and love school.  Those are the very moments that should count the most.

Yet instead they focus on math, reading, bubbles filled in correctly and then pretend that it gives them a full picture of that child.  Pretends that they know the strengths and weakness of that kid.

We know it doesn’t.

When will the outside world learn?

Be the change, reflection

A Child’s Imagination Lost

Pernille Ripp
it’s poetry month and my student shave been sharing these incredible, thoughtful, and often breathtaking poems.  Today, Buddy, a students of mine who is such a writer, left me this on my desk.

Imagination
The thing that kept me occupied
For hours and hours
Was something so valuable
How come I lost it?

The thing that kept me happy
On the days I felt so down
The thing that I used to treasure
Long, long ago

The thing that kept my days
Worth having fun on
The thing that I relied on
For most of my childhood

Why now as I play games and write stories every day
Why aren’t those times fun?
Probably as I grow older
I will lose my treasure; my imagination

As I stood there with his gift in my hand, I knew I had to ask; what do we do in schools to safeguard a child’s imagination?  What do we do to help them keep it?  Or will they see losing their imagination as byproducts of going to school and growing up? 

Be the change, reflection, Student-centered

How To Give Your Students a Voice; Advice From Someone Who Tries

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

I often find myself discussing “Giving students a voice” in the classroom with people who wonder what I exactly mean.  Sure, giving someone a voice sounds great, but how do I know that I am doing that?  What can I do to do that?  What does it look like?  I am not an expert but here is what it looks like to me.

Curriculum; give them ownership.  Even within the strictest of dictated curriculum we can still give ownership to our students, meaning the right to create something that they want to.  If the format is predetermined then give them choice over the topic.  If the topic is predetermined then give them choice in the format.  Presentation, collaboration, and how it will be assessed are also area where you can give students a voice.  You just have to find the time to ask them.
Ask yourself:  Do my students have a say in what they are doing right now?

Classroom Routine.  I don’t make the rules of our classroom  my students and I do.  We discuss them at the beginning of the year and then we modify them as we go.  They have a voice and a right to decide how their classroom will run.  We have non-negotiables such as respecting others and then go from there.  Every year is different because every group is different.
Ask yourself:  Who set the rules of the classroom?

Classroom setup.  This is vital to giving students a voice and often overlooked.  We can dicate our agenda just as easily through our setup as through our words.  Where is your desk located   How is it faced?  Where is the main area of the room?  Where is the focal point?   Can they manipulate the physical classroom?  Can they move desks, tables, areas?  Do they decide where they work?  Do they decide how they work?  All of this gives them a voice.
Ask yourself:  Where do my students work?  What is the vibe of the room?

Assessment.  I do not believe in the power of a report card or in the power of grades.  So students and I discuss what a well-done product should look like.  Students self-reflect a lot and set goals.  They discuss goals with me, with their parents, and with each other.  We strive for accountability and also a deeper understanding of what it means to create.
Ask yourself:  Who determines the grade?  Who establishes the guidelines?
 
An outlet.  Students must know that they have somewhere where they can always turn to speak to each other, to me, to the world.  Our student blogs do that for us and I encourage them to speak freely.  Many of them do and I always grow from what they post.  So find an outlet for their voice so that they know someone is listening.
Ask yourself:  Where do I hear my students voice?  Where does the world?
Face to face.  When my students speak, I listen.  I stop whatever I am doing and I lok at them.  I listen, I respond, and things sometimes are fixed or changed.  We meet as a group every Friday to discuss achievements, share advice, or just check in.  We speak in the morning before the day really gets going so that students know what to expect, know what their day looks like, and what our expectations are.  Students know that I will take the time to listen to them, even if they have complaints, they know I will take it to heart, they know that they can tell me their honest opinion without negative repercussions.   I never hold a grudge and my actions show that.
Ask yourself:  What do I do when students speak to me?  How do I react?
Caring and accountability. When my students speak in their myriad of ways; I listen.  I am held accountable to their words and they often see the direct effect of their words on our classroom, on my teaching, on their daily school lives.  That accountability and caring piece is the most important factor of giving students a voice, fore if we encourage them to speak up then we must also be ready to listen, to change, to act.  Everything else does not matter if they do not believe we actually care about their voice.
Ask yourself:  Which actions show that I care?  What have I changed based on student feedback?
Be the change, global read aloud

Global Read Aloud and I Get a Bammy Nomination

Pernille Ripp

Those who know me know that I struggle with nominations, badges, and awards.  I have no problem nominating others, I believe great people and initiatives should receive as much recognition as possible, but I tend to shy away from highlighting myself.  That is not what I am here for.

In the past few weeks, tweets and Facebook posts have been propping up about the Bammy awards 2013.  I know of the Bammys and have found myself conflicted with the self-nomination portion but at the same time excited that at least some people are trying to elevate people within education because my goodness someone has to.

This morning, in a week that has been nothing but tiring, I received news that I had been nominated for a Bammy by the academy behind it.  At first, I was shocked, then very surprised.  However, when I read the nomination and saw why they had nominated me I wanted to scream with joy.  This nomination is now about me, but about the Global Read Aloud and that I can promote any day.

Here is an excerpt from the nomination, and yes, you can vote for me, but you don’t have to.  But do join us in the Global Read Aloud 2013, because that is where the real magic will happen.

Amazed almost every day by the extraordinary initiatives launched by educators in the trenches that remain largely unknown despite the impact they are having. The work of Pernille Ripp under scores why it’s so important to broadcast whatis right in American education. Pernille is the creator of the Global Read Aloud. From her site:

The project was created in 2010 with a simple goal in mind; one book to connect the world. Now with three years under our belt and more than 30,000 connections made, we realize we are on to something larger than us so we look forward to continuing the global connections.

The premise is simple; we pick a book to read aloud to our students during a set 6-week period and during that time we try to make as many global connections as possible. Each teacher decides how much time they would like to dedicate and how involved they would like to be. Some people choose to connect with just one class, while others go for as many as possible. The scope and depth of the project is up to you. In the past we have used Twitter, Skype, Edmodo, our wiki, email, regular mail, Kidblog, and any other tools we can think of to make these connections. Teachers get a community of other educators to do a global project with, hopefully inspiring them to continue these connections through the year. 

How do you measure the instructional value of Pernille’s initiative? How is her level of passion and commitment captured in a standard teacher evaluation? Clearly, any teacher who manages to touch 30,000 lives is extraordinary. We are honored to nominate Pernille Ripp.


Be the change, connections, reflection

Do You Have to Be Connected to Be A Great Teacher?

Pernille Ripp
This morning I read the great post Excuses, Excuses…Will a Child’s Future Wait written by Tom Whitford, a man I am lucky enough to call friend.  As I read it and nodded all the way through it, I kept thinking how right Tom was, and yet, when we discuss people not telling us they have time for social media, or time to learn about new technology, we also have to look at how many people don’t see these things as a necessity to being a great teacher.

In fact, the whole notion of being a great teacher, administrator, or whichever role one plays in education seems to be split between two large camps.  There are those that believe that as long as they deliver relevant content every day, cover the standards, get through what they need (even artfully so) that then they are doing their job.  That is what makes them a great educator.  Then there are those that believe that to be a great educator, one must be connected through something (social media, local group whatever), should be researching new ideas, and should definitely be implementing those.  Then one can be a great educator.

Those are two very different camps to be in.  One sees no need for outside connections and the other sees the creative urgency in having them.  One does not find the time necessary to make connections because it is not deemed essential to being a great teacher.  Whereas the other wholeheartedly believes in the necessity of these connections and thus takes the time to do so.  I wonder if the unconnected educator can be just as great as the connected one, I tend to lean toward a resounding yes because of what I see on a daily basis; plenty of “unconnected” educators that are still phenomenal teachers.  And yet, I wish they were connected because so many of them have great things to share.

So when I come across people that do not understand why I tweet, blog, or connect with other that I may never meet, I often wonder how they get inspired.  I know where I draw my inspiration from; my students, my family, and my PLN.  Where do those that do not have a PLN get theirs? I know I cannot convince them of the power of dedicating time to connecting, sharing, reflecting in a an open forum until they deem it important enough to dedicate their time.  And that is an entirely different mindset to cultivate, so how do we do that?

Be the change, Reading, reflection

What the #Nerdybookclub Taught Me About Reading

Pernille Ripp

I have always been slightly nerdy, ask my oldest friends and they will tell you stories of eye rolls whenever I discussed the latest sci fi flick I couldn’t wait to see.  Or get me started on a favorite author and watch.  I haven’t ever been a geek, I would have to be really good at math for that, but a nerd, that I could embrace.  My adulthood didn’t change my nerdy ways but only sophisticated them.  I could now pass ubernerdy things of as cool and stand behind them tall.  And when being a nerd became kind of cool, I was so nerdy, that even my husband still laughed a little bit at me when i got too out there.

So when I fell into the Nerdy Book Club I knew I was at home.  All of these book lovers in one group, oh and the hashtag and the chats; I was home.  And yet even I could not have realized how much the Nerdy Book Club would change me and the way I teach.

So The Nerdy Book Club taught me that

  • It is okay to get really, really excited about a book and want to give it to everyone I meet.  I am thinking of you “The One and Only Ivan.”
  • It is ok to want to talk books with friends, even if those friends are 20 years younger than you.
  • It is ok to bring in my books to school and perhaps sneak a chapter or two during recess.
  • It is ok to weed out my library and finally get rid of the books that no one has touched, no one will touch, and to give them to others who might.
  • It is ok to not do book talks.
  • It is ok to not do whole group books unless it is so deep and so rich that the whole class will actually stay engaged.
  • It is ok to tweet out pictures of new books you have received because you are so gosh darn excited about reading them.
  • It is ok to tweet authors and hope they will respond to you.
  • It is ok to have your class tweet authors and hope even harder that they will respond to them.
  • It is ok to have a pile of books beside your bed that never quite seems to diminish and yet entices you to sit down and read every time you pass by it.
  • It is ok to change from a clothes shopaholic to a bookaholic as long as you don’t go broke.
  • It is ok to watch your home library start to bleed into your classroom library because some of your kids are ready for a bigger challenge.
  • It is ok to do book challenges as long as they do not suck.
  • It is ok to not love a book and tell students that.
  • It is ok to make book trailers rather than book projects.
  • It is ok to think books, breathe books, talk books even if no one is listening or cares.
  • It is ok to have the reading taste of a 5th grade boy.
  • It is ok to think that reading and loving books is the most important thing we can ever model for our students and our own children.

Thank you Nerdy Book Club

Related articles