being a student – Page 8

I grew up in a home that had a newspaper on our table every morning. Laid out for us kids to see, we grabbed the comics first, then the Danish news. I was a teen when I started reading the international news. Being aware of the world was something that was expected of us, after all, Denmark is a small nation. We read the paper, we listened to the radio, we watched the news. Not always fully attuned but always aware of at least some of the bigger things happening in the world beyond our own.

Being a globally aware and invested teacher is something I have tried to live and breathe for many years now. After all, the Global Read Aloud was created with the idea of making the world not only smaller, but also more interconnected to create more empathy and kindness. My students have therefore in varying degrees always brought the world in, been a part of projects that involved others and tried to know more about the outside world than when they came in. Working on a team with an incredible geography teacher has only made my job easier.

So this year as my English standards starred me in the face a small idea started to form, a seed began to grow; what if instead of “just” doing summaries, what if instead of “just” having an opinion, I was able to structure an inquiry project into something that I have been following myself; the Refugee Crisis? What if we created a two-week experience where the students got to learn at their own pace with the end goal of having an opinion? With that, I started to plan…

We would have two weeks roughly of work time, with time dedicated every single day after we do our 10 minutes of independent reading. Students could choose how they wanted to work and engage with the materials. I used a sheet that simply asked kids how they would like to engage with the learning and then crafted lessons based on this. I have used this approach in the past and it has worked pretty well, this time I should have been more diligent with using it though after the kids filled it out. However, that being said, kids were also good at reaching out and asking questions, as well as use each other for help. I did promise the students that I would only do one whole class lesson; how to write an opinion piece using the MEL-Con format, and I kept my word. My students have asked me to do less whole class teaching and I am adhering to that as I can help them better in small groups anyway.

We first needed a question, one that would give us a focal point but would not be shaped or tainted by my opinion, after all, I did want the students to come to their own conclusion. So our guiding question became ; What should America’s role be in the refugee crisis? This was what the students would work toward and discuss.

We created a running word wall as student questions came up.

I knew I needed texts to start with; thank you Newsela for your text-sets, you saved me so much time. So I pulled nine different texts that highlighted different aspects of the crisis, printed them at three different reading levels and told the students to choose three of them to read at least. I also made all of the texts available as a folder in case they lost their copies.

Another teaching tool for students to reference

I also wanted students to watch videos; I created a padlet with different short videos that would be appropriate for 7th graders and also less than 20 minutes. Students were asked to watch at least one, but could do more if they wanted to.

I then crossed my fingers and asked on Twitter; would anyone Skype with my students about being a refugee? I am so grateful for the response. Three of my classes were so incredibly lucky to Skype with the incredible Rusul Alrubail,she graciously and courageously shared her story of how she became an Iraqi refugee at a young age. To say my students were moved by her story would be an understatement. Yet, the kindness of strangers continued. Another teacher, Emily Green, from Michigan asked her students, some of them refugees, if they would create a small video for my students. Last night, I received three different videos from her courageous kids sharing their stories. Today as I played them for my students, you could have heard a pin drop.

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So for the past two weeks, my students have annotated the texts (using their own systems rather than ones created by me) for anything that stood out, they have written a summary on one article, and they have crafted an opinion on the guiding question, as well as craft an opinion piece based on all of their newfound knowledge.

In some classes we started in small group before we went to whole class discussion.

Today, as we came together as a group to discuss what we have learned and what our opinion is, I sat back behind the kids and watched them practice their discussion skills. As kids navigated the ins and outs of adult unmoderated conversation, I couldn’t help but feel just the tiniest bit proud. Yes, they were discussing, yes they were listening to each other, but that was not the only thing I observed. I observed kids who all of a sudden understood just how vast of a nation we live in. Kids who now know where Iraq and Syria are. Who know tales of children passing through Europe unattended as they try to reach freedom. Of people who never wanted to leave their homes but were forced too. Of what we can possibly do as a nation but how many hurdles there may be to making any decisions. I also saw kids who started to understand that for some reason they equate refugee with terrorists. Who thought 10,000 refugees is a large number but have since discovered it might not be. Who know that we need to help but are not sure just how to do that.

I didn’t set out to shape the opinion of my students, that is not my job as their teacher. Instead I wanted to create an opportunity for them to form an opinion on fact rather than hearsay, on research rather than rapid talk. I know that some believe America should do more and others think we do too much already. I know that for some they don’t really care either way. But I also know that by giving them more control over their learning, by giving them tools to start with, by creating a guiding questions and then by bringing others in via Skype and YouTube that we have created an experience that matters. That together we now have this piece of the world that ties us together and that will continue to crop up through the year.

Yesterday, a child asked me what the deal was with Mosul and weren’t they bombing over there? A child that two weeks before was not even sure that Iraq was a country or what refugee meant. That child had heard on the news that fighting was starting up again and now wanted to know more. As teachers of literacy we have incredible opportunities to bring the world in, to help our children find their opinions, and to create experiences that connect us with other human beings. I wrote a book on how to do just this, not for the sake of the book, but for the sake of making this world a better place.

I ended our discussion time today with the following words; “My job is not to make you think a certain way, my job is to make you think. So whatever your opinion may be, all I ask of you is to have one based on fact, rather than what others believe. Keep your ears open and ask a lot of questions. That is the least you can do as the future of this country.”

As teachers, we can bring the world in when it makes sense. To make it matter more than just getting through the year or working off our checklist. The year has just started and yet we have so much more to discover about the world. I cannot wait where our learning takes us next.

PS: If you would like to see my folder of resources, go here, some of it is loose.

I am currently working on a new literacy book. The book, which I am still writing, is tentatively Passionate Readers and will be published in the summer of 2017 by Routledge. I also have a new book coming out January, 2017 called Reimagining Literacy Through Global Collaboration, a how-to guide for those who would like infuse global collaboration into their curriculum. So until then if you like what you read here, consider reading my 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 student, being a teacher, being me, Student dreams

The Least We Can Do

October 23, 2016 Pernille Ripp

What follows is my ITEC Ignite…

On December 19th, 2013, our youngest daughter, Augustine, was born almost 10 weeks early. She came so fast that there was no doctor in the room, just the nurse. She came so fast that I now know what the big red emergency button in a hospital room does. She came so fast that I did not see her. I did not hold her. She did not cry. For the first minute of her life, I did not know if she was alive. It wasn’t until my husband, Brandon, told me she was breathing that I think I took a breath. That life started up again because for that longest minute of my life, with no wailing to calm me down, I had no idea if I was still the mother of three or the mother of four.

They whisked her away from me into their machines, into the equipment that would help her tiny body breathe, stay warm, and her heart keep beating. See when babies are born that early they need help with everything. And we can prepare all we want but it is not until they actually arrive and we see how much they need us that we realize that all of a sudden we have started a new journey, one that will take us down a perilous path where we might not be able to see our destination for a long time.

In the week leading up to her much too soon arrival, I was in the hospital waiting. Willing my body to slow down. We were not ready. She was not ready. One night a doctor from the NICU visited me to help me prepare for what would happen in case she came. His words has stuck with me all of this time.

He said, “When she comes we will be ready. We will have the machines that will help her breathe. We will have the machines that will keep her warm. We will monitor her heart and we will be by your side. We will do everything in our power to keep her alive, to keep her safe, to help her no matter what. While we can help her with her needs, we will not know about her brain. We will not know what long term effects being born so early will have on her learning. We will not know if her brain will be damaged, we will not know until she grows, until she reaches her milestones. We will not know what her future path will look like when it comes to learning but we will be ready. We will be by her side because that is what we do.” That is what we do…

As I held Augustine for the very first time more than 24 hours later, I held all of our dreams for her as well. As we sat in the quiet, listening to the alarms and the beeps on her monitor, I knew that her future was now in my hands as well, and that all we could do now was our best. That all we could do now was to be by her side and hope that her future teachers would see her for the miracle she is and not just a child who might have difficulties learning.

Every year as the new year awaits, our students arrive in all of their glory. They arrive with all of their dreams, their hopes, and their needs. They show up whether we are ready or not. And so we prepare, we plan, we dream over the summer that this will be the year that we reach every single child we teach.

We do not pick who we teach. We do not pick who shows up. We do not pick who these kids are that we are supposed to have life-changing experiences with but instead we stand by our doors like the Statue of Liberty and say; “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free …”

We can prepare all we want as teachers. We can create classrooms where most of our students will thrive. We can plan for fictitious children and hope they will fit into the boxes we create. Or we can teach the kids that come. We can create classroom experiences that center on the kids that actually show up instead of the kids we hope to teach.

We can open our classroom doors wide to make sure that every child that enters, that every child that shows up, know that with us they will learn, with us they will create, with us they will matter. Because they do. And we can ask those kids how we can be the types of teachers they need. We can ask those kids how they would like to learn and then we can listen to their truths and become the teachers they need.

So we can take them all and we can love them all because that is the least we can do. We work tirelessly every day so that those kids that become our kids know that with us they belong, that with us it does not matter what their start in life was because in here they have a chance at success. That with us it does not matter whether they were born 10 weeks early, don’t have a good home life, or have never liked school. That with us all that matters is that they showed up.

Augustine did not ask to be born early, she did not ask to have such a hard start in her life. She did not ask to have harder path than our other kids. The kids that come to us with their broken dreams and their battered hearts, didn’t ask for that either. Didn’t ask to have a different life than so many others. So our job is to teach. Is to love. Is to be by their side.

ITEC Ignite The Least We Can Do - Google Slides.clipular.png

This summer, as Augustine went to her NICU check up appointment, we heard the sweetest words. “Your daughter is perfectly average…” and while her path is still unwinding and we are not in the clear just yet, we see hope with every word she learns, every task she accomplishes. We see her for the miracle she truly is, a child that would not have lived not too many years ago. So may we all see the miracle that is the child that enters our schools. May we all know just how lucky we are to teach these kids, even when our days are long and our lesson plans are broken. Even when we feel we are not enough, may we still try.

As teachers, we were never promised it would be easy. We were never promised that our jobs would be effortless. Or that our hearts would stay protected. But we were told that it would be worth it. That this may be one of the hardest jobs and yet also the most rewarding. So every day as we welcome the kids, make sure it is every child we welcome, not just the easy ones, the ones that barely need us. Make sure your classroom is a place for any child to succeed. No matter their start in life. Because much like the NICU doctor told me almost three years ago; we are ready, we are here, and we will stay here until you no longer need us. It is the very least we can do…

being a student, being a teacher, student choice, Student dreams, student driven, Student Engagement

Some Ideas for Channeling High Energy Needs Into Better Learning Opportunities

September 27, 2016October 8, 2016 Pernille Ripp

I have the honor of teaching an incredible bunch of very energetic kids this year. Their kinesthetic energy level is high throughout the day, couple that with some also voicing loudly how bored they are in school and I have the best kind of challenge ahead. This will be a year to remember.

So I have been googling, I have been asking, and I have been spending a lot of time trying to think of ways to channel their energy into something great. Not to get them to quiet down necessarily but to get to a place where their energy is a tool rather than a hindrance. I have a lot to learn still, but a few things I have tried I thought I would share with others who may have the same awesome challenge we do.

Yoga balls. I have invested in 18 yoga balls and while the bouncing drives me a little bit nutty at times, I cannot help but marvel at the sight. After all, if this is what the kids need even right away in the morning then I cannot imagine putting them in regular chairs. Sure we have popped a few in the 6 months I have had them but when I am at a super store I pick up a few more just in case. Note; I have not switched all of my chairs for yoga balls because for some kids they are a nuisance or a distraction. Besides paying attention to their preferred seating arrangement is also giving me clues to their personality. We also have other alternate seating such as bean bags, exercise bands around the chair legs, office chairs and regular old chairs, but the yoga balls have made the biggest difference.

Switching up seating arrangement. I am a huge proponent of “choose your own seat” but this year in a few of my classes I have been doing a little bit of seat arranging to spread the energy. You see, when I have one really high energy cluster they may get really sidetracked but when I disperse the kids throughout the classroom their energy transfer to the new group. This does not always work and I am still tweaking it to get it right, but I like what I am seeing so far.

Picture book read alouds as calming tools. I end my days with a group of amazing boys. They are bouncing off of the walls by the time they get to me so sometimes trying to teach them is like a game of who can interrupt the most. Not because they are rude but because they are wired and excited. Today I had them sit on the floor with me, away from anything they could fiddle with and then read them Where the Wild Things Are in honor of Banned Books Week. I read it in the most soothing of voices, even when the Wild Things roar, and it was incredible. Immediately their demeanor changed, their voices hushed and for a few moments we got to work at a level of concentration and focus that I had not seen for a while. There is something incredible about the power of a great read aloud. There is something incredible about story time on the floor.

The turn and talk. When I teach my kids, i know I cannot be the only voice in the room so very little of our discussion is done in whole group, instead we utilize the turn and talk almost constantly. My students want to share, they want to discuss, they want to participate and so I need to make sure they all have the chance. Not just those that have enough courage to raise their hands in the air.

Incorporate brain games. I work with really smart people and one of them suggested I use some of the same brain games that another colleague had used. Genius. So in some of my classes, when we have worked for 15 to 20 minutes, the students will get 3 to 5 minutes of brain game time. All of our brain games are cooperative not competitive. All of them have very few props and are easy for kids to participate in. We play tri-bond, we build card houses, stack cups, hit a ball through the air as many times as we can without it falling to the ground and we do riddles. I am searching for more brain game activities to do with the kids as I see the benefit of them using their brains in a different way after working hard for awhile.

Writing before speaking. My students all process at different speeds and some times the very first thoughts that come to mind are not always the deepest. So we have started a write before we speak routine whenever they are doing formal discussion. It is simple; each child has access to a whiteboard (or they write right on the tables covered in whiteboard contact paper) and before they discuss something they take a few moments to write down their thoughts. Having these few minutes to gather their wits, channel their energy and also come up with something interesting to say means that all of the students have a better chance of being a part of the learning.

The right to move. Students in our classroom have the right to move as they learn. They are not asked to sit down; they can stand, nor are they are asked to sit still. As long as their movements do not distract others, they are perfectly fine. This is important because for some of our kids they listen better when they are in movement. They learn better when they have control over their bodies.

I know I need more ideas than this. I know I am only scratching the surface as far as incorporating more movement into our days but at least this is a start. This is a way for me to think more consciously about the need for movement and to embrace needs of all of the children that enter our classroom rather than just the quiet, compliant ones. So if you have more ideas please let me know, I would love to be inspired by your great ideas.

I am currently working on a new literacy book. While the task is daunting and intimidating, it is incredible to once again get to share the phenomenal words of my students as they push me to be a better teacher. The book, which I am still writing, is tentatively Passionate Readers and will be published in the summer of 2017 by Routledge. So until then if you like what you read here, consider reading my 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 student, being a teacher, student choice, Student dreams

The Worst Class in (X) Years

September 14, 2016 Pernille Ripp

No child should be defined by the actions of a group. @pernilleripp

My last year as a 5th grade teacher we were warned, in a friendly way ,of course, as these warnings tend to be. “Oh, you will have your hands full…” Oh, THAT group is coming up.” My team and I had seen these kids come up through the years, that is the beauty of elementary school. Yes, we had seen the tantrums, the fighting, the crazy behavior that made many label this group as the worst in (insert however many) years. But we also had seen the kindness, the energy, the fun that these kids projected and knew that while we may have our hands full, the year with them would be a year where we would always strive to look for the good, rather than the bad because although the bad was so easy to spot, it should not define a group of kids. Sure there were days where we could not believe what was going on but what I remember most about that year was how incredible the kids were. How much fun we had. How there were these incredible lows but also days that were some of the best of my teaching career. My team would agree with me on this. Yes we had THAT group but also loved THAT group.

Every year since then I have taken that same pledge; to always look for the good first. To always praise, to always point out how great of a group this group is. To change the group narrative in some small way. To always assume that this will be an incredible year no matter the reputation of a group. I think it is so easy to fall prey to the notion of the worst class ever. I think it is so easy to just want to get through a year as quickly as possible, I know there are days that seem never ending where we question everything we do. Yet when we do, we forget something very important; not every kid is going to have a bad day every day. Not every kid is going to have a bad class every class. Sometimes it may seem like this is the toughest day yet, but that too shall pass and just like we hope for a better day tomorrow, so do the very kids we teach.

When we let the actions of a few define an entire group, we are dismissing the individuals that make up that group. We are dismissing the kids that come to school hoping that today will be a good day. Hoping that this is the year they can finally escape the reputation that seems to follow them. As a parent I shudder at the thought of my own children’s class being labeled as the worst in however many years, because how do you ever change that? How do you stop a child from believing that they are horrible when that is what they hear whispered?

So today, much like every day, I will look for the good. I will praise the kids for all of the amazing things I see and yes, there may be ill decisions and tempers flaring, but those will be handled on an individual basis. I will not let the actions of a few tell the tale of the whole. And I will tell my kids, much like I do almost every day, that I have the best job in the world, that I cannot wait to come back tomorrow even if today was tough. Because it is true. We get to teach and teaching is only for those who can see the good in kids, no matter how much a child cannot see it themselves. We get to teach, which means that we d believe that this is the year a new narrative can be written. That this is not how a year will be.

No children should be told that they are a horrible group of kids. They are kids period. And we owe it to them to see beyond their reputation and re-invent their group identity. That is why we teach, that is why we have the best job in the world.

being a student, being a teacher, Literacy, Reading, Reading Identity

What 10 Minutes of Reading Really Is

July 2, 2016July 3, 2016 Pernille Ripp

Do not be fooled;a child readingis a powerfullearningexperience happening.

For the past 2 years, my students in 7th grade English have started almost every single class with 10 minutes of independent reading. With 10 minutes of falling into a book. With 10 minutes dedicated to the one thing that research says will make the biggest difference to their reading comprehension. When you teach just 45 minute classes, giving up 10 minutes can be seen as a major sacrifice, and yet, it never is; after all, reading time is one of the biggest gifts I can give all of my students. And offering them up 10 minutes to read the pages of a book they choose is the biggest investment I can make into their future reading lives. I give it gladly.

To an outsider it may seem like the 10 minutes is enough, that all you need for a successful reading experience is just to give kids time. But if you dug a little bit deeper, you would start to see all of the work that leads up to these quick 10 minutes, all of the investment that has happened before all of my students are actually reading. So what do the 10 minutes rest upon?

An enticing classroom library. For the past 6 years, I have been spending a lot of money, yes, my own mostly, to try to build up a library that would entice my students. Just this morning, I realized I needed to go to the book store to find more sports books as I look at the year to come. While our library now is large, it certainly did not start out that way; when I weeded my books, I had less than 150 left, but they were of decent quality and so our foundation started with that. Having an in-class library, coupled with a school library, has made a huge difference to my not so invested readers. The books are right there, at their fingertips, and they can bookshop any time they want. They do not have to wait for library time or even a pass to grab a new book. However, having a school library has also made a huge difference because they see a knowledgeable adult that can help guide them to books we do not have in our classroom library. Another adult has the chance to know them as readers and to help them select their next favorite read. I do not think my students would read as much if they didn’t have immediate access to books that spoke to them.

An exploration of reading identity. We spend a lot of time reflecting on who we are as readers, much to the chagrin of some of my most resistant readers. They are content with declaring themselves as non-readers and would prefer for it to be left at that. However, starting on the second day of school we start to dig into what type of a reader they and also what their goals are. They start to evaluate what has shaped their reading journey so I can figure out how to best support them further, or break down some ingrained habits of non-reading. This is a constant conversation in our classroom; what do you like to read, how do you know, why do you abandon books, what book do you want to read next are all questions that surround us as we discover who we are and who we want to be.

A reading-obsessed adult. I read voraciously, even when it is summer, so that I can pass books to my students. I am connected to other reading crazed adults so that I can find more books for our library. Being a reader myself, and especially of the books we have in our classroom, means that I can speak the same language as my students. By handing books to students and telling them that this may work, we start to develop a deeper relationship than just student/teacher, instead developing one based on the books we love. If you reach reading, you should be a reader yourself, because how can you expect students to invest into something if you don’t invest yourself?

An understanding of self. We learn how to book shop together, to-be-read list in hand, because this is a skill that many of my students have not developed. When they do not know how to find the next great book, they don’t read. It becomes one more thing that they use to not read. So together, we bookshop and tie it in with our reading identity exploration. We make it a social event at least once a month, adding as many titles as we can to our list, but it is also an anytime event. If a child is constantly book shopping it tells me they do not know who they are as readers and so the conversation starts there.

A challenge. Modeled after Donalyn Miller’s 40 Book Challenge, my students have a 25 book challenge (or higher for those where 25 books is not a big deal) and this challenge drives us forward as we plan our reading. All students read with urgency, not at a hurried pace, but with the need to read more than the year prior. We discuss our progress, we revisit goals and we tweak as needed.

A goal. My students are not “just” reading, although frankly “just” reading for some would be a major win. They are always working on something, however, many of them are working on goals directly tied to their reading identity, or the lack of one. So while some kids may be working on skills tied to their reading comprehension, others may simply be working on habits; trying to find a book they actually want to read, trying to re-identify themselves as readers. When I confer with students, I ask about their specific goals and if they do not have one, then we set one together.

A learning purpose. We use Notice and Note from Kylene Beers and Bob Probst to dig deeper into our reading, as a springboard to discuss and write about our reading, and so students are expected to do this work at all times. However, they are not always doing that work, sometimes we read simply to read. What matters is that they CAN do it when needed. We also read to identify writing craft, to learn about the world,, and to explore ourselves as human beings. Having a self-selected text as a way to spur discussion means that all of the students are able to participate in conversations, because they have actually read the book.

For the past 2 years, I have seen many 7th graders rediscover a lost love of reading or even start to work toward a better relationship with books and reading. I have seen 7th graders build upon the foundation of reading love that their previous teachers have laid. Almost every single child I have had the honor of teaching has read more books than they thought possible. When I ask them what made the biggest difference they tell me that the 10 minutes made them into readers. I always smile, because I know that the 10 minutes played a major factor, but they forget all of the other components that come into play when we have a well-developed independent reading experience in our classroom. So start with the time, but do not think that is enough. After all, we are not just teaching reading, but trying to create reading experiences.

I am currently working on two separate literacy books. While the task is daunting and intimidating, it is incredible to once again get to share the phenomenal words of my students as they push me to be a better teacher. The first book titled Reimaging Literacy Through Global Collaboration is scheduled for release November, 2016 by Solution Tree. The second, which I am still writing, is tentatively Passionate Readers and will be published in the summer of 2017 by Routledge. So until then if you like what you read here, consider reading my 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.

being a student, being a teacher, Personalized Learning, student choice, Student dreams, student driven, Student Engagement

Who Are We Really Doing This For?

June 27, 2016 Pernille Ripp

Traveling this summer seems to have offered me a lot of time for reflection. There is something about sitting on an airplane, getting nervous about the days ahead and thinking of how did one ever up there? I realize time and time again that there are certain truths that guide everything I do and that if I ever stray from those truths then I hope I have the spine to admit it. Because as I travel, I realize more and more that this is not about me, about Pernille the teacher, but instead about the very kids I teach. About the kids we all teach and yet we seem to so easily forget that as we make decisions in our schools, in our classrooms.

So I realize once again that while I may think I have all of the answers, I won’t ever know unless I ask my students. That my job is not to foresee and problem solve every little thing, but instead to let them explore and to create alongside me.

That when we go out and share what our students are doing, we need to recognize that this is not about us, but about them. That it is their education at stake, not our own, and that is why this mission is so very urgent.

We are losing kids every single day in our classrooms. We are losing them when we remove control over even the slightest things. We treat them in a way we would not want to be treated ourselves, and then expect them to just be ok with it because that is a part of childhood. We dictate bathroom breaks, where they sit, who they work with, and even how they share, sometimes allowing very little autonomy in the process. And then at the end of the day we wonder why they are exhausted and cannot wait to get on with their “real” life?

What if every decision we made was centered on what is best for students? I know we say that that is what drives us, but is it really? When we decide on curriculum do we pick it because it is easy for the adults to implement or because it will inspire the children? When we seek out learning opportunities do we do it for the right reasons or because it is another thing to check off our to do list?

When we control our classrooms so that we can function, do we ever wonder who those we teach will react to the perimeters we set up?

So we can talk about personalizing learning, or whatever other buzz term we are all infatuated with at the moment, or we can talk about good teaching. About creating learning opportunities that center on the student, on the child, and not the adult needs. We can remove the “alizing” and just focus on the person instead.

Change may seem hard, but it gets easier as we go. Think of the small things that already communicate to students that what they need is not as important as what we need. Think of all the little rules we have in our classrooms that do not benefit them nearly as much as they benefit us. And then do something about it.

When I ask my students what they wish every teacher would do it is not to give them less work, to give them less tests, or even to speak less – we teachers, do love to talk – it is to let them choose where they sit. Almost every time. If that doesn’t speak volumes about how powerless students feel in their education, I am not sure what will.

So this summer, or winter depending on where you are, whenever a new decision needs to be made, don’t think of what you need. Think of what kids might need, and if you are not sure; ask them. They are ready to tell us if we only ask.