being a teacher – Page 109

aha moment, being a teacher, being me, community, Passion, Student

7 Things to Try Before You Almost Give Up On A Student

January 13, 2015January 19, 2015 Pernille Ripp

I have to admit it; I have not loved all of my students in the same way. Not all of my students and I have clicked. Not all of my students and I have had the best relationships. Not for lack of wanting to. Not for lack of trying, but sometimes it seems that bigger things are in play and the universe just doesn’t align. And yet, even if I had a harder time connecting with a child, whatever the reason, I still had to be the very best teacher I could be. So what are some techniques I have used to make sure that I connected on some level, even with the seemingly most challenging students?

Take it personal sometimes. My mantra used to be “don’t take it personal” until I realized that sometimes a poor relationship with a student is indeed a direct reflection to how they feel about me, not what I am doing. So rather than dismiss it, I ask them questions, engage them as an equal to express my concern and then try to reflect on what it is they are reacting to. If it is something I can adapt to or change from, then I do. Other times, I have just had to suck it up and try a different approach.

Speak kindly about them. The quickest way to build personal dislike is to constantly stay focused on the negative attributes of a child; those things that drive you crazy. So turn your thinking around; whenever you feel yourself wanting to say something negative, stop, and find something positive to say instead. Yes, even if it seems contrived, because what you say, you start to believe. So if a child is having a particularly rough day in my classroom or with me, I go out of my way mentally to find something nice to say to others about them. After all, they are running through my mind anyway, why not spread something positive. This doesn’t mean you can’t vent, I think venting about situations can be very powerful, but keep it short and to the point. Prolonged venting only exacerbates the negative emotions already attached to a student or situation.

Find the humor in the situation. Even the kids who have driven me the most crazy can usually make me laugh by now. It wasn’t always that way, but it has become a way for me to create a relationship with someone who I otherwise would probably label as a troublemaker in my mind. So find the funny in the misbehavior, share a funny moment when they are not acting out, use humor as a way to bridge your personalities, even if you still don’t see eye to eye.

Forge a relationship outside of the classroom. Some of my hardest students to teach have also been the ones that I made sure I checked in with outside of school, even if it just meant a casual conversation in the hallway or by the buses. It is a chance for me to see them as kids, not that kid who does everything in their power to disrupt the teaching of others or whatever the situation is inside of class.

Keep digging. I have never met a child who had nothing to like about them, but sometimes you really have to dig for it. Some of my students expect you to hate them when they walk through your doors because that is what they have experienced other times, some of my students hate school so much that they will never love it no matter what we change. Some of my students have to be tough as nails to survive their own lives. Those kids still deserve a teacher that tries to connect with them, even if they rebuff them 100 times, then you try 100 more times, even a little bitty connection is better than giving up.

Treat them as a human being. Too often we start treating them like the label they may have, so a child who is angry becomes known as the angry child, or a student who is disrespectful or disruptive becomes known just for that. Their negative label becomes their identity and nothing else. We cannot let this happen, not in our minds and not in the way we speak of them. They are children, yes, children who seem to have mastered the art of driving you up the wall, but children none the less. And every child deserves to be treated with dignity.

Know when to admit defeat, but not out loud. Sometimes no matter how hard we try, how much we change, how much we reflect and think and do; that child still hates it, that child still hates us. Then our job becomes not to give up but to find another ally for them, to find another adult that can have a great relationship with them and for us not to get in the way. No, that doesn’t mean asking for them to be transferred from our class, but instead allowing for opportunities where they can possibly forge a relationship with another educator or person in your building. Every child deserves someone that will see the good in them, even if you can’t.

PS: A few notes since this post was published a few days ago. I tweaked the title to include the world almost because I don’t think we ever truly give up on child, even if we cannot forge a strong connection with them. We still keep them in our hearts, they still wake us up at night, we still keep trying even when we feel like giving up. That’s what teachers do. Another note is the little bit of wondering there has been on knowing when to admit defeat, some people have viewed this as giving up and that is far from my intent. Admitting defeat to me is humbling because it involves us realizing that we are humans and not every kid will like us. Sometimes a child naturally connects with another adult in our building and rather than get jealous, which yes, can happen, we need to help foster that relationship. I hope this clears everything up a bit.

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA, who has taught 4th, 5th, and 7th grade. 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 Classrooms Back to Our Students” can be purchased now. Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press. Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

aha moment, being a teacher, being me, MIEExpert15, teachers

If My Mother Had Listened to My Teacher

January 11, 2015 Pernille Ripp

If my mother had listened to my teacher she would have realized what a horrible child I was. How I should be kept away from others. How I should not be with children my own age because I would corrupt them. How I was doomed to live a life of solitude because no one was safe around me.

She didn’t.

If my mother had listened to my teacher she would have realized how little imagination I had except for the morose. That my stories lacked depth, that my personality was dull. That writing was not my strength but something I could maybe get through if I just understood what it meant to follow the rules a bit more.

She didn’t.

If my mother had listened to my teacher she would have realized that I was far too outspoken. That I never put my hand down and I needed to learn to be silent. That yes having an opinion was great but listening was better. That it didn’t always pay off to fight for what you believed in if it meant disrupting the peace.

She didn’t.

If my mother had listened to my teacher she would have realized that there was something wrong with me. That I was special but not in a good way. That I may be smart but I didn’t use it for anything good. That other children couldn’t learn from me. That I needed to hide what I knew so that others wouldn’t find me odd.

She didn’t.

If my mother had listened to my teacher she would have realized that I had spunk. That I had nerve. That I had worth. She would have realized that I was creative, that I was a hard worker even if I couldn’t get something. That I was smart. That I had friends, that I could be a leader. That although I was not quite the person I wanted to be yet, that some day I would get there.

She did, because she already knew those things. I was the one that didn’t.

There are so many things that we tell parents every day, what will be the things that they choose not to listen to? What will be the things that a child carries with them the rest of their life?

being a teacher, MIEExpert15, student choice, student driven

Feb. 5th Show the World What the Life of A Student Looks Like – #Studentlife

January 8, 2015January 15, 2015 Pernille Ripp

As connected educators, we do a lot of sharing what our days look like and in extension the day of our students, yet how much of what we share truly gives an entire picture of what it means to be a student these days? After reading Grant Wiggins’ blog that detailed what an ed-coach found after she followed two high school students around, I cannot help but wonder if we really know what it feels like for our students? If we really understand what a full day looks like for them? And more importantly what we possibly can change to make their days better. So inspired by the hashtag #principalsday that occurred on Twitter, I think it is time we do the same for the students.

Details

On February 5th, I invite students across the world to share pictures from their regular day using the hashtag #studentlife. Students (or teachers if students are too young) can use Twitter, Instagram, or whatever social network site they choose to share these slices of their life. What I hope for is a wide variety of images with or without commentary that will allow us educators to see what happens in our students’ days, not just what we think happens. If you feel like it, you can also have students do this before February 5th and compile their answers into something that can be shared. This is what I will do using our blogs.

How can you participate?

Share this challenge with your students and invite them to join, remind them to use the hashtag #studentlife.

Add your information in the form below or in a comment so that I can share your students’ slices with the rest of the world.

Tune in on February 5th through Twitter or Instagram to hopefully see what our students’ days look like.

Help me spread the word on this please, I think it could be really powerful for all of us to see what students really go through in a day in our schools.

being a teacher, education, learning, Passion

Every Workshop I Attend Should….What Attendees Wish We Knew

January 7, 2015 Pernille Ripp

With a cold day declared today, I found myself at the local coffee shop furiously trying to prepare for the conferences I am lucky enough to present at this spring. I have never been invited to speak at conferences before this year, so the pressure I feel is mounting. I want people to be inspired. I want people to feel it was worth their time. And most importantly, I want people to leave with ideas that they can implement the next day, not just the next school year. I don’t know why I find it so nerve wracking to speak to other educators when I teach students every day, and yet it is exactly those experiences I need to rely on. I would never lecture for 45 minutes or longer to my students, so why would I do it to adults?

To make sure I was on the right track, I tweeted out the following

As always, I was not disappointed. There seemed to be several themes that immediately jumped out at me, and it turns outI was right, people attending conferences do not want just to sit and get, they have very big desires for what they will leave with.

So for all of us gearing up for spring workshops/presentations or any kind of professional learning opportunity, listen to what educators around the world had to say.

They want choice! No more forced professional development with only one choice, with in-district experts there is no reason to limit the day. Sure, bring in outside speakers, but don’t forget about your local talent; those teachers within your district that know a lot too. Get as many sessions as you can muster and offer a wide variety so that all minds can be at least somewhat satisfied.

They want to connect! Sitting in a room with like-minded people and just speaking to them is not something we get to do very often. So please offer time to discuss, share ideas, and inspire each other. As one teacher wrote, “Allow more time for me to talk with other attendees.” Offer them a chance to become connected educators. Brilliant.

They want to be acknowledged as experts too! We tend to elevate the speaker to the one with the most knowledge, and while this sometimes is true, we can never forget about all of the knowledge there is in the room. So find a way for others to share what they know and acknowledge their expertise. No one wants to feel inferior or that there experience doesn’t have merit just because they are not the presenter.

They want practical ideas! They want something they can go and try the very next day in school without a lot of preparation or extra stuff needed. They also want long-term ideas that they can implement over time. So make sure to offer a mixture of both.

They also want to be inspired! We go to conferences to become better, so being inspired and having our passion re-ignited is vital. Use the opportunity to lift up rather than break down, there are indeed many things that should be changed in education but don’t forget about all of the good. I would rather start from a place of hope than a place of fear or anger any day.

They want the focus to be on students! As presenters we shouldn’t be there to just highlight the work we do, but rather keep the focus on the students. What we are doing, after all, is to make the lives of our students better. So make sure your presentation discusses the way students have gained from whatever topic and share their voice through quotes, video, pictures or even bringing a real live student in. They are in the end why we teach.

They want it to be fun! I learned a long time ago in my classroom to have fun with my students as a way to get the learning across, yet I tend to forget this in my presentations, I get too nervous I suppose. Yet professional development needs to be fun, energetic, passionate, and exciting. Find a way to lighten up the learning a bit, this also allows you to offer participants a way to get more hands on with things.

Once again, the people I connected to helped me push through and really sharpen the focus of my upcoming presentations. The next month will allow me to hopefully create an experience for all the people I am lucky enough to work with in the coming months. If you are interested in seeing where I will be or having me speak, please go here.

And now it is your turn. Please finish the sentence…Every workshop I attend should….

being a teacher, education, ideas, MIEExpert15, Passion, writing

5 + 1 Simple Ideas to Make Writing Fun Again

January 2, 2015January 2, 2015 Pernille Ripp

Over and over their comments come.

“…I hate writing…”

“…Please don’t make me write…”

“…Writing is soooo boring…”

And with each comment, I am grateful for my 7th graders honesty and also very, very challenged. How do you make writing fun again when all of the joy has disappeared for some? How do you make writing something students want to do, or at the very least don’t hate, when you have a curriculum to get through? How do we continue to inspire students to become writers, even when facing so many old writing demons? Two weeks off have given me some time to think, so here is what I have realized.

Writing cannot be for me. Writing has to be personal and for an audience. Not a made up one, although they can come in handy, but an actual real live audience that will give feedback on the writing. Whether it is for a class across the hallway, the local paper, or any connection you can make; establish a purpose and then have that audience give feedback. My students’ writing grew immensely when they knew they were writing for “real” kindergarten and first grade classrooms. This also is why we blog, they know people are reading their writing.
It is okay if they don’t write. I forget that I only write when I am inspired and how hard writing is when it is “on demand.” Yet, on demand writing is what we ask students to do every single day and we expect it to be great writing! Sometimes, we just need time to think, to ponder, to reflect, to doodle, to stare into nothing. Not every day, because yes there are still things to cover, but we seem to have forgotten that a lot of writing happens in our head before anything is even written down. So allow students to think, help them along if they are stuck, allow them conversations and to look outside of themselves for inspiration. Yes, this takes time away from covering curriculum but writing needs to be less forced and more organic.
Know when to publish, rather than revise. We get to so caught up in having students continually revise that sometimes we forget to just let a piece go. Even if it is not perfect. Even if it is not finished. Too often we force students to revise, edit, and revise some more so that we can see their best writing for every single piece, yet writers don’t do that. They pursue their best piece, abandon others, and sometimes circle back. We have to offer students an opportunity to decide when something is finished and then let it stand by itself. Even if that means publishing a blog that is not their best writing, even if it means showing me unfinished work.
Allow for 5 minutes of free write. I plan on incorporating 5 minutes of free write into my tight 45 minute schedule. Just as I devote 10 minutes to read independently, I have to devote time for them to just create, think, and possibly write something. Whether it is a story, a journal, a doodle, a poem, whatever it is, they need the time to get into writing mode. This will not be graded, nor will it be read by me most days.
Enough with the grades. I am not a fan of letter grades or even scores when it comes to all writing. Yes, there is a place for teaching writing through final feedback, but we tend to get so grade heavy that students can’t see any of the progress they have made, nor the feedback they are receiving. As one of my colleagues told me regarding her writing experience in high school, “…There was so much red pen on my papers when I got them back, I just threw them away without reading any of it.” That’s what an overabundance of grades and feedback can do. Instead, have students pick a piece they want graded and have them explain why this represents them as a writer. Our lens should be on providing specific and short feedback that can boost their writing skills, not continually grading their practice writing.

And yes, as always there is a plus one…

6. Use different types of writing tools. This idea is stolen right form Kindergarten, still has merit with our older students. Why not have them write on post-its, big posters, or anything else that can take some writing? Why not bring out the markers? The sparkly pen? The paints? We get so confined in what constitutes writing that we forget to have fun with it, and while this is a superficial fix that will lose its luster, it can still inject the beginning push for writing to be viewed as fun again.

On Monday, I plan on having students critique my ideas. They are, after all, for their educational benefit. I will share what they say but in the mean time, I would love to hear from you; what has brought back life in your writing with students?

being a teacher, classroom expectations, new year, our classroom, Passion

Why Not Treat Them Like They Want to Be In Our Classrooms?

December 29, 2014 Pernille Ripp

I bartended for many years before and after I became a teacher. Something about the hours and the people appealed to me and it is even how I met my husband; he was a bouncer and I was behind the bar. I remember seeing the same people come in weekend after weekend. Not because they had to. Not because there was anything special going on. Not because the drinks were fantastic. Instead it was because of the people who worked there. The people who made the place special. The people who knew you, who knew what you liked, who asked about your family, who made you feel cared about. They made the experience special.

Why am I bringing this up? Because in our classrooms we make the difference of whether kids want to show up or not. We already know they have to be there, but our relationship with them is what can determine whether they want to be a part of our classrooms or not. It is our attitude, how we greet them, how we treat them, that will make the difference.

So when school starts again, offer them the attention they deserve. Ask about more than homework or work habits. About more than what is happening at school. Look at them when you speak to them. Seek them out for conversation. Listen. Remember. And share yourself.

We know it is about the relationship. We know a successful education can hinge on personal relationships. Why not treat the students as if they don’t have to be there but instead want to be there? Why not treat them like we would our favorite customer? It’s amazing how much a smile and a few lines of conversation can do, don’t forget that.

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA, who has taught 4th, 5th, and 7th grade. 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 Classrooms Back to Our Students” can be purchased now from Powerful Learning Press. Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press. Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.