Category: being a teacher

Be the change, being a teacher, inspiration, new year, Student-centered

A Kinder, Slower, More Receptive Approach to the Start of School

Pernille Ripp

If We Would Just Stop Talking We Might Learn Something

I was fortunate enough to have my very first article published by EdWeek this week in anticipation of my book release this fall.  I have been so excited to move into the editing stages of my book, titled “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classroom back to Our Students Starting Today.”  This book is meant to be a how-to book for new teachers and veterans that want to change a little or a lot of how they have been teaching.  It is a practical book filled with ideas and examples to hopefully inspire you to give the classroom back and give students a voice in their education.

So here is an excerpt from my article, please click the link to see the rest

No teacher begins a teaching career with ill intentions. Yet most of us make our biggest mistake on our very first day. I was no different, nine years ago. I chose to do everything the way I had been taught in college—the way the popular new-teacher advice books said I should.

Sure, I laughed with the students and made noises about our “class community.” But as the all-important first week of school progressed, I went about dictating rules, establishing who was in control, and setting tight boundaries for the year.

As a result, I lost the opportunity to create the kind of relationship with my students that leads not only to motivation and engagement but to real ownership of learning and ultimately greater achievement. At the time I didn’t recognize the loss—it took several years, in fact. If you’re a new teacher about to begin your journey, maybe my lessons learned can help you avoid the pitfalls of a pretend partnership with your students.

 

To see the rest and my ideas for a better way to start, go here

Be the change, being a teacher, new year

A Collection of My Favorite Back to School Posts

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

I realized today that I am about to start my 6th year of teaching, not counting the 6 months long-term subbing I started with.  6 years of first days, first weeks, and incredible students to get to know.  6 years of having the hardest time figuring out what to start with, what to share, how to set up my room.  6 years to figure out that every year it feels like you are brand-new and the back to school nightmares come earlier and earlier.  So I went through my archives of posts as I was looking for some old ideas myself to tweak and in the process thought I should share some of my favorites from the past 3 years of blogging about back to school.

Before you even start:

Reading inspiration for the new year:

Classroom Setup

Have you thought of trying this?

 

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 “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classroom Back to Our Students Starting Today” will be released this fall from PLPress.   Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

 

Be the change, being a teacher, new year

Are You Ready to Stand Behind Your Words?

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

One week left of vacation as I write this from Chester, Massachusetts.  One week until 25 students walk in through our door, eager to learn, not quite sure what to expect.  One week until I put my money where my mouth is and live the things I preach.

It is easy for me to write about all the things I am going to do this year.  It is even easy for me to tell others to do what I do, try what I try, believe what I believe.  But when those students show up with all their wonder, with all their personality, with all their quirks, that’s when the real test begins.  That’s when I have to live what I say.  That’s when Common Core meets ELO’s meets learning plans meets IEP’s meets unique personalities.  That’s when my expectations meet reality and I quickly realize that these kids are not quite where they will be by the end of 5th grade and that I need to go back to the beginning.  That’s when I realize that even though I have thrown out punishment, thrown out rewards, thrown out grades, and limited homework for 3 years now, every year it still feels like I am starting over.

And yet, because I put my beliefs out there, because I tell my kids this is our classroom,  because I believe in giving the classroom back to the students this year will be a challenge once again.  A challenge I cannot wait to embrace.  A challenge I cannot wait to tackle with my students.

What about your words?  Will you stand behind them as the year starts?  As the challenges come?  As the pressure grows?  Will you stay true to who you say you are or will you cave into easiness?Let’s face it, it is easy for us to say what we will do but hard for us to do.  The real challenge is not saying it, the real challenge is doing it.  Are you ready?  I know I am.

 

being a teacher, reflection

Building a Team of Teachers

Pernille Ripp

I happen to be on an incredible team, and while I have always been on good teams, there is something rather magical about the team I on now.  Whether it is sense of humor or mutual respect, I am not sure, but my team, yeah, it jives.  Yet we are pretty different and we do different things, some of our major teaching philosophy points differ, and we deliver lessons differently, most of the time that would spell disaster but on this team it doesn’t.  So why not?

  1. Mutual respect.  I believe my team mates are capable of teaching well and they know that.  
  2. We speak to each other.  I know this sounds like a “well duh” but I am constantly surprised by how many teams don’t.  We are constantly in each others rooms, we have official meetings and unofficial ones.  We hang out outside of school, we text each other, and tweet each other.  We discuss students, and school sure, but also life and dreams.
  3. We know each others’ strengths.  We also know each others’ weaknesses which is just as important   I happen to know that Jarod is really good at getting kids passionate about their writing and Mark is a math expert.   Both of them have many talents and I use their expertise whenever I can.
  4. We care about the same thing; the kids.  We do everything for the kids and we support each other to be the best possible teachers for our particular students.  We also switch kids around for math so that all of the 5th grade become our kids.  This is huge for us.
  5. We are open to new ideas.  I am not afraid to share ideas with these two guys, sometimes they like them, sometimes they don’t.  We borrow ideas vigorously and then adapt to fit our class, no hurt feelings if we don’t use something.
  6. We are honest with each other.  And that even means if we have differences.  I don’t talk poorly about something one of my teammates has done (although I cannot think of what that would be anyway) but if something does irritate we go straight to each other and figure it out.
  7. We hear each other out.  My teammates know that I am passionate about the detriment of standardized testing and punishment in classrooms.  They also know how I feel about homework, grades, and all of those things that make my classroom a bit different.  They always hear me out without judgment and even sometimes see my point.  That doesn’t mean it wil work for them and I am ok with that.
  8. Believe in them as professionals.  I do not think my team mates are poor teachers because they do not teach like I do.  We are so quick to judge others that haven’t gone a more nontraditional route and it leads to strife rather than understanding.  I believe every teacher needs to teach in a way that suit them best.
  9. We lead at different times.  Mark and Jarod will attest to the fact that I like to be in control at all times, hopefully they will also attest to the fact that i know when to step down as leader.  I would say our team has three leaders  we all step up at different times for different reasons, that balance is huge.  No one feels like they have to do everything and everyone shares the responsibility.  
  10. We laugh together a lot.  Being a teacher is supposed to bring you joy so when we can we share funny things or just crack each other up.  We have enough pressures from the outside, I want to have fun at school with both my students and fellow teachers.
  11. We support each other.  When I put on #EdCampMadWI they both showed up.  Took the time out of their busy day and came to something because they knew it was important to me.  When they saw how much I tweet they didn’t laugh or call it silly, they got it.  When I told them I get to have a book published in September they congratulated me.  I do the same for them, I am not jealous of their succeses only eager to see them succeed more because it boosts the whole team.

We certainly can teach in our own bubbles.  We certainly can keep to ourselves and nt worry about what other people in our grade is doing.  But why should we?  The power of a team is the same as the power of a global PLN.  Why not be surrounded by people who build you up rather than break you down?

PS:  If you want to see my teammates, follow them on Twitter:  Mark and Jarod (they are still learning…)
being a teacher, testing

The Real Crisis in Education

Pernille Ripp
You can’t miss it, the headlines, the politicians, the self-proclaimed experts all screaming from the rooftops, “There is a crisis in education!”  So they answer it with more testing, more cuts, more rigor, more strenuous measures.  Out with the old, in with the new.  The crisis is the civil rights issue of our time some say.  This crisis will determine America’s future say others.  This crisis of education can be our undoing, and yes they are right, the crisis is here, it is now, and we must take action.

image from icanread

But wait, their crisis is not what is the problem.  Their crisis of low test scores and America’s ranking in the world is not really what will be our undoing.  The real crisis is how we are losing veteran teachers, how people with years of experience are quitting the field they love because they no longer can teach in a creative manner.  In every district across the United States veteran teachers are being blamed for the education crisis.  They are being told their methods are outdated, their methods are not teaching to the test, and by the way, they are also much too expensive.

The travesty that is losing all of these knowledge experts is what will be our educational undoing.  All of those years of experience, of knowing what works, of being able to reach children, is walking out the door with our veterans.  Those people that teachers like me reach out to when we are stumped, they are quitting in droves, sick of the testing, sick of beng the bad guy, sick of being told how to teach so that test scores can’t improve.  And I can’t say I don’t blame them.

The state of education is indeed one of crisis and I wonder when will we as a society realize that being knowledgeable is an asset, not a detriment.  That teaching in a manner that encourages creative problem-solving, hands-on learning, and that is influenced by the teacher is a great thing.  That assessing students in a way that reflects how they will be assessed in their future lives makes more sense.  That teacher worth cannot be measured by a multiple choice test taken by a tired ten year old.  And that having an experienced teacher who still loves what they do is one of the best educational investments we can make.

being a teacher, blogging, student blogging, Student-centered

What Does Student Blogging Exactly Do?

Pernille Ripp
As a proponent of student blogging I am often asked what it “does” for my students.  The thing is, it does quite a bit.

  • Provides them with a voice.  Education cannot be done to students anymore, they have to have a voice since it is their lives it effects the most; blogging gives them that.
  • Gives them an authentic writing audience.  The product doesn’t end with me and a grade, it is out for the world to see and to continue to be developed.  
  • Puts their place in the world in context.  We think our students know how much in common they have with kids their age around the world, but they don’t usually.  Blogging with those kids and connecting through projects such as the Global Read Aloud brings the world in.
  • Increases their global knowledge.  Again, when you connect with others through your work and words, friendships develop and as does a mutual interest in the lives of one another   This is the modern version of penpals.
  • Instills them with tech saviness and confidence.  Blogging teaches my students yet another tool to use and we also use it to showcase other tools we have played around with.  They feel confident in their skills as bloggers and it carries into their overall tech approach.
  • Instills safety rules and measures to be taken whilst online.  We drill safety all year and the kids know the lessons by heart.  It is our job to teach them how to be safe and the best way to do that is to work with them in situations that could be unsafe if treated the wrong way.
  • Teaches them how to give constructive feedback.  We comment on each others posts but they have to be constructive comments.  Blogging is a natural extension of the peer edit.
  • Teaches them how to have a meaningful written dialogue.  When students don’t get comments on their posts, we often go back to see why not.  Usually they realize it was not written in a manner that invited others to participate in their writing.  Revision and reformulating follows.
  • Cements proofreading and spell check.  We don’t want the world to see us as a poor spellers or grammatical buffoons.
  • Expands their geographical knowledge.  We pushpin maps with the location of our connections, this sparks more questions, which lead to a deeper relationship between the students and those we connect with.  
  • Furthers their empathy, as well as interest in others.  Blogging should not be a solitary experience, but rather one that invites discussion.  To have meaningful discussions one must care about others, which is shown through their questions.
  • Encourages them to view their own writing through a more critical lens.  Because we have a portfolio of their writing from the beginning of the year to now, we can go back and see their development.  Are they developing as a writer or what do they need to focus on?  The stakes are raised because it is not just the teacher that sees their work.
  • Creates reflective students.  Because students are given a mouthpiece to the world, I see them take more chances to reflect on themselves and their choices.  It is remarkable to see a student reflect on what grades has taught them  or what it means to be a student.
  • It creates opportunities for us to have fun.

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