being a teacher – Page 129

assessment, being a teacher, discussion, word choice

Let’s Discuss Your Weaknesses and Watch You Soar

May 29, 2012 Pernille Schmidt Ripp

As someone who doesn’t hand out grades but rather assesses and has feedback discussions with students, I shudder at the word “weakness.” I shudder at the thought of sharing a child’s weaknesses with them based on a test. I shudder at the thought of pointing anything out as a weakness. Now, don’t call me sentimental or foolhardy, but hear me out. I know that all of us have weaknesses, I know that we all have things that need work and time and dedication. And yet, how many of us soar to the challenge of overcoming a weakness when we are told those words exactly; this is a weakness for you?

Weakness tends to connotate something set in stone, a character trait that cannot be manipulated or changed. Weakness means that a child fails in an area, that this is their achilles heel that can slay the rest of their results. Weakness is everything opposite of strength. You tell a cild multiple times that math is their weakness and yes they will believe you. They will leave your classroom having resigned themselves to the fact that math is something they will never master, that it is a weakness, and totally out of their hands.

Why not flip the word on its head and tell them it is a challenge? Why not discuss with students how they are still developing in some areas and they should focus on conquering those? Why not be realistic but not demolish their learning? We all have things we need to focus on. We all have things/ideas/concepts that are not our strengths. And yet, when we choose to call them weaknesses we accept them as such. We are done fighting to change them and instead can hold up our badge of weakness and shrug, oh well, it is just my weakness.

Words have power, we know that, and the word “weakness” has so much power it can effectively slay a person. Let’s use our words to build, to challenge, to be realistic but make it attainable. Let’s not stop a child in their tracks.

assessment, being a teacher, discussion, No grades

Throwing Out Grades Doesn’t Mean Throwing Out Expectations

May 28, 2012 Pernille Schmidt Ripp

I used to be the queen of the “F.” If a student wasn’t handing in their homework, I whipped out the calculator and quickly showed them what would happen to their percentage if they kept getting zeroes. If a student wasn’t paying attention, I would show them how they would probably not do well on the test and boy that would lead to an F as well. And what if they didn’t behave, well somehow, the threat of an F could be used even then because I couldn’t have a child who was being disrespectful get a good grade. They simply didn’t deserve the good grades if they couldn’t sit down, listen and be good students. So that 60% nipped them in their heels, waiting to swallow them up if they ever slowed down in our academic race. We had things to do, papers to complete, and projects to hand in. Get on it or that F is coming for you.

Now I don’t worry about the F because in my 5th grade room a child cannot get it as a grade. And before you throw me in the fires of being an unrealistic teacher who isn’t teaching their students what the “real” world is like, let me explain. The students I get to teach are all learning. Some faster than others, some more deeply than others, but even a child that hands in a mediocre project at best has learned something. They have garnered some sort of knowledge and that to me means they have not failed. That F is removed from the equation because it ends up being meaningless when grades are not used throughout the year. It loses its strength, its threat, and frankly I don’t miss it.

Instead we discuss strengths and goals. We conference on where the child wants to go with their learning and then hatch up a plan. I don’t talk about their weaknesses but rather what they still need to focus on, where they need to go, and then the students set their goals. I don’t. Because it is not my goal to own. I am there to participate in the conversation, to hopefully ask the right questions, but I am not there to make the final decision of which path they need to travel. I am not there to talk as much as I am there to listen.

So as I get ready to write the year end report card that I have to write, I am also getting ready to have the conversations with my kids. I am ready to ask them if 5th grade was what they hoped it would be, if they feel they have learned as much as they wanted to, if they feel ready for the next year. I even ask them if they are smart. Why? Because their answers reveal more about their coming learning journey than a grade ever could. Because to a kid being “smart” is something an adult tells you whether you are or not, and that ties directly to self-confidence and how they will tackle challenges. And when the last kid leaves on the last day of school I take all of their answers with me, wanting to become a better teacher for the next group. Wanting to serve the next set of kids even more, help them take control of their learning as much as a 5th grader can, help them set goals and then attain them. I want them to come in as learners and stay that way. Not because I threatened them into it, but because they took ownership. No F’s in this room, there simply isn’t the need for them

behavior, being a teacher, punishment, Student

"Why Do You Only See the Bad, Mrs. Ripp?"

May 23, 2012July 24, 2013 Pernille Schmidt Ripp

“Why do you always notice me when I am bad, Mrs. Ripp?…”

I stand there, stopped in my tracks. Is that what I do? Only notice this child when they have done something I didn’t want, when they have done something “bad?” Do I ever praise them for when they are on task, not poking their neighbor, or just simply working really well? I think I do, at least I hope I do and yet, this child is on my radar more frequently than others. The level of distraction is just so high and the level of interference with others a constant. Do I ever just say, “Nice work…” or just bite my tongue altogether? I am not sure.

Perceived negative behavior zeroes us in wherever we are. The people that speak the loudest. The child that moves the most. The student that just cannot get to work because they just have to do that one more annoying thing that you swear they know annoys you the very most out of all annoying things. So if we let it, soon, that behavior is all we ever see. We only see them moving when they shouldn’t, we only see them messing about, we only see them breaking all of the unwritten rules we have worked so hard to establish. We only see the bad.

Why not give them a break? Why not let them move about if that is what they need? Why not smile or even just hold our words and let them shine for a little bit? Fill them up rather than tear them apart? Focus our energies elsewhere? Just for a moment at least. They know they are moving, they know they are poking, they know they are not working, and yet, let them figure it out. Let them feel that we don’t just see the bad, we see the whole, and that whole is good enough.

image from icanread

being a teacher, end of year, ideas, projects, students

What Do You Do in the Last Few Weeks of School?

May 21, 2012 Pernille Schmidt Ripp

Some teachers start a countdown, others do a lot of reading. We instead have quite the to-do list to get through before my fabulous 5th graders get to graduate. So beyond the culminating projects we have going on, here are some things that are keeping us busy:

Writing thank you letters. This often overlooked skill is something I put a lot of value in so every year we take the time to thank all of the teachers and people that have helped us have a successful year. I love slipping these into people’s mailboxes.
Write Dear Future Mrs. Ripp’s Students letters. Every year I have my class that is leaving write letters to incoming students. This is way for them to give them top insider information, get them excited and I get to peek at what meant a lot to them in the year. I love handing these to my new students and seeing what they gain from them.
The Top 10. We brainstorm all of the great things we have loved doing through the year and fill a white board with all of them. Students then vote for the top 10 things of the classroom and a committee makes a huge poster for me to put on display for the new year. Again, this is a sneaky way for me to see what really stuck out to students and incoming students cannot wait to figure out what the different things are.
Clean the library and review the books. Not only do students help me get all the books back in the baskets they also get to rate all of the books. If they would not read a book they place it on the carpet and other students can rescue it. However, if no one comes to its rescue that books is given a new home.
How to Flourish in 5th Grade videos. My students have been busy writing scripts, rehearsing them, filming and soon editing videos for the incoming students on a variety of topics ranging from internet safety to how to transition to math (we switch classes). I love seeing what the students wish they had known and also having them use some amazing Adobe software to edit their videos.
Give me your favorite memory… Another committee project where every student has to add their favorite memory to a video. Again students are in charge of making this and I show it in the last days.
My favorite thing about…Every student has to a favorite thing about 3 other students on video. We then edit it together to make a montage of all the things we have loved about each other. This is always very secretive and students don’t know who has them.
Look at our time capsules. At the beginning of the year we do a time capsule with our favorite things at the moment and we also see how tall we are. At the end we remeasure and laugh about how much we have changed or not.
Give me your feedback. Students do a survey rating all of our classes, ranking their favorite assignments and their least favorite. They also give me advice and constructive criticism on what I should change.

So there are just some of the things we have to do. Like I’ve said there is a lot going on in 5th grade and every day counts. I used to have students write letters to their new teachers as well but it doesn’t work so well with the transition to middle school, however in other grades it probably would.

attention, behavior, being a teacher, punishment, students

A Student Gives Up And I Get Even

May 20, 2012 Pernille Schmidt Ripp

His head was down, hoodie pulled over his eyes. The frustration radiating out of him, the dry erase board lay there untouched, unwritten, and I thought to myself, “again? Seriously…” And the irritation in me kept growing. This kid who obviously didn’t get what I was teaching had just given up, how dare he. So I coaxed, I goaded, I even raised my voice a little trying to let him know that the choices he was making was not going to help him learn anything. That I needed to be the center of his universe for him to understand it. That we were not going down this road again today.

In my mind I knew I was going to have “the talk” with him once class was done. I was going to tell him how unacceptable his behavior was, how disrespectful, how I would be emailing mom and speaking to his homeroom teacher. I was going to give it to him good too because all I could see when I was teaching was that head down, hoodie up and that just wasn’t acceptable.

When class ended, he approached the table and I looked up and saw his look of sheer resignation, the, “Uh oh I am going to get it now and I don’t care because I just don’t get it” attitude streaming from him. So I said, “I noticed how tough math was for you today, how you had given up…” and I hesitated, noticed his downward glance. “So I want to thank you for continuing to try, for not thinking I was crazy in my explanations. Please keep reaching out for help and I will try to get to you as soon as I can. I know you can learn this, don’t forget that.”

Eyes up, shoulders back, and out he walked from my room. Who knows what Monday will bring.