Category: being a teacher

being a teacher, inspiration, mistakes

A Little Too Much Pressure

Pernille Ripp

Last Thursday, I went to the hospital for an out-patient procedure that would hopefully provide my husband and I answers to our battle with infertility. Why do I share this personal experience? Because it is shaping me into being a better person. You see, what was supposed to be an hour long procedure with quick return to my home that same evening turned into a four-day hospital stay with continued observation. During the routine procedure, my doctor pushed a little too hard and ended up puncturing my mensateric artery. As you can imagine, this is a serious mistake.

It was not because he was eager to finish, or inexperienced, but rather because he had to apply a little bt of pressure to go through scar tissue from a previous surgery. He thought he knew how much pressure to apply, but as it turns out, he applied too much. Think of how often this happens in education? We have experience, we have the time, and we think we know exactly how much pressure to exert on our students. We push, we dig, and all of a sudden the damage is done and it is too late. We don’t know how we got so deep, how we hurt them, and now it is our job to figure out how to heal them.

My doctor did something smart; he called in an expert. Someone who knew exactly what to do and could do it thoroughly and efficiently. He also asked a lot of questions and then he gave his best. He explained to my husband what had happened, he explained it to me, and then had to explain it several more times over the coming days to me and my family as we struggled with our questions. He never got angry, or impatient, but continued to answer our questions, to help us heal, to help us redevelop our trust in him as my doctor. He put in the work so that I would not lose my faith in him as a professional, or more importantly, as a human being. And I haven’t; he continues to treat me, and I continue to choose him as my doctor because he showed me that when a mistake was made, he was still there to figure it out. To make it right. To make me understand and to help me get better. That is our job as teachers as well. We make mistakes, we are human, but what distinguishes good teachers from great ones are the ones that stick around to fix their mistakes, to learn from them, and to invest even more into that relationship.

So next time you push too hard or you mess up; call in an expert, rely on others, repeat yourself, invest yourself, go above the requirements, and show them you are human, that you care. You will be better for it and you may end up strengthening someone’s belief in you.

As for me, I am stil out of school, still seeing a doctor every two days, still taking a lot of pain medicine, and very, very emotional. But I am ok. We got the answers we were looking for, we have a path to follow, and we also were reminded just how incredibly precious life and the people we share ours with is. Thank you for sharg yours with me.

being a teacher, new teacher, observations

But How is it Different this Year?

Pernille Ripp

Being in my final year of probation as a new teacher means that I will only be observed once officially this year. That is not to say that I have not been observed on other occasions, but only once will I have to fill out the paperwork and set up a formal meeting to discuss the results and feedback of this observation. So I wonder, how will my classroom be different than previous observations to the casual observer?

1. I will not stand at the front of the room. In fact, the front of the room changes at all times so that students never feel pushed to the back or to the side.

2. I will move more. Since there is no front of the room, I move more around, engaging students in small discussions, keeping an eye on behavior, as well as trying to facilitate more interaction through my own movement.

3. I will not do all of the talking. This year it is not about me but about the students, so I need to facilitate and then get out of the way.

4. Students will move around. I was never a fan of desks, they stifled me as a child and I still lie down on a couch to read a book rather than sit, so my classroom reflects that; students should be able to be in positions where they can access learning the best way possible, whatever that may look like.

5. Students will have a voice. No longer am I the end all of all information so while I know the path my lesson will take, how we get there and what we end up exploring more deeply may change.

6. The end results may differ. Before the students would all produce a single product to show off their knowledge, now I realize that students can show learning through many different methods and will therefore be open to all of these.

7. Evaluation will be ongoing and never combined with a percentage or letter grade. While I may still have to produce a letter grade for my trimester report cards, these will not be part of our learning. Grades interfere with the real goal of the lesson which is to learn, not to receive an A or score 100%.

8. Mistakes will be encouraged. Instead of prepping my students beforehand to ensure no mistakes will be made by them or I, we will simply explore together and that means also embracing any mistakes or mishaps that come up naturally. After all, life mostly consists of lucky mishaps that shape our decisions and thus creates our futures.

9. Homework will not be assigned. Learning is extended beyond our classroom hours through discussion, blogging or reflection. Worksheets or packets are rarely used to practice a skill and instead students are encouraged to enjoy time outside of school so that they may be more productive learners in school.

10. This will not be a dog and pony show. We often discuss how an observation can become a stilted affair, created solely for the purpose of observation. I would rather have my observation be unscheduled or a surprise so that the real lesson can be viewed and discussed. I know I will be prepared for it since I have to be prepared every day to teach.

How different will your classroom be this year?

award, being a teacher, rewards

I’m a Loser

Pernille Ripp

As the Edublog Award ceremony train passed right through my station tonight without an award or acknowledgement, I couldn’t help but feel like a loser. A big loser, in fact. It wasn’t that I had expected to win or even place, I am much too Danish to ever think highly of myself, but sometimes you let your imagination run away with you for a split second.

So there I was tonight, where I should be occupied with my insane 23 month old daughter, the surgery I am having tomorrow, or my husband who worked a 12 hour day. Instead, I found myself having a little pity party and it was sad to say the least. In fact, it was so pathetic that it made me think of why I have grown to despise awards in my classroom. You see, I felt like the outsider tonight. Like I was not cool enough to be recognized or even mentioned. Like the kid that sits along at lunch hoping someone will strike up a conversation. Like the kid that no matter how hard they try for the teacher to notice them, they just fall short.

So what is it with awards that can get even the most levelheaded anti-award teacher to behave like a love-stricken teenager hoping for their first kiss? Is it really that we just want someone to say we notice you? You make a difference? You work hard? We believe in what you do? I don’t know. Because really those things are said to me by the amazing members of my family, friends, and my PLN often. Do we just not believe it when it comes from people that know us? Must it be from total strangers to feel like proper recognition? Or is it the group recognition? Of being given an award in front of others so that they know how important you are? I am still trying to dissect my emotions and find myself again. The one that doesn’t have a ridiculously bruised ego, the one that feels like they belong and that others care. Either way, I am moving on, proud of my nomination, eager to add the winners to my feed, and strengthened in my resolve to not have awards or rewards in my classroom. After all, if a 30 year old teacher that knows better can get this silly over a missed reward then imagine what it does to a kid. Lesson learned again.

being a teacher, community, students

If We Could Grant Wishes

Pernille Ripp

Yesterday we had our winter break party with our first grade reading buddies.  Students listened to holiday music from around the world, ate aebleskiver (a Danish treat), and cut out snowflakes for a wish tree.  We told them to write their wishes for the new year on these snowflakes.  This morning as I spearated the glittered and glued together snowflakes, I read them.

I wish for an Ipad (hey, a child can dream), for a bunny, dvd’s, games, world peace even.  I wish for a great year, for sleep, for more world peace (definitely a 4th grader).  A rat, a dog, a magic wand, flat screen tv’s, Nintendo D.S., fish, a pool, and even a bigger house.  And then there it sat, glued to another wish, unassuming and small:  I wish I had more friends.

If only teachers had a magic wand…

being a teacher, communication, community, students

The Mayor of West Middleton

Pernille Ripp

The mayor of West Middleton works the crowds.  He is that kid, busy in the hallways saying hi to every kid, every teacher.  If he doesn’t know your name that day he runs after you to ask you what it is.  And then he remembers.  He knows us all, whether veterans, brand-new, student teachers, substitutes.  He knows parents, siblings, and any new kid 10 minutes after they walk in the door.  He smiles, laughs, and pays attention.  He cares and he lets you know that he cares.

It’s not an act, this welcoming thing; it is him, something in his nature that he cannot help.  Something that cannot be contained, as his teacher – trust me I have tried when we walk down the hallway.  Then I realized that it was only my sense of order that made me dislike these random outbursts of talk or stopping and hugging people.  I needed him to walk with me, not in front or behind me, not be around the corner when I needed him in line.  Now, I let him loose on the people, let him do his thing.  He never goes far, just far enough to greet, to spread that smile.  And for that I am thankful, he makes me a better person, a better teacher because he shows me every day what genuine interest does for another person.  He leads by example, and it is an example we should all follow; know everyone, greet them, hug them if you want, ask questions, and if you don’t know their name it is ok to ask.  But most of all; remember them all and show them that you are happy they are here, happy they are with us, happy they came to school that day.  The world needs more kids like him.

being a teacher, education reform, testing

If We Teach to the Test

Pernille Ripp

If standardized tests determine how we teach, then students would probably:

  • Never raise their hand; after all they will prove their knowledge on the test.
  • Never explore around the topic, twisting it, turning it on its head and perhaps coming up with new questions.
  • Never ask different questions than what the teacher expects.
  • Not participate in discussion after one answer has been given since usually only answer is enough on a test.
  • Always be very, very quiet because to take a test there must be silence.
  • Always be cordoned off by privacy folders fore they must not cheat off each other.
  • Always know exactly where they rank and whether school is for them or not.
  • Realize that thinking creatively will hardly ever pay off.
  • Always ask what their grade and rank is and then flaunt it whenever they can since this is what a test-obsessed society deems important.
  • Be very god at filling out little bubbles inside the lines, making their mark and heavy, as well as erasing mistakes completely.
  • Never attempt to place an answer outside of a designated area.  After all, thoughts only get so much room to be explored.
  • Not really need a teacher, perhaps a scantron would be just fine.