Category: being me

being me, connections

Where I Hit the Road

Pernille Ripp

For a long time I have been known as a unicorn, or at least so the joke goes among many of my Twitter friends.  A magical creature that seemingly exists only on this blog and on Twitter but is actually not seen out in public.  Or at least not out at conferences.  It has not been for lack of desire, but when you have four small children, attending conferences and incurring extra expenses is not feasible.  So every summer for the past five years, I have followed from afar and hoped that some day, I would be able to meet all of the incredible people I connect with.  It appears that this summer my wish will finally come true.

This summer, I have been asked to speak at some conferences and others I had proposals accepted for.  Either way, I am humbled and excited for the places I get to go, the learning I get to be a part of, and the incredible people I will connect with. So if your plans involve any of these conferences, please find me and say hello.  I will be the tall blonde woman, probably hiding behind a book, too shy to approach but very, very eager to meet people.

So where will I be and what might I be doing?

June 15th, 2015 – Featured Speaker – USM Summer Spark, Milwaukee WI – I get to give three presentations on this day along with other incredible educators.  Topics include using assessment for good, global collaboration, and how to create passionate learners.

June 17th – 18th – Keynote and presenter – Oregon District Summer Literacy Academy.  Come discuss all things reading and writing along with other incredible educators from Wisconsin. This is open to outside districts as well, but a link is not up yet.

June 24-25th, 2015 – Workshop facilitator – MCP Summer Institute, Chicago, IL. I am thrilled to be co-facilitating a two day workshop with the incredible Diana Laufenberg.  (Seriously in awe of her as a teacher and a human being).  This workshop is all about constructing 21st century learning experiences and promises to be filled with incredible learning and a bundle of new ideas.

June 29th – July 1st, 2015 – Speaker – ISTE, Philadelphia, PA.  I am finally making it to ISTE for the very first time.  I get to present on three separate occasions and also take part in the GlobalEd day that is happening Sunday.   Sunday I will be the teacher representative on the Lead & Transfrom ISTE Town-hall Panel.  Tuesday I will get to co-present with the incredible Colby Sharp and Erin Klein where we will discuss “Set Their Voices Free: How Students Can Share Their Stories.”  And finally Wednesday I get to be a part of The Connected Educator panel with some of my fellow Corwin authors where we will discuss all things connected educators.

July 6-7th, 2015 – Featured Speaker – NERDcamp – Parma, MI.  I have wanted to go to Nerdcamp for the past two years and I am so excited to finally get to go to this FREE conference!  On day 1, I get to give a small Ted-like talk as well as do a session on integrating technology into our literacy programs.  On day 2, I get to just learn, I cannot wait!

July 9th, 2015 – Keynote, NNSTOY, Salt Lake City Utah.  I will be going to Utah for the very first time to do my third keynote ever in front of an incredible audience of teachers.  The keynote will be on how to create passionate classrooms.  ITo say I was shocked to be asked to speak is an understatement.

July 17-20th, 2015 – Speaker – ILA – St. Louis, MO.  Another first for me; The International Literacy conference and this time I am bringing my husband.  I have heard nothing but incredible things about this conference and cannot wait to go and learn from people as obsessed with literacy as I am.  I present Saturday sharing the story of the Global Read Aloud.

July 21 – 21st, 2015 – Featured Speaker – K-12 Learning Symposium, Arrowhead School District, WI.  This two-day workshop spearheaded by the talented Naomi Harm promises to be a hands-on learning experience, which is my favorite kind of conference.  The focus is about how we can help schools create the learning environments that they need.

August 11th, 2015 – Featured Speaker – Summer Tech Splash, Portage, WI.  This two day event will focus on how we can use technology to create collaborative learning opportunities, as well as provide authentic experiences for students.  I cannot wait to discuss student blogging, global collaboration, as well as how to use technology to empower students.

August 19th – 20th, 2015 – Workshop facilitator – CESA 3, WI.  I end my crazy summer of learning by facilitating a two day workshop in one of the most beautiful parts of Wisconsin.  These two days will be all about student engagement, from how we set up our classrooms, to creating personalized learning experiences that excite students.

Just looking at this list shows me how much work I have to do as I prepare, and yet, I cannot feel anything but incredibly excited to finally get out on the road and meet so many new people.  There are many, many people I owe a great deal of thanks to and there are many more that I simply cannot wait to speak to.  If you happen to be on the road this summer, I hope our paths cross.

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA but originally from Denmark,  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.  The second edition of my first book “Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students” is available for pre-order now.   Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press.  Join our Passionate Learners community on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

aha moment, attention, being a teacher, being me, Passion, students

I Challenge You to See Every Child, Not Just the Ones That Demand Your Attention

Pernille Ripp

…I remember thinking that the teacher in front of me probably had no idea I was even in their class.  That my parents didn’t come to parent-teacher conferences because they heard the same thing over and over; Brandon is doing just fine.  I was the just-fine student, the average kid, and teachers never saw me…

It’s Friday evening at our house and for the past two hours, my husband and I have been in deep discussion about race, education, being a foreigner, and what it means to be a kid these days.  But it is these words that stick with me.  The words about being the average kid who never got much attention.  It is these words that have hung over me the past few days.

Because my husband is right, there are those kids that we do not see in our classrooms.  Where entire class periods or days can go by and we have had little interaction with them.  Where we struggle to really describe what they can do and how they should grow when we speak to their parents.  The kids that are doing just fine, they don’t cause problems, they are perfectly challenged within our learning, they do their work, they sometimes raise their hand.  And they fade away into the background of our classrooms as we focus on the outliers; the kids that demand our attention either for good or for bad.

Yet, those kids need us too.  The sheer fact that there are kids that slip through our days should make anyone shudder.  Every kid deserves to be seen, every kid deserves to be noticed.  Every kid deserves to feel that their teacher knows who they are and what they can do.  Every kid, even the just fine ones, deserves to be taught.

This year with 116 students, I have seen how easy it is to not be a part of a teacher’s day.  I have seen how easily a child can go through their day so quietly that no one really recalls whether they were there or not.  But I have also seen a school that tries to notice every child.  It is not easy and there are days where we fail, but at the very least we are aware.  In 7th grade we use a few tricks; I schedule small group instruction with all students, I use a clipboard with their names on it and track who I am speaking to, we send postcards to every single home to highlight the great things we see.  And yet, there are days where I don’t recall whether a child came to English or not except for their attendance.  And that makes me sad.

So my challenge to you is a simple one; notice all of your students.  Find a system, a cheat if you will, and make sure that every single kid leaves thinking that their teacher knew they were there.  That every single kid leaves every single class thinking that it mattered that they showed up.  Yes, I know it is hard.  Yes, I know that it will take more work than what we already do, but we have to.  No child should think they are invisible.  No child should feel like they don’t matter.  No child should sit 20 years after they graduate and share the story of being invisible like my husband did.  It starts with us, will you take the challenge with me?

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA but originally from Denmark,  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.  The second edition of my first book “Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students” is available for pre-order now.   Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press.  Join our Passionate Learners community on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

being a teacher, being me, student choice

Are Just Teachers to Blame for Boring School?

Pernille Ripp

I have tried to change education.  I have tried to re-ignite forgotten curiosity.  I have tried to spread joy when I teach, when student learn, when we go through this experience known as school.  For the past 5 years this has been my mission.  I ask the students.  I build community.  I make it authentic, meaningful, personalized, passion-based, and many other educational buzzwords.  And yet, today, one of my students asked my why no teachers ever made school relevant.   Why school is so boring.  And my shoulders dropped right along with my spirit, but just for a moment.

As I drove home, I kept coming back to the question the student asked, because it is a relevant one, yet I also realized that it is not that we aren’t trying.  Because I am not the only one who spends hours every day trying to change education.  I am not the only one who feels like they can do better and strives to always make it more than it has to be.  I am not the only one who is trying to make it relevant, trying to make it worth student time, trying to make it meaningful.  I see it every single day in the classrooms of my colleagues and on the teachers that share their stories.  And yet, students continue to say that it isn’t and that we aren’t.  And I am not quite at my wits end on those days, but I am inching closer, comment for comment.

So I ask, at what point can we stop feeling that it is all our fault?  At what point can we realize not just as a society, but as human beings,  that it is not just teachers that create the school experience, but all of the players; including students.  That perhaps it is not just our fault when school is boring, although we seem to think it is.  I know I take personal responsibility for when my students are not engaged, but perhaps I need to stop.  Is there blame to spread?  Or must we continue to carry this burden alone?

Perhaps, my question is irrelevant; who cares about blame when students are disengaged, but carrying all this guilt and responsibility is sometimes exhausting.  I know I blame just myself when a lesson goes wrong,  because to think it would be anything else seems sacrilegious.   Still, though, it cannot just be the fault of the teacher, can it?

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA but originally from Denmark,  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.  The second edition of my first book “Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students” is available for pre-order now.   Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press.  Join our Passionate Learners community on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

aha moment, being a teacher, being me, MIEExpert15, Passion, word choice

Five Words For You

Pernille Ripp

For five weeks, I have tried to find just the right words to preface the following message.  For five weeks, I have carried a tattered post-it around, waiting for just the right angle to present it to the world.  For the past 35 days, I have waited for inspiration to strike, for the moment to come where I could finally unleash the words and let them resonate with others as they have resonated within me.  For 35 days I have waited for an opportunity but that opportunity has not come.  So the words have finally told me that they do not need a story, nor a set up.  They just need to be said.

We must practice being brave.

There I said them.  Now let them sit with with you for a while and see what they do for you.

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA but originally from Denmark,  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.  The second edition of my first book “Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students” is available for pre-order now.   Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press.  Join our Passionate Learners community on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

Be the change, being a teacher, being me, Passion

This Is A Post

Pernille Ripp

This is a post about the people who notice.  About the kids that ask questions.  About the adults that care.  This is a post about how we all need to take more time.  How we all need to slow down.  How we all need to smile because that is the cheapest thing we can do to make someone else’s day.

This is a post about how when we think the students don’t care.  When we think they don’t listen.  When we think they hate everything we do.  That’s when we need to pay attention.  Because they don’t.  They won’t tell us, because telling involves words, and words involve time.  And if there is one thing none of us seem to have enough of; time would be the one.

This is a post about how when we feel really alone.  When we find ourselves just doing one more thing before we breathe.   When we think lunch is another prep period.  When we hear others laugh and wonder how on earth they found the time to stop, to relax, to shut it off.  That’s when we need to pay attention.  Because they aren’t magical.  They don’t have more hours in the day, nor do they have less responsibility, stress, or to-do’s.  They stopped because they decided they would and so can we.

This is a post about being kind.  About greeting every person you see with a smile, whether you know them or not.  Smiles don’t care who they are given to, trust me.  This is a post about using the time you have better.  To pay it forward.  To laugh more.  To help more.  To give more so that you can receive more.  To quiet your mind and awaken your heart and allow yourself to find the joy that we rush by every single moment. This is a post about being grateful for all that we have and all that we can do.  We make the choices.  We have more control than we think.  This is a post about all of that, I wish I coiuld find a way to write it right.

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA but originally from Denmark,  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.  The second edition of my first book “Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students” will be published by Routledge in the fall.   Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press.  Join our Passionate Learners community on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

Be the change, being me, choices, student voice, testing

On Parenting and Standardized Tests

Pernille Ripp

Much like the rest of North America, my students have been doing the BIG test these last few weeks.  Much like so many teachers, I have sat silently and hoped that I have been enough, that what we have done has adequately prepared them, that they do well.  And yet…

I have also refused to worry more about it.  I have refused to get further upset.  I have shaken my head, I have made my comments, but I have refused to take it home with me.  This test is so far out of my hands that me worrying more about it, losing sleep over it, getting my blood pressure up, is not going to do anything good.  I cannot change what I have taught.  I cannot help my students more than I have.  So by now as a teacher, I can only do my best and hope for the best.  I can raise my voice whenever I get a chance, and I can hope for change.  Because as teachers, our voices are being drowned.  Our voices are not being heard.  Proponents of the testing say teachers are too invested, too close to the situation to have an unbiased opinion.  We are afraid of what the tests may say about our teaching.  We do not want accountability.  And no matter how many times I argue about the fallacy of these statements, I am still lumped into a group that few want to listen to.  So as a teacher, I have had to find my peace within this testing obsessed nation, protect my students as best as I can and save my energy for the fight I will put up for my own children.

Because as a parent, I worry.  I worry about the massive amount of time these test are taking.  I worry about the developmentally appropriateness of questions.  I worry about how they don’t actually mimic the skills that we help our students develop such as arguing one’s opinion or noticing the different facets of an answers.   I worry about how these tests will be used to further rank our children as we rank their teachers, as we rank their schools, as we rank their districts.  I worry how these test will continue to perpetuate the myth that the American public education system is a broken one and it therefore needs to be all about choice and privatization.

So I already know all of my own children will be opted out when they get to that age.  I already know that my children will not be asked to sit through hours of testing to prove something that doesn’t benefit them or change their direct instruction.  They will not be asked to help rank their school through a computerized test.   As a parent, right now, I have a larger voice than I do as a teacher.   And I will keep using that voice whenever I can, even if it only means helping the four kids that I get to call my own.  The fight has to start somewhere.

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA but originally from Denmark,  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.  The second edition of my first book “Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students” will be published by Routledge in the fall.   Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press.  Join our Passionate Learners community on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.