Category: being me

aha moment, Be the change, being a teacher, being me, challenge, choices, Passion

When We Forget Where We Are Going

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

Sometimes we get so turned around that we forget our chosen path.  We forget where we are going.  We forget where we came from.  And in our turned-around-ness we think we need to abandon our path completely, because we no longer know who we are.

A week ago I thought my path forward next year would not be in 7th grade.  That I was not meant to teach this challenging age after all.  That I had gotten so far away from who I was as a teacher that there was no way for me to find myself again. I didn’t want to stick around for another year, I wanted to run.  Forget about the challenges,  Forget about all the good I thought I could do that wasn’t happening.  Lick my wounds and go back to my safe zone.  Back to elementary where the kids show they like you and think your jokes are funny.

Then spring break happened and with it came a moment to reflect.  A moment to remember that I don’t run from challenges.  I don’t quit when it gets hard.  That when something isn’t working, I don’t give up, I fix it.  And that perhaps 7th grade is my biggest challenge, and since when have challenges scared me?

I had forgotten that the last time I thought I was going to quit, I recommitted.

I had forgotten that the last time I didn’t like the teacher I had become, I changed.

I had forgotten that it is hard to change schools, districts, and especially grade levels, but we still do it.

That it is hard to reinvent yourself.  That it is hard to figure out new curriculum.  That it is hard to get to know students especially when you only have them for 45 minutes.  And that you will never be the greatest of teachers the very first year you teach something.  No matter your passion.  No matter your dedication.  No matter your ideas.

So I am getting back to basics.  Back to making it about the kids and not the curriculum.  Making it about growing together and figuring it out.  About making school about them and not about me.  Taking my own advice over the years and giving the classroom back to the students.  Away from homework, away from scores, away from me lecturing, and back to them doing, and questioning, and changing our school.

I am terrified to continue on as a 7th grade teacher.  They are my biggest challenge.  Yet, within that challenge I have been given a new chance to be better.  And not just as a teacher, but as a human being.  Sometimes life gets us so lost that we forget to see where we are.  We forget to see the wonder around us.  To marvel at all of the greatness that surrounds us.  It is time for me to once again open my eyes and revel in the fact that I get to be a part of the 7th grade journey.  It is time for me to stop being so scared and getting back to what I love; being a great teacher for every single kid.  Even the ones that make me want to quit.

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. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students’ heads every day.  The second edition of my first book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classrooms Back to Our 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.

being a teacher, being me, Reading, student choice

Perhaps Offering Choice in Reading Is Not Always the Best Idea

Pernille Ripp

Today I said something I didn’t think I would say ever again.  Something that I have told others to never say, in fact, I may have even pleaded with a few people.  What came out of my mouth after lengthy consideration?  “No more reading on devices this quarter.”   Then I held my breath just a little bit and I waited for the reaction.  Not just from my students, but from the reading police, for my better sense to come yelling.  For someone to bust through my door and tell me that reading is all about choice and that reading on a device counts just as much as reading a paper book.  That to get students to read we should allow them to read any thing they want, as long as they are reading.  That fan fiction counts as fiction as well.

They would have been right, too.  It is all about choice.  It is all about getting them to read.  About letting them pick whatever they want as long as they read, as long as they get their eyes on print.  Yet for some of my students even that hasn’t worked, and so today, I took a drastic measure by outlawing devices.  You see, because even with all of that choice some are still not reading.  They may be skimming pages, they may be browsing various fan fiction sites like WattPad searching for a story, they may even be diving into a text now and then.  But most of the time, every single day, the device in their hand has become one more tool to distract them from falling into a great story, or finding their reading zone to quote Nancie Atwell.

So today, I asked, or maybe even forced them a bit to find an amazing book to read.  To feel the weight of the book in their hands, to browse through all of the books we have and find one that calls their name.  To abandon a book if it doesn’t.  To save their time to read the very best of books.  To get sucked in, knowing that I will be ask them how their book is, what they love, if I should read it as well.  And when they finish I will ask them to pass it on.  To tell someone else to read it as well, to hopefully love it as much a they did.

As they book shopped, I saw something happen that I have waited for all year; my most reluctant readers actually ask about books.  Yes it was because they had to but they were actually doing it. They browsed somewhat, they shuffled through pages, and they all left with a book that they were willing to try.  Yes, some are still unhappy that I am asking them to read a paper book.  Yes, some think I have lost my mind, but perhaps today is the beginning of a change in mind, of a seed being planted.  Or not, but I am going to try it for a while because something had to change.  That I have eight weeks left to try to get them to read at least one great book and so I had to change my tune a little bit.  We shall see if it pays off.  We shall see if it helps or harms.  What do you think?

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. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students’ heads every day.  The second edition of my first book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classrooms Back to Our 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 a teacher, being me, student choice, student voice

My Students Don’t Want to Make All the Time And I Am Okay With That

Pernille Ripp

We seem to think that all students want to just be left alone to make and create.  That if given the choice, the students would love school so much more if we just provided them with big picture goals and then let them meander along their own path to get there.  That they need time to just think and do, without too much interference from the teacher.  That if we give them enough tools and enough freedom then their inner passion will be awakened and they will discover their destiny.  That school is breaking the creative spirit of all children by not providing freedom and that we must get back to making all of the time.  Yet is this true?  Is this really what all children need?

I bring this up because it seems that in our voyage to overhaul school we seem to be going to a new extreme; one that assumes that all students want to make.  That all students are passionate artists held back by the confinement of school. I am not sure this is true though,  at least it isn’t, according to my students.

My students are telling me that they want choice all the time, but that one of the choices should always be to follow a path set forth by the teacher.

My students are telling me that they would like to create sometimes but that other times they need ideas for what they can create.

My students are asking to not be left alone at all times.  That they need guidance and vision, that they need help, because they don’t know always know where they are going or what they are trying to do. Sometimes they don’t need me right there, but sometimes they do.

My students are telling me that for most of them it is not enough to just know where they need to end, but they need to know how to get there as well.  And that is my job, their job, and why we are in a classroom.

My students are telling me that a teacher’s job is to teach and that they would like to to learn and sometimes that means sitting and listening, not doing, not inventing, not creating.  That constantly making is exhausting, and not in a great way.  That there must be balance in all of our classrooms.

That doesn’t mean that they are broken.  That doesn’t mean they will not be successful adults.  That does not mean that school somehow has robbed them of their creativity or of their voice.  It doesn’t mean that we have successfully indoctrinated all students to believe they are un-creative, it simply means that they are kids learning.  That they are kids who want to experiment but not be on their own.  That we need to ask our students and then listen to what they all say and then cater our teaching to reach all of them.  Not assume they don’t need us anymore.  Not assume that school will only be a place that holds them back unless we remove all constraints.

Once again, we must make school about the kids we teach not the kids we think we teach.  Those kids need us, all of us, all of the time.  And they may need us in ways we don’t realize, our job is to figure it out and then stop assuming they don’t mean what they say.  When they say they want a teacher to teach them that is not inherently bad, it just means they are not quite ready, and that is perfectly ok.

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. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students’ heads every day.  The second edition of my first book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classrooms Back to Our 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.

aha moment, being me, Passion

When You Feel Like a Bad Day Kind of Teacher

Pernille Ripp

Sometimes we realize that we are not enough.  That we do not have the answers.  That we do not have that one magical thing that will make everything better.  That when they handed out the innovative teacher awards, we would not get one, not that day, not that week.  Sometimes we realize that we are not the perfect person, nor the perfect teacher.  That we do not have all of the answers, nor do we even know where to look.  And then we realize that that is ok.  And we can breathe.  And we can celebrate.  Because being a perfectly ordinary great teacher does not mean that we only have great days.

That no one ever meant for us to be perfect.  That no one ever meant for us to have the perfect answer at the perfect time for every single student.  That it is ok for us to say, “I don’t know…Let me think….I will get back to you.”  That our attempts may sometimes fail.  That parents may sometimes get upset.  That kids may sometimes roll their eyes and groan when you teach.  Add that’s ok.  That we can be imperfect and still be great teachers.  That we can have flaws and still connect with kids.  That we may have bad days but they do not have to represent us.  That not knowing is not an inherent flaw but rather an opportunity to learn, to connect, to get better.  That having a bad day should not define us but instead inspire us.  That we choose what we keep trying.  That we choose how we keep moving forward.

That even when we think we cannot figure it out, there is still a path forward, we just have to put one foot in front of the other.

That’s what teaching 7th grade has taught me.  And I am forever grateful for the lesson.

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. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students’ heads every day.  The second edition of my first book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classrooms Back to Our 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.

being a teacher, being me, connect, connections

There Is Not Just One Right Way to Be A Connected Educator

Pernille Ripp

I am a connected educator, whatever you think that term means.  To me it means that at any given moment I have access to thousands, if not millions, of teachers around the world that can help me further my practice.  I got those connections because I chose to use social media.  I leverage Twitter every day to learn more about being a better teacher.  I blog to get further discussion.  However, I also work diligently on connecting with people at my school and in my community.  I use those people to further my craft every day.  So I get that being a connected educator is a great thing, but when we discuss what being connected means to teachers and use exclusionary terms such as saying that you have to use social media to be connected, we are doing nothing for the good of getting people connected.  Instead we sound like a bunch of jerks.  If we want people to get connected then we have to realize that while the way we are connected may be the most brilliant thing that ever happened to us, might not work for others.  And that doesn’t mean they can’t be a connected educator.

Yes, I believe in the power of social media, but no it is not the only way to be connected.  We cannot say teachers are not teaching well if they are not connected via social media.  Or that they are harming their students.  Or that their methods are antiquated.  You can be connected using non-social media tools, like Skype, like email, like texting, like meeting someone for a cup of coffee.Who am I to say that my way of connecting, using Twitter or another social media platform, is somehow better than that?  That my connections are worth more?  Yet, that is what I see happen again and again.  For what purpose?

If we are trying to get educators to be more connected, which I absolutely agree with, then we have to realize that those types of connections can happen in many ways.  I would even say that some of my best connections are those that happened without social media being our link.  Not all of them but some of them.  Why not give credit to those types of connections as well rather than only the ones that happen on social media?  I know several teachers who are connected on social media and they have not used it for the amazing things we assume everybody does on these platforms.  Somehow we have invented a fake reality where all teachers who use social media are amazing.

In the end, it doesn’t matter as much HOW we are connected but rather that we are.  I agree that teachers choose to be in isolation in this day and age, but we cannot claim that using social media to connect is the best way for all.  That simply isn’t true.  Connections help us grow when they matter to us.  Not because of how they happened.  Let’s not lose sight of what the greater goal is; to get more teachers to be connected.  Let’s not think we know how to do it best, but rather offer multiple ways for others to connect.  We need to stop saying there is only one right way, it doesn’t help our purpose.

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. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students’ heads every day.  The second edition of my first book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classrooms Back to Our 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.

advice, attention, being me, Passion

What Do We Do When What We Do Is Still Not Enough?

Pernille Ripp

Let’s discuss student engagement for a moment.  Not the kind that we wish for.  Not the one we blog about when everything goes amazingly. Where students cannot wait to work, to learn, to explore.  No, not that kind.  Instead, let’s talk about when students dislike your subject.  When they put their heads down.  What we do when students hate what you are doing but still like you as a teacher.  When they groan no matter how much choice you give, how much you ask them to create with you.   Let’s talk about what you do when you seem to have tried every trick and there are still so many days left.  And you asked the students what to do as well and they didn’t know and looked at you like you were crazy because weren’t you supposed to be the expert after all?   Let’s talk about that type of student engagement.

Because that’s what I need to talk about.

Not because I am depressed.  Not because I am mad.  Not because I think it is someone’s fault, but more because this is a real problem and I cannot be the only one that is experiencing it.  The lack of student engagement, the lack of students who want to learn.  Not all but some.  How are we losing kids already by middle school or even earlier?

So what do we do when we have personalized the learning and it didn’t matter?

So what do we do when we have asked students to plan with us and it didn’t help?

So what do we do when they have choice but they don’t want it?

So what do we do when they have voice but they don’t even want to speak up?

What do we do when they know that we care, that we fail and get back up together, that this a community and we are on a learning journey together?

What do we do when we have tried everything we know to re-engage them and none of it has worked?  Do we simply blame ourselves, keep trying the same things, or shake our hands in exasperation.  What do we do when we are supposed to be the expert but we don’t feel like it anymore?

Please let me know your ideas.

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. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students’ heads every day.  The second edition of my first book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classrooms Back to Our 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.