Last weekend, I was delighted to share some ideas with a global audience on how to give the classroom back to students for #RSCON4. Now the recording of my presentation is live and accessible for free and you don’t have to sit and wonder what in the world my slides mean.
My session description was: Are you ready to make a change in your classroom or school but not quite sure how to start or how to change? In this presentation practical ideas of how to give the classroom back to your students will be shared. From the set up of your classroom, to the first days of school, to limiting grades and homework, giving students a voice to the world, as well as changing how you see yourself as an educator, this is the presentation that will help you.
Thea comes home today from school and tells me all about the drill she had. “Mom, we had to lock the door and sit really quiet.” My heart seems to stop for a second when I realize that type of drill she had to practice for the very first tine. 4 years old and she is being trained in what to do in case of an armed intruder at her school.
To her, it was no big deal, she was excited that the principal checked on them and told them they did a good job. To me, I can’t help but think that she is on the second floor, there is glass in the door and where would they go in case something were to happen. Where could they hide? Who would protect her and bring her back to me.
My aunt is visiting from Denmark so my mom and I mention it to her. This is the reality we live in over here, where we teach in places that could become scenes of absolute devastation. Even in Madison, Wisconsin. She asks me if I think any of my students would ever be capable of something like this. No, they wouldn’t, but I don’t know who would. No one ever seems to until it is too late.
I think about my classroom, my 27 kids that I get to be with every day, and what I would do in this situation. I realize that I would protect them at any cost, or at least I hope I would have the courage to protect them, so that their parents would know they were safe with me.
Sometimes being a teacher is more than just teaching. It is knowing that we would give up everything for those we teach. I am humbled by my realization.
I am a passionate (female) 5th grade teacher in 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.
When I first started teaching, I couldn’t wait to be done with my first year. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my first year, but I couldn’t wait to have the experience under my belt. To think that a whole year of knowledge and expertise would be part of my toolkit for planning great lessons. A whole year of just having tried it and knowing that the second year at least I would have something to rely on other than college. One more year closer to being a veteran. You see, those veterans seemed like they had it all under control, like every lesson was well-planned and smooth. Like their classroom management worked like a dream, like there was nothing that could faze them. Yes, I couldn’t wait to be one of those people.
Now on my 6th year of teaching, I have a few things to confess. I am by now close to being considered a veteran, I think, I don’t quite know when that happens. And I am here to tell you, I still don’t know it all.
I am here to confess that there are days I have no idea of how to fix a lesson or reach a child.
There are days when a lesson blows up spectacularly in my face, even though it was well-planned and well-intentioned.
There are moments in which I want to cry because I am so frustrated with something that happened. There are moments when I cannot wait for the lesson to come to an end because the students and I just need a break from it.
There are moments when I cannot think of the right thing to say or think of the perfect thing to do for a certain child that needs me.
There are days when I carry piles of work home with me, not knowing how I am going to get through it all. In fact this year that has been almost every single day.
There are lessons where even with my experience I cannot seem to get the kids excited about what we are about to cover or learn.
There are days where my words and actions fail me and something I say or do gets completely misconstrued.
There are moments in which I raise my voice rather than explain something calmly.
There are moments where I know I can do better, know I can do more, know that there is a better way to do this.
And yet, being an almost veteran has helped me in one huge way; I know that these are just moments or days. I know that they will pass and that the next moment or day will be so much better. That there is an up whenever there is a down. That there is a way to get better, even if just means admitting that I was not on my best that very day.
So all you new teachers, or even all you veterans, yes having experience makes teaching so much easier but don’t be fooled. We all have those days, we all have those moments, even if we don’t show it, even if we don’t write about it. So remember that the next moment will be better. The next day will be better. Even if you are the only one that believes it.
I am a passionate (female) 5th grade teacher in 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.
I stopped being in a hurry when I realized that all I did was yell at my own children because of my own poor planning. The realization of how I created that stress hit me like a brick. I stopped being in a hurry yesterday in my classroom, when I realized that there is only so quick 27 students can truly get ready and that every day we rushed out of the room not taking a good moment to say thank you.
There are many things we battle as educators, many things that are beyond our control. And yes, time is one of those. We are given a finite amount of time to teach those children all those things that someone decided they should know. And we feel the pressure to hurry, the get through it all, to cross it off our list so we can hurry through the next thing.
Yesterday i stopped yelling at the end end of the day. Instead I quietly called them up to mailboxes and then I watched them work together. I stopped telling them what to do and waited for them to figure it out. Sure I ended social studies 4 minutes before I normally do, but we still got through it, they still had the time they needed, and at the end of the day we walked out as the first group in our building with smiles on our faces. Sure we didn’t quite get to our Friday huddle but we got to say goodbye without me yelling.
I think it is time we just made it work. I think it is time I chose silence rather than orders. I think it is time I stop being in a hurry.
I am a passionate (female) 5th grade teacher in 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.
I got home today with a feeling of just sheer contentment. Sometimes I feel like the luckiest woman in the world and not just because of what I get to come home to, but what I get to leave my home for every day. When I saw my class list and then saw it grow, when I kept thinking through all of the things I wanted to do with these 27 students, when I thought about all the things I hoped they would accomplish, I just didn’t know if we could do it all.
As anyone who has taught bigger rooms with big personalities can attest to, it is a completely different challenge. Not only are you pushing the kids to try and to sometimes work through failure, but you are also dealing with sheer numbers. And with high numbers can come such a broad gamut of needs and wants that it sometimes just overwhelms you. Kids that range from needing a person to support them through most things to kids that are so ready to set off and soar, all they need is a push. You have students who want to try and students who are afraid to try. You have students that already find school pretty boring and students that still love learning. With 27 students it seems like you have them all, the whole gamut of personalities. and so I just didn’t know how we would work together and strive together.
But these kids. With their crazy ideas, their enthusiasm for my ideas, and their support of each other as they each try every day, is blowing me away. These kids with their stories, their dreams, and their hang ups, who share them with me every day, trusting me to get to know them, trusting me to push them in the right direction, these kids are proving me wrong.
I should not have doubted for one single moment that we could do all of our 5th grade challenges. I should not have doubted for a single moment that even though there were so many of us, we would still build a community. These kids with their loud voices, their big personalities, and their eagerness to just prove me wrong every single day, those kids are making this year one of those years I can’t wait to tell others about.
I am a passionate (female) 5th grade teacher in 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.
Giving the classroom back to students has been my main mission for the past three years. This year I got to write a how-to book with ideas for how others can change the way they teach in small and big ways and bring the passion back into our classrooms. While my book has not come out yet, I am so excited to finally get to present some of my ideas (old and new) to the incredible people who attend the 2013 Reform Symposium. So on Saturday, October 12th at 5PM CST join me and others worldwide as I try to help you and remind myself of what I strive for every day; giving the classroom back to my students.
What is the Reform Symposium?
In two weeks, thousands of educators from various different countries are expected to attend a free 3 day virtual conference, The Reform Symposium, #RSCON4. RSCON will be held October 11th to 13th in conjunction with Connected Educator Month. The entire conference will be held online using the Blackboard Collaborate webinar platform. Participants can attend this online conference from the comfort of their homes or anywhere that has Internet access. This amazing conference provides educators new or currently active on social networks the opportunity to connect with educators and professionals in the field of education worldwide.
Useful links (click on any item for more information):
Opening plenary- Sugata Mitra, 2013 Ted prize winner and instigator of the Hole-in-the-Wall experiment, will speak about The Future of Learning.
Pernille Ripp 