Category: being me

being me

So We Lost…But We Didn’t Really

Pernille Ripp
So what do you think when you see you are no longer in the running to win The Great American Teach Off?  Bummedness at first, after all $10,000 is almost half my net salary and would go an incredibly long way in my school, but then something else… relief.  You see, who would want to be at their most innovative 4 years into their teaching career?  Who would want to peak at such a young age when I have so many years of teaching still left in me?  I hope that when I am 70, I can look back at my years of teaching and see the change, the progress.

So while my students were so disappointed, I was just fine with the news.  We have new challenges to face, new ideas (and old ones) to explore, and new things to learn.   We are on to the next adventure; thank you for believing and thank you for voting for us.

being me, education reform, occupyedu

We Did It to Ourselves

Pernille Ripp
Play nice, don’t fight, don’t whisper and give compliments.  Share, take interest and never, ever be critical.  Highlight others before yourself, don’t ask for special treatment, share your voice but take turns.  Rules we teach our kids?  Sure, but also rules that we teachers are expected to follow.  So when we look around and wonder how we as a group get such little respect by some politicians, by some media, even by some parents, administrators, and fellow teachers, the truth is; we did it to ourselves.

Teachers are their own worst enemy it seems.  We are not expected to share our successes in case someone gets offended that they are not being highlighted.  We are not expected to shine a light on the things we do well in our jobs, and there are many, because someone may get jealous.  We shouldn’t draw attention, rather pass it to our kids.  We shouldn’t tell people our pay, or how many hours we put in but rather stand as saints hoping someone might notice.  Indeed we are expected to stand up for our students, but not for ourselves because it is just so uncouth.  We are supposed to be selfless, with no wants besides the basics; food, shelter, and maybe some respect.  We are not supposed to say that we would like better pay for the incredible amount of work we do.  We are not supposed to say; look at me, look at what I do, and give me some respect.  (Which yes, can be done in a nice manner, that then can be easily dismissed).

Teachers should play nice, like we tell our students.  Don’t cause too many waves because it is unbecoming of our profession.  Don’t raise your voice too much because you may offend.  Whatever happens to us, happens, because we choose to not raise our voice, to not band together, and instead waste our time fighting amongst ourselves.  It is time to rise up, it is time to raise our voice, to occupy our classrooms and stand tall.  To highlight the incredible work we do, to get the respect we deserve.  To be treated like we treat our students.  So as I give my students  a voice, I allow myself to speak as well. We are the 99% and together our whispers will become a roar.

being me

An Ode to the Lost

Pernille Ripp

Warning, this has nothing to do with education and everything to do with that which makes us humans.  It has to do with what shapes us, those life experiences that continue to haunt and fold our lives even long after they happened.  It may be too personal for some, but I share the story nonetheless so that others may feel less alone.

Yesterday, you would have been a year.  I am the only that knows that as others have moved on, away from the tragedy that is a pregnancy lost.  That child of ours, a year full of firsts again, of sleepless nights, of crying fits, of moments captured by cameras and film.  A year we never got.

And so I grieve privately.  The world would not have known that yesterday was the day we should have welcomed you one year ago, celebrated the miracle that would have been you.  I carried on, smiled over all of the blessings I do have, and I hugged Thea just a little bit more, knowing what a fine sister she would have been.  They say that losing a child is the most awful thing that can happen to you.  I never lost a child but I have lost the dream that becomes a child.  And yet the grief you feel over a miscarriage numbs you, changes you, while the world turns and continues.  It is so private, so hidden, particularly when it happens early, that you do not know what to do with your raw emotions, who to share it with, who to cry with.  And so us mothers to be, who lose the baby, move on as if nothing happened.  As if those days where we remember mean nothing special.  As if our grief has melted away along with the memory of what could have been.

And yet, I carry it with me.  I no longer cry, but I wonder what you would have been.  I wonder what our family would feel like?  How much more love there would be in this home?  We are doing fine, life treats us with kindness, and yet, I wonder about you.  Those dreams of you and what to do with them.  Yesterday you would have been a year, and instead there is nothing.  So this is to all those should-be mothers out there who have not forgotten, you are not alone, we remember together.
being a teacher, being me, blogging

Blogging Gave Me an Audience and Then Some

Pernille Ripp
I never was a writer until I began to blog.  Perhaps I was a poet or at least I liked to call myself one as I dredged through hour upon hour of teenage self loathing in my journal.  I never was a writer though, just someone who liked to write but didn’t know where to do it or what to even write about.  Then one day I blogged.  My husband told me to, said it would be good for me and I trusted him so I thought why not?  Little did he know how big of an effect blogging would have on our lives and on our family.

To blog is to bare ones soul, to have a conversation with the world; a conversation where anyone can become  a critic and anyone can become an inspiration.  I quickly realized you have to have thick skin to blog honestly.  And yet, blogging has allowed me to create friendships and work relationships with people globally.  Blogging has allowed me to send seeds of inspiration into the world and I have been lucky enough to be told that I have inspired others.  We choose how we represent ourselves to the world, and I represent myself through blogging.  I am not always right.  I am not always coherent.  I am not always positive even though I strive to be.  But I am always honest.  I want my blog to be a true reflection of the world I live in, the classroom I get to call home, and the incredible children that get to be part of my family.  So through my blog I invite others in to our world.  I invite others to see how a classroom can function with respect, love and honest communication.  I invite others to be the change, to be positive, and to give those children a voice.  I am no longer shouting to an empty room; blogging has given me an audience.  I am no longer alone, there are others out there like me.  What a relief.

This blog is in response to the Rockstar Meme on How Blogging Changed My World – thank you for the inspiration.

I now invite these 5 people to share their journey and their story as I feel it is an important one:
Josh Stumpenhorst 
Matthew Ray
Chris Wejr
Greta Sandler
Katie Hellerman

being me, Passion

5 Easy Things to Do to Cultivate Passion

Pernille Ripp
I have been called many things, some wonderful some not so much , but passionate is one of the things I am most proud of.  And it is true, I am a passionate person.  I love my job, I love my kids, and the people that I surround myself with.  I passionately believe in student voice and active learning.  And yet passion in itself is not enough to change the world, we somehow need to pass it on.  So every day, I do these things to help my students stay passionate.

  1. We speak.  Without a relationship, they will never trust me enough to unleash their passion, so we take the time to cultivate one.
  2. I get excited and loud and really, really into it.  If I do not show my own passion, how can it spread?
  3. We disagree.  Knowing how to discuss is important for defending, articulating, and discovering ones passion, so we leave room for intense debates and pondering.  They must have time to think.
  4. They blog, they journal, they speak and they share.  This is where I see the seeds start to grow. 
  5. They discover new worlds with their hands, their eyes, and their brains.  Some students are passionate already, others are not so sure, but how will they ever find out what they are passionate about if we do not give them time to explore, break, build, and create?

What do you do share the passion?  To ignite it or to keep from distinguishing it?  Our classrooms should be passion cultivation areas; how do we get there?

To see how our room runs, and perhaps vote for us in the Great American Teach Off, please go to this website.  We have the chance to win $10,000 for our school which is sure to create some passionate debates.

being a teacher, being me

But Wait, I Thought You Hate Rewards?

Pernille Ripp
I am in a interesting predicament.  This anti-rewards teacher has the potential of being rewarded through the Great American Teach Off and win a $10,000 classroom grant by being declared the winner over 9 other innovative educators.  So not only would I be singled out as a good educator but I would also be recognized at the expense of others.    So how does that all work?  Do I declare myself a hypocrite and say “whatever” to people may raise an eyebrow over the fact that I am celebrating being in this?  Or do I reflect and discuss exactly how it feels?  Yep, I chose to discuss, so some truths I have realized in this process:

  • It matters how the recognition happens.  I was nominated by my mother, which in my mind is about the greatest achievement there is.  The fact that someone I admire so much sees what I do every day and wanted to write someone and tell them about it, just floors me.  She took the time to highlight what I have done in my room, my vision for education, and all of the adventures my students have without wanting anything in return, without there being anything in it for her, without being told.  For some reason this resonates with me when I recognize my students’ achievements.  I try to do it without prompt, without rewarding me in any sense, and also because I am proud of them so I take the time to give them time and really let them know how proud I am.  That’s what makes them know they matter, much like my mother did.
  • There is a difference between recognition and rewards.  Yes, I am excited to be in the running for $10,000 for my kids because let’s face it, I make what an average telemarketer makes a year and cannot buy the supplies I would like for my kids.   And yet what really excites me is that someone is recognizing that running a classroom with little homework, little grades, no punishment and no reward system is actually a good thing.  That giving students a voice is a great thing and that trying to create hands on learning opportunities for kids within a public school setting can be done.  So if that means being in a contest to get more validity behind what I do in my classroom; so be it, it then helps the cause of changing education.  I would be in this contest even if there wasn’t a prize (and yes I was asked whether I wanted to be part of it when they called me to tell me of my finalist status because of all the work I had to do).
  • Recognition is different when it is after the fact.  I did not change a single thing in my classroom with the intent of being recognized for it.  I did not change the way I teach and the way I think about teaching because I hoped that someone would read my blog, or be inspired, or think I was doing a good job.  I did it because I had to.  All of those things that I am being recognized for I did because I knew it would benefit my students, help them continue to love learning, and drive their passion.  I did it because it was urgent for me and something that had to be done if I was to continue as a teacher.  Had I known there would be a contest at the end of it, I wonder if I would have been less fearless, more subdued in order to not upset anyone?  Perhaps I wouldn’t have been so honest incase anyone got offended – and trust me, people get offended.  Perhaps, I would have done a Pernille Lite version of all of this.  And so I am glad I didn’t know because when all of this is over (which it could be in a week), I am continuing on my path, doing what I do, and continuing my educational journey.
  • Wait…what I am doing?  Self-doubt and buckets of time, yes, this contest is an anxiety producing  time consumer.  Five 90 second videos take up a lot of time and add a lot of stress to someone who is an overachiever.  And yet, the day moves on and the kids and my family has to be my priority.  Their educational experience cannot suffer because I am distracted so shut it off.  Think of how our kids must feel if there is a competition within the room?  How distracted, anxious or excited they must feel.  Yeah, adults go through the same and it is hard to control it.
  • It is still a competition and honestly competitions makes losers out of all of us.  The fact that this is a popularity contest has not escaped me.  We get voted out of the contest by the public, not by how we have raised test scores (thankfully) or how engaged our students are (bummer), but by the impact of our video and how many people we know.  That bothers me.  And that must be exactly how our students feel when we have student council elections, prom queens, and any other vote.  Yes, it’s great to be nominated but what if you don’t win?  Or how do others feel because I was nominated and they weren’t?  This does not mean I am better teacher than anyone else and yet that is what contests wants us to believe.  That you can declare a winner…but within education there doesn’t seem to be any fair winners.  And I wonder whether there can be?  Is there a way for teachers to be recognized without hurting other people’s feelings?  Do we even need to recognize teachers or should they just be happy through the love and admiration of their students?  Can teacher contests bring about change or do they just produce scorn within the education community?
So there you have it.  An honest self-dialogue laid out for the world to see.  Feel free to jump in, it is an interesting dilemma to be in, and I certainly do not have all of the answers.