Category: choices

choices, classroom management, discipline, punishment, students

If We Would Just Stop Talking We Might Learn Something

Pernille Ripp
Image from icanread

Note: After publishing this post today, its original title “If They Could Just Sit Still They Might Learn Something” didn’t seem to fit it anymore.  After all, that title once again puts the blame on the students.  Thus this new title which focuses on where the problem lies; within me.

You know the group of students; those impulsive, blurter-outers that poke each other during class and never quite seem to be listening to what you are doing.  Those kids that are in every class who the more we yell, the less they do.  Those kids I thought I had figured out until recently.  Well those kids have been teaching me quite the lessons lately.  Those kids have reminded me why I changed my teaching style in the first place and now I stand renewed, refocused, and definitely re-humbled.

First lesson; Don’t assume they don’t know something.  After a few days lessons with some students I kept thinking that their gaps were huge, that their knowledge was lacking, that they had missed out on so much.  Until I started to pay attention.  Then instead of whole concepts missing, I realized there were small misconceptions that needed to be tweaked, things that needed to be defined, items that should be refreshed.  It wasn’t that they were missing entire units, rather that some of their remembering was just a little off.

Second lesson; Talking more will not teach them more.  I kept droning on trying to cover everything that I thought they had missed or needed reinforced; is it any wonder that they grew more and more restless?  When raising my voice didn’t seem to change the situation, it dawned on me that I needed to stop talking.  Let them work, switch up the task, and stop hogging the lime light.  Have mini projects, get them moving, even use mini whiteboards, anything to make them active.  Switch it up!

Third lesson; Give them time to think.  I was so excited when one student knew the answer that I called on them to be more efficient.  That way we could cover more material since all I was looking for was the answer anyway.  When we take away students’ time to think though we rob them of the chance to explore their procedures, to gain confidence, and to learn something.  It is not about the answer, it is about how you get there.

Fourth lesson; Bring back the fun.  Often when faced with students who seem to be struggling with concepts we switch to drill and kill mode.  We take away the “fun” projects because that wont teach them enough.  Unfortunately those projects and hands-on activities are just what we need.  These students have already been taught something the traditional way, now lets think of another way to explore it.  Anything hands-on activity always seems better than just more and more practice.

Fifth lesson; Let them teach.  When a student gets something, let them explain how they did it.  Let them get the confidence they need to speak to a whole group of peers.  Let them boast a little to build confidence.  Don’t just tell them, “Good job,” let them have their moment because perhaps that hasn’t happened very often.

Sixth Lesson; Don’t punish.  When students were blurting out and drowning me in side conversation, my brain immediately switched to consequence mode.  Amazing how it still lurks below the surface, ingrained somewhere, even now after almost 2 years with no classroom punishment.  Instead of punishing though, I came up with a solution; a simple post it on their desk.  Now when they blurt out an answer or jab at each other they have to put down a tally mark.  I just make a check motion with my finger and they know, it is between the student and I.  Nothing is done with the amount of tallies, it is simply a way for them to see how much they blurt out.  Several students have already told me after two days of this that they cannot believe they blurt out so much.  Self-awareness beats punishment any day.

When students are loud, out of their seats or simply not focused, we tend to blame the student.  We tend to think that something is wrong with their concentration rather than looking inward and wondering what can we change about ourselves?  What can we change about our delivery?  And while these lessons are not a fix all plan, they are helping me teach these students better.  They are reminding me what it feels like to not understand something and still want to learn.  They are reminding me that I can be boring and dry as a teacher and that it has a direct effect on the students.  Once again, my students taught me something important and for that I am thankful.

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being a teacher, choices, word choice

Our Limited Words

Pernille Ripp
Image from here



One of my dear friends posted this as her Facebook status last night, I immediately asked her if I could post it on my blog as well.  Thank you Amy.


“For whatever reason, I keep losing things!!  I will walk around the classroom, put down a coffee cup or teacher’s manual absentmindedly and then have to search for it.  One of my students recently made an interesting comment as I was walking in circles looking for my misplaced items.  She told me that if our steps were numbered, and if we were only given a limited number of them in our lifetime, then we wouldn’t want to waste them.  I guess my walking in circles made her think I was wasting my precious steps!  She didn’t have a solution for me, but she did make me stop and think.

Although she spoke of steps, I thought of words…What if we were only given a limited number of words in our lifetime?  Do we choose them carefully?  Do we use our words to encourage those around us…inspire our family, friends, and students…brighten someone’s day?  Or do we use words that could hurt others without intending to do so?


I know I will waste words now and again, but I plan on trying my best to use them wisely from here on out…just in case my student is correct and they are limited.”

being a teacher, being me, choices, classroom expectations, classroom management, Student-centered

Why Trusting Your Gut Can Be the Best Classroom Management Course You Ever Take

Pernille Ripp

A year and a half ago, I went through a radical change in the way I am as a teacher. The whole foundation of what my classroom was was discarded and re-born, all on the basis of my gut instinct. It told me that to increase student motivation and increase buy-in that my method of teaching and, indeed, the whole feel of my classroom had to change.  That to see motivation increase and excitement build that the old method I was using was so far away from what I wanted that it simply should not exist anymore. So instead of dismissing what some may have viewed as a crazy whim, unsafe territory if you must, I pursued, I went there and I took the chance of implementing it into my classroom and my unsuspecting students.  
I trusted my instincts and my own desire for how my schooling should have been; projects, team-work, choices.  And now in the second year into this implementation I am the proof that it works.  I am the proof that if you believe in your students, if you believe in their ability to make great choices, to work together as teams rather than as individuals their learning will benefit.  I have students who love coming to school, and not just those 50% that love you no matter what they do.  I have kids that had given up, that believed that they could not succeed, that they were not smart enough to go to school, now tell me that they love coming, that they cannot wait to learn.  That they cannot wait to be challenged.  They may not ace every single assignment but they try and they grown.  They may not get the grades that others get but they participate, they share and they know that their voice is just as important as those who used to be the top-kids, the stars of the room.  They smile, they belong, and they own the community.  School is a place they want to come to, not somewhere they have to go.  
I cannot take credit for all of this because the students trusted me as well.  They trusted me with their dreams of school and of learning.  They trusted me with how they want to learn, how they see themselves as individuals and the paths they want to take.  That speaks a lot of the relationships we have created.  Those children trusted me enough to let me in, and to make our classroom their second home.  So my classroom is the proof that these strategies work, even if you do not know that is what you are doing.  My classroom is the proof that sometimes following your gut is more important than following any college class on classroom management. My classroom is the proof that even though your mentor does it one way, it is ok for you to do it completely different. We can change the way we do school and we can make school all about the children.  We just have to be willing to change ourselves.

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being a teacher, choices, homework

Give ‘Em a Break

Pernille Ripp
I used to be that teacher that thought breaks meant more time to do work.  I used to be that teacher that thought that vacation meant the students would forget everything unless I assigned them work to do. I used to be that teacher that thought school was the most important thing in a child’s life and I therefore had the right to all of their free time, as much as I needed, to make sure that they were always learning.  Then I had a child and as I see the world through her eyes I see the constant learning.  I see the exploration.  I see the boundless curiosity.  And I am ashamed of my past decisions.

Vacations and breaks are not for school, otherwise students would not get them.  They are for living, for being with family, for recharging and letting the world sink in.  They are for going outside, for reading for fun, for exploring whatever one chooses.  School is not the most important thing in life; living is.  So I give my students a break over the break.  Read a book if you want, blog if you want, sleep in, have fun, and relax.  When you get back we have much to do but until then you deserve the rest.

So give your students a break.

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attention, choices, Student-centered

How Do You Get Kids to Pay Attention?

Pernille Ripp
I see a lot of articles discussing how to get the attention of students and am continually amazed at what these advice pieces seem to miss.  Often the advice includes asking questions, which I agree with if they are the right kind of questions; please don’t ask them what page you are on, that does not count as a great question.  It also includes giving students an incentive “The first 5 kids to buckle down will get to pick what we do next!” Or even to have a vote on something totally irrelevant to snap them out of their boredom; “Raise your hand if you like Christmas!’ 

It is not that I am better knowing, but I shake my hand at all that is missed through these suggestions.  How about instead of bribing or tricking students into pay attention, we offer them learning opportunities that they actually want to pay attention to!

I know most of us are under guidelines for what we need to teach, but, a lot of us also have a choice in how we teach that.  How about we transfer the choice to the students?  How about rather than telling them what to do, we explore it with them, thus creating natural buy-in.  Now I am part of a scripted math program as well and there the rigidity is more noticeable.  Instead of bribing the kids, we work hard and then we get to do more in-depth explorations.  I change it up often, even if it just means having the students move around and we do a lot of $2 whiteboard activities that involves all of the students rather than me standing up in front talking.

The point is; if we want students to pay attention, make it worth their time.  We cannot keep expecting them to pay attention just because we want them to.  Just because we were forced to pay attention in class doesn’t mean we should do the same thing to our students.  It is our chance to not do school to them as it was done to us.  Take it.

being a teacher, choices, new teacher

Some Questions to Ask Yourself as You Prep for the Week Ahead…

Pernille Ripp
Ah the weekend, and for most educators that means lots of prep getting ready for the week ahead.  As I prep this weekend, these are the questions I ask myself…
  • What is the goal of the lesson?
    • This essential question was one I learned the hard way when I student-taught.  My principal observed a lesson that just fell apart, a big horrendous mess, something that could not be salvaged.  After the lesson he asked me what the goal was for that hour?  Met with a blank stare and no answer, I swore I would always know what the goal was of something I subjected my students to.  We owe it to them.
  • How will the kids be involved?
    • I moved from sage on the stage to student-driven last year so this question is huge in my prep.  In fact, I often ponder assignments for a while before I write anything down just so I can figure out what my students’ roles are in it.
  • How much talking will I do?
    • We know there is essential information in each lesson that needs to be communicated but do I have to be the one communicating it or can it be discovered or explored?  This changes widely from the concept being taught, but I do try to limit my lecturing as much as possible. Teacher talk goes down = student engagement goes up.
  • How will I change it up?
    • I need change as much as my students, so how can I make this concept fresh again. The students have been taught many of these concepts before (we work a lot on a spiral) so how will it look and feel different this time?  This questions also leads to how many different activities can we do within the time?  
  • What will they work on?
    • What will the students be doing during this lesson?  Are they note-taking, creating something, researching etc?  What supplies do I need and how much time do they need to be successful?
  • Will there be a product?
    • Does this tie in with something they are creating?  Is this a longer-term thing or very short?  I realized this week with the Hour of Wonder that students do not need that much time to create something meaningful, what they do need is for the teacher to stop talking and let them explore.
  • Where can the students decide?
    • This questions drives all of my instruction decisions.  How can the students take ownership of whatever we are doing?  After all, I already have a successful education, now it is their turn; school has to be about the students and not about the teacher.   Often they have better ideas than I do!

A peak into the mind of Pernille as I prepare for next week’s lessons.  What types of questions do you ask yourself as you prepare?

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