Category: community

being a teacher, community, school staff

I am Nothing Special – Why Are Teachers Afraid to Share their Successes?

Pernille Ripp
Even in the staunchest of schools, teachers celebrate their students.  Whether it is through formal rewards, which I am not a fan of, or informal recognition, which is more my style.  We celebrate achievements, goals, and recognize our students for the incredible minds, people, and human beings they are.  Teacher brag about their students in the lounge, and to their families.  We are quick to share the funny things they and highlight the amazing ideas they concoct.  We blog, we film, and we sing their praises to those that will listen because we think they deserve it.

So why is it that within teaching, if a fellow teacher or a teaching team receives recognition we have a harder time celebrating it?  Why is it that we often see other’s achievements as a knockdown to our own abilities?  Why is the competition so fierce among teachers to be the one recognized that we cannot celebrate the successes we all have?

I work in a school with incredibly talented people, who have amazing successes every day.  You walk through our hallways and you will see the excitement in classrooms, you will see innovation wherever you go and teachers striving to do everything possible to reach each and every child.  I have often written about the incredible people I work with.  And I wish we celebrated it.  I wish people were recognized just as much as we recognize our students.

So administrators and fellow teachers; what do you do in your building to celebrate everyone, and not by handing out awards?  How do you recognize the achievements of all of your staff?  Where do you start your celebrations?  It is time we stand together and and decide that one person’s success is a whole school’s success and that we are only as strong as our team.  Educators should not be afraid to share the great things they do, they should be yelling them from the rooftops.

community, new year, Student-centered

Community Building 101 With Mrs. Ripp

Pernille Ripp
Ahhh community building exercises.  Those small sheets of paper that we all so vigorously collect whilst in college knowing that some day they will be our go-to’s.  Some day they will lead us to a breakthrough in our classrooom.  Some day they will be corner stones of our community.  And yet, then they don’t.  In fact, as I cleaned out my files at the end of the year, I found a lot of them shoved into a forgotten corner of my cabinet, crumpled, dusty, and very unused.  I guess I haven’t needed them after all.

So welcome to community building 101 with your teacher, Mrs. Ripp.  A newish teacher that doesn’t quite know what she is doing at all times but will happily share all of the ups and downs.  So first, how not to build community, from someone who has made all of these mistakes:

  • Pre-post your rules.  Nothing says “This is my classroom” like a beautifully laminated poster of all of your rules that have been hanging there for years.  Students certainly know who is the boss then and also that they are indeed just visitors in your room.  Way to set the tone from the first day.
  • Spend days on a constitution.  I like the Constitution, in fact, as a social studies lesson I think this would be marvelous.  But as a community builder, not so much.  Think of it through a kid’s eyes:  days spent discussing the rules for the rest of they year and then pledging to uphold all 20 of them, umm not so much.  Oh and who is going to remember all of them, yikes!
  • Set clear boundaries.  The first year I labeled my classroom with teacher versus student stickers.  Oh yes, I was a label master, making sure the students knew exactly which cabinets, which supplies, and which areas they were allowed in.  I spent the rest of the year reminding them where not to go and I kept hammering in how something was “mine” – sounds like a 2 year old’s behavior, not a teacher’s.
  • Ice breakers.  I know people will disagree here, but I hate ice breakers, they are super awkward and make me feel very uncomfortable for a while until I can retreat back to my own comfort zone.  I have never made a connection through an icebreaker, sorry.  Instead, invest in something meaningful as a classroom like a connection map, or a kid made video tour of the classroom, or something that the kids can work together on.  If they can focus on the task rather than the connecting, community building will start to happen.
  • Tell the kids you will now be building a community.  I am all for setting goals and telling the kids about it, but this one better be left unsaid.  It’s like telling someone you are trying to become their friend; that hyperfocus tends to make things weird.  Instead tell the kids what they will be doing, simple as that.
  • Have a million things planned.  Sometimes the best beginnings of a community comes from spending time together, but when you plan too much or have too much to do, that goes out the window.  So leave a little room for spontaneity, a little room for just hanging out (perhaps on the playground) and a little room for whatever the kids would like to do. 

    So what should you do?

    • Be yourself.  The kids will see right through any phoniness, so if you are a massive dork like I am, let it all shine through.  
    • Share your life.  I often have a video from Thea, my 2 year old daughter, or a funny story about her to start the day out with.  The kids really get to know me and my family and in turn open up about their lives as well.
    • Laugh a lot.  I love to laugh and I think kids are hilarious, if we just give them the time to speak.  
    • Start decorating the classroom.  I stress over and over that this is “Our classroom,” so the kids get to make decorating choices as well as furniture setup decisions.  Every class learns differently and they can often set up a better environment than I can.
    • Start learning.  I love all of the learning that happens at school so we start right away with some curriculum, often the kids cannot wait to see what this new grade level will be about so why wait.  Of course, we balance it out with all the other great non-curricular activities.
    • Decide on expectations together.  I don’t have classroom rules, I have expectations that are set with the students.  We take some time, and we always adjust them throughout the year, but in the end they need to be straight and to the point so the kids (and I) can remember them.  And no, they are not posted anywhere.
    • Give it time.   Great community does not happen on the first day of school but you do plant the seed that day.  So tend to it and nurture it, give it them time it deserves throughout the school year and highlight it from time to time.  I discuss with the students how great of a classroom we have which keeps it a priority and reminds of what we strive to be: a place where everyone feels like they belong and are safe.
    being a teacher, community, Student, trust

    Kids Shouldn’t Feel Like Tourists: How Every Classroom Should Be a Tribe

    Pernille Ripp
    Taken today – oh what a beautiful flag

    “I feel like I belong.”  My little brother turns to me as we walk through the Copenhagen aiport minutes after landing.  We are indeed home, even if just for a short while, but I immidiately got what he meant.  I belong to the same tribe he does; the Danes, and with that comes certain hidden knowledge, requirements and social norms that normal tourists simply will not be a part of.  This is all unravled to us as we are raised; how to speak to elders, how to dress, how to survive in a culture which is very liberal but has heightened politeness and manners standards.  The manual for being a Dane has not been written, and indeed, it changes as the population changes, and yet there is a “Daneness” that I recognize.  We are indeed tribe members and not just by looks – in fact not all Danes are blonde like I am – but by culture and behavior.  We are members because we know how to be and the society lets us be, with only a few perplexed comments on our Americanness (13 years abroad will do that for you).

    This is much like our classrooms.  We set them up to be inclusive and welcoming to our students but do we set them up as a tribe?  (And I am not referring to the Tribes program here).  A tribe would mean that every person involved in the classroom felt like they belong and understood the hidden language of the classroom.  A tribe means safety for all of the people wherever they venture in the room and also that they will be protected by other students outside of our territory.  A tribe is bigger than just being a class.  All of this is certainly something I strive for every year so I mulled about this all day and reached the following conclusions.  To be a tribe we must

    • Recognize that we are an entity, that yes we are part of something bigger in the school, but also see that we are our own unit contained within the walls of our classroom.
    • Realize that we are unique.  There are other similar classrooms but this actual composition cannot be replicated anywhere else and this is something to celebrate.
    • Determine our culture.  What do we value, what do we see as proper behavior and how do we act amongst each other?  These are all vital for a tribe to feel togetherness and should not be set by the teacher.  For real understanding, appreciation, and cooperation it has to be set up together.  A tribe may have a leader but it is still a regular person who holds that position.
    • Determine our hidden language.  Discuss the assumptions we bring into the classroom,  set expectations and explore pitfalls.  Unspoken assumptions in particular can be devastating for a classroom and need to be discussed openly so that all involved people have a real chance of ownership and understanding.
    • Allow change.  A tribe should not stay the same all year, it should move and fluctuate as the classroom moves much like a country’s culture.  What should remain though is the sense of belonging of understanding the classroom culture and being able to navigate it all successfully without feeling like a tourist.

    Being a tribe is so much more than being just a classroom, even a really good one.  It allows students to lose inhibitions (and the teacher too) and to revel in a meaningful learning environment.  No longer just visiting for the year in the teacher’s classroom but actually building the foundation of it and then actively maintaining it throughout the year so that ever person who walks into the room can exclaim, “I belong.”

    This goes beyond just building community and rightfully so and will therefore take top priority in the coming year for me.  What about you?

    collaboration, community, connections

    A Connection is Made

    Pernille Ripp
    It all started with a question, a small idea really, and one word “Community.” Take two sets of children, happy in school, each faced with their own busy lives, full plates, and small victories. What if we turned them loose with a camera, with their own creativity and asked them to show off their community? That is exactly what my friend and inspiration Matt and I did for our classes. What started as just a way to connect two seemingly very different classes morphed into something bigger than just a simple hello via Skype. Instead our students were asked to really think about what sets their community apart from others, and how do you showcase that to others that may have no idea where you are?

    What followed after that initial conversation of idea was a lot of hard work and so much enthusiasm. Neither one of us have the luxury to suspend curriculum but had to find a way to fit it in, not just because it was fun, but because it was worthwhile. So I told the kids cautiously, would they get excited as well or would they roll their eyes at yet another harebrained Mrs. Ripp idea? Their excited chatter told me once again this was going to be great.

    For 3 weeks the kids worked both in class and outside of class creating their video.  They knew that Matt’s students spoke Spanish so they wanted our sometimes shy Spanish speaking students to take a leadership role in each group.  I was also told that i was not needed, after all, they had Google translate if they needed to figure something out and they knew how to shoot the video.  Donations came in for the care package we were sending out their with some real Wisconsin stuff, and then finally; the last shot was filmed, the movie pieced together, the package dropped off.  

    So I am excited to present “Our Community” – a video inspired, created, and carefully edited by the students in my classroom for our friends in Mr. Foteah’s class.  In the end it wasn’t really about the video, it was about the community we shared making it and the community we reached out to.

    being a teacher, community, difference, hopes, self

    We are Not Born Selfish

    Pernille Ripp

    As I watch my daughter interact, I realize that we are not born selfish. Instead we become it as our lives turn into one long competition for more, bigger, better. This can be seen in school where many teachers suffer under constant business or stress, and if they are not suffering from it, they are a rarity. I used to be one of those teachers, too busy to even think some time, until I realized that by projecting this frantic persona, I was being selfish.

    When you are constantly busy, or claiming to be, you shut yourself off to others. People realize that you will not be able to help, because you are too busy; you will not give them that precious time they may need, because you have too much to do. This is detrimental to furthering personal connections. When people stay out of your way because you are frantic, they often do not come back.

    So when you return to school, make a conscious effort to turn off your busyness. Instead open yourself up to others. When someone approaches you for help or an extra hand, give it to them, even if it interferes with prep time. This small gesture of giving time fosters goodwill in your environment. When we actively help others, they notice and they in turn may help others as well. We all know that helping breeds helping, so why not live it? I know we are busy, all people are, but it is how we choose to deal with that busyness that makes the difference. So remember that doing something that may seem inconvenient to you may make a huge difference to someone else. Don’t be selfless but be less selfish.

    being a teacher, community, students

    If We Could Grant Wishes

    Pernille Ripp

    Yesterday we had our winter break party with our first grade reading buddies.  Students listened to holiday music from around the world, ate aebleskiver (a Danish treat), and cut out snowflakes for a wish tree.  We told them to write their wishes for the new year on these snowflakes.  This morning as I spearated the glittered and glued together snowflakes, I read them.

    I wish for an Ipad (hey, a child can dream), for a bunny, dvd’s, games, world peace even.  I wish for a great year, for sleep, for more world peace (definitely a 4th grader).  A rat, a dog, a magic wand, flat screen tv’s, Nintendo D.S., fish, a pool, and even a bigger house.  And then there it sat, glued to another wish, unassuming and small:  I wish I had more friends.

    If only teachers had a magic wand…