education reform – Page 7

Image taken from here

It used to be when a student did something exceptional, I would place a cute sticker on their worksheet, homework, or test. I had a drawer just meant for stickers and I lovingly picked new ones for each year in the office catalogs. I also had Bravo certificates and even great stamps that quickly but distinctly told them exactly how I felt. Who doesn’t feel great after getting a stamp with a big thumb on it telling you “Thumbs Up!?” Sometimes, when I had a little more time, I would even write “Fantastic” next to that sticker just so that they knew I really meant it.

If the class was having a great day I couldn’t wait to dole out those kid points (if I remembered) so that they could earn another party. Never mind the fact that they knew they would earn it eventually because odds were they would have many more great days than bad days. I thought my kids knew that I thought they were great. I thought my kids understood why they were great. In fact, I even had an “Awesome Wall” where all the A+ work would go up. Of course, I hoped that all kids would eventually have their work prominently displayed, but truthfully some just never did.

So this year I threw it all away. Well, I kept the stickers but they are for my daughter and husband – he loves motivational stickers on his honey-do lists. The awesome wall got replaced with a world map, the kid/teacher points disappeared. And I felt so empty; after all, how would my kids know when they did a great job? Wouldn’t they miss the stickers and the fantastics? Ummm no. In fact, no kid ever asked me for a sticker this year. No kid ever asked me to explain their fantastic remark because I didn’t write them often. Truthfully I found out that kids really didn’t need those extrinsic rewards, that learning still happened, that the kids still stayed motivated, of course some days more than others because guess what, they are kids.

So in throwing out all of my rewards, I found out about the biggest reward of all; time. This simple concept that I know we have precious little of in a classroom is a hot commodity to everyone. Now when my kids deserve recognition (which they do every day) I give them time. Whether it is to take the time to speak to them about their work, or to write feedback. Whether it is to give them time to work or just time to speak to one another. How about time for a sledding party? Or time for 5 minutes of meditation after that awesome assembly? How about the time to just be a classroom, to just hang out and celebrate all the amazing things happening in our room, in our school, in our world?

So don’t feel like giving up rewards will steer your classroom management off course, I believe it will actually heighten it. I believe that when you push the superficial things out of the way, deeper connections arise and the students become more willing to share, more connected, more motivated. Finally, by getting rid of rewards I also gave myself the biggest one of all; the chance to connect deeper with my students. The chance to speak to them more. The chance to have them all be equals and not labeled and ranked according to grades or homework. The chance to finally all be “Fantastic.”

education reform, No grades, no homework, punishment

We Say it is All About the Kids

July 3, 2011 Pernille Ripp

Time and time again I hear the statement, “I do it for the kids…” or “It’s all about the kids.” This before I hear any educational philosophy or methodology, but I have yet to meet a teacher that does not think it is all about the kids. So then what happens from that statement to our classrooms? Where does the disconnect start because how can you say it is all about the kids and then assign punishment or rewards? How can you say it is all about the kids and assign hours of homework even at an elementary level? How can it be all about the kids when there are no re-takes, no extra chances, no resources allowed on tests?

So if it is true that it is all about the kids, then perhaps we need to rethink what that means. The way a lot of educational systems are set up is apparently all about taking time away from the kids and making sure the teacher is in focus and in control. Do we not think that all about the kids could mean the kids had a say, were more in control and were even listened to? Because if inane classroom management, pointless homework, letter grades with no explanation, and test upon test is what is meant by being all about kids, then no, I am not all about the kids.

being me, education reform

I am Sorry Mr. Governor

June 29, 2011 Pernille Ripp

I am sorry Mr. Govenor but those things you say I do every day are simply not true. That bashing and gnashing I do of my teeth simply doesn’t happen. Those kids I fail, those initiatives I ignore, yeah that doesn’t happen either. I am sorry Mr. Govenor but when you say you are fixing education I only have to laugh. Which classrooms have you been in where you could see a benefit from removing the voice of the teachers and the students? What classrom have you been too that would do better with just a few more students added? Which room have you sat in where the teacher has spread their “thuggery,” their political rhetoric, or simply has not worked hard? You haven’t been in mine, that I know for sure.

So I am sorry Mr. Governor, I hate to disappoint, I know you would like me to be a union thug, I know you would really like me to be a “bad” teacher so that I may be fixed. I know you would like to blame the troubles of Wisconsin on me and my actions, but I will not stand for it. I will not sink to your expected level, I will not politicize my classroom, I will not preach to my students about the wrongs of the government, but instead teach them about democracy; the history of Wisconsin, and how we fought to set up a state that heard all of its people. All of its people. Not just the rich or those in power at the moment. All of its people, the minorities, the laypeople, and yes, even the unionists. So please stop with your mudslinging and your “saving.” Please stop with your demoralizing demeanor and your fancy ideas of how to save education in our proud state. Please stop with your talk of shared sacrifice since all of the people of Wisconsin have done nothing but sacrifice for the last many years. So Mr. Governor, once more I apologize for not making your job any easier. For not painting a larger bulls-eye on my back, for not stooping to a level where I deserve to be called an enemy, a thug, and a horrible person. Your mission would have been much easier if I did.

education reform, hopes, testing

Bring Back the Thinking

April 8, 2011 Pernille Ripp

One of the biggest struggles in my classroom and teaching is how to infer. This vast concept of being able to process information and knowledge to produce an answer is a lifeskill, one of those daunting tasks as a teacher that we must accomplish making sense of for our students. I don’t think the students are the problem, in fact, they are quite creative in their thinking; it is the educational system as a whole that is to blame for this.

With an emphasis on tests we teach students there is only one packaged answer, at least at the elementary level. We do not teach them that the answer can be deeper than just one sentence or that their answer may differ from ours. Why? Because you cannot measure that on a test. A test requires one bubble filled in or writing that fits into someones rubric. A test requires conformity in our thinking and particularly in our creative problem-solving skills. Tests do not like when we debate or argue various points. Tests urge simplicity in our instruction.

That is not to say that all tests are bad. We often discuss how it is what you do with the information that measures the worth of a test, and yet, tests hinder us from doing exceptional things in the classroom on a daily basis. That urgent need to constantly check for progress through a test experience, stiffles students in their quest to become bigger and better thinkers, and to help create inferences. SO most of our instruction is teaching to the test, math has one answer, when we ask questions they almost always have one answer as well. Teacher bias means a need for student thinking to line up with their own interpretation, so it becomes right versus wrong. After all, how many of us after the correct answer has been given, stop to ask whether there are other correct answers?

So why am I so hung up on inferences? Well, they require that one gathers a lot of information, mixes it up with background knowledge, and then draws a new conclusion. Inference requires confidence in ones own qualities as a thinker, as an independent creator. Tests do not teach confidence. My instruction attempts to, yet I am constantly battling students who think that there is just ONE answer. After all, that is what they have been taught. So if they miss that one true answer, then they must be stupid. It appears that we, by pushing tests on our students, become the creators of our own demise; students who have no confidence in their abilities to learn. And by “We” I mean the system as a whole. In our incessant quest to measure, we are dumbing down our student population, urging them not to think creatively but rather stick to the known, the facts, the things that can be measured. We are making them believe that the world has a right and wrong answer in every scenario, but it doesn’t. No wonder some of our most successful thinkers did not feel the urge to complete college. We have to get past the one answer tests to help our students. We have to get past the constant need for progress measurement. Get back to teaching. Get back to discussion. Get back to creative solutions. It is time to bring the thinking back in education.

being a teacher, education reform, hopes, students, testing

Being a Good Teacher Means

March 30, 2011 Pernille Ripp

It is no longer a secret that our nation is obsessed with the supposed battle between “good” and “bad” teachers. Apparently, according to many, America has an epidemic of bad teachers on their hands and it is only through dismantling of the unions that these bad teachers can be disposed of. So for the sake of research and help, I asked colleagues to finish this sentence “Being a good teacher means…” So America, here to help you with the definition of a good teacher, as well as how to evealuate them, see my favorite answers below:

Being a good teachers means…

Being willing to reflect, change, and improve-looking for the best opportunities for student learning – @MrMacnology

Laughter, lots of laughter. Laughing with your students – @HeidiSiwak

Recognizing you are a learner, as well as a teacher and getting your students to understand that learning is for life -@henriettaMI

Listening more than you talk … Often kids have a better answer and you just have to hear it – @Polygirl68

Being open 2 our students drive their own learning in the classroom – @MollyBMom

Always feeling the lesson could’ve gone just a wee bit better – @Attipscast

Means u never stop learning and u always work to improve – @KTVee

Being a learner. being humble. being empathetic. being flexible. being knowledgeable. being driven. @RussGoerend

Always doing what’s right by the kids @Becky7274

So there you have it; what makes a teacher good. In my words; passion, change, dedication, transparency, authenticity, knowing when to be quiet, and knowing when to fight. No one said test scores, rigidity, or grades, so why do they seem to be the driving force behind what determines someones worth?

What is missing?

being a teacher, education reform, reality, testing, time

Give Me Time

March 26, 2011 Pernille Ripp

I do not teach in a poor school, nor do I teach in an affluent one. I teach in your middle of America school, where we have our constraints but do not have to spend our entire paycheck buying classroom supplies. I am lucky in some respects, yet sheltered in others, so I wonder whether I can truly form an opinion on movies like “Waiting for Superman.”. Can I judge what this movie portrays when I have not taught in a fail factory or been labeled a bad teacher?

What I can respond to though are statements such as the one at the end of the movie, “Our system is broken…and it feels impossible to fix.”. Statements such as this does nothing to fix the problem but perpetuates the pervasiveness of just how horrible the American school system is. This angers me. The entire American school system is not horrible, there are entities of it that are, and yes, those entities need to be fixed but is throwing out the entire system really the way to do it?

The preferred method of fixing anything in education seems to be to throw it all out and start over. You see it in school districts all over; desperate to fix falling scores or inadequate growth, money becomes the solution. Buy a new program! Buy a new test! More training! More supervision! More, more, more! It appears we are choking ourselves to mediocrity and then wondering who is to blame for the lack of oxygen?

So my plea is simple; enough with the reform! We have been reformed to death these last many years. Stop changing the strategies, stop changing the methods on how to test us and just let us teach. Let me teach. Give me time to reach a deeper level with my students. Give me time to let them create and explore. Give me time to differentiate for all of my students and not just the easy ones. Give me time to speak, to listen and to develop. Some may say that time is all teachers ever have been given. Not true; our time to learn with our students has been taken away minute by minute by new curriculum implementation, standards, tests and more guidelines. So before you tell me to change again, give me time to learn how to teach this way. Then I can become a better teacher and prove to you that our system is not impossible to fix, just give me time to teach.