Category: letter to Jeremy

classroom expectations, conferences, grades, letter to Jeremy, students

Why Top Down isn’t Always Bad

Pernille Ripp
This letter is part of a series of letters taking place between  Jeremy Macdonald @MrMacnology, a 5th grade teacher in Oregon, and Pernille Ripp @4thgrdteacher, 4th grade teacher in Wisconsin; two educators who for the first time are attempting a no grades classroom, as well as limited homework.  We share our thoughts and struggles with creating the best learning environment for our students so that others may learn something as well.  To see the other letters, please visit us here or here.


Hello again,
Initially I was going to start out with more questions in reply to your post, and yes, it is a total reflection of my personality, and then I thought why not reflect a little and then bombard you with questions later?
So I get the time restraint when it came to sharing student grades with them before report cards went home.  I send mine home tomorrow and getting to all 25 students last week was a stretch but I am so glad I did.  Each child was asked to reflect on their own grades – I have to give letter grades – and then meet with me.  The scale is simple A = Secure, B = developing and C = Beginning.  You know how I feel about students failing in 4th grade so that simply is not an option for a grade.  And besides, aren’t we so vigorously trying to push our students further away from equating learning with a grade?  Anyway, this format turned out to be informative and wonderful.  Most students rated their knowledge level at the same point as I would have, some were way too harsh on themselves leading to in-depth conversations about self-esteem and math, in particular.  Some, of course, were not even quite sure what the grades meant and had therefore thought A’s looked pretty good.  There were tougher conversations but in the end I felt good and I think the kids did too.  See, there will be no ugly surprises tomorrow.  No hiding report cards from parents.  Or pretending to not care about that stupid thing anyway.  I remember feeling like I betrayed the kids on their report cards in earlier years; where was their warning before this had to be taken home?  Instead, the students feel that they know why they are getting the grade they are getting and also that they have the responsibility for that grade.  No longer is the grade the final product of the trimester but rather the beginning of the next one.  What do we know and where do we need to go with it?  Relief…
Ok, I get the learning is learning and we must be excited about all of it.  But can’t we just admit to ourselves that bringing technology into the room does appear more exciting than just plain old paper and pencil?  Of course, this is a broad generalization fore there are times when paper and pen are best, but come on, let’s be honest here; those kids light up when they can incorporate anything tech into the lesson.  Perhaps in 20 years, paper and pencil will be the novel thing to do and will reclaim some of its lost glory.  
My final point about setting students up for disappointment leads me to another falsehood that we as teachers love to repeat to ourselves when we worry about passing students on the following year.  “All students will adapt and grow to love that classroom and learning environment!”  We pacify ourselves with that statement enough to where we can find ourselves repeating it when having discussions about different learning environments.  I think it is bogus.  I remember years that I hated going to school simply because the learning environment was stodgy and boring and nothing like what I was used to.  Of course, students are adaptable and flexible and all that, but shouldn’t we have some sort of technology consensus or minimum of integration at a school at least?  And yes I am dreaming for I know what I am up against but sometimes top-down decisions can prove to be a blessing in disguise.  Now who to persuade on that?
And hey, Macdonald,”Ripp” is what one of my favoritest students on the spectrum calls me.  No titles, no formalities, just a name.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.

conferences, letter to Jeremy, technology

Are We Setting Students up for Failure?

Pernille Ripp
This letter is part of a series of letters taking place between  Jeremy Macdonald @MrMacnology, a 5th grade teacher in Oregon, and Pernille Ripp @4thgrdteacher, 4th grade teacher in Wisconsin; two educators who for the first time are attempting a no grades classroom, as well as limited homework.  We share our thoughts and struggles with creating the best learning environment for our students so that others may learn something as well.  To see the other letters, please visit us here or here.
Hi Jeremy,
I am so glad to hear that conferences went well. There we both were, sweating over every single detail and once again our fears got the better of us.  My parents loved it.  No one asked any questions as to what grade their child should be getting but instead asked pointed questions to their children about their learning.  As you may have realized, I have gotten hooked on student-led conferences as well in the process.  So maybe this shows us too that we have done our job well as well.  We have prepared our parents as much as we prepare our students.  We let them know from the beginning what type of environment we envision and then we follow our own guidelines.  No surprises means no anger.  I do wonder how you ended up doing your report cards in that you say some students were surprised?   Had you not shown them to them beforehand or discussed it with them?  I am liberally borrowing the idea from Joe Bower in setting grades with the kids, that way there won’t be any surprises or confusion.  I agree, we continue this path and we adjust and continue, knowing that it is the right way to go.
I too am tech-obsessed.  I like to blame it on my parents who had one of the only original apple computers in town.  My students know that I have this obsession and they love it.  And yet, like you, I ponder whether my obsession is a healthy one and whether it is educationally relevant to the students?  So every time I choose to introduce a new tool for the students I have to know why.  Is it just for playing or is it an integral part of the learning process.  My students blog because we are learning to connect with an audience and to cater our writing to specific purposes.  Blogging also has the added excitement of responses from other people rather than just plain old me.  And yet, we write by hand every day as well.  One teacher told me that they thought students needed to learn how to write before they moved on to typing.  She therefore did not want students doing technology “stuff.”  I was hurt and confused by her comment, knowing that she was directing it at me and the approach I have taken and I didn’t get what she meant as I see the two as one in the same.  I can just as easily write a story by pencil as by typing.  To me that seems to be an excuse to keep students away from technology.
There have been times though where I have had to stop myself, though.  I know that my students get much more excited when they get to use technology but some times learning has to come from books and from discussion.  Not from a movie, or a voicethread, or some other computer related activity.  How do we set up our students for excitement about that type of learning?  Is there a way to combine the two?  Or will the technology always win because it is a gadget.  Are we, in truth, by being techy teachers, doing our students a disservice by setting them up for perpetual disappointment when they move on to teachers that do not embrace it as fully as we do?  Are we instead of helping shape 21st century students, shaping kids that will more quickly become disillusioned in a classroom because their teacher does not embrace technology?  Should teachers even be allowed to not incorporate technology into their lessons?
We will always be advocates for learning, that is the nature of our job, but what we must deliberate on every day is whether a tool will enhance learning or merely dress it up to become easier to digest?  I take an unpopular stance when I say that I feel interactive whiteboards are not all that they are hailed to be for learning purposes, although I agree that they catch children’s’ attention very well.   And that’s it, isn’t it?  Do we use technology to get the attention of our students or do we use it properly to teach them something?  
I fear I left you with more questions than answers.  Yet they are important ones that I struggle with on a daily basis.  And I wish I could say that I had typed this on my Ipad, however Santa has yet to decide whether I have been good enough to deserve one of those for Christmas or not.  I swear I have…




grading moratorium, letter to Jeremy, no homework

We Can’t Look Back

Pernille Ripp
This letter is part of a series taking place as a conversation between Jeremy Macdonald @MrMacnology, a 5th grade teacher in Oregon, and Pernille Ripp @4thgrdteacher, 4th grade teacher in Wisconsin; two educators who for the first time are attempting a no grades classroom as well as limited homework.  We work under the confines of our districts but with passion and belief that this is the way forward.  To see the first and second letter, visit us here

Hi Jeremy,

Ah yes, the realities of fall – catchty title and very apropos.  It is amazing what we thought we could accomplish this summer as we prepared for fictitious classrooms that, of course, had some needs, some diversity, but most of all lots of eager minds.  Don’t get me wrong, I had read about most of my students, labored over the notes from previous years and planned my approach to these varied learning styles.  And then school started and learning began and the train was set in motion.
I remember feeling like things ended before.  An assignment was given, preferably with a worksheet tied into it to show their learning and then when that had been graded, that portion of the year was done.  Now, it continues, never ending as we refine our approach, chastise ourselves for missed opportunities of true wisdom and push ourselves to do more, be more, teach more.  The learning you see does not stop when you get rid of grades.  An assignment is never quite finished.  I can never assume that something has been mastered until they have shown me through later recollection or work that it really has been settled into their brain.  So what’s a girl to do?  Well, like you, I have my dirty secret stash of spreadsheets.  I check off my goal lists for science, social studies, writing, and math and I ponder and evaluate.  Sometimes I wonder whether my spreadsheets are up to the task and some days I wonder whether I know what I am really doing.  On those days I give myself a break and think of all the amazing opportunities my students are having.
As teacher, we love to beat ourselves up.  And why not?  We are after all the changers of the world, the people who are responsible for creating America’s future.  So when we change systems, approaches, philosophies, we are meddling with real kids, not imagined ones, and so the outcome is real.  That should not stop us though but instead propel us forward, cradling the immense responsibility as the gift it truly is.  I know that this is the right path forward.  I have 24 pretty well-adjusted students in my room that know that even if there is no grade tied to their work, it is serious business.  They are their own worst critics, I have come to find out, but they are also the best suited to take control of their learning, and that is what we are letting them do.  We are giving them responsibility.  We are allowing them to be part of the process, the knowledge acquiring and giving them a voice in the learning process.  My students know exactly what the goal of any lesson is because they have to.  Otherwise they will not know whether they have mastered that goal.  Never before have I had students that are so aware of what they are supposed to learn, and that is a great thing.  So those checklists are ever changing as I realize that what I thought was a goal is something else entirely.  I am forced to really think about why I teach something and how I can best teach and when that happens the students will always benefit.  So don’t be ashamed of your checklists, but use them for the right purpose; to shape your teaching and to help you evaluate.  Just because we do not grade does not mean we cannot assess.
Doesn’t it sound good?  It is, but then reality smacks me in the face again.  Conferences start on Thursday and what will I share with the parents?  Or rather what will my students share because I have also decided to let it be student-led conferences rather than me led.  This way students have to know what we are learning, once again they are asked to take part in what goes on in the classroom and not just show up.  Of course, some kids are freaked out but others are deliberating their approach, figuring out how to showcase their learning, getting ready for any questions.  I have provided them with conference sheets and self-assessments (And why by the way did you not share your student self-assessments with the world?).  I tell them that I will be right there with them, ready to jump in, to support, which should always be our role.  We cannot be the sole keepers of the knowledge, we have to be the bridge instead and by continuously creating opportunities for these kids we are allowing this to happen.  
So Jeremy, we are not careless, we are dreamers.  And to dream you must dare.  We believe in the power of our students so now we must believe in ourselves as professionals.  Our lives might seem easier at first if we go back to the old ways of worksheets and grades.  Slap a sticker on it and done.  But our entire philosophy of education has been irreversibly changed, and so our core beliefs will forever ring an alarm if we go back.  This is our maiden voyage and every year will be easier.  Will everything be figured out this year?  Probably not but that is the magic of teaching.  We evolve along with our students, always trying to give them the best possible educational experience.  No grades to me means no more crushing dreams.  I have not had the power to tell a child that if they do not finish this work then they will fail.  And that is a power I do not ever want to have again, do you?

Best,


Pernille
alfie kohn, grading moratorium, letter to Jeremy, no homework

Remember those Dreams of Summer?

Pernille Ripp

This post is the first in, hopefully, many taking place as a conversation between Jeremy Macdonald @MrMacnology, a 5th grade teacher in Oregon, and Pernille Ripp @4thgrdteacher, 4th grade teacher in Wisconsin; two educators who for the first time are attempting a no grades classroom as well as limited homework.  We work under the confines of our districts but with passion and belief that this is the way forward.

Hello Jeremy,
Remember this summer when we had our dreams in place of how we were going to make this work, this no grades thing, and how we knew that with the right amount of dedication it would be a smashing success?  Well, guess what, the school year started and it is hard!  I still believe in it, don’t get me wrong, this has been a massive educational philosophy switch for me and one that I am incredibly passionate about.  I believe I am doing the right thing by focusing on the learning and not the grade, but who ever knew that removing most worksheets, tests, and averages would making teaching so much more time consuming?  Now when students finish a project I have to find the time to speak to them about it or at the very least write lengthy feedback on their work.  No more checking an answer-key and slapping a subjective percentage on it and calling it a day.  I have to study what they learned, how they divulged it, and more importantly figure out where to go from there.

So maybe that is why many educators do the grade; it is easy.  After all, you don’t have to change how you teach a student if the end result is just an average number based upon a semester’s performance.  You can just hand over the grade, watch the disappointment swell if it wasn’t the one they hoped for and then move on.  Parents are happy because they recognize what the grade means, or think they do anyway, and students know exactly where they fit into in the hierarchy in the class.  End of story.  Yet, when you throw away the grade something enormous happens.  At first, students are a little bit surprised, perhaps even dismayed, and definitely confused.  I don’t know how many times I have had to discuss with students why the feedback I have provided does not translate into a percentage.  Some get it, most don’t at this point in the year.  One student in particular keeps asking me how he can earn a good grade and is perpetually disappointed when I tell him that it is about the learning not the grade.  So what do you say?  Do you tell them that they are doing amazing and some would consider that to be an “A+” performance or do you stick to your line and keep pressing on with learning goals?

And the work!  Papers piling up, goals, checklists, notes from conversations all crowd my desk.  With conferences coming up, I am starting to shake a little in my boots.  Will I have enough evidence to prove the academic rigor I am subjecting my students to? Will students be able to explain what they have been learning or how it affects their future learning?  Will I be able to communicate effectively to doubting parents that although less homework is sent home, their child is still learning just as much?  And don’t get me started on report cards!  How will I translate their knowledge into a grade?

I know this is the right path, but why must it be so hard?  I know change is never easy but this makes so much sense.  So where does one go from here?

Best,
Pernille