Category: new year

being me, classroom expectations, new year

About Those Little Things

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

I say it is about those little things, those things that make the biggest impressions, and yet even I forget just how little those little things can be.

Is there a smile on my face?

Do I greet people I see in the hallways?

Did I dress appropriately, take the time to dress with care to show that I care about what I do?

Is my classroom neat and picked up or cluttered and crammed with stuff?

When someone speaks do I turn and listen or give them my back, or half of an ear?

Is there a choice or two or the kids already on orientation day or do I show a path of rigidity and control?

Do parents get a firm handshake if they want and do I remember their names and their faces?

Do I show people they are welcome in our room or do I merely say it?

Am I prepared, can I answer questions or admit when the answer escapes me?

Am I present or is my mind cluttered with things that need to get done?

Those little things make the difference, those little things set the tone.  What did I forget?

Related articles

classroom setup, new year

It’s Not How Your Classroom Looks, It’s About How It Feels

Pernille Ripp
Image from icanread

Last week, before the arrival of Ida and Oskar, I was able to sneak in some work time in my new room.  As I stood there trying to envision what the room would look like, I realized that it didn’t much matter for two reasons.  One; what it looks like empty is vastly different from when it is filled with 20+ 5th graders.  Two; more importantly the emphasis should not be on what it looks like but what it FEELS like.  So some questions I pondered as I set it up:

Which way does your desk face?
Or do you even have a desk?  I don’t anymore but rather a workspace with my computer and planner on it.    And it faces the wall in the corner.  No more hiding behind my desk, no more defined my teacher space where the kids are not allowed to go  In fact, my super comfy office chair often gets snagged by the students because they know I don’t use it much when they are in the room.  I faced it toward the wall so that I am not tempted to sit behind it, no distance between the students and I, and it works.

What is on your bulletin boards?

I used to be the master of fancy bulletin boards and I was very obsessive over my border and letter placement.  Unfortunately, that meant that I had nowhere to showcase student work or things we needed throughout the year.  I will tell you right now, my bulletin boards look super sad at the moment; empty, scratched and not cute at all – very un-elementary like – an d I am fine with that, soon the students will take over.
How much space does your teacher stuff take up?
Is every space yours or is it open for student use?  Do you have so many things out that you may need more bins to keep it all contained? I try to keep my stuff in cabinets, leaving impromptu work areas for the kids.  It sends the message that I am not the most important person, but rather that this is our space, and they have as much claim to the counter tops and shelves as I do.
What do people see from the hallway?
When people walk by what do they see?  Tables?  Your desk?  Nothing?  At the moment, when people walk by they will see our tables, empty spaces, ad framed pictures and quotes.  This will obviously change once the students come in but what visitors see does influence how a classroom is viewed as well as lend itself to the overall feel of the school.
What is the movement flow like?
Can students move or will they constantly have to ask someone else to push their chair out of the way?  This is out of many of our hands but we can work uot the best overall flow before the students get there.  Can kids access the high-frequency areas such as cabinets, supplies, reading corner, or will they have to squeeze by, take a strange route or get stuck in random places?  Can the students “breathe” in the room or is it filled to the brim with all of your treasures?”  And do ask the students and watch their patterns those first few weeks of school, I don’t think a year has gone by where we haven’t changed something within the first few weeks.  
Do they need permission?
My first year I was very obsessed with keeping things in their place.  So if that particular reading chair belonged in the reading corner then that is where it belonged, no permissions to move granted.  Now students take the movable furniture wherever they need it and at the end of the day we put it out of the way.  I even did this with their desk supplies; I told them exactly what they had to have in their pencil cups (no seriously I did) and then patrolled them to see if they followed my order.  Talk about control freak!  SO now, no permissions needed, just put it out of the way at the end of the day.
Is there room for the students?

Related articles

first day, hopes, new year

A Hope for the First Day of School

Pernille Ripp

In the movies they often speak about that one day that changes everything.  The moment in which the world stood still or tilted on its side or whatever cosmic thing that can happen, happened.  That day that changed someone forever.  And as much as I love the movies, I don’t think our lives can depend on just one day.  I think it can depend on many “one day’s,” a collection of big days that compounds us and define us, creating the person we want to be.

One of those days is the first day of school.  The real first day, not the ones where parents show up and you wear your finest clothes and you smile and socialize and talk and try to not show how insanely nervous you are.  No, the one after that.  The one where the students show up after the bell rings and try to remember where their desks are, try to remember your name, try to remember what was all said the day before.  That day can change everything.
We worry about the impression we make on parents, did we get our message across?  Did we plant the seed of relationship?  Do they really trust us as professionals?  But do we worry enough about the impression we make on our students?  Has that seed of trust been planted or is it simply taken for granted?
So on that first day of school, that real first day, I want to reach out and connect.  I want to laugh a lot.  I want to excite, I want to work, and I want to bare myself.  I want to invest, to relish, and to trust my students.  I want them to feel they are at home, that our room is safe, and that 5th grade will be just as magical as they hoped it would.  I want to make a day that changes their lives, I want to be part of their collection of “one day’s.”  I hope it is not asking too much.    

Related articles

new teacher, new year, preparation

So You Got the Teaching Job – Now What?

Pernille Ripp
Me in front of my very first welcome wall

As summer continues to lull us into long days filled with ice cream, books for fun, and nights spent on a porch, I can’t help but think back to the first summer as a teacher.  That summer when I had made it through those grueling interviews, where I had finally landed my dream job and I now stood facing an empty classroom, slightly panicked, but oh so very excited.  I remember the joy.  I remember the delight.  And boy, do I remember thinking, “Now what?”

Don’t get me wrong, I had read Harry Wong’s book, I had substituted, I had even taught summer school, and yet, it just wasn’t enough.  I had no idea where to go from there, so to all those new teachers, with all those new jobs, I offer you my advice.

  • Reach out!  Remember that interview team you sat across trying to connect with, well, now is the time to make the actual connection.  So email them, find them on Twitter, Google them, but do something and reach out.  Set up a time to meet whether formally or informally.  Don’t wait until the first day of school there will be so many others to connect with then.
  • Ask questions.  When you reach out, ask questions about curriculum, ask questions about school quirks.  Truly there is no such thing as a dumb question in this matter.  I still remember my long list and just how gracious my team members were to me.
  • Ask for resources.  Don’t re-invent the wheel with every single piece of paper.  I created so much on my own that first summer until I found out how much of this stuff my team already had made that was much better than my stuff.  Bring your ideas to the table but also ask to use some of theirs.  There will plenty of stuff to do on your own.
  • Do your homework.  However, do figure out what you can on your own too.  Things like math curriculum and other major district decisions can probably be discovered through a quick website search.  That way you can get to those things that are a little more complicated then that.
  • Start dreaming about your room.  Your room is really important, it signals to the world what type of teacher you are and what your educational philosophy is.  Where do the desks face?  Do you have a desk yourself?  Are there posters or will you have students take over the walls?  All of these seemingly innocent room questions are actually pretty major things to consider.
  • Take classes.  Again, this may be something a teammate tells you, but see if there are classes you need to take.  This year my district is implementing the writing workshop and we are all encouraged to take a 2 day class on it, my new team mate knows this because I told him.
  • Reflect.  Now that you have the job; what is your primary goal for your first year (and please don’t say survive – teaching shouldn’t be about survival but about thriving)?  What do you hope to pass on to all of those kids, your teammates, your school and yourself?  Where do you want to see yourself next year?
  • Stop with the prep work.  I made so many copies and spent so much time laminating my first year, why?  I am not sure.  It seemed like a full-time job some times but I was so sure that everything needed to be protected and copied, crazy really.  So figure out what is important to you, take stock of what you will be doing in your prep time, and ask yourself this; “Does it really need to be laminated?”
  • Enjoy!  There is no time like the one you are in, all fresh and ready for those first students.  So get yourself psyched up, because it is truly a memorable experience.  Allow yourself to trust yourself.  Allow yourself to feel like you have something valuable to add.  And finally, allow yourself to be just a little bit freaked out.  You cannot prepare for everything but you got the job because you are capable, so trust that.

Related articles

classroom setup, new year

The Secrets of Your Classroom – What Your Set Up Says About You

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

I finally made it into school today and saw to my amazement that all of my furniture had been moved back in, the floors were waxed, and now all of those boxes were ready to be unpacked.   I couldn’t help but be excited, and then I realized that I am hugely pregnant, and didn’t even know if I could stand up for the time it would take me to set it up.  So what is a girl to do?  Try anyway.  As I unpacked, arranged, and dreamt a little of the new year, I realized once again how much the way we set up our classroom reflects our educational philosophy.  How much those seemingly innocent decisions of table placement, wall decorations and so on really reveal to the world.  So these are the questions I asked myself

  • To desk or not to desk?  I was offered the granddaddy of desks this year; huge, sleek, brand new and I turned it down gladly.  last year I decided to go deskless and I have never looked back.  Instead I have a table for my computer and planner, one where I can meet with kids but it is tucked into the corner, somewhere where I don’t get drawn behind, isolating myself from the kids.
  • Tables or desks?  I used to have small desks that we would scoot together to create pods, now I am fortunate enough to just have big tables for the kids to use.  They move their chairs as they see fit to work with the lesson and I don’t ask questions when they do.  They just pick up their pencil can and go.
  • What’s on your walls?  I used to have all of those awesome posters with the animals saying cute motivational things plastered all over my walls.  That way wherever you looked you would be motivated to hang in there, work hard, and make great decisions.  I took them down two years ago and now have three posters hanging; a world map to push pin our connections, a top ten of my room created by former students, and a calendar.  Everything else we add as we go.  
  • Are you in the room?  Those kids become part of my family so I have framed pictures in my room of newspaper articles from former years, all of the kids I have ever taught, two fantastic student art pieces that still choke me up and two quotes from the Little Prince.  These mean more to me than motivational poster ever will and show the kids who I am, that is so important.
  • Which way do your desks face?  My former students told me they didn’t want to face the Smartboard but rather the whiteboard because we used that much more.  So this year that is exactly how they face.  However, once again, the students can move about as they like so in all honesty I am not too bothered how they face.  I don’t need to be the center of attention so the desks don’t need to face me so I can lecture.
  • Other areas?  Are there places for the students to work that doesn’t include their desks?  I used to have cushy bean bags and comfy chairs but lost them all to fire code.  Now we have carpet squares, random chairs from my house, a big reading carpet, two stand up desks and lap desks that the students can use whenever they want.  I don’t ask questions, if they need them, they use them.
  • Sign in and out.  Some teachers ask students to sign out when they go to the bathroom etc.  I don’t, instead they put the pass on their desk so in case of a fire drill I know where they are.
  • Can they get what they need?  I used to hide all of my extra supplies and would get really upset if students dared ask for a pencil.  Now, I have bins of stuff they may need which they can grab and they know to just ask if they need something that isn’t out.  My goodness, who hasn’t ever needed an eraser?
  • Where are those rules?  Anyone who walks in will notice there is no class constitution, no rules, no what happens when… posters in our room.  Expectations are discussed by the students and changed as needed.  With only 20% of the walls up for use due to fire code I am not wasting that space on rules.
  • Where’s the tech?  I am fortunate to have a 4-in-1 computer set up for students, but we also have some flip video cameras, headphones, microphones, and camera for them to use.  Do you hide it or can students just use it?  What is your level of trust with technology and putting it in the hands of students?

By no means a final list but things that flashed through my head today as I unpacked.  What did I miss?

being me, new teacher, new year

Have You Found Your Soul? My Advice to a New Teacher

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

The new year may be coming or it may be far away from you, but I sit here and ponder, what would I tell someone starting school?  What “wisdom” would I share with a brand new teacher or a teacher that has been around for a long time, not quite sure that they are ready to go back?  I think i would ask them this; have you found your soul of teaching?  Your essence?

I’m not talking mantras, although Angela Maiers’ “You Matter” hangs proudly above my door.  I am not speaking of teaching style or tips, classroom management ideas, or even your teaching philosophy.  I am talking the inner core, the you that you bring into the classroom.  Have you found it?  Have you listened to it?  And what does it look like?  Yes, we can get caught up in seating charts, grand ideas, and new programs to be implemented, but all those fall away if you don’t have you in the classroom.   If you’re not ready to bare yourself, invest yourself, and give those kids all of you.

What does it mean to be you in a classroom?  To truly put yourself out there, invest fully, wholeheartedly, some would even say foolishly.  What will you give to the students, because teaching is about giving and not just knowledge, but giving the essence of you?  Kids spot phonies from miles away, they see those that are there for the paycheck, those that bring in the baggage, those that cannot wait to leave once the day is done.  And they react, swiftly, without mercy, and we stand there wondering what went wrong?

So I hope you find your essence before the new year arrives, or if it is in the middle of the year for you then I hope you still have it.  I hope you take the time to figure out what you are and who you are and how that will play out with the kids whose lives you touch.  Think of the impact you can have and then use it for good.

Find your soul, find your essence, and then have enough faith in yourself to go in there and share it.