This week was very exciting for me as my very first e-book published by Powerful Learning Press became available for pre-buy. I had never thought I would be able to add “author” to my bio! This book is meant to be a how-to change your classroom for any level of teacher, pre-service, new, or veteran.
What’s even better is that right now until April 7th there is a coupon, I love a good coupon!
Save with this pre-buy coupon code
To celebrate the pre-launch of this exciting book for educators, Powerful Learning Press is offering a $3 discount through April 7. Use our coupon code PREBUY at checkout to save $3. Go to the PLPress online store to buy now.
He sat down next to me, book bin in hand, ready for his conference.
“So what has been going on in your head as you read?” I ask, pen poised and ready to jot.
“Well…” he clears his throat “…I just finished this book.”
And that’s when it hits me. This kid finished a book! And not just one book but almost 10 books this year. This kid who at the beginning completely had given up on chapter books, who only read magazines if forced. This kid is reading. And not just reading, he is sharing his thoughts, writing ideas down, thinking of what to read next.
So I put my pen down, I only write “Celebration” in my notes. Instead we spend several minutes discussing his accomplishments, discussing his growth. I urge him to be proud, to notice what he has done. A few minutes is all it is, but monumental none the less.
When was the last time I took a few minutes to celebrate a child’s growth with them privately? I am great with the whole class praise, but often forget the one to one. Not any more. Instead of a reading mini-lesson I will be celebrating. Instead of giving them something new to try, we will instead spend a few minutes cherishing what they have accomplished, what they have already done.
In a week we can go back to the new, but for now we will cherish the old. After all, a small celebration can indeed go a long way.
I am a passionate (female) 5th grade teacher in Wisconsin, USA, proud techy geek, and mass consumer of incredible books. Creator of the Global Read Aloud Project, Co-founder of EdCamp MadWI, and believer in all children. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students’ heads every day. First book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classroom Back to Our Students Starting Today” can be pre-bought now from Powerful Learning Press. Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.
There are moments in teaching that makes my heart heavy.
Whether it is the disappointment faced by a student rejected. Or the sorrow that weighs down some of my students as they come through my doors. The uncertainty some face. The anxiousness that travels with others. The sadness, the lost joy. They bring this along, into our rooms, and it becomes one more thing we have to address and work around. One more thing to add to our day and to our hearts.
We don’t leave those worries or fears of our students behind when we close our door. They travel with us in the car. They walk in through our front door, trailing us into our homes as we worry whether that child will ever be okay. Worry whether that child will have something to eat or will be back the next day. Worry about what that child may do that night. We push them aside and focus on our own lives but they stay in our hearts as the hours go by.
Sometimes those worries wake us up at night and we remember to hug our own kids a little more, tell them they matter a little louder.
So we return the next day with our hearts still heavy, not sure what to do other than to love those kids as if they were our own. When a new worry shows up we make room for that one as well. We carry it with us because we are stronger than the children we support. We carry it with us so that they are not alone. We carry it with us so that maybe, just maybe, they will find a moment of relief.
I may not be a superhero but when it comes to the children in my life, I have super hero strength. No child should have to carry their worries alone, that’s why I am there. And that’s why I teach.
I am a passionate (female) 5th grade teacher in Wisconsin, USA, proud techy geek, and mass consumer of incredible books. Creator of the Global Read Aloud Project, Co-founder of EdCamp MadWI, and believer in all children. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students’ heads every day. First book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classroom Back to Our Students Starting Today” can be pre-bought now from Powerful Learning Press. Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.
I continue to ponder the concept of joy in schools and more so the seeming lack of it. Yet, I look at my own classroom and I know that we have a lot of joy. Not all the time, not in everything we do, but there is a lot of joy in what we do. It wasn’t always like that, when I taught traditionally, joy was not on my priority list when I planned. If something happened to be fun I felt rather guilty since it probably meant I wasn’t getting the educational value across to my students. Now I know better.
Joy is something I try to create, as funny as that sounds. Yet by now I know what makes my students happy and I try to incorporate it as much as possible. So what are some of the things that bring us joy?
Picture books. Many 5th graders think picture books are for little kids but not in this room. We cherish the arrival of new ones and laugh outloud whenever we can. Taking 5 minutes to share a great one can boost us all.
Making mistakes. I make the stupidest mistakes at times but I laugh outloud about it too and make sure the kids know. We have to be able to giggle about ourselves for others to realize it is okay to laugh with us.
Challenges. I try to concoct bi-weekly challenges for my students that focus on community and perseverance. Often they are inane and I make them hard, not to test my kids but to push them further. Our latest boat challenge was a blast and I am already rummaging through my closets trying to think up the next one.
Meditation. After being inspired to bring back more mindfulness we have been doing 3 minute meditation sessions after math to center us for the rest of the day. I know it is supposed to be quiet breathing but we have hard time not cracking up at some of the instructions. Why shush them when laughter also centers them?
Dance breaks. Singing and dancing are something I relish as an adult so if we are feeling down or extra restless I know what we need.
These things may seem like extra things and you are right, what about my core instruction, what’s so joyful about that?
The one thing that has brought more joy into our classroom is simply giving shared control to the students. These few changes have had an incredible impact in our room:
Student voice. Meaning that students have the right to an opinion in everything we do.
Student choice. Whether it is what they are creating, how they are creating it, or who they are creating it with – student choice is essential in my room.
No punishment. My students don’t get punished, I tend not to take things away such as recess, field trips or special moments. It’s not that they are angels, we just figure out a way to work through bad moments.
No grades. My students don’t work for grades, they work for understanding. There is a big difference and it is something we cultivate throughout the year.
Lack of knowledge. I don’t know everything and I tell my students that so we have to figure it out together.
Curiosity. I am very curios as are my students so we have to take time to explore some of the things we are curious about. Whether it is through genius hour, project time or simply stopping what we are doing to veer off the path, we allow it and we embrace it.
Global connections. My students reaching out to teach others or ask others is a big part of our room and something that brings us happiness. We try to incorporate some sort of global connection in most things we do, as long as it makes sense.
Yet I am not there yet. There are still moments of dreadfulness in my classroom. Spelling used to be one of them, and because of that I have completely revamped the program starting Monday, I will let you know if it makes a difference. So while not everything is joyful yet, I feel like we are on the right path. Are you? Is there room for joy in your classroom? How do you teach for it?
The student who memorized the most numbers of pi got to throw a pie in my face on my birthday
I am a passionate (female) 5th grade teacher in Wisconsin, USA, proud techy geek, and mass consumer of incredible books. Creator of the Global Read Aloud Project, Co-founder of EdCamp MadWI, and believer in all children. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students’ heads every day. First book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classroom Back to Our Students Starting Today” can be pre-bought now from Powerful Learning Press. Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.
Dean Shareski asked me (and many others) yesterday, “Whatever happened to joy?” A simple question really that should be easy to answer if you are a teacher – it’s right in our classrooms – but then again, one that requires more thought. Is joy really prevalent in our classrooms? Or is it reserved for special occasions or for those students who earn it?
Joy is often associated with special events in a classroom. We earn our joy and happiness through parties. When I gave up punishment and rewards, I didn’t get rid of joy, I just tried to make sure it was always present rather than something we marked on the calendar. And yet, in today’s learning environment we seem to reserve joy not just to special occasions but also to those who we find deserving of it. If a child is behind academically, joy is often one of the things we unintentionally remove from their day. We pull them out of specials for interventions. We take away their independent reading time to give more instruction. We take away recess and field trips due to poor behavior or more instruction. We have them work on missed homework rather than the challenge the other students are doing. Their joy in the classroom deemed unnecessary because joy does not lead to academic achievement.
And yet, these kids that struggle are exactly the kids that need more joy in school. They are the ones that we need to stay invested and engaged, not just the kid that is already mastering everything we present them with. They are the ones that need to realize the worth of school, that need to believe that school is worth their time and effort, and that they will get to do the exact same things as everyone else around them. That they will not be singled out once again for their supposed shortcomings, but rather treated as an equal that deserves to have as much fun learning as everyone else.
We know that students who struggle often act out to hide their deficit, so why is it we continue to punish rather than help? Why is it we continue to believe that if we just give them stricter consequences we will finally break their will and they will work better, hand in their homework, or try harder? These kids are the ones that need to find the joy in school, these kids are the ones who need it the most. So what are we doing to provide it?
I am a passionate (female) 5th grade teacher in Wisconsin, USA, proud techy geek, and mass consumer of incredible books. Creator of the Global Read Aloud Project, Co-founder of EdCamp MadWI, and believer in all children. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students’ heads every day. First book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classroom Back to Our Students Starting Today” will be released April 23rd from Powerful Learning Press. Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.
“…I failed…” the disappointment leaks from my student as he looks at his contraption.
I am stopped by his words because it is March and we have been trying to embrace failure since September. Failure is our friend, failure is something we learn from. Failure is not the “f” word. Not in this room.
And yet, here he sits, so upset with himself that I am not even sure I have the words to fix it.
I am reminded that embracing failure is not just a line we say to our students. We must fully live it out in our rooms. We must admit our own failures, I know I do, and then celebrate the learning that happens from them. But more importantly we must assess students not just on how successful they were with something but also their persistence in trying. We must move away from the thinking that to succeed means that the project or product is correct and adopt the notion that success can take on many shapes. That perhaps success to one child is that they didn’t give up. To another that they attempted in the first place.
This is not to say that students should not be pushed to succeed. Of course they should. All students need success in order to continue learning. But it is to say that we need to assess students on more than their successes. That we need a whole child approach that celebrates all of the steps in the journey without reducing them to just a little number. Grades or numbers can never do that for us but our words can.
It took me a few seconds but I finally found the words to say. “You didn’t fail, you tried and it didn’t work. There is a big difference. Now what can we do to make it better?” I walk away and give him time to think.
At the end of the day he comes up, says “I am taking it home to show my brother, I think I found a way to fix it.” He smiles and leaves.
Failure is not something we should just pretend to accept – our actions, our words, our assessments must embrace it to. We must celebrate the failures and give students time to learn from them. We must discuss the growth, the trial, and the ideas. We must be more than a motivational poster.
Pernille Ripp 