reflection – Page 26 – Pernille Ripp

I often find myself discussing “Giving students a voice” in the classroom with people who wonder what I exactly mean. Sure, giving someone a voice sounds great, but how do I know that I am doing that? What can I do to do that? What does it look like? I am not an expert but here is what it looks like to me.

Curriculum; give them ownership. Even within the strictest of dictated curriculum we can still give ownership to our students, meaning the right to create something that they want to. If the format is predetermined then give them choice over the topic. If the topic is predetermined then give them choice in the format. Presentation, collaboration, and how it will be assessed are also area where you can give students a voice. You just have to find the time to ask them.
Ask yourself: Do my students have a say in what they are doing right now?

Classroom Routine. I don’t make the rules of our classroom my students and I do. We discuss them at the beginning of the year and then we modify them as we go. They have a voice and a right to decide how their classroom will run. We have non-negotiables such as respecting others and then go from there. Every year is different because every group is different.

Ask yourself: Who set the rules of the classroom?

Classroom setup. This is vital to giving students a voice and often overlooked. We can dicate our agenda just as easily through our setup as through our words. Where is your desk located How is it faced? Where is the main area of the room? Where is the focal point? Can they manipulate the physical classroom? Can they move desks, tables, areas? Do they decide where they work? Do they decide how they work? All of this gives them a voice.

Ask yourself: Where do my students work? What is the vibe of the room?

Assessment. I do not believe in the power of a report card or in the power of grades. So students and I discuss what a well-done product should look like. Students self-reflect a lot and set goals. They discuss goals with me, with their parents, and with each other. We strive for accountability and also a deeper understanding of what it means to create.

Ask yourself: Who determines the grade? Who establishes the guidelines?

An outlet. Students must know that they have somewhere where they can always turn to speak to each other, to me, to the world. Our student blogs do that for us and I encourage them to speak freely. Many of them do and I always grow from what they post. So find an outlet for their voice so that they know someone is listening.

Ask yourself: Where do I hear my students voice? Where does the world?

Face to face. When my students speak, I listen. I stop whatever I am doing and I lok at them. I listen, I respond, and things sometimes are fixed or changed. We meet as a group every Friday to discuss achievements, share advice, or just check in. We speak in the morning before the day really gets going so that students know what to expect, know what their day looks like, and what our expectations are. Students know that I will take the time to listen to them, even if they have complaints, they know I will take it to heart, they know that they can tell me their honest opinion without negative repercussions. I never hold a grudge and my actions show that.

Ask yourself: What do I do when students speak to me? How do I react?

Caring and accountability. When my students speak in their myriad of ways; I listen. I am held accountable to their words and they often see the direct effect of their words on our classroom, on my teaching, on their daily school lives. That accountability and caring piece is the most important factor of giving students a voice, fore if we encourage them to speak up then we must also be ready to listen, to change, to act. Everything else does not matter if they do not believe we actually care about their voice.

Ask yourself: Which actions show that I care? What have I changed based on student feedback?

Be the change, connections, reflection

Do You Have to Be Connected to Be A Great Teacher?

April 8, 2013 Pernille Ripp

This morning I read the great post Excuses, Excuses…Will a Child’s Future Wait written by Tom Whitford, a man I am lucky enough to call friend. As I read it and nodded all the way through it, I kept thinking how right Tom was, and yet, when we discuss people not telling us they have time for social media, or time to learn about new technology, we also have to look at how many people don’t see these things as a necessity to being a great teacher.

In fact, the whole notion of being a great teacher, administrator, or whichever role one plays in education seems to be split between two large camps. There are those that believe that as long as they deliver relevant content every day, cover the standards, get through what they need (even artfully so) that then they are doing their job. That is what makes them a great educator. Then there are those that believe that to be a great educator, one must be connected through something (social media, local group whatever), should be researching new ideas, and should definitely be implementing those. Then one can be a great educator.

Those are two very different camps to be in. One sees no need for outside connections and the other sees the creative urgency in having them. One does not find the time necessary to make connections because it is not deemed essential to being a great teacher. Whereas the other wholeheartedly believes in the necessity of these connections and thus takes the time to do so. I wonder if the unconnected educator can be just as great as the connected one, I tend to lean toward a resounding yes because of what I see on a daily basis; plenty of “unconnected” educators that are still phenomenal teachers. And yet, I wish they were connected because so many of them have great things to share.

So when I come across people that do not understand why I tweet, blog, or connect with other that I may never meet, I often wonder how they get inspired. I know where I draw my inspiration from; my students, my family, and my PLN. Where do those that do not have a PLN get theirs? I know I cannot convince them of the power of dedicating time to connecting, sharing, reflecting in a an open forum until they deem it important enough to dedicate their time. And that is an entirely different mindset to cultivate, so how do we do that?

reflection, Student-centered

Explain to Me Again How the Flipped Classroom Is "Revolutionary?"

April 6, 2013 Pernille Ripp

The heading says it all. I get the giggles whenever another article or post or conversation or conference write up talks about the revolution of the Flipped Classroom. Depending on the information in the article, post, conversation etc sometimes I even start to roll my eyes. This is big time annoyance for someone who doesn’t like to criticize. So how come so many people, the public included, find the flipped learning model to be so revolutionary and game changing for schools? Can we tear it apart for just a second and then think about it?

I get that flipped learning isn’t just video outside of the classroom or not meant to be anyway, but it seems much of it is. Students watch a lecture taped outside of class time (homework) and then come to class ready to learn and discuss. Genius, except for the whole watching a lecture outside of class. At a high school level I can only imagine how many hours of video we could assign students as homework so that they finally were ready to learn in school. And don’t even get me started on the students that have no access to said videos

Some teachers then don’t assign the video outside of school time but instead show the video as the first part of their class time. Umm, isn’t that just the same as lecturing in front of the students for the first ten minutes? How is that revolutionary? What am I missing here? I would have a hard time telling my students, “Watch this video of me explaining the concept to you while I stand right here watching it with you.” My 5th graders would think I had gone off the deep end. Sure creating a video for access later to study or revisit, yeah, that’s great, but showing it during class time when you are standing right there? WHat am I missing as far as the point?

Yet, perhaps it is the discussion and exploration that is revolutionary and not the video part of the flipped learning. I already do that with my students, it is called project-based learning. It is called genius hour. It is called student choice. And I don’t need a video to facilitate that. In fact, most people who believe in student-led, project based, don’t lecture very much. We provide the framework the destination and then students get there somehow through research, collaboration, and creation. Yes, this is what I feel learning should always be, but it is not a flipped model.

Student engagement does go up whenever I turn to project-based, of course, it does. When we give students choice, and a voice, and a place where they can freely explore, they will invest their dedication. That has nothing to do with flipping the classroom.

So If we want to talk revolution, let’s hail the teachers that believe in student choice. Let’s hail the teachers that somehow manage to fit in their curriculum in the time they have the students in front of them and don’t see the need to also add homework, or video, or lecture time out side of class. Let’s hail those who time manage, who figure out how to fit it all in, and who get out of the way of their students.

Flipped classroom if done correctly is just another way to say student exploration and student led and thank goodness for the resurgence of that. But could we also agree that the flipped classroom model using video outside of school is another way to infringe on students’ private time. Another example how we, as teachers, sometimes end up overstepping our boundaries of how much time we make school take up. And I don’t find that to be revolutionary at all, just sad. Creating a video library of explanations, sure, great idea, but forcing students to watch you lecture outside of school, not so much. There are other ways to give the students time.

Reading, reflection

Should We Force Students to Read Certain Books?

April 3, 2013July 24, 2013 Pernille Ripp

There I went and did it again, tripped myself up and got lost. Once again forgot what my students had told me, thinking I knew best. Thinking I was doing the teacher thing to do, whatever that is. And yet, that nagging feeling of something not being right just wouldn’t go away. So last night I tweeted

And soon, my own fear was confirmed. Many agreed; when we dictate genres it is almost the same as dictating books. What we want is for kids to read widely (Thanks Donalyn!), not selectively and whenever we mess with choice we may end up turning kids away from reading completely.

Yet, my reasoning remains; I want to expose students to new genres. As one student told me yesterday, if she had not been “forced” to read a historical fiction book she would have never known how much fun they would be. And yet, it is the whole “force” I have such a problem with. I was forced to read certain books in school and I hardly ever enjoyed them. I would read them as fast as I could, slowing down only enough to answer the mandatory question sheet and then resume the book I really wanted to read. Just the act of “having to” read a certain book ensured that it never made my top ten list of best books read that year. I don’t want to do the same to my students.

Yet, as teachers, there seems to be times when we have to “force” things on students. Otherwise we worry they will not be well-rounded learners. They might not be ready for the next step in their education, they might not be ready for the adult world. Or will they? Can we let students choose their own education and still become successful adults within a public school setting? I don’t have the answer.

So I will call a morning huddle today, lay my fears on the line, my dilemma and see what the kids come up with. Perhaps we will just read whatever we want. Perhaps we will have 4 free choice books and 2 from new genres. Perhaps, I will ask them to just read as much as they can in the limited time we have left. I don’t know what will happen but I know my students will have ideas if I only listen. I know they will set me back on track, they always do.

difference, reflection

When We Assume Sameness

March 31, 2013 Pernille Ripp

We look the same, well kind of, my husband and I. Both caucasian, both tall, early to mid-thirties, quick to smile and seemingly always taking care of a child. Our values are pretty much the same, our hopes and dreams. We aspire to be the best parents we can be. We aspire to be secure, in love, and involved adults. We dream much the same. And yet, even with all of our similarities, we are quite different. We come from different cultures and backgrounds that permeate every decision we make. Yet, to an untrained eye one would never assume that I hail from a country other than the USA. To an untrained eye I look as American as apple pie.

But those differences linger and they erupt from time to time. Our norms are slightly different, our expectations widely so at times. The way we treat friends, what we consider the norms of social behavior are different. Small tiffs can erupt based on this, moments where we do not see eye to eye and have a hard time doing so because our background dictates a different world view. The expectations we have for our children and their behavior vary, much of it based on what is deemed appropriate and respectful in our differing nations. And yet we look the same so you would never know but those differences linger just below the surface, ready to show themselves whenever a situation arises.

How often do we do that to students who look like us? We assume they must have been raised in a society and culture much like our own and thus set our expectations accordingly. We speak so much about recognizing students from other cultures and embracing them and our differences but often only apply it to those that look markedly different than us. If a child speaks another language, well then we expect differences in norms and behaviors But when a white kid, blonde, blue eyed like myself doesn’t act like a “typical” white, blonde blue-eyed kid, then we get confused. We might have to do a little digging to find out that child is not from the same background as ours. And then we realize, oh, they are different, not quite what I had expected.

And as for me? I get assumed American all the time and yet Denmark raises its children markedly different than the typical American ways. The differences are subtle, but they are there, and they explain many parts of my personality. So perhaps our assumptions of likeness need to just stop. Yes, it is nice to assume that w all come from the same background, but we don’t. Perhaps when we embrace children from other cultures we need to move past the skin color and language they speak and truly see the whole gamut of differences we may have. I know my life would be slightly easier if we did.

Be the change, Reading, reflection

What the #Nerdybookclub Taught Me About Reading

March 29, 2013 Pernille Ripp

I have always been slightly nerdy, ask my oldest friends and they will tell you stories of eye rolls whenever I discussed the latest sci fi flick I couldn’t wait to see. Or get me started on a favorite author and watch. I haven’t ever been a geek, I would have to be really good at math for that, but a nerd, that I could embrace. My adulthood didn’t change my nerdy ways but only sophisticated them. I could now pass ubernerdy things of as cool and stand behind them tall. And when being a nerd became kind of cool, I was so nerdy, that even my husband still laughed a little bit at me when i got too out there.

So when I fell into the Nerdy Book Club I knew I was at home. All of these book lovers in one group, oh and the hashtag and the chats; I was home. And yet even I could not have realized how much the Nerdy Book Club would change me and the way I teach.

So The Nerdy Book Club taught me that

It is okay to get really, really excited about a book and want to give it to everyone I meet. I am thinking of you “The One and Only Ivan.”

It is ok to want to talk books with friends, even if those friends are 20 years younger than you.

It is ok to bring in my books to school and perhaps sneak a chapter or two during recess.

It is ok to weed out my library and finally get rid of the books that no one has touched, no one will touch, and to give them to others who might.

It is ok to not do book talks.

It is ok to not do whole group books unless it is so deep and so rich that the whole class will actually stay engaged.

It is ok to tweet out pictures of new books you have received because you are so gosh darn excited about reading them.

It is ok to tweet authors and hope they will respond to you.

It is ok to have your class tweet authors and hope even harder that they will respond to them.

It is ok to have a pile of books beside your bed that never quite seems to diminish and yet entices you to sit down and read every time you pass by it.

It is ok to change from a clothes shopaholic to a bookaholic as long as you don’t go broke.

It is ok to watch your home library start to bleed into your classroom library because some of your kids are ready for a bigger challenge.

It is ok to do book challenges as long as they do not suck.

It is ok to not love a book and tell students that.

It is ok to make book trailers rather than book projects.

It is ok to think books, breathe books, talk books even if no one is listening or cares.

It is ok to have the reading taste of a 5th grade boy.

It is ok to think that reading and loving books is the most important thing we can ever model for our students and our own children.

Thank you Nerdy Book Club

Category: reflection

How To Give Your Students a Voice; Advice From Someone Who Tries